Customer Reviews
Can't Argue With Success - By: Music Man, 06 May 2008 
Not as enduring or magical as the soundtrack for Jonathan Livingston Seagull, but then again this is a completely different type of film that he was composing for. JLS was more of a spiritual journey which was perfectly complimentedin the music, whilst Jazz Singer is more of a commercial movie of a "Boy Done Good" scenario.
Personally, I preferred the songs on JLS, or should I say his genre of music, less anthemic, which probably isn't a word, & more beautifully crafted. However you can't argue with success, & there have been enough hits pulled off this album to back up any argument against it. Perhaps it's because I've heard "America" spouted from every radio station ever since that I probably should have written this review when I first heard it & not now that I have become battle weary of it.
It's nevertheless a good soundtrack with only a few weak points. It proved to be a commercial success & one of Diamond's last big sellers, if you don't include 12 Songs. A lot of material was used from "Jazz Singer"in his subsequent live shows, which made a lot of his performances a little less sensitive & more akin to "tub thumping" hysteria.
Should you buy it? If you are just a gatherer of musicin general, chances are you've got most of the big songs on a compilation. However, if you're a Diamond fan then it's not really up for debate..............you've probably already got it & are still enjoying it.
Not anything to add - By: mike, 14 Jan 2008 
Can't say anything the other reviewers haven't already said. I am not a Neil Diamond fan (or wasn't until this album). I thought the film was uninspiring but the soundtrack, although not jazz as the title would imply, was exciting & invigorating. Great album.
Great range of styles and a great soundtrack - By: LXIX, 29 Dec 2007 Overall, an excellent CD. The main moments are 'Hello Again', 'Love on the Rocks', 'America' & 'Summer Love'.
If you listen closely you'll hear that some of the tracks are slightly different from the ones on the DVD.
There's also a great range of musical styles here - from the quirky 'Robert E. Lee' to the rousing 'America' and, of course, a few Jewish songs like 'Kol Nidre'.
The only disappointing thing is that some music from the film doesn't feature on this accompanying soundtrack -in particular, the rousing version of 'Hava Nagila'.
Listen to Neil Diamond's soundtrack and skip the film - By: , 08 Apr 2005 The decision to make a modern version of Al Jolson's "Jazz Singer"in 1980 is one of the more dubious ideas to come out of Hollywood. Putting singer Neil Diamondin the Jolson role opposite Laurence Olivier as his cantor father & Lucy Arnaz as the woman he loves had only one sure upsidein that Diamond also did the music for the film. If your choice is between watching the film or listening to the soundtrack, then listen to the soundtrack.
Diamond was inspired by the immigrant element of the story to honor the national melting potin the opening song "America," along with one of his better ballads from that part of his career "Hello Again." The songs also play to Diamond's strengthin that several of them would be done "live"in the context of the film, & anyone who has listened to "Hot August Night" or any other concert album by Diamond knows he is a lot better live than he isin the studio. In retrospect that is clearly the pointin Diamond's career where the hard rock & gospel influences went away & he began a soft rock/pop artist where songs like "Love on the Rocks" & "Summerlove" became the norm. His early songs are arguably his best, but it was not until his 1976 album "Beautiful Noise" that Diamond ever had an album go platinum.
To his credit Diamond does come up with songs that meet the narrative needs of the film, not that this is a reason to watch the movie, so do not accuse me of advocating you do that. There is no reason for you to see that "You Baby" is part of an awkward homage, for lack of a better word, to Jolsonin black face. Also worked into the mix are some traditional Jewish songs, "Adon Olom" & "Kol Nidre/My Name Is Yussel," & Diamond makes an earnest attempt to do them right. The resulting mix might be uneven, but there are enough solid songs here to make this an above average Neil Diamond album.
A little Jazz goes a long way - By: Benacre Broad, 18 Jan 2005 How can put into words how this soundtrack album has affected me. It introduced me to the fabulous Neil Diamond after watching the flim of the same name. Agreed it has some rather silly tracks like " On the Robert E Lee"which although worksin the film does not have the same feel good factor on audio.Kol Nidre is a very powerful track & no doubt very emotional to sing as well.
Buy it & play it loud "Hey Louise" is great I wish they had left the "Get on with it Fool" bit during the mouth organ at the beginning of the track " Summer Love" on the album.
I have watched the film countless times & heard the soundtrack just as much. One never gets board of either,
