Customer Reviews

Neil Diamond: Velvet Gloves & Spit

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is it folks. One of the greatest Neil Diamond albums. It has it all. The laughter, the sorrow, all jam-packed onto one cd at a discount bargain basement price. 'Honey-dripping times' is a nostalgic little ditty about the sweeter moments in life. 'Knackelflerg' is a sped-up love ballad twirling around this carousel we call Life. And 'Holiday Inn Blues' captures the essence of the other side of travelling this great land of ours; leaving the romanticism aside, and getting into the true grit of what being a travelling modern-day minstrel is all about. Buy it and weep.

This is one of Neil Diamond's earliest albums. Never did understand what the title was all about. It's an interesting album because you don't find most of these songs on other Neil Diamond albums. Brooklyn Roads is a nostalgic piece about childhood that I have always loved and I think one of his best songs. The Pot Smoker's Song is rather dated and a bit odd with interviews interspersed throughout. I think this album shows just what a good singer Diamond was even at the start of his career, which has spanned 4 decades. Shiloh was a fairly big hit. This is not just for completists; it's an enjoyable album for anyone who likes Diamond's music.

Neil's first UNI release, (now on MCA)bolts out of the gate
with three strong tunes, Two Bit Manchild, Modern Day Version
of Love and the overlooked Honeydrippin Times. After the awful
Potsmokers Song, 2 great wellknown tunes follow, Brooklyn Roads
and Shilo, which Neil recorded previously at Bang records and then re-recorded here for UNI. Then the good track Sunday Sun is next. However after Sunday Sun the rest of the album sounds dated, boring and forgetable. This album is worth having though and is a great gap filler and worth buying, just should not be a priority

This is really a great solid effort by Neil Diamond. I think some of your reviewers have kind of bad taste. This is the only album that you will find "The Pot Smoker's Song", as far as I know. It's a hoot, and should be in every one's collection. The songs "Two-Bit Man Child", "Brooklyn Roads", and the great "Shiloh" can't be beat. This is a outrageously underated album, and everyone should have this great cd in their Neil Diamond collection!!!

This was the album that began to close out the commercial clap-and-strum type hits of Neil Diamond's earlier style. It still contains a few songs of that style, including "Two-Bit Manchild" with an appealing riff, and "Holiday Inn Blues" with a Donovan type sound, but begins to move into deeper and more personal directions, especially with the excellent "Brooklyn Roads," which is soft but beautiful. "The Pot Smokers Song" is a lousy piece of anti-drug propaganda that doesn't belong here at all. The album's decent overall, and worth getting for its non-hit songs.

This is an all-out, well written and well composed effort by Mr. Neil Diamond. This is a world-class superstar who continues to delight, as well as entertain his audiences for almost 35 years. "Velvet Gloves And Spit" is a wonderful collection of songs pleasing to the senses. "A Modern Day Version Of Love" is as smooth as silk, while "Honey Drippin' Times" is as refreshing as an ice cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. "Brooklyn Roads" is reminiscent of the happy, carefree days of childhood, and "Knackelflerg" wreaks of that "love-bitten, head-in-the clouds" sensibility. "Merry-Go-Round" speaks about the way of the world, and "Holiday Inn Blues" is a laugh. The only down side of this CD is the naive "Pot Smoker's Song", although the interviews here are a nice, personal touch with thought-provoking insight. The lyrics throughout the CD will really make you stop and think. I really like that cover! This is one CD worth owning. You'll find yourself lstening to it over and over!

This is a fun album to have-- not a die-hard ND fan, but this gives you Shiloh, Brooklyn Roads, and that ridiculous Pot-Smoker's Song. Most of all, however, this album contains a hidden gem, "Practically Newborn", which for my tastes, rivals Shiloh as a pop-single. The instrumentation is spare but awesome. The bass-lines remind me of Fugazi (you heard me).

Pick up this and Rainbows, and you've got the ND essentials for probably $15 total.