How do you feel about Neil Diamond's “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Pizza, Sep 16, 2018.

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  1. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I’m a longtime Neil Diamond fan but must admit I never liked his soundtrack for Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I was really looking forward to it since I also enjoyed the booklet. I was surprised that I found it quite dull and didn’t like a single track. I’m curious what other Diamond fans think about this release.
     
  2. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    I've loved it since the first time I heard it at age 6.
     
  3. ponkine

    ponkine Senior Member

    Location:
    Villarrica, Chile
    One of my all time favourite albums

    Loved at first listen, when I was a child. My parents have a cassette.

    The album is beautiful and wonderful from start to finish. Great arrangements and orchestrations. Loved the songs. Flawless masterpiece

    [​IMG]
     
  4. c-eling

    c-eling They're made of light,We never would have guessed

    Agreed Ponkine, quite unique from his catalog :)
     
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  5. g.z.

    g.z. Senior Member


    Same exact thing here.
    A great, great album that's spiritually fueled. Quite moving.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2018
  6. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    They knew the movie was a bomb. They decided to make Neil's first Columbia album an event and downplayed the movie it was from. Thats why the iconic JLS picture is not on the cover. Be was OK, but this album showed me that Neil could bore me. But it WAS a soundtrack album, so I could not hold it against his catalog. My problem is Neil STAYED in that mode.
     
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  7. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    I love the album. I first heard Neil's music in the movie (which I also liked a lot, having read the book). I loved the music so much I had to get the album. It stands alone as a beautiful suite of music. I especially love "Dear Father" and the 9-minute suite at the beginning of Side 2. By this point, Neil had basically moved away from the mystical approach he had taken with his earlier Uni albums, and was moving into his romantic crooner phase with the Serenade album. The JLS soundtrack was basically his grand finale of musical mysticism. After this album, with a few exceptions like the conceptual Beautiful Noise and his much later albums beginning with Tennessee Moon, he was basically stuck in romantic crooner mode.
    (As an aside, Richard Harris' album of an abridged reading of Richard Bach's book, backed with the orchestral music of Terry James, is a nice companion piece to Neil's soundtrack.)
     
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  8. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I like the cover art.
     
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  9. Pizza

    Pizza With extra pepperoni Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It’s a beautiful jacket design. I especially liked the die cut that reveals the picture label.
     
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  10. g.z.

    g.z. Senior Member

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  11. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Is the movie good? And Neil's music/soundtrack used well?
     
  12. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Apparently, Neil didn't think so, but I really liked the movie and the use of Neil's music. Not everything on the album was used in the film but that's true of most movies and their soundtrack albums.
     
  13. As pure a distillation of 1973 as one might find.
     
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  14. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    I listened to this album on the toy turntable my parents gave me when I was young. Recently found a new copy in better shape and still listen occasionally. I was amused when one magazine called it "the M.O.R. equivalent of Tales from Topographic Oceans."

    Also, I like that the booklet lists all of the L.A. studio people who were on the session.
     
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  15. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
  16. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Was it really a bomb? It broke even. But it was critically roasted. Neil fought to have his songs put back into the final cut of the film after they removed them. Lots of lawsuits over the film.

    It seemed like an "event" film, where everyone knew about it. I need to see it myself.
     
  17. RobCos02330

    RobCos02330 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mass
    Loved it when I was young, still do.
     
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  18. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Apparently he did like his music, and fought over credit and getting all his songs included. See the wiki entry. I think Neil saw spinning gold and the film tie-in could not hurt either.
     
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  20. g.z.

    g.z. Senior Member

    :thumbsup: Man, I miss LP packaging from the '70s. :cool:
     
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  21. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    The album was more profitable than the film.
    People I knew who loved the book hated the movie. I fell asleep.
     
  22. bloodlemons

    bloodlemons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grit City, USA
    I have it on good authority that I was conceived to this album. I currently own that specific copy of the LP.

    I have tried, several times over the course of my life, but no. It's just not a good album.
     
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  23. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    But you turned out ok anyway!
     
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  24. bloodlemons

    bloodlemons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grit City, USA
    Depends on who you ask... :laugh:
     
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  25. florandia

    florandia Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    The greatest pile of poo ever delivered to the great unwashed by a major artist , it makes 'Secret Life of Plants' look like a master statement in comparison.
    If I was conceived to this poor mans 'Moody Blues' out takes , I would seriously consider my future relationship with the parental units .

    The best description I can come up with regarding this awful piece of work is Bombastic Offal .
     
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