''Serenade'' is the ninth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

, released in 1974. It was his second album for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Three singles were lifted from the album: " Longfellow Serenade" (#5), "

I've Been This Way Before "I've Been This Way Before" is a song written and performed by Neil Diamond. It was released as the second single from Diamond's 1974 album ''Serenade (Neil Diamond album), Serenade''. "I've Been This Way Before" was Neil Diamond's third No. 1 on t ...

" (#34) and "The Last Picasso". ''Serenade'' was Diamond's third consecutive platinum album. It was also issued as a quadraphonic LP with some songs as alternate takes.

Production

" was originally meant to be the closing number on ''

Jonathan Livingston Seagull ''Jonathan Livingston Seagull'', written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson, is a fable in novella form about a seagull who is trying to learn about life and flight, and a homi ...

'', but Diamond was unable to finish it in time. ''Serenade'' was the last album for which Diamond solely wrote all the songs until 2001's ''

Three Chord Opera ''Three Chord Opera'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by Neil Diamond, released in 2001. It marked the first album since 1974's '' Serenade'' to consist solely of original material written solely by Diamond, and the first album of any original ...

''.

Critical reception

The Morning Call ''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after '' The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its ...

'' wrote that the songs "seemed overblown, self-important and banal - pale imitations . . . rewrites, if you will, of songs Diamond already had recorded," and praised ''

Beautiful Noise ''Beautiful Noise'' is the tenth album by Neil Diamond and his third with Columbia Records, released in 1976. "Dry Your Eyes" was performed with The Band at their farewell show and is featured in Martin Scorsese's ''The Last Waltz''. Overvi ...

'' as a righting of the ship. '' Record World'' said of the single release of "The Last Picasso" that the "new mix brings to the album cut undeniably colorful AM hit strokes while none of its subtler appeal is brushed aside."

Track listing

All tracks written by

Personnel

- vocals, guitar * Richard Bennett - guitar * Emory Gordy, Jr. - bass guitar *Alan Lindgren, David Paich - keyboards *Dennis St. John - drums *

Jimmie Haskell Jimmie Haskell (born Sheridan Pearlman, November 7, 1926 – February 4, 2016) was an American composer and arranger for motion pictures and a wide variety of popular artists, including Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Steely ...

- arranger, conductor

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serenade (Album) 1974 albums Neil Diamond albums Columbia Records albums Albums conducted by Jimmie Haskell Albums arranged by Jimmie Haskell Albums produced by Tom Catalano