Rick Rubin production flatters Neil Diamond

"Home Before Dark," Neil Diamond (Columbia)

While producer Rick Rubin coaxed some fine songs out of Neil Diamond on their first collaboration, 2005's 12 Songs, you could feel the fear of a singer told to stand alone with his guitar in front of a recording microphone for the first time in many years.

With the new Home Before Dark, Diamond sounds much more comfortable.

That's mostly good.

In fact, we'll defy any singer-songwriter this year to come up with a run of four stronger songs than the ones that open this album. Bookended by the epic If I Don't See You Again and the Natalie Maines duet Another Day (That Time Forgot), each song is assured and insightful. Years of crusted bangles and beads prevent many people from taking Diamond seriously as a songwriter. That's a mistake.

Diamond's acoustic guitar plays with stately elegance and is the centerpiece of a band that includes Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench.

Some bombast returns with the confidence. One More Bite of the Apple is an overused metaphor that Diamond should have known to avoid. He hasn't quite reached the level of artistry that Johnny Cash did with Rubin, but Home Before Dark continues to solidify Diamond's reputation.

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