Customer Reviews

The Movie Album - As Time Goes By

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

As you can tell by my reviewer name, I am of the baby boomer generation. The Who, The Stones, The Beatles, and the Zep. I'll always have a place in my heart for them. And then there's Neil Diamond. His music was always familiar and comforting. His voice always happily recognizable, and his style unique.
On "The Movie Album", he gives us six decades of films most memorable songs. His still same comforting familiar voice combined with an 80 piece Orchestra, led by Elmer Bernstein, who knows a thing or two about movie music(Remeber "The Magnificent Seven")puts Diamond in a new class.In a switch from his regular upbeat soft rock, he dares to do new renditions of songs done magnifcently by The Beatles,Elton John,Doris Day,Elvis Presley, and even Sinatra.Just to mention a few,theres "As Time Goes By","My Heart Will Go On",and"The Way You Look Tonight".(For a Complete list of songs, see the buying info).He and the orchestra are wonderful together. He pays homage to all these greats.

I am a big film fan(most of my reviews are DVDs), and these songs bring back some great memories.If you need something to put you, (or someone you know), "in the mood", or just want to hear Neil's great voice to some familiar tunes,to help get you through the humdrum of the day...This is it!
It is a two disc album, 20 songs in all, and comes with a booklet,with all the credits, pictures of the recording sessions,and a short letter from Neil Diamond.Sounds Great!
Years ago I had a crush on this legend, now that I'm older and wiser I KNOW it's Love!....Enjoy....Laurie

I am a Neil Diamond freak. I've bought his records and gone to his concerts ever since 1972.

This CD compilation promised much. Great songs, Great conductor, Great singer.

Regrettably the sum of the parts is less than it should be.

The orchestra and arrangements are utterly sumptuous. Rich doesn't describe the sensual nature of the music that Bernstein coaxes from this ad-hoc orchestra.

It took me some time to work out what was wrong (at least for me). What should be a tour-de-force simply failed to excite me. And the principal reason was the extremely ponderous, leaden and slow pace of Diamond's interpretations. His performance on this CD does not display the vocal skills and excitement that have kept him at the top for 35 years.

The pace of the delivery is simply too slow. It gives time for all the flaws in Diamond's voice to come to the fore. I felt that I wanted to wind him up a bit. It is as though the batteries that power him have run flat. In fact the very best part of this album, for me, is the orchestral link between Unchained Melody and Can You Feel The Love Tonight. For some reason it brings me out in goosebumps!

Ironically, the slow delivery gives the orchestra all the time in the world to display its skills.

So, I was disappointed, but like any Diamond freak, I just had to add this CD set to my collection.

I listened to portions of the songs ahead of time, thought I would like the CD. Don't listen to the CD while driving, it will put you to sleep. I guess I should listen to it at bedtime since I am stuck with it.

With this release, Neil Diamond could be starting to position himself as the next Tony Bennett. He has conquered rock and always had an easy listening side. It stands to reason that he would begin to move towards a mellow, mature sound as the next logical step in his long and successful career. I enjoy this album every time I play it.

This could have been great but somewhere along the way Neil Diamond must have lost it. He's got a great voice and has at least occasionally interpreted other writers' material quite well before. There are only two tracks that I consider as being up to Diamond standard: "As Time Goes By" and "Windmills of Your Mind". The other 18 tracks all sound dull and uninspired, as if ND wasn't really in to the songs when recording them.

And what really upset me is that the original 2 CD release could have easily fit on one disc as the total combined playing time is just a little over 60 minutes.

Thirty four years ago Neil brings us "Solitarie man","Shilo" and an interminable list of great tunes.Now he takes a great risk recording an album with a collection of movie's favourites that perhaps makes some people shake their heads in disaproval.But he's still a powerfull singer and his voice preserves all its bright and tenderness,specially in themes like "Ebb tide","The windmills...","Moon river" and "Can't help fallin' in love".Diamond is a great showman and he takes his audience (specialy the femenine ones)to a very particular "nirvana".The Bernstein arranges are,in most of the cases,very pleasent ones.

This is, hands down, the worst album of Neil Diamond's career. What's made Neil Diamond's music so appealing is that he can be the world's greatest crooner, while next delivering a Jim Morrison/James Brown Rock vocal on the next track. It's always been this tremendous contrast and variation that audiences are used to hearing when they see him in concert.

What you get here, however, is something that sounds more like someone doing a PARODY or CARICATURE of Neil Diamond, intentionally slowing down the arrangements to a slow crawl while singing melodramatically to each. The result? An absolutely horrendous album, and a huge insult to Diamond fans such as myself.

I agree with many other reviewers here that Diamond really missed the mark with this project, going without percussion or, it appears, any sense of what his "Neil Diamond" sound is. Next time, trust your own instincts Neil and get some drums behind you...along with the same musicians you perform live with.

Why not an album of classic rock covers? That would certainly be more fitting for a singer whose much more "Doors" than "Manilow." DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ALBUM.

I love Neil Diamond's music as much as the next fan, but this album is just lacking. All the songs are slow. I mean Tony Bennett slow. Too Slow. I can't even force myself to listen to the whole album. it's painful to see a master go so low. I mean Slow! arrgggg

His voice is as gorgeous as always, but the tempo drags on nearly every song. Some things should just be left to Sinatra ...

It is close between "Up on the Roof" and this thing. "The Movie Album "just plain stinks. I sense Neil had this one forced on him by the record company.