Hot August Night III

Hot August Night III documents a concert Neil Diamond held at the Los Angeles Greek Theatre upon the 40th anniversary of Hot August Night in 2012. It was a glitzy celebration that bordered on a marathon: on record, which was released six years later, it runs a mammoth two and a half hours. Considering how Hot August Night III arrived several months after Diamond announced he was retiring from the road due to his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease, it's hard not to see this live album as valedictory. While he may have toured over the subsequent five years, this performance -- crafted as a career-topper and delivered with gusto -- finds Diamond not only in fine voice, but enthusiastic. He runs through all his standards, which fill up the length of nearly the entire set, and he sounds nearly as vigorous as he did back in 1987, when Hot August Night II hit the stores. If this can be faulted, it's because the performance is perhaps a little bit too professional: it's clear that Diamond and his band have performed these songs countless times, so the energy comes solely from Neil's excitement at being in front of an audience eager to celebrate their long history with him. Now that nights like that are no longer a possibility, this kind of big, splashy production is not only entertaining, it's somewhat poignant, too. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine