Dreams

Neil Diamond | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Columbia
• ASIN: B0041U7RE2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,754 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ain't No Sunshine

2. Blackbird

3. Alone Again (Naturally)

4. Feels Like Home

5. Midnight Train To Georgia

6. I'm A Believer

7. Love Song

8. Losing You

9. Hallelujah

10. A Song For You

11. Yesterday

12. Let It Be Me

13. Desperado

14. Don't Forget Me

Editorial Reviews

On Alone Again, Neil Diamond performs a selection of his all time
favorite pop songs. Neil pays homage to rock, pop, soul, the British
invasion, and a cover of Neil s own composition I m A Believer. The
songs on Alone Again were originally made famous by such legendary
artists as The Beatles, The Eagles, Randy Newman, Leonard Cohen, The
Monkees and more. On Alone Again, Neil makes these songs his own.

Across a musical career spanning nearly five decades, Neil Diamond has
sold more than 125 million albums worldwide, with his last studio album
Home Before Dark giving Neil the first # 1 album of his career. Neil
has a remarkable track record of 16 Top Ten albums, and 37 Top Ten
singles, plus a Golden Globe Award, Grammy Awards, and Neil was named
2009 MusiCares Person of the Year.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Diamond's "Home" is Where His Heart Is November 2, 2010

By Timothy Yap TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Prime Cuts: Midnight Train to Georgia, Yesterday, Alone Again (Naturally)

Where have all the good songs? In today's music economy of dwindling sales, instead of crafting more new to-be classics, many of the revered artists (including Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, and Barry Manilow) have gone back to revisit the past. Regardless of what that says about the current state of music today, the past is indeed a treasure trove to mine. For his 30th album, this seventy year old crooner has decided to traipse the songs from the rock era that have been touchstones in his own life. Nevertheless, instead of prostituting himself by singing them karaoke style, Diamond has deconstructed them, imbued them with his patented nuances, and skimpily dressed them often with just piano, guitars and strings. Perhaps his sessions with Rick Rubin have rubbed off on him, Diamond has stuck to the adage less is more. Though this is mostly a downbeat stripped down affair, Diamond sings them with a quiet passion that is uplifting and heartfelt. Nevertheless, song choices are somehow safe as Diamond has chosen some of the more well known songs from the rock era including two from the Beatles ("Blackbird" and "Yesterday"), Leonard Cohen ("Hallelujah"), Leon Russell ("A Song for You"), Randy Newman ("Feels Like Home") and even himself ("I'm a Believer"). It would have been even better if Diamond were not just hover around these icons' signature tunes and maybe tackle a few more obscure tunes.

Diamond shows that he is the master of interpretation on Gladys Knights and the Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia." Here with just his plaintive tenor awash with all the weathered scars and some haunting harmonica riffs, the feeling of missing someone far away has never more real than on this rendition of this superb tune. Another heart tugging moment comes with Diamond's sober take of the Beatles' "Yesterday." Backed mainly by the piano, Diamond takes his time to squeeze out every ounce of emotion from this ballad. Though the strumming of the acoustic guitar on "Alone Again (Naturally)" gives a brisk rhythm, it nevertheless does not take away the song's lofty message of finding hope in the times of death, heartbreak and spiritual isolation. While Linda Ronstadt gave Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home" a bombastic uplift a few years ago, Damond's take is more like one you would hear performed to an intimate crowd in a coffee shop.

Diamond resurrects his own "I'm a Believer." This time round, there is less of an urgency that perhaps comes with maturity. Diamond here takes in time to delve into the spiritual recesses of the song giving it a more seasoned reading. Also, with the maturation of years, Diamond's take of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" is more believable. When he sings about "I've acted my life in stages/ten thousand people watching" you know they are merely scripted rhetoric. While Whitney Houston transforms "A Song for You" into a slick dance anthem on her brilliant album "I Look to You," Diamond takes the jazzy route topped off with some excellent saxophone solos. More intimate bounds abound with an almost campfire feel as Diamond recounts some life lessons on "Losing You."

Perhaps the major quibble that will be fired at Diamond is that 14 ballads all of them performed in a stripped down fashioned may require more attention and careful listening. Things would have been more sustaining if a few uptempoes and/or a few duets were added. Nevertheless, in this day and age where lyrics are repetitive and cliché, these classics remind us again that good songs are perhaps historical. But it's good that Diamond has gone back to the past: revisited these gems, re-lived them again and given them some a fresh coat of interpretation. This project is indeed a labor of love and "Home" is indeed where the heart is.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Neil Diamond puts his spin on classic tunes. November 2, 2010

By Robert G Yokoyama VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Neil Diamond sings classic tunes on this disc. He gives each song an unique musical arrangement. My favorite track is "Alone Again Naturally". Neil captures the beauty of the song vocally, but he also captures the sad tone of the song well with his acoustic guitar playing. My other favorite song is "A Song For You". Neil's cover of this song is special. What makes this song shine for me is the beautiful saxophone playing by a musician by the name of Don Markese. "I'm A Believer" is typically an upbeat pop song. Neil slows down the tempo and makes it a tender love song. "Aint No Sunshine" is another gem here. Bennmont Tench compliments Neil superbly by playing the piano. His piano playing gives this track an emotional lift. Blackbird is another surprise here. This song is usually not one of my all time favorite tunes, but the fiddle playing by Gabriel Witcher makes this a fun track for me. Neil creates the spirit of wistful longing with the classic tune "Midnight Train To Georgia". I have never heard this song with a harmonica playing on it, but I like it. Tommy Morgan does a good job playing it on the song. "Hallelujah" is a song that sounds very uplifting. There are a few songs that I have never heard of. I do not know the songs "Losing You" or "Love Song". These songs sound okay to me, but they just aren't my favorites. "Don't Forget Me" is another new song for me It sounds like a very peaceful song. I love the flute playing on this song. I enjoyed listening to the music on this disc overall. I grew up listening to most of these songs. A lot of middle age listeners should love this disc. Neil changes the arrangements. He treats these songs with a reverence that I enjoy listening to.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A man and his guitar November 2, 2010

By Nse Ette TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Neil Diamond's new CD "Dreams" is a covers project and usually, that is enough to send me running. However, once I heard the opening cut, a spare and sensitive reading of Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine", I was won over. The stark piano and acoustic guitar arrangements accompanying his heartfelt weather-beaten vocals makes these songs shine in a new light.

Some highlights (in an album of highlights) are the piano/harmonica "Midnight Train To Georgia", a poignant "I'm A Believer" (an stripped acoustic version of the Monkeys' hit which he actually penned), the lilting Jazzy "Love Song", "Hallelujah" (drawing on the chorus for emphasis), "A Song For You" (just piano and sax accompany him), and "Yesterday".

Sometimes less is more as this CD shows.