Home Before Dark

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Remarkably IHome Before Dark/I is the first US chart topping album of Neil Diamond's forty year career. It appears to repeat the formula behind 2006's acclaimed i12 Songs/i--relatively understated arrangements and a subtle Rick Rubin production. But Diamond, though sixty-seven years old and the oldest recipient of a Number One so far, is no Johnny Cash, turning his unique voice to some well chosen contemporary material. Instead IHome Before Dark/I is a collection of new Diamond songs, and though they might not match the boomers in his back catalogue they are hardly stripped back. These are songs designed to fill large venues alongside the showstoppers in Diamond's still energetic live show. "Pretty Amazing Grace" is in the great tradition of Diamond songs that defy their corniness with sheer catchiness, as is "One More Bite of the Apple" while "Don't Go There" features bracing backing vocals and a delightfully dated wobbly guitar hook. The duet with Natalie Maines, "Another Day (That Time Forgot)", would fit comfortably on American country radio while "The Power of Two" sounds like another hit in waiting. In fact this is more a conventional Diamond collection than a Rick Rubin production, dominated by lightly understated country rock arrangements played by a crack team including Smokey Hormel, Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell and the usually experimental Matt Sweeney. This is a charming and consistently solid set, though IHome Before Dark/I does lack the unexpected intensity that made I12 Songs/I stand out so. i-—Steve Jelbert/i

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-06-23 rating:
Very Ordinary Diamond
Like a previous reviewer, I think that Neil,arguably the 20th Century's greatest singer-songwriter, "peaked" in the mid 1970's (with the notable exception of "The Jazz Singer") Since then, he has recorded nothing to make you get excited about and this latest album, like it's Rick Rubin- organised predesessor is very forgettable indeed. Anyone with a half decent voice and rudimentary songwriting ability could do this sort of thing. br /Neil, in spite of advancing years is still superb in live performance, as I have witnessed. This is because, due to popular demand, he sticks mainly to the great songs which originally brought him deserved fame. br /It's sad to critisise a recording by one of my all time favourites but that's the way I see it and I'm obviously not alone...

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review by: pete date: 2009-06-19 rating:
NOT ONE OF HIS BEST BY A LONG WAY
I've been a fan of the man's music for many years,he's written some absolute pop classics,ie Sweet Caroline,Cracklin' Rose,The Story Of My Life,I'm A Believer,You Don't Buy Me Flowers,Song Sung Blue,Red Red Wine,oh the list could go on.This though is for me a real let down,it never gets going,some of the songs are not given a chance because of poor production which leaves them sounding more like demo's than finished works.I thought 12 Songs was a superb album,one song on that involved Brian Wilson and it really lifted the whole thing and his involvement here may have raised the tempo a bit.Hearing him do some of the songs live at Glastonbury last year with his full band the songs came alive and gave the full ND sound a chance to shine.This album has a lot of publicity and promotion but when you come down to it,it never gets to come alive,it's not Neil as we know him.The best thing do a live album include some of these songs again and bring them to life.ND may have sold a lot of copies of this but I'm sure many bought it because of the promotion it's got and not the album itself.Love neil's music I just don't rate this particular album at all.

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review by: date: 2009-05-26 rating:
home before dark - neil diamond
very good, fast service. covering letter from the seller - I enjoyed the CD.

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review by: date: 2009-04-22 rating:
Raw and yet polished.
Been a fan since "hot August Night" also a fantastic album from the past, but this proves that yet again Neil is a brilliant performer. The Rick Rubin influence on the production helps although it is a shift up from 12 tracks. Ignore the detractors -dont know why some of them bought their copies in the first place. br /If you can make up your own (open) mind and your ears are attached to functioning brain then give this a go. I bought 12 tracks after hearing it on my brother in laws car and then followed through with buying Home Before Dark. These are a lifetime away from some of the early albums but there is no doubt the man can write good songs.


review by: date: 2009-03-28 rating:
A Very Rough Diamond
Two questions. br / br /Has Neil Diamond ever really written a good song? br / br /If so, would he also possess the ability to sing it well ? br / br /Well, he's been churning out records for over forty years br /now and a whole lot of underwear has been thrown in his br /direction at live performances during that time, so he must br /have been doing SOMETHING right. br /(That this may continue to happen given the likely mean br /age of his female fans is an additionally unsettling thought). br / br /Speaking for myself I never quite got it : never quite bought it. br / br /The cheesy (almost sleazy) bonhomie; the rhinestone shirts; br /the Hollywood razmataz ( and then of course his 'performance' br /with Mr Olivier in The Jazz Singer). br / br /I never quite got it and I'm still not getting it. br / br /2008's 'Home Before Dark' is a bid for gravitas a little br /late in the day. The twelve new tracks he has delivered br /here are meant to be taken seriously. Very seriously indeed. br /(Mr Diamond tells us so himself in the enlightening essay br /accompanying the CD edition). br /His description of the creative process and br /birth of this album is truly cringe worthy. br / br /As for the compositions themselves I find little evidence br /to suggest a renaissance. br /The formula he has used throughout his long career is once br /again regurgitated here.The same chord progressions; br /the same uneven baritone; the same morose sentimentality. br / br /For a moment I was excited by the prospect of a duet with br /the redoubtable Natalie Maines but even this great performer br /cannot break free and fly from the flesh crawling arrangement br /of 'Another Day (That Time Forgot)'. br /(...and don't even begin get me started about the pianist!). br / br /Rick Rubin's production is a stripped down, no frills affair. br /If his goal had been to further enhance the prevailing miserable br /atmosphere of this project then he has ably succeeded. br / br /During 'Act Like A Man' I momentarily entertained the thought br /of taking myself to a high place and jumping from it. br / br /'Whose Hands Are These' did make me laugh out br /loud though - but for all the wrong reasons. br / br /Truly, Madly, Deeply Horrible.

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