I go way back with Neil Diamond, enjoying his music in high school, having a couple of his albums, and singing some of his songs in choir. I was looking forward to listening to this music. I even went to a concert at USU on one occasion.
My first reaction when I played the first song was, "Man, Neil Diamond sounds old." However as he went to the next song, he didn't sound so old. His baritone tones came through with clear tones and the songs presented some nice melodies and rhythms. In some of the songs he told moving stories, and others, he was just having fun. "I Believe in Happy Endings" and "Elijah's Song were touching ballads. However it was when he brought up the tempo that things became exciting. "At the Movies" and "Baby Let's Drive" were just fun. My favorite song was "A Mission of Love". Granted part of the song sounds like the Pharaoh in "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat" but it moved and was exciting. It also carried an important theme that of serving and helping each other.
The other song that has an important theme is "Leave a Little Room for God". "Leave a Little Room for God As You're goin' Through the Day. Leave a Little Room for God He won't Get in Your Way."
Granted this disk doesn't have any big name hits (Song Sung Blue,) nor the heartfelt energy (I am I Said) of some of his earlier work. But It is worth a listen and I enjoyed going down memory lane.
No comments:
Post a Comment