Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond may not have performed at this year's Coachella, but he can be credited with one of the festival's enduring memories. When his feel good, sing-along anthem "Sweet Caroline" ended after being pumped through the Sahara Tent sound system prior to the festival-closing, post-Roger Waters set by DJ sensations Justice, the seated crowd (most of whom were young enough to be Diamond's grandchildren) rose to their feet and continued singing the song in unison. It may not have been a performance that would have made the judges on American Idol proud, but it was the type of moment that really only happens at Coachella…And Home Before Dark is the type of album that will increase Diamond's cool quotient just enough to make him Coachella-viable in 2009. That can be credited to Rick Rubin. While the duo first worked together on 12 Songs in 2005, the new release settles into a comfort zone far more natural and relaxed than their previous work together.

This isn't shiny, happy, poppy Neil Diamond, it is Neil Diamond with a ragged depth and rugged texture. Much like Rubin transformed the man in black into a John Wayne-like musical hero for a new generation, the stripped down and acoustic guitar and piano-paced Home Before Dark elevates Diamond's sound to the darker stature of a folk-rock icon, his lyrical missives delving further than any musings in his polyester pants and sequined shirt catalog. Consider lead single "Pretty Amazing Grace" the transitional step into the shadows, as it is closer than anything from the album will come to sounding at home amidst a Diamond greatest hits collection. Even at that, it still sounds more Cat Stevens-cum-Yusuf Islam than it does "Cracklin' Rosie." "Don't Go There" is stark and absolute, while "Slow It Down" is firm and resolute, sung by a voice of experienced reason. In an album of standouts, "One More Bite Of The Apple" might be the tallest, a willowing voice of wisdom so resounding it echoes like a classic upon first listen. And through it all, Diamond's classic warmth emits a worn and radiant glow.

Rick Rubin took Johnny Cash and elevated him from country icon to mainstream sensation. Neil Diamond is already a mainstream icon; Rick Rubin stripped away the polish and exposed the lines in Diamond’s face, the weather in his voice, and the raw artistic genius at the core of the superstar sheen. "Home Before Dark" unearths the Diamond in the rough, and the results are one of the most engaging bodies of work of an already storied career.

—Paul Gargano
05.07.08