Customer Reviews
Stones- a thoughtful and thought provoking album - By: Cotswold, 11 Jun 2008 
I remember the day I bought the LP in 1973, I was an undergraduate & with not much money. Had never bought a Neil Diamond Album before & stumbled upon it because I liked Cohen's "Suzanne" & Rod McKuen's "If you go away". The first play turned into a second play & then another & another, followed by others coming into the room to hear THE VOICE & to be moved by the words. No other artist hits the spot so consistently. All the tracks on Stones are great but what has surprised me is that over the years I return to the eponymous track "Stones" cannot tell you why you just have to listen & appreciate the man, his lyrics, arrangements & above alll his voice. The other great track on the album is "I am I said" Again I defy anybody not to be moved by the words & the emotion shown by Diamond- for him it is personal & the listener feels it. Through his music he gives of himself. For me listening to him is like slipping into a vat of warmed chocolate.
Another cracker!! - By: Gennyfer, 28 Feb 2008 
I have most of Neil's original music either on LP or cassette so I am buying them alll on cds to preserve them better, also to put on my MP3 player (Christmas pressie from my husband). I have listened to his music since i first bought Beautiful Noise in 1975/76 & he just gets better. Stones is reallly great.I have seen him in concert 4 times & the best one (I thought) was at Newcastle-upon-Tyne about 8 years ago. -the concert in the round it was callled . Stupendous- & this is a 70+ woman saying this
A Real Gem - By: Music Man, 02 Apr 2007 Having penned a number of catchy pop songs for other artists, Diamond began successfully writing quality hits for himself with Sweet Caroline & Cracklin' Rosie. However, with the advent of this album, he started to write more mature & introspective songs that came from deeper within. This album was part of a glorious phase of his writing that spanned his years with MCA. The truly superb I Am..I Said, with its gut wrenching plea for acceptance in the final refrain, is probably one of his best ever songs. However, the title track Stones is vastly overlooked, especiallly in live concerts. A tremendous song that once again puts across perfectly the lost soul searching for his home or true identity.
Great though these tracks are, the album is reallly a showcase for Diamond to illustrate his tremendous gift as an interpreter of other artists' works. The last thing on my mind, If you go away, Suzanne & I think it's gonna rain today are nothing short of magnificent. His voice has a deepness & richness of emotion that seeps into your brain & paints visual images that suck you into a series of mini-tragic vignettes.
On Stones, Diamond moves onto the next level of his development, suddenly he becomes bigger in stature. Like many artists, there is a period when they change gear & start leaving the others behind. As with his forthcoming albums such as Moods, Hot August Night & Serenade to name just a handful, things were going to get even better still. For any Diamond fan, this is a must to have in their collection.
Great songs by great artists, sprinkled with a little Diamond magic
