product image
product image preview

The Very Best of Neil Diamond

15.69

Save 17%

The Very Best of Neil Diamond

4.8

Highest ranking 101

13 comments

$15.69

Save 17%

Related products

Reviews From
avatar

Marty WekserReviewed in the United States on December 31, 2011

Great song selection - enjoyable sequencing - excellent mastering. First the song selection. On this CD are all the biggest chart hits recorded for Bang (which never sounded better than they do here), seven of the best Uni singles, the three singles from "The Jazz Singer" originally on Capitol but now owned by Sony and lastly several nice tracks although not the biggest chart hits from his Columbia years including the duet with Barbra Streisand "You Don't Bring Me Flowers". It should be noted that this CD is released by Sony and there are probably a maximum number of tracks Universal was willing to license out, in this case 1/3 of the tracks (seven out of 23). So for those who complain that songs like "Brooklyn Roads", "Stones", "He Ain't Heavy..." and lesser hit singles are omitted, it's simply that this is a single CD offering a representative selection of recordings from all of Neil's label affiliations and it is offered at a fairly good price point for catalog product. For a collection of exclusively Uni tracks (studio and live), there are many current catalog CDs from which to choose. Again, this CD is more of an overview of the artist's career. The tracks are programmed without regard for the release date or the original label, meaning that the songs are simply sequenced in an enjoyable playing order. If you are a big Neil Diamond fan and enjoy all the music from his career spanning many years, then you'll just like to start with track one and listen through the final track #23. Kudos to Sam Cole and Bernie Becker who put together the compilation and programmed the playing order. Lastly, and for me most important, the mastering by Bernie Becker is spot on perfect. Anyone who has done CD mastering (I have) will tell you that the biggest challenge in mastering a CD with songs recorded over a period of years for different labels, done in many different recording studios with different engineers and producers and then having to combine mono and stereo tracks throughout the entire CD is an awesome task. Getting the final sound (levels and equalization) to be consistent from track to track is the assignment for those relatively small handful of dedicated mastering engineers like Bernie Becker who will invest the necessary time to get the final result as perfect as is possible. For those not aware, professional studio mastering time is billed by the hour and it DOES get expensive. So in this day and age when most music is downloaded online from sources of varying quality, it's nice to see that there was an adequate budget from Sony Legacy to have an excellent mastering job done here for a retail CD product utilizing the best quality analog source tapes from the vaults. It should be mentioned that all the Bang tracks are in mono which is the way they were meant to sound and the analog tape sources pulled for this project sound like the originals. They truly sound better here than on earlier CD releases. Lastly, Neil's notes are worth the price of admission, a very fair $9.00 . If you could have only one Neil Diamond CD in your collection, this should be it.

