Stages: Performances 1970–2002

Stages: Performances 1970–2002
A man in silhouette has his back to the camera and is singing into a microphone
Box set by
Neil Diamond
ReleasedSeptember 30, 2003 (2003-09-30)
Recorded1970–2002
GenrePop, rock
Length5:14:16 (CDs only)
LabelColumbia
ProducerNeil Diamond, Sam Cole
Neil Diamond chronology
Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus!
(2002) 		Stages: Performances 1970–2002
(2003) 		12 Songs
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Stages: Performances 1970–2002 is a box set by Neil Diamond that was released by Columbia Records in 2003. The set consists of five compact discs of concert recordings plus a DVD containing live recordings plus a documentary.[2]

The first two CDs of the set, "A Night in Las Vegas", are drawn from Diamond's December 27, 2002, performance at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The third and fourth CDs consist of material recorded between 1970 (the same version of the song "Lordy" appears on Diamond's 1970 album Gold) and 2001 in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Germany. The fifth CD is devoted to Christmas music. The DVD features Diamond's July 2002 show in Dublin plus a documentary "Welcome to Diamondville".[3] Stages reached position number 137 on the Billboard 200 chart.[4]

Allmusic critic Thom Jurek gave the collection a negative review, stating:

This is a job shoddily and, yes, very cynically done. Where Hot August Night and Hot August Night II were real occasions to celebrate Diamond's mind-blowing live potential, Stages is really just a marketing ploy to get fans, the people who should be rewarded, to shell out more of their hard-earned dollars for considerably less aesthetically.[2]

Compact disc track listing

All songs written by Neil Diamond, except where noted.

Disc one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Overture"Diamond, Alan Lindgren2:09
2."America" 4:17
3."A Mission of Love" 4:13
4."Hello Again"Diamond, Alan Lindgren4:02
5."Kentucky Woman" 2:24
6."The Boat That I Row" 2:39
7."Cherry, Cherry" 2:43
8."Red Red Wine" 2:39
9."I'm a Believer" 2:42
10."Play Me" 4:21
11."Love on the Rocks"Gilbert Bécaud, Diamond3:38
12."Soolaimon" 5:07
13."If You Know What I Mean" 3:40
14."Beautiful Noise" 3:22
15."Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" 2:54
16."I Haven't Played This Song in Years" 4:25
17."You Are the Best Part of Me" 3:59
18."Forever in Blue Jeans"Richard Bennett, Diamond3:37
Total length:1:02:51
Disc two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Starflight"Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren5:06
2."Captain Sunshine" 3:19
3."Holly Holy" 4:21
4."Sweet Caroline" 4:06
5."Sweet Caroline" (reprise) 4:06
6."You Don't Bring Me Flowers"Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Diamond3:14
7."Yes I Will" / "Lady Magdalene" 8:01
8."Shilo" 3:26
9."He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"Bob Russell, Bobby Scott3:58
10."I Am... I Said" 5:07
11."Cracklin' Rosie" 3:07
12."Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" 5:00
13."America" (followed by walk off) 4:17
Total length:57:08
Disc three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lordy" 4:55
2."Brooklyn Roads" 5:28
3."Home Is a Wounded Heart" 2:40
4."The Last Picasso" 4:29
5."The Last Thing on My Mind"Tom Paxton4:20
6."You Got to Me" 2:45
7."God Only Knows"Tony Asher, Brian Wilson4:08
8."Lay Lady Lay"Bob Dylan4:08
9."Glory Road" 3:52
10."Rocket Man"Elton John, Bernie Taupin6:07
11."Say Maybe" 4:06
12."Once in a While" 3:39
13."Rainy Day Song"Gilbert Bécaud, Diamond4:31
14."Guitar Heaven"Bécaud, Diamond3:36
15."Songs of Life"Bécaud, Diamond3:32
16."Fire on the Tracks" 3:03
17."Brooklyn on a Saturday Night" 3:41
18."Primitive" 4:24
19."The Story of My Life" 3:39
Total length:1:17:03
Disc four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."This Time"Diamond, David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock3:55
2."The American Popular Song"Tom Hensley5:13
3."Teach Me Tonight"Sammy Cahn, Gene DePaul2:07
4."Dedicated to the One I Love"Ralph Bass, Lowman Pauling1:54
5."Spanish Harlem"Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector3:43
6."Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", "The End" (Beatles medley)John Lennon, Paul McCartney3:40
7."Sweet L.A. Days"Diamond, Doug Rhone3:54
8."Fortune of the Night"Diamond, Hensley, Alan Lindgren4:08
9."Mountains of Love"Diamond, Hensley, Lindgren4:53
10."If There Were No Dreams"Diamond, Michel Legrand3:14
11."All I Really Need Is You"Diamond, Hensley, Lindgren4:39
12."Yesterday's Songs" 2:49
13."Can Anybody Hear Me"Diamond, Bill LaBounty3:50
14."Talking Optimist Blues (Good Day Today)"Diamond, Gretchen Peters2:53
15."Everybody"Jesse Diamond, Neil Diamond3:46
16."Marry Me"Diamond, Tom Shapiro3:55
17."In My Lifetime" 4:44
18."I Got the Feelin' (Oh No, No)" 2:12
19."Longfellow Serenade" 3:50
20."Unchained Melody"Alex North, Hy Zaret3:50
21."I Believe in Happy Endings" 4:27
Total length:1:17:36
Disc five
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."O Holy Night"Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight3:33
2."Silent Night"Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr4:03
3."White Christmas"Irving Berlin3:55
4."Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"Johnny Marks2:46
5."O come, O come, Emmanuel"Traditional1:12
6."The Little Drummer Boy"Katherine Kennicott Davis3:57
7."Morning Has Broken"Eleanor Farjeon, Cat Stevens, traditional3:02
8."You Make It Feel Like Christmas" 3:37
9."The Christmas Song"Mel Tormé, Robert Wells3:32
10."Winter Wonderland"Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith3:03
11."Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie3:43
12."We Wish You a Merry Christmas"Traditional3:15
Total length:39:38

DVD track listing

  1. "America"
  2. "Hello Again"
  3. "Solitary Man"
  4. "I'm a Believer"
  5. "September Morn"
  6. "Beautiful Noise"
  7. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"
  8. "Sweet Caroline"
  9. "Sweet Caroline" (reprise)
  10. "I Am... I Said"
  11. "Cracklin' Rosie"
  12. "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"
  13. Backstage:"Welcome to Diamondville"

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ a b Jurek, Thom. Stages: Performances 1970-2002 at AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  3. ^ "Box Set Celebrates Diamond's 'Stages'". Billboard. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  4. ^ Diamond, Neil. "Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 12, 2014.