Thursday, November 03, 2005

Home, Don't It Seem So Far Away?

Neil Diamond will forever remind me of my childhood. If it wasn't Simon & Garfunkel playing on the family van's eight-track, then it was likely Mr. Diamond. If it wasn't my dad blaring Bob Seger, Wings, or the Eagles on the home stereo, then it was likely Mr. Diamond. I can thank my mom for that.

So hearing his voice singing on any tune always has an oddly calming effect on me and pushes me to sentimental areas I don't always visit. With that said, it's refreshing to hear him on his new CD pushing past his own schmaltzy comfort zone and revisiting the more raw, singer-songwriter he was in his early days. Not unlike Paul McCartney's surprising use of Radiohead/Beck producer Nigel Godrich on his most recent, Mr. Diamond's latest, 12 Songs, is produced by Rick Rubin. Yep, the same Rick Rubin who has produced everybody from Slayer to Tom Petty, System of a Down to Johnny Cash. Quite a repertoire.

I challenge you to push past your own comfort zone and chill out to some Mr. Diamond on a cool November day.

On a side note, he's Mr. Diamond to me because he seems like a friend of my parents' or something.

STREAM: Neil Diamond - 12 Songs (via MySpace)

3 comments:

The Great Bronsinki said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
The Great Bronsinki said...

I read your post yesterday afternoon.

I thought about your post quite a bit yesterday and today.

Memories long forgotten and remembered again are great new memories themselves.

Thanks for sharing Mr. K.

The Great Bronsinki said...

CBS News Sunday Morning had a great story on Neil Diamond this morning. It was interesting to hear that Rubin approached him and the goal was to find the essence of who Diamond is. Rubin pushed him and it shows. Here is the link from their website. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/06/sunday/main1015858.shtml