avatar

Paul TognettiReviewed in the United States on December 1, 2011

Between the years 1966 and 1983 Neil Diamond was one of the most consistent hitmakers in American popular music. During this period he placed an impressive total of more than 50 singles on the Billboard Top 100 charts. All the while Neil was selling tons of albums and filling concert halls and arenas all across America. But I have always thought of Neil Diamond as primarily a singles artist. For years I have been waiting for a comprehensive anthology of all of Neil Diamond's biggest hits. The problem was that Neil Diamond recorded for four different labels over the years and contractual obligations prevented this from happening...until now. At long last Sony Legacy has mustered all of Neil Diamond's biggest hits onto one 23 track single disc collection called "The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings". As the title indicates these are the original hit recordings you would remember from the radio. This impressive anthology reminds us that that Neil Diamond was not only a terrific recording and performing artist but was also an extremely gifted songwriter as well. As best I can tell Neil Diamond wrote each and every one of the songs included in this collection. 25 year old Neil Diamond burst onto the scene in 1966 with a tune called "Solitary Man". Although it was not a major hit the first time around (it was reissued in 1970) Neil Diamond grabbed the attention of the record-buying public and went on to have a series of hit singles on the Bang label that included "Cherry, Cherry", "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", "Shilo" and "Kentucky Woman". These are fine examples of Neil Diamond's earliest work which was pretty much just Neil and his guitar. All are included in "The Very Best of Neil Diamond". By 1969 it was apparent that Neil Diamond was becoming a major star and he signed with Uni records which was owned at the time by MCA. Over the next five years he would have a string of Top Ten hits including "Cracklin' Rose","Song Sung Blue"," I Am...I Said", "Holly Holy" and the venerable "Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)". You will find each one of these and a couple more of his hits from the Uni days in this collection. I believe this was by far his most creative period as a singles artist. Neil Diamond was on the move once again in 1974 when he signed a long-term deal with Columbia Records where he has remained until this day. Tastes change and pop music artists come and go but Neil Diamond was still churning out the big hits. Over the ensuing decade he would boast another dozen or so Top 20 tunes including "If You Know What I Mean", "Forever In Blue Jeans" and his touching 1978 duet with Barbra Streisand "You Don't Bring Me Flowers". All of these have been included here as well. And for added measure "The Very Best of Neil Diamond" also features all three of Neil's Top Ten hits from the 1980 motion picture "The Jazz Singer" including "Love On The Rocks", "Hello Again" and his rousing patriotic tune "America". You may recall that Neil Diamond starred in and composed the music for that film. Meanwhile, I was pleased to see that folks who put this package together saw fit to include one of my personal favorites "Red Red Wine" which would become a huge hit for UB40 in 1988. Finally, I feel I would be remiss if I failed to mention a tune from Neil Diamond's 2008 #1 album "Home Before Dark" which has also appears on this disc. "Pretty Amazing Grace" is just Neil and his guitar and brings him full circle back to the earliest days of his career. It is a great song! "The Very Best of Neil Diamond: The Original Studio Recordings" replaces four different vinyl "Greatest Hits" albums in my collection. As I indicated earlier I was never really happy with any of the numerous Neil Diamond CD compilations offered to date. As soon as I spotted this one I ordered it immediately. Furthermore, I am very pleased with the remastering job on this disc and am particularly happy with the job done on the 60's Bang sides. A great disc for home, car or the office. Very highly recommended!

avatar

Roberta BorrowdaleReviewed in the United States on July 7, 2024

Music was great

avatar

Henry MillerReviewed in the United States on February 15, 2017

I am not much of a Neil Diamond fan. I'm aware he wrote a lot of The Monkee's hit songs, but his music - the tunes I hear him perform - to me is often too "elevator". It's personal taste so I don't mean to offend anyone. However, I love the song Cherry, Cherry so I was looking for a good quality recording of it. Quality-wise, this CD is the best I've heard. Doesn't matter if I play it in the car or at home. The sound quality could not be better considering when some of these tunes were recorded. In addition, it is interested to hear Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon since I've liked it since Pulp Fiction (performed by Urge Overkill). Also, enjoyed hearing the original version of I'm a Believer. There are also some others that are normally not my thing that I listen too because they are such strong songs in their own right. Neil Diamond has an incredible voice and songwriting ability. 5 Stars is for CD quality and recognition of a great songwriter.

avatar

Bonnie L. MccormickReviewed in the United States on July 1, 2024

I like the songs on the CD. I didn’t realize it was used. Only one song skips and the rest sound great. It did arrive in decent shape.

avatar

Martha TisdaleReviewed in the United States on April 2, 2025

Audio heaven

avatar

Sharon LewandowskiReviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024

This is an AWESOME CD by Neil Diamond ❤️👍🏻❤️

avatar

williamReviewed in the United States on October 29, 2024

What can I say it's Neil

avatar

NGReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2025

A good quality cd with his best and well known numbers.

avatar

Birgit KniepertReviewed in Germany on December 6, 2019

Mit Recht heißt diese CD" The Very Best of Neil Diamond " da geht jeden Song tief unter die Haut ,und diese Songs kann man zu jeder Jahreszeit oder Anlässen hören. Ich kann diese CD jedem empfehlen ,der Neil Diamond mag.Die CD ist fantastisch.

avatar

randyReviewed in Japan on February 13, 2014

素敵にお年を召してますね。 古いアルバムを持っていますが、プレーヤーがなくて聴けなかったので 懐かしい歌声が嬉しかったです。 「来日しない大物スターの一人」と言われていますが、 是非是非日本でコンサートをやってほしいものです。

avatar

Reviewer53Reviewed in Canada on October 18, 2023

Happy to find this CD; very impressed with tracks: don't believe it was missing any of my favourites. Used, but in great condition.

avatar

MaggsReviewed in Australia on October 6, 2021

Brilliant music for long drives, all his popular hits, good value cd