Neil Diamond

Our Neil Diamond Basics are the ABCs of pop music. Theatrical, personal, rockin', sentimental — they're the songs that have colored our lives since before we can remember. From his days as a Brill Building scribe to his late-'60s/early-'70s peak ("Sweet Caroline," "I Am . . . I Said"), from his Era Of Schmaltz 'n' Sequins ("America," "Love On the Rocks") to his Rick Rubin reduction ("Delirious Love"), this is Neil at his very best.

Rare is the artist whose Next Steps reads like most other artists' Basics. Such is the magic of Neil — an uncanny way with hooks and mountain-moving crescendos. We've collected that magic right here: more hits ("I Got The Feelin' (Oh No, No)") and key album tracks ("Beautiful Noise"). Did we mention choice live cuts? Diamond's Essentials would be incomplete without them. As he himself so succinctly put it, "The stage, she is the God-damnedest woman you ever saw." Amen.

For hard-core Neil fans like F.O.N.D. (a fan club alternately known as Friends Of Neil Diamond), we've got a feeling our Basics and Next Steps will serve as little more than an appetizer. The main course? Deep Cuts — a hearty helping of Diamond-obsessive favorites. We're talking about "Two-Bit Manchild," "Sunday Sun," and "Merry-Go-Round" (all from '68's Velvet Gloves and Spit), unjustly ignored Jazz Singer cuts ("Amazed and Confused," "You Baby"), and more. Welcome, F.O.N.D. — you're in good company.

There are many beloved figures in pop music. There is only one Neil Diamond — a truly great singer-songwriter whose five-decade career has seen him sell upwards of 100 million albums, his material covered by artists ranging from Johnny Cash to Junior Walker, UB40 to Urge Overkill. But statistics and name-checking don't begin to scratch the surface of the man rightfully regarded as the Jewish Elvis. What is it that continues to draw generations of fans to his strings of sold-out shows? What's behind his unbelievable late-career resurgence: 12 Songs and Home Before Dark, not to mention his American Idol showcase? The magic is, as it's always been, in the music. We give you…Neil Diamond.