In the realm of pop music, “adult contemporary” is perhaps the only genre more damning than “dad rock.” And Neil Diamond, the man who claims to have given up his dream to cure cancer for the chance to earn $50 a week writing pop songs, is, for better or for worse, one of the most iconic adult contemporary artists in history. Moms love him. Muzak composers love him. The rest of us? Well, we mostly just blame him for The Monkees.
But then there’s the matter of his debut album, a little-known pop gem called The Feel of Neil Diamond. And for the love of all that is critically acclaimed, I must admit that if I could give an entire album five stars based on one song alone, I would award it to The Feel of Neil for opening track and debut single “Solitary Man,” one of the most perfectly anthemic and inspiring songs about being a loner ever written. Crooked Fingers covered it. Johnny Cash covered it. Those two know good songwriting and reclusive tendencies better than most I can recall. To quote Reading Rainbow: Don’t take my word for it.
Unfortunately, what happens after "Solitary Man" is a bit more hit-or-miss.
Songs like “Cherry, Cherry” and “New Orleans,” and a performance of The Cyrkle’s hit “Red Rubber Ball” are the kind of perfectly white-washed classic pop tunes that make Wes Anderson soundtracks so completely infectious. But the equally whitewashed version of “La Bamba” and the admittably “mom rock” strains of “Someday Baby”? Well, they give us the feel for the Neil Diamond that would haunt easy listening radio frequencies for decades to come: inoffensive and unfortunately generic, detracting from some otherwise compelling pop songwriting to an entirely unforgivable degree.
And therein lies the conundrum of The Feel of Neil Diamond. While Neil’s not, and probably has never been, cool, his debut had hints of pop songwriting chops that even the most die-hard cynics should have a hard time denying. But like so many debut albums before and after, it is, more often than not, how you choose to follow up that cements your legacy. And Neil went adult contemporary. Good for moms and muzak. Bad for the rest of us. But at least we’ll always have “Solitary Man.”
1. Solitary Man
2. Red Rubber Ball
3. La Bamba
4. Do It
5. Hanky Panky
6. Monday, Monday
7. New Orleans
8. Someday Baby
9. I Got The Feelin’, Oh No, No
10. I’ll Come Running
11. Love to Love
12. Cherry, Cherry
