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12 Songs
by Neil Diamond
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Media Type: Audio CD
Format: Enhanced
Release Date: November 08. 2005
Label: Sony
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 5676
Average Customer Rating: 
UPC: 828767750828
List price: $18.97
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Showing page 1 of 19
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Reviews
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 12 songs will fill your heart with good feelings!, May 12, 2008
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just get this cd without a second thought, you'll be happy you did. everyone in my family loved it, from young to old and every age in between. these are 12 of the most beautiful songs neil has recorded ever.
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Goodbye Girdles & Spangles!, May 2, 2008
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I liked Neil Diamond for a few years in the late 60s and early 70s but found him incredibly un-hip and almost cringeworthy during the 80s and 90s. Well, color me ashamed of my feelings becuase I picked up this CD at a serious discount a few days ago and have played it almost non-stop since then. This is probably the greatest "makeover" of a mainstream pop/rock star that I've ever heard. Each song is precise, touching, and most importantly without distracting frills. I urge you to listen to it.
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 Not the Neil Diamond I Expected, April 23, 2008
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I have been a Neil Diamond fan since the late 1960's and have purchased all Neil's albums, but for the first time I am disappointed; this is one album I wish I had not bought.
Neil's musical career as a top-100 charting singer faded away in the mid-1980's, as the popular music genre changed. Having been away from making records for so long, I expected something in the order of "Beautiful Noise", his brilliant remembrance of his years on Tin-Pan Alley put to music. Neil's first works in the 1960's were a mixture of love-ballads with a lively lead guitar and some background instrumentation. As he peaked in popularity in the mid-70's his sound transformed into a lush mixture of strings, guitar, piano, and percussion, with his voice clear and strong leading the way. I believe this is the sound most Diamond fans want to hear.
Unfortunately, the Neil Diamond of this album has none of the positive atributes of the mid-70's Diamond. He chops his vocal intonation into curt sentences instead of soaring with his once-stong vibrato. Hearing Diamond now, the characteristic voice is still there, but the smooth strong voice that could sustain a note is gone. Diamond vocalizes much like Johnny Cash did in his American Recordings. Cash was known all his career as a singer who sang with words, almost like telling a story. However, Neil Diamond has been a crooner all of his career, and to hear him sing in the stark manner on this album left me feeling uninspired and disappointed, perhaps even cheated. Diamond fans will recall the vivid inspiring uplifting instumental piece that preceeded his hit song "Headed For The Future". There are no instrumentals in this album. It is simply Diamond and his guitar. I thought the songs were too slow, (boring almost comes to mind), had little energy, and were tedious to listen to. How I wish Neil had been inspired to put together a mix of love-ballads with upbeat inspiring songs as well. I truly miss the strings and percussion that used to mark Diamond's music as distictly superior to the norm.
I realize that the critics hail this album as a great comeback success for Diamond, but I cannot agree with their assessment. Rick Rubin did wonders for Johnny Cash, but fell short with Neil Diamond. I love Neil Diamond and his music, but I cannot give this album a thumb's up recommendation. Perhaps this is why you can purchase the album on Amazon (used) for less than a dollar.
I hope Neil realizes what his fans want to hear and returns to the lush strings of his prime. However, I wonder if Diamond still has the pipes to pull off a truly great album again? The fact that he does not hold notes in this album leads me to believe he has perhaps lost his once great and distinctive voice.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig (Neil Diamond Fan forever)
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12 Songs is the Best, February 13, 2008
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To me this is one of Neil Diamonds's best ever CDs. I love each song and have played the CD countless times. The songs are Diamond himself. No one could write as he does. The songs are catchy and melodious. They demonstrate a wide range of emotions, from sad to 'delirious.' You can play them in your head for hours and not get bored. They seem to talk to you; they are very personal, one-on-one. I love this product!
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Dissapointing to say the least..., December 5, 2007
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After listening to this album several times and thinking about it a lot, I have finally realized why I just don't like it. At all. I like Neil Diamond's music because normally it is upbeat and optimistic. The songs on this album (except for Delirious Love with Brian Wilson, which is the one song I liked) are all depressing. And the minimalist arrangements just add to the dreariness. Where is the percussion? Where are the strings? Where is the Neil I used to know and love?
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Reviews
