News

A new album from Neil Diamond is on the horizon…and we think it’s going to be so good, so good, so good!  The superstar singer-songwriter has just announced a new album: Wild at Heart, due out on May 8 from Capitol Records and UMe.  The ten-track album is composed of outtakes recorded with producer Rick Rubin in 2007 for the Home Before Dark album (which was released the next year).  Diamond has recently completed the tracks for this release.

Diamond and Rubin – whose production credits at the time already encompassed Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, Donovan, Run-DMC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and numerous others – first teamed up for 2005’s 12 Songs.  Rubin encouraged Diamond to go with a raw, minimalist sound for the album, echoing back to his earliest recordings on Bang in the 1960s.  Crucially, he also encouraged Diamond to once again pick up his guitar and center the songs around the instrument.  With songs including the anthemic “Hell Yeah” and jubilant “Delirious Love,” the result was successful both critically and commercially as 12 Songs hit No. 4 on Billboard’s chart, Diamond’s highest placement since 1980’s The Jazz Singer.

Their next collaboration would prove to be even more of a chart success.  2008’s Home Before Dark became Diamond’s first and so far only No. 1 album in the United States.  (Neil also became the oldest living artist to reach that spot.  At 67, he toppled Bob Dylan who was 65 when Modern Times was released.  Bob since took the honor back with Together Through Life, released when he was one month shy of 68.  Tony Bennett then beat Dylan’s record in 2011 and 2014, though he’s since passed away.)  Home Before Dark included the deeply-felt “Pretty Amazing Grace” and imploring “Don’t Go There” among its strongest compositions; the deluxe edition boasted a cover of Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love.”

Wild At Heart features nine outtakes from the Home Before Dark sessions plus an alternate version of that album’s “Forgotten.”  Diamond was joined on the original sessions by a stripped-down quartet consisting of keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell (both of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers) as well as guitarists Smokey Hormel and Matt Sweeney.  Wild will be available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.  There will also be color vinyl variants; though links are not yet active, a 2CD edition with a second disc containing 10 of Diamond’s hits is also scheduled.  A digital single of the new album’s toe-tapping, uptempo title song has also been released for listeners to sample.  Watch the video here on YouTube.

Though a January 2018 diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease has kept Diamond off the road, his music remains as resonant as ever.  The release of Wild at Heart continues the Diamond renaissance that has seen the Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise (currently touring the United States and soon to open in Australia) and big-screen drama Song Sung Blue.  Look for Wild at Heart on May 8 from Capitol/UMe.  You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below.  Note that the Amazon links for the 2CD set are not yet active.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Neil Diamond, Wild at Heart (Capitol/UMe)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP (Bronze Elegance Edition): NeilDiamond.com

1. Wild at Heart
2. You Can’t Have It All
3. Talking It to Death
4. Shine On
5. The Secret You
6. You Never Know
7. You’re Getting to Me
8. You Still Look Good to Me
9. You’re My Favorite Song
10. Forgotten

Bonus Disc

1. Sweet Caroline
2. I Am…I Said
3. Cracklin’ Rosie
4. Forever in Blue Jeans
5. Song Sung Blue
6. Solitary Man
7. Cherry Cherry
8. September Morn
9. Holly Holy
10. America