Neil Diamond for country lovers!

Review Score: (8/10)
And for easy listening lovers, as well as Neil Diamond lovers, too! With "Tennessee Moon", ND takes a full-blown journey into country music. Quite a few of the songs on this CD feature a bit of that 'new country' sound, a la Shania Twain and Faith Hill. The first, third and fourth songs are recorded in that very style, as well as some others.There's a bit of that 'classic country' sound featured in "One Good Love", a duet with the legendary Waylon Jennings, and in "Blue Highway", where Neil teams up musically with guitar impresario Chet Atkins. The only thing concerning the entire tone of "Tennessee Moon" is that parts of it emit a "schizophrenic" mood, in that when certain songs go from up-tempo numbers to melancholy, subtle numbers, it throws the CD slightly out of kilter, therefore leaving one in a depressed state of mind. That's not the case in going from flat, listless numbers to rockin' up-tempo numbers, then you're floating on cloud nine again. A song featured here that'll have you living on that cloud permanently is "Talking Optimist Blues (Good Day Today)", in which Neil is speaking of the "downtroddenness" we all experience from time to time (ex: cancer, relationships, taxes, aging, etc.). Even ol' Hank Williams, Sr. is smiling from Heaven upon hearing "Tennessee Moon", a song in which ND honors the late country legend. it is the Nashville session musicians and some guest vocalists, as well as ND's countrified "Midas touch"(let's not forget those famous Neil Diamond vocals!), that makes "Tennessee Moon" worth the buy. What's next Neil, Rap? Hell, he could do better justice to Rap music than the Rap performers themselves!

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