Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! [Box set]

Neil Diamond | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 26, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Mca
• ASIN: B0000639AP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,921 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The seven studio albums Neil Diamond recorded for Uni Records between 1968 and 1972 are all collected on the three-disc collection Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings. And it's quite a revelation to listen to them front to back in succession like this, as these records highlight the most dramatic artistic evolution in Diamond's career. Diamond was no neophyte when he signed with Uni in '68; he'd already penned million-sellers like "I'm a Believer" and "Cherry Cherry." But he was still coming into his own as a solo artist, and albums like Velvet Gloves and Spit and Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show are wildly erratic, even for an artist renown for producing uneven albums. That said, there are countless life-affirming, goose-bump-inducing, campy, and brilliant songs on this collection. And one could easily make the argument that they're somehow made more likable--more human, in a way--when heard in their original context, bookended by unsuccessful experiments such as "The Pot Smoker's Song" and "I Am the Lion." This may not be the single Neil Diamond collection to get, but it surely should be the second or third one you buy. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comprehensive review of Diamond's maturation, August 7, 2002

By 

Jon Eric Davidson (Redmond, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! (Audio CD)

As one reviewer already noted, there have been numerous variations of box sets containing the work of Neil Diamond's Uni/MCA years. But finally, with "Play Me...", they finally compiled it in the ideal way: complete, chronologically, and digitally remastered. The end result is an enjoyable, if slightly uneven, collection that really demonstrates Mr. Diamond's maturation into one of the seminal American singer-songwriters.

Mr. Diamond had already enjoyed success on the pop charts in the late 1960's with "Solitary Man", "Cherry Cherry" and other hits. But his move to the Uni label was not so much a move to "reinvent" himself as it was to expand and refine his musical horizons. Disc One of this set - containing the albums "Velvet Gloves and Spit", "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show", and part of "Touching You, Touching Me" - shows the first awkward steps. There are probably more misses here than hits, so you may find yourself skipping tracks. It does include a humorous look into the studio with "Broad Old Woman (6 AM Insanity)", but in listening to this disc, you can begin to hear the maturation and transition of Neil Diamond in the tunes and lyrics. By the time the CD hits "Sweet Caroline", most of the "Cherry Cherry" sound is gone and a different kind of pop sound - the unique "Neil Diamond sound" that doesn't fit in any particular musical genre - is starting to form.

Disc Two finishes off "Touching You Touching Me", then rolls into "Tap Root Manuscript" (an underrated album in the Diamond discography), and the beginning of "Stones". This disc shows the maturation nearly complete, as you listen to the awesome "Holly Holy", the hit and concert staple "Cracklin' Rosie", the African experimentation of the remainder of "Tap Root Manuscript", and the dynamic introspection of "I Am, I Said".

By the time the listener reaches Disc Three, the maturation is very much complete, and the new "Neil Diamond sound" is in full effect. The lyrics are as deep, powerful, and emotionally touching, as are the tunes, which are now including elegant acoustic guitars, pianos, and strings. As this disc rolls through the last part of "Stones" and the tracks from "Moods", the listener gets to hear the foundation for "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", which - while not included on this set - became one of the seminal albums in Mr. Diamond's career. The add-on live tracks at the end of this disc are largely unnecessary, and don't add anything particularly to the larger collection.

Throughout all three discs, the digital remastering of these songs is remarkable. It is a audio treasure to hear even more of the range of the rich music contained in this collection. This alone might draw the die-hard Neil Diamond fan to buying this set.

One reviewer notes this demonstrates Mr. Diamond as more of a singles artist than an album's artist. That is debatable; while you could make a case to that effect simply from this box set, the breadth of Mr. Diamond's career has shown many examples of his ability to create powerful albums (e.g., "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", "Beautiful Noise", and "The Jazz Singer"). What listeners should take from this collection is what I have described here: the maturation of Neil Diamond as a singer-songwriter. Additionally, there is the simpler fact that with this one inexpensive purchase, you'll get six albums in one package.

I wholeheartedly recommend this collection to Neil Diamond fans or those just discovering and/or becoming a fan of his music. The average listener may not appreciate it as much, despite the fact that there is some very good music to be found here.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars +1/2 - Complete collection of Diamond's fruitful middle period, July 17, 2002

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! (Audio CD)

Following his early success as a songwriter ("I'm a Believer") and recording artist for Bang Records ("Solitary Man" "Cherry Cherry" "Girl You'll Be a Woman Now" "Thank the Lord for the Nighttime" "Kentucky Woman") Diamond spent five fruitful years on the Uni label. MCA's triple-disc set collects all six studio albums from this 1968-72 period, plus non-LP singles and a handful of cuts from two contemporaneous live albums. It's an exhaustive (and, at times, exhausting) treatment that shows Diamond a superb singles artist and inconsistent album auteur.

His Uni debut, "Velvet Gloves and Spit" placed three singles onto the lower rungs of the chart (including the fine "Two-Bit Manchild" and autobiographical "Brooklyn Roads"), but was otherwise commercially stillborn. The title cut of the follow-up LP, "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" cracked the top-40, and subsequent chart-toppers, "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Song Sung Blue," led a successful run at the top-20.

Diamond's albums mix lower-charting singles, oddball experiments and, ironically for such a gifted songwriter, covers of contemporary composers. His originals are canny, hook-filled combinations of folk, rock, country, gospel and soul. In between the hits and misses are numerous little-known gems, including the blues of "Dig In," the shuffling soul of "Free Life," and a a surprisingly effective cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."

The six albums draw an arc of growing sophistication, trading the free-spirited pop found on the earlier releases for increasingly consistent balladry. It's a compelling collection, augmented by live recordings of his Bang hits, handsome photos, a detailed discography and Robyn Flans' over-the-top liner notes ("His vocals stir the listeners' dormant emotions with his passionate delivery of a style that belongs only to him"). Perhaps not for beginners, but it's a bargain for anyone interested in getting beyond the well-worn hits.

4-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a winner, July 1, 2008

By 

MikeP5877 (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! (Audio CD)

I love each of Neil's six Uni studio albums tremendously and this set could have been great but alas it was not meant to be.

The sound quality is harsh and super compressed. There is no space at all to let the music breathe. These albums were very dynamic and warm to begin with and much of that is lost on the Play Me set.

Sequencing - the ideal sequencing would have been to place two complete albums on each disc, with the leftover space to be used for the single mixes that have not yet been released on CD (the mono mix of Brother Love's for example). Instead, they filled up each disc to the max, forcing one to change discs in the middle of an album side which totally breaks up the flow. I know one can burn these to CD-R to get whatever sequencing they like, but there was absolutely no reason for the compliers to do this.

No gaps between songs - one song starts almost immediately after the other. This is completely pointless. Like most albums, the original Uni albums had a few seconds of silence between the songs.

Disc 3 indexing - most of the songs on disc 3 chop off the first split-second of the song if you scan from track to track. If you play the disc straight through, it's not a problem.

Stones - the first few seconds of "Stones" (the song) are completely missing. Unacceptable.

Extra material - instead of filling up the remaining space on disc 3 with live songs from Gold and Hot August Night, it would have been much more preferable to give us the mono single mixes that have not yet seen the light of day on CD.