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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
12 Songs
Universal acclaim
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 42 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sony
Release Date: 08 November 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
Producer Rick Rubin attempts to do for Neil Diamond what he did for Johnny Cash, resulting in a rare stripped-down, intimate set for the veteran performer. (Don't expect any Nine Inch Nails covers, though; these are all Diamond originals.)
Also By This Artist: Home Before Dark
Also On The Web: Fan Site Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
[The] tension between Rubin's desire to pare it down and Diamond's tendency to amp it up makes for the best musical checks and balances; nothing gets too unplugged or too bombastic. [11 Nov 2005, p.67]
E! Online
It's stripped down (and we're not just talking about the jumpsuits), simple and the songwriter's best work in ages.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Spiritual, lovelorn and vulnerable, this is the album Diamond has deserved for decades.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
It may well be his strongest ever collection. [Feb 2006, p.98]
Blender
The result is something of a songcraft master class.... A career best. [Dec 2005, p.150]
Uncut
Even with Rubin dialling things back, the material grabs the listener by the collar and holds on tight. [Album of the Month, Feb 2006, p.66]
No Ripcord
It’s not that Diamond has recorded a masterpiece, since quite a good portion of this is decidedly B material. It’s that the good stuff represents Neil at his best, exploiting his considerable knack for melody and structure to the fullest.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
But if 12 Songs does occasionally come across as slightly affected in its intent and presentation, it also is inarguably Neil Diamond's best set of songs in a long, long time.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
For some, the excursions into god-bothering territory ("Create Me", "Man Of God") will be too mawkish, but few could deny that we're now in the full swing of a fascinating new era - a place where rock'n'roll, formerly the preserve of the doomed teenager with nothing to lose, has grown old.
Read Full Review >Mojo
It's not flawless, though it's damn good, and consistently engrossing. [Feb 2006, p.94]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The new album sounds great, but it has its share of filler, and Rubin's narrow vision means he lets some songs lie motionless when they might be improved by old-fashioned sweetening.
Read Full Review >Billboard
While the all-original material is not strong enough to qualify this as the instant classic some have suggested, heartfelt tracks like the jubilant "Delirious Love," the rousing "Hell Yeah" and the string-tinged love song "Evermore" are outstanding. [12 Nov 2005]
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Unlike Cash, the ego on display here still sounds like it's got the whip hand on the talent and you never really start to like him. [4 Mar 2006, p.31]
Pitchfork
Not all of Diamond's new songs go awry. Most just go away, their melodies dissipating, their lyrics flimsy even through those tremendous pipes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 42 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Eric N gave it a10:
a year has passed since I purchased this album,and the music still haunts and moves me.Neil Diamond has tapped into a well of lyrical and musical truths that is rare in these times.All sung with a voice that remains one of a kind.As a 30 something,it speaks volumes that a 65 year old is expressing what I'm feeling better then bands of my generation.The self-doubts of "Hell Yeah" and "What's It Gonna Be".The inner-dreamer and romantic of "Oh Mary","Save Me a Saturday Night" and "Captain of a Shipwreck".The pessimist loner of "Im On To You","Create Me" and "Face Me".The believer-despite-it-all of "Man of God".Just powerful music.The one uptempo rocker, "Delirious Love" stands out from the introspection.But "Delirious Love" is also a three chord guitar gem that goes back to the days when Neil was just a great rocker from Brooklyn.
V B gave it a9:
Diamond's no Johnny Cash of course and if you're looking for something similar forget it. But he's still got that talent as a songwriter he had in the '60s. Once again Rick Rubin has taken a past great who's best years might have been behind them and given them new life and a new avenue for their talents. Is this a great album like Unearthed? No. But it is a very good one by a very good songwriter.
marc h gave it a9:
Back to the roots and the essence of what is songwriting about: hell yeah! Being a long time Diamond fan but getting more and more disappointed with his work since the Jazz Singer and finally losing him almost, I'm delighted. Some years ago after hearing what Rubin made Cash do a decade ago, I wondered what would come of it when Diamond and Rubin would join together because Diamond deserved it (as well),. And now it's there, what a reinvention of the man, songs stripped down to simple beauty, reminding of his best stuff from the past and at the end for desert Brian Wilson shows up touching 'hilareous love' with that light Beach Boys Mozart kind of joy: a comeback turning in to a party: to be continued I hope.
Todd R gave it a5:
Though I loved Rick Rubin's work with Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond's attempt to make a critically-viable, stripped-down album is pretty lame, mostly because these songs are just bland.
John C gave it an8:
Tuneful and engaging. I felt that the tracks hung together quite well as an album. There seemed to be a little more instrumentation added to each song as the album progressed, resulting in a subtle hour long crescendo.
Joe K gave it a10:
This is clearly Diamond's best album in 35 years. It has enormous depth. There are no throw away tracks. With all the criticisms casted his way over the last 20 years this album reminds us why he is a true music legend.
Yin C gave it a10:
I'm a huge fan of his earlier works. I probably have every CD. I even have his songs on a Karaoke disc. This latest set was incredible. I'm already singing these over and over. Kudos
