Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark Review

Beneath the bombast and shtick, Neil Diamond has always written great songs. He shed the glitz on his 2005 album "12 Songs," baring his soul on a dozen stripped-down tunes produced by Rick Rubin and featuring Diamond playing guitar in the studio for the first time in years.

He's back with more on "Home Before Dark" (Columbia), a wordy but affecting collection that demonstrates Diamond's skill at mixing melody with deeply felt emotion. He's in an earnest mood here, reflecting on good times past on "If I Don't See You Again" and musing over a love long-since lost on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)," a duet with Dixie Chick Natalie Maines....full text The fact that this album makes me (never a Neil Diamond fan) want to take a second look at his immense back catalogue is a good sign. It’s his second disc produced by Rick Rubin, who worked a similar kind of magic for Johnny Cash. Sparse arrangements strip away bombast and pop trimmings, putting Diamond’s voice and songwriting at the foreground where they belong....full text Home Before Dark is Neil Diamond's second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin. It follows the fine but ill-fated 12 Songs, which was sabotaged by Sony's "Rootkit" program scandal: a nefarious bit of "copy protection" software that invaded the operating system of PCs and wreaked havoc. 12 Songs had to be recalled from store shelves just as Diamond received better reviews than he had in a decade. Sony reissued it in 2007, but the damage was done. Diamond, disappointed but undaunted, sought out Rubin. Rubin enlisted Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and lead guitarist Mike Campbell, studio guitarist/bassist Smokey Hormel, and former Chavez guitar slinger Matt Sweeney. There are no drums. David Campbell did some skeletal string arrangements, but that's it....full text