CD Reviews

Neil Diamond | The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings

Columbia/Legacy (2011)

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | December 6, 2011

3.0 Stars

Neil Diamond is a pretty upbeat guy — or at least as upbeat as can be expected from a man who made his claim to fame writing "Solitary Man." His upbeatness cost him, not in dollars but in cred, as far more tortured souls were cast in bronze and plaster as the voices of their respective generations. Diamond — a one-time Brill Building songsmith — and his never-ending stream of hits had to make do with the platinum plaques, sold-out arenas, and fanatical following, all while the myth of '60s, '70s, and '80s rock was written into stone sans Neil. Luckily, recent decades have seen music fans re-evaluating the legacy of one of America's greatest bards — even if said re-eval was tentative at first, and cloaked in ironic appreciation. Diamond never embraced trends or cultural moments, erring in favor of timeless over timely. Which means that '60s tunes like "Cherry, Cherry," '70s smashes like "Forever In Blue Jeans," and late-'00s killers like the fist-in-the-air "Hell Yeah" all sound of one piece, a flowing continuum from a solitary voice that could find you way in the back of an arena and make you think the song was sung just to you. If by some strange fuck-up in your album purchasing history you don't have any Neil taking up real estate on your CD shelf, correct that error with this disc.

Interview: Keith Lockhart
"There's always some set of events, positive or negative, that color the lens that people see the Fourth of July through."
Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
Trans Am are distillers of guilty pleasures, mixing fat AOR riffs with sleazy electronic accents and a propulsive attitude typically reserved for arcade soundtracks. What Day Is It Tonight? covers the DC-area band’s 20-year history with high-quality, high-energy live cuts taken from their many tours.
Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.
Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.
Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
Avi Buffalo | Avi Buffalo
Look, I get it: the last thing we need right now is yet another band who can be described as “sun-baked,” “reverb-soaked,” or even just “psychedelic.” But Avi Buffalo (I know! An animal name to boot!) are worth your attention for a few reasons.
Review: Brandon Flowers | Flamingo
Brandon Flowers has gone on record saying he brought the songs on Flamingo to his fellow bandmates for the next Killers album and was given the brush-off.
Review: Kevin Dunn | No Great Lost: Songs 1979–1985
Casa Nueva Industries (2010)
Review: Crocodiles | Sleep Forever
With remarkable swiftness, Crocodiles tick off all the key characteristics of a band in the thriving lo-fi indie/punk/garage scene.
Review: Teengirl Fantasy | 7AM
If the demise of traditional record making is designed to foster any band’s fruitful existence, it’s that of Teengirl Fantasy.
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[ 05/29 ] Brad Hooper @ Andy's Old Port Pub

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ARTICLES BY DANIEL BROCKMAN

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