I recently picked up a CD copy of Neil Diamond His 12 Greatest Hits (DIDX-271 or MCAD-37252). Made in Japan. No barcode. This was bought because other members had said that the SQ is superb. They were absolutely right! Did our host have anything to do with this one? Well, I was surprised how much I enjoyed these tracks having a preconception of ND being a cheesy easy listening guy in it for the ladies! (Not helped by my aunty loving his stuff when I was a small child no doubt!) Now I want to get some of his studio albums. Things might be patchy, artistically right? I can forgive that if there are scattered gems. Should I continue looking for Japanese or early CD masterings? There isn't a whole lot of info on this so appreciate anyone taking the time to reply.
Hello.. Take a look here... Neil Diamond Compilations For me, it's imposdible NOT TO START WITH ONE OF TBE BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE EVER: HOT AUGUST NIGHT. if you're so lucky find anywhere the CD versions of 1985, you will not feel the need to search for anything else. (I have these 2 from that year, bought the 35 years ago... ) Very nice the H.A.N. 3 in blu ray... Don't think it will be expensive... Let us know! We never can talk enough about Neil....
I have 'The Ultimate Collection' (MOOD CD45 a Columbia / MCA release) which collects 40 Neil Diamond tracks and is another good place to start. I have to agree with 'siebrand' and definitely pick up 'Hot August Night' which for me is one of the great live recordings.
For a non - compilation selection try ' Tap Root Manuscript ' from 1970. Side one is excellent and side 2 is an interesting 'African Suite ' containing the incredible ' Soolaimon '
I've got these ones. Classics: The Early Years (Stereo, but a few are alternate takes where the original doesn't exist in stereo) The Greatest Hits: 1966 - 1992 (has most of the Bang tracks in Mono, but contains live versions and re-recordings of others): I also have a vinyl rip of this with dbx encoding, sounds the best I've ever heard:
Think most of his early stuff (60's-70's) was good , it's in the 80's that they albums can be mixed. But all good suggestions here. Hot August Night version of Holly Holy is one of the all time greatest live performances. Try Love At The Greek, too. Very good songwriter who doesn't get enough credit.
I know you said "ON CD", but ... For the BANG era, the best way is to collect all of the original mono BANG 45's and burn them to CD and be done with it, as NOTHING that has been officially digitally released has served my ears well yet. To me, the often recommended "In My Lifetime" box set is not even close to the sound of the actual old 45's, but of officially released CD's this is sadly one of your only options for most of those old mono tracks. Whatever you do, avoid that Bernie Becker mastered CD of the BANG singles at ALL costs, as it isn't even worth using as a drink coaster! For the UNI/MCA era stuff, I too have been on the hunt for that "12 Greatest Hits" on CD from Japan, but that album has always bugged me, as it had a mix of live and studio recordings mixed together and I hate that. This 1999 comp on MCA is the one that I treasure for the hits ... Neil Diamond - The Neil Diamond Collection For the COLUMBIA era, this is where the "In My Lifetime" box is truly worthy. Side note: I'd welcome a remix of the "Beautiful Noise" album, without all of the echo on Neil's vocals that Robbie Robertson sadly felt necessary for some damn reason? Robbie made Neil sound like he was sitting in the echo chamber of a '60's era Tony Bennett album, which was ok for Tony as he belts it out when he sings, as opposed to Neil who is often softer with occasional bursts of emotion.
Neil Diamond fell off my music radar in the late 70s. I didn't have any desire to listen to his 80s and beyond material. But some months ago I saw a fairly recent album of his called 12Songs ' at my local thrift shop. I wasn't expecting anything from it really and was totally and pleasantly suprised at how good it was. Recommended.
For many years this trio of discs was sufficient for me: Classics - The Early Years (Bang years) Neil Diamond His 12 Greatest Hits (MCA years) Neil Diamond His Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (Columbia years) All three have good sound and a terrific selection of his best known hits. You can purchase these very inexpensively, which is true for most of his discs. "In My Lifetime" is a nice 3 disc box set with songs that spans all his labels as well.
Still need to get a couple of his 80's albums. +1 on that Japan Sanyo His 12 Greatest Hits, shame this type of mastering wasn't used on the catalog. This one does NOT contain any live tracks. Hodgepodge of Japan for US, a Japan for Europe and US JVC/DADC's I had to grab the LP Double Gold for the most excellent Crooked Street.
For me, the Bang Records Greatest Hits, MCA's 12 Greatest Hits, Columbia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 and the three volumes of Hot August Night cover Neil Diamond. (I do also have Acoustic Christmas, however.) I have these on vinyl but they are all available on CD, though I don't know what title the Bang Records comp currently travels under. I will warn you that by the Columbia Greatest Hits, he is well on his way in the transition from rock to easy listening.
Let's not discount some of Neil's later offerings..... If you don't mind a bit of a 'Country' tinge to things, this is definitely one to consider. Great album with some great pickers/players and guests. 'Tennessee Moon'
Neil Diamond shows up very frequently in thrift stores (along with Barbara Streisand). If someone looked in the bins, they could probably get a big chunk of his CD catalog for about $20 over the course of a year.
I agree. His last four or five albums or so were excellent! Quite a return to form that was most unexpected given his age. He spent a lot of years in the Ez-listening zone starting around 1990 and it wasn't very good (at least for me).
Concur on Hot August Night being among one of the best live albums from anyone. His best studio albums/cds imo are Tap Root Manuscript & Jonathan Livingston Seagull which are fantastic as a complete listening experience. The Greatest Hits (1966-1992) is good, but has some alternate/live performances in place of the released singles.
I concur with the comment above regarding thrift stores.got hot August night for 99 cents at a goodwill recently
I hope you enjoy it. The 'African Suite ' may take some getting used to but it's worth the effort. He was very much ahead of his time putting that out. And side one is very solid.
The 50th Anniversary collections are very good and cover the decades reasonably well. You should be able to pick up Moods, Beautiful Noise and the Jazz Singer quite cheaply. That His 12 Greatest Hits you got is a gem. The Bang Years mono CD isn't the best mastering - other comps as people say have nicer masterings on them - even the cheapies. Unfortunately there haven't been any Original Album Classics 5 disk sets of Neil Diamond, so you tend to have to search out the individual CDs, but they should be cheap. Austria CDs seem very good - but I searched out Japan versions 'cos I got hooked. 12 Songs and Home Before Dark are tremendous. I like the contemplative Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Serenade albums. I also like Headed For The Future - multiple producers and mid-80s updated sound, but interesting all the same.
I guess it depends on how far you want to go. If you want a lot of great music, but not all his albums, In My Lifetime is really very good. I used to have it but it stayed in Australia. I replaced it with Fiftieth Anniversary collection, I believe the experts say it's mastered a little loud, but I generally listen in the car, so it doesn't really make much difference to me. If you want to collect albums that gets harder, but Tap Root Manuscript would probably be the start off point.
I would get: -Classics: The early years -All the MCA cds you could find -Jonathan Livingstone Seagull -12 Greatest Hits Vol 2 - Any more recent CD not covered by the previous CD that you could find on the cheap
