Task: Sentiment Analysis
Input (English): Best Single Disc Collection of the UNI/MCA Years . While Neil has written and recorded a wealth of outstanding material throughout his career, his albums have tended to be a bit uneven.  Perhaps that's why there are so many Neil Diamond compilation albums on the shelf these days.  This collection culls the best selections from his late 60s and early 70s UNI/MCA albums.  In fact, this set is essentially an expanded version of the now out-of-print His 12 Greatest Hits.  And while that album supplanted the studio versions of Sweet Caroline and Holly Holy with strong live versions from Hot August Night, this collection restores the original studio recordings.  Hot August Night, Neil's last MCA album before leaving for Columbia, is represented with the stellar live version of Cherry, Cherry.  But as good as that version is, I would have dropped it (along with the cover of He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother) for Cold Water Morning, Glory Road and Two-Bit Manchild.  That's a minor quibble though, as this set does contain all of the essential recordings from the period in breathtakingly pristine sound quality.    Several reviewers have complained about the lack of certain songs (Heartlight, Kentucky Woman, Thank the Lord for the Night Time, etc.).  For the record, this is a compilation of Neil's best work from his UNI/MCA recording era (1968-1972).  The early singles (Thank the Lord for the Night Time, Kentucky Woman, Solitary Man and the original studio version of Cherry, Cherry) were recorded for Bang Records in 1966 and 1967.  The best collection of the early Bang Records material is Classics: The Early Years.  America and Love on the Rocks were recorded for Capitol while most later era songs like September Morn, If You Know What I Mean and Heartlight were recorded for Columbia (beginning with the Jonathan Livingston Seagull album in 1973).  The best single-disc collection of Neil's Columbia material is probably 12 Greatest Hits, Volume II.  Fans interested in purchasing a career spanning retrsopective may be tempted to buy Greatest Hits 1966-1992 or The Essential Neil Diamond but both of those compilations suffer from the inclusion of inferior live versions of in place of the original studio recordings.  The career spanning box set, In My Lifetime, largely avoids the live version replacement issue that plagues other compilations but it suffers from its own share of problems, namely an abundance of mildly interesting (but ultimately unnecessary) rarities.    The most efficient method of compiling your own triple disc, career spanning box set is to purchase these three titles: Classics - The Early Years [Neil's Bang Records recordings from 1966-1967], The Neil Diamond Collection [the UNI/MCA sampler reviewed above], and 12 Greatest Hits Volume II [the best of the Capitol and Columbia years].
Output (English): POS