Neil Diamond - Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!
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Artist: Neil DiamondEdition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2002-03-26
Music Label: Mca
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Two-Bit Manchild
- A Modern Day Version Of Love
- Honey-Drippin' Times
- The Pot Smoker's Song
- Brooklyn Roads
- Shilo
- Sunday Sun
- Holiday Inn Blues
- Practically Newborn
- Knackelflerg
- Merry-Go-Round
- Broad Old Woman (6 A.M. Insanity)
- Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show
- Dig In
- River Runs, New Grown Plums
- Juliet
- Long Gone
- And The Grass Won't Pay No Mind
- Glory Road
- Deep In The Morning
- If I Never Knew Your Name
- Memphis Streets
- You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hangin' Round Your Face
- Hurtin' You Don't Come Easy
- Sweet Caroline
- Everybody's Talkin'
- Mr. Bojangles
- Smokey Lady
- Holly Holy
- Both Sides Now
- And The Singer Sings His Songs
- Ain't No Way
- New York Boy
- Until It's Time For You To Go
- Cracklin' Rosie
- Free Life
- Coldwater Morning
- Done Too Soon
- He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
- Childsong
- I Am The Lion
- Madrigal
- Soolaimon
- Missa
- African Suite
- Childsong (Reprise)
- I Am... I Said
- The Last Thing On My Mind
- Husbands And Wives
- Chelsea Morning
- Crunchy Granola Suite
- Stones
- If You Go Away
- Suzanne
- I Think It's Gonna Rain Today
- I Am... I Said (Reprise)
- Song Sung Blue
- Porcupine Pie
- High Rolling Man
- Canta Libre
- Captain Sunshine
- Play Me
- Gitchy Goomy
- Walk On Water
- Theme
- Prelude In E Major
- Morningside
- Lordy
- Kentucky Woman
- Thank The Lord For The Night Time
- Solitary Man
- Cherry, Cherry (Single Version)
- Red, Red Wine
- Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
Music reviews of Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!
Music Review: Diamond's six studio albums for Uni plus live tracks with so-so remastered sound
Rating: 3 Stars
Neil Diamond signed with Uni for more artistic freedom and stronger promotional support after his short stint at Bang Records. Diamond already had a couple of hits to show forhis efforts but in a disagreement over the song "Shilo" (which Diamond wanted as his next single), Diamond left the label after the death of founder Bert Berns. "Play Me: The Uni Studio Recordings...Plus" takes all of Diamond's albums and puts them in chronological order on a three CD set that also features bonus live tracks from his two live albums. The sound isn't as good as I had hoped--Eric Labson has remastered these using compression and making the songs louder than necessary squeezing the life out of the recordings in the process but I have heard worse. The sound will be passable to most folks and really won't bother you unless you're an audiophile.
The next six studio albums that Diamond recorded were wide ranging and varied. Most of the albums hold up remarkably well although there are flaws such as the horrendous "The Pot Smoker's Song" (what WAS Neil thinking?), "Knackelflerg" (which would have sounded out-of-place on everything that Diamond did) and "You're So Sweet Horseflies Keep Hangin' 'Round Your Face" but on the whole the originals mixed with the covers work quite well.
Diamond's first two albums for Uni "Velvet Gloves and Spit" and "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" had a number of strong songs including "Brooklyn Roads", "Shilo" (which if I recall correctly wasn't on the original album but on a reissued version a couple of years later)and the title track (along with "Sweet Caroline" which was added to the album a year later becoming a hit). The latter album allowed Diamond to incorporate his love of gosepl music into a diverse collection of strong songs. We also get the rare b-side "Broad Old Woman(6 A.M. Insanity)" here.
Diamond followed these two up with "Touching You, "Touching Me" and "Tap Root Manuscript" two of his strongest albums for the label. The former had a fair amount of covers but also had one of Diamond's best songs "Holly Holy" where Diamond turned a traditional love song on its head by melding with a melody/arrangement that made it sound almost like a religious gospel song. "Tap Root" had Diamond's song cycle that featured the influence of African music and imagery (over two decades before Paul Simon tapped similar influences)and the brilliant hit singles "Cracklin' Rosie" and "Free Life".
Diamond's last two albums for the label were also quite enjoyable with "Stones" mixing Diamond originals like the confessional songwriting of "I Am...I Said" (which some fans love and some folks thing is a pretentious mess written when Diamond felt he blew an audition to play Lenny Bruce in a movie)along with covers of Leonard Cohen ("Suzanne") and Randy Newman ("I Think It's Gonna' Rain Today")that fit in easily with the original songs. "Moods" may have been a tad less consisten but it had treasures in the form of "PLlay me", "Walk on Water", the charming rocking "High Rolling Man" and "Morningside" as well as the hit single "Song Sung Blue".
This three CD set closes out with seven tracks representing earlier hits he had on Bang and/or popular songs from Diamond's impressive songwriting catalog. The live tracks are pulled from "Gold" and "Hot August Night" the latter the two album set that Diamond recorded before going to Columbia Records.
The flaws of the set are many--the albums are broken up oddly over the three CD set with, for example, some songs that were the second or third track appearing as the first on another CD. This does break up the flow of the original albums. Also, the mastering is loud and compressed which robs the original recordings of much of their rich warmth and dynamic range.
If the fact that this isn't the best sounding collection doesn't bother you, this is the most economical way to get these albums and the only place to find "Broad Old Woman" that I know of right now. The booklet is informative with a good overview of each album and credits for each one (although they are all lumped together on the last page and credits for those guest vocalists often aren't mentioned at all).
I'd give this collection 3 to 4 stars for the albums themselves (as the quality varies)and the mastering 2 stars. Personally, I'd go with "Glory Road" if you want the bulk of his singles and a few album tracks from the same time frame as it nicely captures the hits and highlights with better sound quality.
Description of Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.The seven studio albums Neil Diamond recorded for Uni Records between 1968 and 1972 are all collected on the three-disc collection Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings. And it's quite a revelation to listen to them front to back in succession like this, as these records highlight the most dramatic artistic evolution in Diamond's career. Diamond was no neophyte when he signed with Uni in '68; he'd already penned million-sellers like "I'm a Believer" and "Cherry Cherry." But he was still coming into his own as a solo artist, and albums like Velvet Gloves and Spit and Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show are wildly erratic, even for an artist renown for producing uneven albums. That said, there are countless life-affirming, goose-bump-inducing, campy, and brilliant songs on this collection. And one could easily make the argument that they're somehow made more likable--more human, in a way--when heard in their original context, bookended by unsuccessful experiments such as "The Pot Smoker's Song" and "I Am the Lion." This may not be the single Neil Diamond collection to get, but it surely should be the second or third one you buy. --Mike McGonigal
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