The Best of Neil Diamond: 20th Century Masters- The Millennium Collection

An irresistible summary of the singer-songwriter's years at MCA! You'll hear Cracklin' Rose; Song Sung Blue; Sweet Caroline; I Am I Said; Holly Holy; Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show; Crunchy Granola Suite; Play Me , and three more diamonds!

Neil Diamond's entry in MCA's multivolume 20th Century Masters points up the essential flaw of the whole series. While the title suggests a sort of time capsule--something truly representative of an artist's best work--that turns out to be true only to the extent that the label controls that material. Thanks to the budget-minded nature of the project, no attempts were made to include any of Diamond's great hits recorded for the Bang label, or the wildly successful adult-contemporary fare he did later for Columbia. True, there are some great hits here from the second phase of his career--"Sweet Caroline," "Holly Holy," "Song Sung Blue," and "I Am... I Said"--but the set ignores three Top 20 hits from this period, so it's less than definitive. Still, if you pair it with another greatest-hits package, Classics: The Early Years, you've got a pretty good collection of Diamond's best stuff. --Daniel Durchholz