Neil Diamond - His 12 Greatest Hits (1974)

As I noted in  my review of his 1971 album Stones from 2012, Neil Diamond moved to Uni (now MCA) Records in 1968 in the hope of moving his songwriting in a more introspective direction after writing and recording catchy pop tunes as a Brill Building songwriter and as a recording artist at Bang Records.  His 12 Greatest Hits, issued by MCA after he moved to Columbia (where, ironically, he released his first record in the early sixties), was an obvious attempt to get some more profit out of Diamond after losing him to a rival record company.  But it also makes the case for Diamond as an important artist, succinctly documenting his four years at Uni (1968 to 1972) and displaying both his ability to write a song with an irresistible pop hook and his knack for moody, personal expressions.

This greatest-hits compilation offers marvelous numbers such as the singalong ballad "Sweet Caroline" and the infectious "Cracklin' Rosie," a song that finds inspiration in a bottle of wine as a metaphor for a woman and offers punchy rhythms driven by horns and drums as well as Diamond's own singing.  But it also provides samples of Diamond's interest in different musical styles, with the affectionate Elmer Gantry pastiche "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" and the deeply felt "Holly Holy" paying tribute to gospel music, and the highly orchestrated "Song Sung Blue," anchored by electric keyboards and bass, tipping a hat to the intellectual pop personified by Paul Simon.  Yes, there's some dross here - "Play Me" may just be the corniest thing he's ever written, with its silly symbolism and its use of the non-word "brang" - but it's transcendent dross.  You can sneer at lyrics such as "Rhyme that sprang from me warmed the night / And what was right became me" all you want: I'm too busy being drawn in by guitarist Richard Bennett's steady but gentle note progression. Far  more interesting is the somber, sober "Brooklyn Roads," Diamond's remembrance of growing up in that borough.

Much of Diamond's music from his Uni period was arranged in a standard, middle-of-the-road style that goes down easy, but his true genius was his ability to put it across in a personal, personable manner with lyrics and vocals that could be incisive and direct.  (I've already weighed in on "I Am . . . I Said" and "Stones," both of which are included here, which make that point nicely.)  By capturing all aspects of Diamond's personality, His 12 Greatest Hits not only makes a fine sampler for his Uni period but is possibly the best summation of the man himself.  At Columbia, Diamond would have some moments of brilliance (his 1976 album Beautiful Noise, his mildly risqué 1977 single "Desiree"), but more often than not he produced the very sort of bland, innocuous adult-contemporary pop that dominated AM hit radio in the seventies.  Ironically, it would take a critically acclaimed studio album of twelve new songs in 2005 (called 12 Songs) to remind people  of what he could achieve and had achieved with the twelve songs on this compilation.  Until then, many listeners outside Diamond's devoted fan base could be forgiven for thinking that he was done too soon.