B+Home Before Dark

(Columbia)

DIAMOND'S DAY: Johnny Cash sealed the revamp of Neil Diamond's reputation with his 2000 album American III: Solitary Man, imbuing the title track – one of Mr. Diamond's best-known compositions – with the cool imprimatur only the Man in Black could provide. Producer Rick Rubin reintroduced Mr. Cash to the world with the American series, so it made nothing but sense when he turned his full attention to Mr. Diamond on the 2005 album 12 Songs. The results highlighted Mr. Diamond's singer-songwriter core and eschewed his showbiz glitter.

ART, CRAFT, HEART: Although Home Before Dark continues this simple, basic approach, there is no lack of tasteful polish, and not only because Mr. Rubin calls upon his favorite session men (including guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench). Remember, Mr. Diamond is a consummate craftsman with more than four decades of experience. And he is a hopeless romantic whose ardor burns intensely whether or not love is with him. Prolonging a farewell on "If I Don't See You Again"; singing with the Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines about an affair that dissipated, on "Another Day (That Time Forgot)"; or stomping and strumming his earnest desire on "No Words," his heart is as vulnerable as his grainy, oaken voice is not.

BOTTOM LINE: The exhilarating sound of a mature man truly reconnecting with his younger, hungrier self.

Jon M. Gilbertson