Neil Diamond has recorded many live albums over the years, including the original "Hot August Night." As blasphemous as it may seem to some, this collection, "Hot August Night NYC," is the greatest of Neil's live albums. It has a stronger collection of songs than the original "Hot August Night." It has much less of the self-indulgence that has occasionally marred some of his other live recordings. Neil is in great voice and is clearly energized by the New York crowd. His appreciation of and graciousness to the fans is clear throughout. He does a marvelous job of integrating some of his wonderful new songs into the show. For me the highlight is his gorgeous and moving version of "Man of God" from the "12 Songs" CD that then takes us into "Hell Yeah" from the same CD. The first time I heard the original version of "Hell Yeah," I recognized it immediately as another Neil Diamond anthem song and wondered how it would play in concert. It plays beautifully. And "Man of God" is done in a more uptempo and gospel style than we find in the "12 Songs" version. The way it is performed here makes this one of Diamond's all-time great performances. It is remarkable that Neil Diamond,who has been with us for so long, should not only continue to do outstanding work, but do some of the best work of his career. He is now on a run of three straight fabulous CD's: "12 Songs," "Home Before Dark," and now "Hot August Night NYC." No Diamond collection is complete without these three CD's. And in this one, we get to hear a master entertainer still at the top of his craft.

Neil is in fine voice for this wonderful CD package. The CD includes the entire show from the tour that he did across most of the States in 2008. I was lucky enough to see two of the shows and the CD's bring back wonderful memories. I only question the timing of the release. The shows were a year and half ago and most of the hype is pretty much gone by now. It would have made for sense to release it along side the DVD release and TV special from last August. For Neil collectors, try and get the import set of this CD (released many months ago and available on Amazon) for it includes one extra song (Lady Oh, Antwerp 2008). That song is not on the US release. Though the extra cuts on the US release don't appear on the import. So to be complete, you need both sets. The UK version has a different cover.

Superb live album, with great arrangements and Neil's voice working better than on any live album he's released since the multi-platinum 1972 "Hot August Night." (36 years previous to this 2008 recording.)

Still, we could have done without so much from Neil's last two albums. Still though, I was impressed with how much better even these songs work here. Further evidence that Neil needs to get away from the overly minimalistic arrangements his Producer Rick Rubin insists on; a big disappointment to Diamond fans, as all of his hits have had something called DRUMS on them. So...it's nice to hear them here. :)

But again, THIS album is a must-have!! Bravo to Neil and your wonderful band.

Tip: Buy the downloadable version of this album and get 4 more songs!

Vintage Neil Diamond. What a great talent. I'll buy this again when my new one wears out!

This has good performances of the songs I like the most. Neil is a great showman, and I know most of the performances he's done, this is fun to listen to. The sound is really good. I only wish he''d done For My Children, and Stones, but those probably don't work as well for a live concert. And, no "unh" on every phrase, like another set I have.