To the OP, I say what I say whenever anyone asks a question like this: What answer could we give that would make so say, “OHHHHH… NOW I get it!” Has anyone EVER explained to you, satisfactorily, why an artist (or book or movie or play) that you hate is actually brilliant?
I like Neil Diamond. Oh, I concede that there’s a certain hokum/cheese factor that you have to endure at a Neil Diamond concert (someone once said that watching Neil Diamond perform live is like watching your inebriated uncle trying to sing karaoke!). But in the end, it all comes down to the songs. You either like them or you don’t. I happen to like a LOT of Neil’s songs. Very few other people have written as many good songs.
I’ve been to many concerts by groups or artists who only have 3 or 4 good songs. If you’ve been in that position, you know how dull that can get. Neil Diamond is one of the few artists I know of who can do a 2 hour set in which EVERY song is a good one, and when it’s all over, you can still think of at least a half dozen other songs you wish he’d played.
Look, I’m more than a little indifferent about Neil Diamond and his body of work; however, if he were a complete waste of space, then Robbie Robertson wouldn’t have asked him to play with The Band at The Last Waltz.
Let me be clear, my question is not ‘why does he suck,’ 'cause I don’t think that, but listening to much of his stuff, it just seems so… I don’t know, soulless, unspirited.
I was just told, though, that I need to get his live album and listen to it.
mr diamond has appeal to the younger ones because some of his songs are a bit angsty. when you are going through that “no one understands me,” " i am alone here," phase, “i am i said” speaks to you. you think, ahhhh neil knows, the poor man is talking to chairs, my love can save him.
he appeals to the older ones because they grew up with him. they relive prom moments, young first love moments.
and because his music is everywhere many people will listen and join in the neil diamond love.
best join in, diamond fans can get rather scary if they think you are mocking mr diamond. just ask dave barry.
Assuming this is the same live album my brother purchased many years ago, you’ll be treated to the sound of Neil screaming his lyrics.
Have a listen to Tap Root Manuscript instead.
There are Neil Diamond songs that I love (Sweet Caroline, Done Too Soon, Beautiful Noise) and Neil Diamond songs that I hate (Heartlight). Some of it is nostalgic - he was one of the artists we listened to on long car trips when I was a kid, and some of it is because he just writes rockin’ songs.
One major reason why we come around to appreciating artist we formerly may have hated / despised / burned in effigy. Most of the time, their work comes out at the same time as a lot of other musicians whose works truly bite the wax tadpole.
Time goes on. The clones all fall away, leaving behind on the high tide of pop culture the diamonds that can shine on their own.
This way, I can listen to Abba – yanked from the wall-to-wall disco that swamped radio back then – and appreciate their true worth. I’m discovering the same reaction to John Denver and even – god help me for admitting this – Journey.
It’s no sin to appreciate a well-made song. Or, as Noel Coward put it: “Strange how potent cheap music is.”
I went to a showing of The Last Waltz (The Band’s final concert) last year in a theatre celebrating the film’s rerelease. I figured I’d use the part where Neil Diamond joined them as a bathroom break, and it turned out I wasn’t alone, as a sizable chunk of the audience was doing the same thing. There were lines.
The same thing happened for Jodi Mitchell fifteen minutes later…
I was watching an MTV Pop-Up Movie (like Pop-up videos, only with movies, y’know). It was the story of The Monkees. One of the pop-ups said that Bob Dylan was instrumental in Diamond becoming a performer; it would seem that prior to Dylan’s popularity, Diamond didn’t think he was good looking enough, or have a good enough voice to record his own stuff, so he just wrote it for other folks. Then, along comes Dylan, and Diamond says to himself, “Well, I’m better looking than that guy, and I carry a tune better!”, and started recording his own stuff.
Hubby and I saw him in concert about 10 years ago (of course, we’re old fogies; we’ve also seen James Taylor, but, whaddayagonnado?), and both thoroughly enjoyed it!
I think Neil Diamond is catchy. I also liked the SNL “Storytellers” skit with Will Ferrell. There was one line, I can’t remember it exactly, but the Sports Guy mentioned it in a column; Diamond/Ferrell makes a comment about killing a drifter in Vegas so he could get an erection. Funny stuff!
The boat that I row won’t cross no ocean
The boat that I row won’t get me there soon
But I got the lovin’ if you’ve got the notion
The boat that I row’s big enough for two
That’s me and you
And my favorite verse from the same song:
There ain’t a man alive can tell me what to say
I choose my own side and I like it that way
I don’t worry ‘bout all the things that I’m not
There’s only one thing that I want I ain’t got
You know that I’m talkin’ about you, baby…
Couple that with tamborine in all the right places - how can you not love that attitude?
Female Neil Diamond fans everywhere are grateful for that, corndog man.
