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

Well, pardon me all to hell.

 

I really love this album. Don't get the hate. It's an album that for me is very spiritual and needs to be listened to in one sitting....beautiful music and
one of Neil Diamonds best. Soothes the soul,,,very calming and relaxing.

 

I understand it won’t be for everyone, but honestly, it seems these days too many people are prepared to dismiss an album by any artist outright by having only listened to snippets or one or two tracks.

One thing I have learnt to do on from SHF is to bother to properly listen to albums, trying to see what those who really appreciate the work get from them.

It has made me slow down and consider music in different ways. JLS is not a standard ND album. It is about the whole concept and is beautifully produced and orchestrated by some very skilled musicians. Neil Duamond is not the centrepoibt of this work, but a significant element with his voice and simple melodies. The real artistry comes from the whole thing: arrangements, production and the ethos of the book and film.

I try to give music I don’t know a chance before expressing judgement. I also believe in encouraging others to explore the joy of discovering stuff new to them. I’d have never given Pink Floyd a chance of all I had done was make judgements based on just listening to the first minute of each track.

My message to people about Jonathan Livingston Seagull is that it should be respected for what it is and appreciated by those who can be bothered enough to try to listen to it properly. It is not an obscure or even a tough listen, nor is it trivial. It is also an album that demonstrates some versatility on ND’s part. It is, also, a grown-up Soundtrack album (not just a comp of random songs) so needs to be considered in that context.

The sentiments within it transcend ( to borrow one of its lyrics ) and therefore might be dismissed too readily as they touch on sensitive thoughts and emotions. I do feel that they remain relevant for today’s world, whatever people’s beliefs.

In short, a wonderful work of art that counters the singalong images of certain other songs he did just before then.

My real breakthrough with this album came more recently when, after having both cassette and CD versions, I got a decent vinyl copy and actually sat down and listened to both sides in one sitting. At the very least, you need IMHO to listen to several of the songs together to experience how they link together - but the whole album is the ideal thing.

 

Exactly why I started this thread: To hear other thoughts on it. I have yet to connect to this album but love Diamond’s music. I’ve played the album full several times and nothing. I always find things to like on his other albums. I’ve never seen the movie because of my disappointment with the soundtrack. I may give it a spin this weekend.

 

Me and a couple of fellow sailors bored to death decided to go see this after dropping acid back when it first came out.
What an enlightening experience!!
Never forget it.

 

Gave the soundtrack a spin this morning. Still can’t get into it. That slow thump thump thump beat really grates on me. “Be” has got to be one of my least favorite Diamond tracks. I really don’t like any of the songs. I don’t understand it because I really like Diamond’s other albums. Not this one though.

 

Percy Faith pays tribute.

 

The studio album that precedes it, Moods, and the studio album that follows it, Serenade, are both records I tend to listen to more often than the soundtrack to Jonathan Livingston Seagull but, yes, I do like it. My favorite '70s Neil studio LP is Beautiful Noise. The best 70s Neil album is Hot August Night, of course.

 

"Dennis Wilson, that's the news, and I am outta here-!"

 

Johnathan Livingston Seagull: it's how you know you're in a chick's apartment in the '70s, if there's no Cathy cartoon strip on the refrigerator.

 

Well, I loved it then, and I still do... and of course - as with all music - it simply comes down to what floats yer boat. There is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ with music. It’s entirely subjective. There’s simply what you like and what you don’t like...

 

One of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Just gorgeous. Still gives me goosebumps at certain points when I play it in a relaxed setting. My ex-wife loved it so much when she heard me play it that she ran out and got the book. She hated it. Thought it was nonsense. Never read it myself.

I have seen the movie, though, which I love. The story of JLS is definitely of its time. It's a bit hippyish and a bit psychedelic, but the movie is nothing but wall-to-wall amazing aerial shots of the gulls in flight. I still can't imagine how they managed to get some of those shots. I think of it more as an excellent nature documentary (would have made an awesome IMAX movie) with an amazing score and a somewhat goofy but well-intentioned story (there is only voice acting, no physical actors nor sets).

 

It's a soundtrack so that is what it should be judged as. I think the music goes very well with the film. Whether it's a good adaptation of the book or if you don't like the film that's another matter entirely.

 

Always loved "Lonely Looking Sky".

 

I love it. It's one of only two Neil Diamond albums that I own.

Apparently the book's author Richard Bach, who had nothing good to say about the movie version of his book, saying it did the story a disservice, was nonetheless very happy with Neil Diamond's soundtrack.

 

This album has it's great moments, but in the end I find some of the songs a little too long for their own good. I did my own edit/remix of "Dear Father" from it's original 5:12 down to 3:42 and now it sounds like a Neil Diamond "hit", rather than just a song for a film that was probably limited to "filling a certain amount of screen time", like most scores of movies are.

 

I love HAN and Serenade too (I wish they’d reissue the latter on vinyl, remastered from the original tapes) and I used to like Beautiful Noise more back when it was released than I do now, ironically because I have a better system now than I had as a teenager. Upon listening to the latest vinyl reissue of BN a year or so ago, I was appalled at just how much unnecessary reverb is on Neil’s voice - something Id never noticed as a teenager ... and it ruined it for me. Mind you, if someone remixed the album and addressed that problem, I’d love it, because the songs are great....

 

Serenade is a good album, its main fault being that it seems way too short.

I actually think Beautiful Noise was the album where he transitioned from being a rock singer to being "adult contemporary", even MOR.

It's not meaningful to compare JLS with his other albums of that time, because it was never going to be a rock album; that would have been out of keeping with the atmosphere of the film.

 

I agree regarding the Beautiful Noise" album and the way too much echo, especially the song "If You Know What I Mean", no thanks to The Band's Robbie Robertson, which many always forget that he produced that album! Outside of the Barry Manilow catalog, no other album screams for a complete remix more than Diamond's "Beautiful Noise".

 

Such a good song. One of my favs.

 

I can see what people mean about Beautiful Noise as an album, but personally I rate it amongst my favourites and I believe it works as a concept and tin pan alley echoing masterpiece.

Slightly over produced? Hmm, possibly, but it stands out as having character amongst Neil's other work.

I also love the shorter album Serenade and would love a fresh audiophile remaster. I have several copies of it and enjoy them all as they are each slightly different. Some of Neil's most introspective songs on it and not a million miles from being in a related vein to JLS in some ways.

When Diamond let a producer make his mark, the goods usually deliver well.

Surely, surely due a comprehensive remaster of his significant albums - totally under appreciated by too many.

 

I did the same but it clocks in at 2:17. Dear Father & Be are the only songs I listen to.

 

I remember an interview with Neil years ago, in which he said he didn’t particularly fancy himself as a singer, and that he preferred to be thought of as a songwriter. What I do know is that a lot of singers who are not very secure about their craft tend to over-use reverb, because they feel it hides a multitude of sins. Personally, I think his voice has always been great - But there is no accounting for personal insecurity…

 

Love Diamond and have tried to get into it a couple of times, but with no success. Any tips?