Aug 19 AOTD: Neil Diamond - Moods

Aug 19 AOTD: Neil Diamond - Moods



Hey I can't find a way to a get you tune link to work - here's a link from Spotify - but you still have to log in to your own spotify account to hear the whole album - YOU SHOULD JUST OWN IT, PEOPLE: <iframe src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/37n9Egkr4udITqxPb4UdGt" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media"></iframe>


OK - I know Diamond is belittled by critics and serious music fans, but to deny him or to ignore any of his several excellent albums would be to deny my own self, my true music-loving, silly, be-bopping personality.  I must submit.  And here's one of the greatest albums he made with enough diverse styles to satisfy any one willing to just let go and indulge.  It's an album about music, sung by a man who knows and loves music. 

There are pop songs like "Song Sung Blue" and "Play Me" that speak to just how entwined we are with songs.  There are the nonsensical lyrics of "Porcupine Pie" and "Gitchy Goomy," where anyone of any age can easily sing along.  The album is a follow up to Tap Root Manuscript, where Diamond merged African rhythms and pop sensibilities, and you can hear a refrain of that marriage in "Walk on Water." 

You want a little honky tonk country and gospel, check out the spritely "High Rolling Man."

But the album's best moments revel in the sonorous warmth of Diamond's baritone - sometimes liquid, sometimes vibrato. He reaches deep into his heart, the depths of soul to deliver "Cante Libre" and "Captain Sunshine," both arriving at the midway point in the album, giving it its heart.

My mom and I did not have many great moments, but when "The Jazz Singer" came out, I was in 8th grade I believe, and "America" had me dancing in the kitchen. She walked in - I expected her to start yelling at me.  Instead she grabbed my hands, half embraced me, and began dancing with me - a rare moment in an otherwise volatile home.  That's the power of Neil Diamond.

This AOTD is dedicated to everyone of us who embraces a guilty pleasure as a REAL pleasure.