Neil Diamond - Home Before Dark

Home Before Dark is the long awaited new album from legendary artist Neil Diamond. Home Before Dark was produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin who also produced Neil's critically acclaimed 12 Songs.


Remarkably Home Before Dark is the first US chart topping album of Neil Diamond's forty year career. It appears to repeat the formula behind 2006's acclaimed 12 Songs--relatively understated arrangements and a subtle Rick Rubin production. But Diamond, though sixty-seven years old and the oldest recipient of a Number One so far, is no Johnny Cash, turning his unique voice to some well chosen contemporary material. Instead Home Before Dark is a collection of new Diamond songs, and though they might not match the boomers in his back catalogue they are hardly stripped back. These are songs designed to fill large venues alongside the showstoppers in Diamond's still energetic live show. "Pretty Amazing Grace" is in the great tradition of Diamond songs that defy their corniness with sheer catchiness, as is "One More Bite of the Apple" while "Don't Go There" features bracing backing vocals and a delightfully dated wobbly guitar hook. The duet with Natalie Maines, "Another Day (That Time Forgot)", would fit comfortably on American country radio while "The Power of Two" sounds like another hit in waiting. In fact this is more a conventional Diamond collection than a Rick Rubin production, dominated by lightly understated country rock arrangements played by a crack team including Smokey Hormel, Heartbreakers Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell and the usually experimental Matt Sweeney. This is a charming and consistently solid set, though Home Before Dark does lack the unexpected intensity that made 12 Songs stand out so. -—Steve Jelbert

Disc 1:

1. If I Don't See You Again
2. Pretty Amazing Grace
3. Don't Go There
4. Another Day (That Time Forgot) Neil Diamond with Natalie Maines
5. One More Bite Of The Apple
6. Forgotten
7. Act Like A Man
8. Whose Hands Are These
9. No Words
10. The Power Of Two
11. Slow It Down
12. Home Before Dark
13. Without Her
14. Make You Feel My Love

Disc 2:

1. Pretty Amazing Grace (Video)
2. If I Don't See You Again (Video)
3. Forgotten (Video)
4. The Boxer (Video)