12 Songs (Neil Diamond album)
Encyclopedia
12 Songs is a 2005 album by Neil Diamond
. It was his first album of all-original, all-new material since 2001's Three Chord Opera
. It was produced by Rick Rubin
and is often erroneously cited as the first Diamond album since the Bang Records
era to feature the artist playing guitar
.
The working title for the album was self-titled. The original pressing of the album was copy-protected
using Sony's controversial XCP
technology.
cabin, Diamond found himself temporarily snowed in, and started to pass the time away by working on new material.
Not long afterward, Diamond met Rick Rubin. Rubin expressed interest in working with Diamond, and the two got together several times at each other's homes before ever going into the recording studio.
Rubin, using the artist's Bang
and early Uni
albums as a springboard, encouraged Diamond to keep writing material over the course of a year. Once the two collaborators had plenty of material at their disposal that they felt strongly about, Rubin put together some of the same musicians he had used for Johnny Cash
's American Recordings
releases, including Tom Petty
sidemen Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench
, and encouraged Diamond to play guitar himself in the studio. The sessions were also the last ever performance by organ player Billy Preston
, who died in June 2006.
The end result, 12 Songs, ended up being one of Diamond's most successful and critically acclaimed studio albums in years, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200
album chart. Rubin's influence would extend beyond the recording sessions, as the subsequent tour behind the album found Diamond using tougher-sounding arrangements of his classic songs with his longtime backing band, and playing more guitar onstage than he had done since the Hot August Night
era.
or XCP, a controversial feature that automatically installed rootkit
software on any Microsoft Windows
machine upon insertion of the disc. In addition to preventing the CD's contents from being copied, it was also revealed that the software reported the users' listening habits back to Sony and also exposed the computer to malicious attacks that exploited insecure features of the rootkit software. Though Sony refused to release a list of the affected CDs, the Electronic Frontier Foundation
identified 12 Songs as one of the discs with the invasive software.
Rubin says that he and Diamond were not aware of XCP, and both were infuriated about it.
By December 2005, Sony BMG had remastered and repressed 12 Songs and all other albums released with the XCP software as standard, non-copy-protected CDs.
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
. It was his first album of all-original, all-new material since 2001's Three Chord Opera
Three Chord Opera
-Track listing:# "I Haven't Played This Song in Years"# "Don't Look Down"# "I Believe in Happy Endings"# "At the Movies"# "Midnight Dream"# "You Are the Best Part of Me"# "Baby Let's Drive"# "My Special Someone"# "A Mission of Love"# "Elijah's Song"...
. It was produced by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
and is often erroneously cited as the first Diamond album since the Bang Records
Bang Records
Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegün, Nesuhi Ertegün and Jerry Wexler...
era to feature the artist playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
.
The working title for the album was self-titled. The original pressing of the album was copy-protected
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
using Sony's controversial XCP
Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for Compact Discs...
technology.
Album history
Initial work on the album began after Diamond had concluded his tour behind Three Chord Opera in 2002. Retreating to his ColoradoColorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
cabin, Diamond found himself temporarily snowed in, and started to pass the time away by working on new material.
Not long afterward, Diamond met Rick Rubin. Rubin expressed interest in working with Diamond, and the two got together several times at each other's homes before ever going into the recording studio.
Rubin, using the artist's Bang
Bang Records
Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegün, Nesuhi Ertegün and Jerry Wexler...
and early Uni
Uni Records
Uni Records was a record label owned by MCA Inc. The brand, which long featured a distinct UNi logo, was established in 1966 by MCA executive Ned Tanen and developed by music industry veteran Russ Regan...
albums as a springboard, encouraged Diamond to keep writing material over the course of a year. Once the two collaborators had plenty of material at their disposal that they felt strongly about, Rubin put together some of the same musicians he had used for Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
's American Recordings
American Recordings (album)
American Recordings is a Grammy Award-winning album by the country singer Johnny Cash. It was released in April 1994 , the first album issued by American Recordings after its name change from Def American...
releases, including Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
sidemen Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench
Benmont Tench
Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...
, and encouraged Diamond to play guitar himself in the studio. The sessions were also the last ever performance by organ player Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
, who died in June 2006.
The end result, 12 Songs, ended up being one of Diamond's most successful and critically acclaimed studio albums in years, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart. Rubin's influence would extend beyond the recording sessions, as the subsequent tour behind the album found Diamond using tougher-sounding arrangements of his classic songs with his longtime backing band, and playing more guitar onstage than he had done since the Hot August Night
Hot August Night
Hot August Night is a 1972 live double album by Neil Diamond. The album is a recording of a Diamond concert on Thursday August 24, 1972, one of ten sold out concerts that Diamond performed that month at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles...
era.
Track listing
- "Oh Mary"
- "Hell Yeah"
- "Captain of a Shipwreck"
- "Evermore"
- "Save Me a Saturday Night"
- "Delirious Love"
- "I'm on to You"
- "What's It Gonna Be"
- "Man of God"
- "Create Me"
- "Face Me"
- "We"
- "Men Are So Easy" (bonus track on special edition)
- "Delirious Love" (featuring Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
) (bonus track on special edition)
Extended copy protection
In November 2005, it was revealed that Sony BMG was distributing albums with Extended Copy ProtectionExtended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for Compact Discs...
or XCP, a controversial feature that automatically installed rootkit
Rootkit
A rootkit is software that enables continued privileged access to a computer while actively hiding its presence from administrators by subverting standard operating system functionality or other applications...
software on any Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
machine upon insertion of the disc. In addition to preventing the CD's contents from being copied, it was also revealed that the software reported the users' listening habits back to Sony and also exposed the computer to malicious attacks that exploited insecure features of the rootkit software. Though Sony refused to release a list of the affected CDs, the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
identified 12 Songs as one of the discs with the invasive software.
Rubin says that he and Diamond were not aware of XCP, and both were infuriated about it.
By December 2005, Sony BMG had remastered and repressed 12 Songs and all other albums released with the XCP software as standard, non-copy-protected CDs.
External links
- Are You Affected By Sony-BMG's Rootkit? (November 9, 2005) from Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...