''Serenade'' is the ninth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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 List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

, released in 1974. It was his second album for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Three singles were lifted from the album: "

Longfellow Serenade "Longfellow Serenade" is the title of a 1974 song by the American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. It was written by Diamond, produced by Tom Catalano, and included on Diamond's album ''Serenade''. "Longfellow Serenade" spent two weeks at No. 5 on ...

" (#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''. "I've Been This Way Before" was Neil Diamond's third No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart and als ...

" (#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'' is an allegorical fable in novella form written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson. It is about a seagull who is trying to learn about flying, ...

'', 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''.

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''. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital ...

'' 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'' as a righting of the ship. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' 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 David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto (band), Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrot ...

- 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 D ...

- 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