I was gridlocked on the freeway listening to Sirius. That’s when I learned they had a Neil Diamond station, and it was going to expire in a matter of days. I immediately switched to Channel 3 and heard an oldie. Then the middle-aged dream came on and explained the backstory to the song "Forgotten" from his new album.

That’s how Neil Diamond felt. Forgotten. Weird to think a superstar feels forgotten. But when you’re not on the pop chart, when your name is not in the news, you feel left out of the loop. You think the industry no longer cares about you. Even though you think you’re still valid, still doing some of your best work.

Although most acts are not. They can’t seem to get back in that original space. That’s what Rick Rubin specializes in…getting you back to where you once belonged, when you wrote all those hits, when the people came to love you. You’ve got to let go, let him intimidate you, bring you down, tell you your material is not there yet, to rejuvenate you.

I played the single from the new album. It didn’t reach me. I didn’t bother to play the rest of the album, I didn’t want my illusions of greatness, Neil’s legacy, ruined. But this song…

It was stripped down, like Rick’s work with Johnny Cash. It was almost like a demo. And okay, until deep into the track, Neil got into this groove, he played the guitar just like in "Holly Holy", but it was different. He wasn’t ripping himself off, just recapturing his essence. It was like someone reached out of the speakers in my car and grabbed me. Took my hand. Led me to a better land. Where I used to live, when music existed sans trappings, when music was an oasis unto itself. I realized this guitar part wasn’t the only magical element of "Forgotten", the verses had Neil’s essence too. But when that guitar ascended, I couldn’t stop smiling, on the inside, I was brought right back to the midsixties.

Neil’s album entered the chart at number one. But it sold a pitiful amount. Almost no one’s heard it. It’s kind of creepy. There’s all this ink, every newspaper known to man did a story about his comeback. But it was a silent comeback, under 200,000 purchased the record. How do we get more people to hear it?

I think the link here is Sirius. We’ve got to be fed by a middle man with an investment. Sirius’ investment is in your subscription fee. They’ve got to make radio interesting, fulfilling, or you’re going to cancel your subscription. Think of it like HBO…

If you’re not hooked on radio, if you think satellite radio is a rip-off, that’s fine. I just ask you, who are you going to put your faith in, to turn you on to new stuff? The computer at some Net radio service? Do you let a computer fix your meals too? Don’t you need a human being? One not sold out to the system?

Where are these outlets? The public is waiting. On one hand we’ve got music, the other a desirous public, and between them a great gulf.

Meanwhile, Rick makes this record, talks about new media in the "New York Times", but you can’t hear the entire record online. You should be able to at least stream the whole album.

And there shouldn’t be a whole album.

How come the Cure can get it right and Rick can’t? Hell, he’s the head of the label… Maybe four cuts at a time… I couldn’t wait to fire up "Home Before Dark" after hearing "Forgotten". The first two tracks didn’t reach me at all. Then the next two did. But I still had eight to go. Repetition breeds intimacy, breeds likability, generates a bond. An LP side was less than twenty minutes, you flipped over the album again and again, the songs seeped into your brain. I can’t digest this entire hour long album. Because there are too many mediocre tracks amongst the winners… Doesn’t anybody have an editor? I mean if this shit was free on the Web, the public could weed through the good stuff. But to make us buy this stuff first to try and ferret out what we like so we can go to the show and hear..? This is just too inefficient.

Don’t tell me about artistic statements. Old acts must be revitalized. They must create new music, their audience must hear it, must want to experience it live. It’s the only hope for our industry to thrive. The new. We all crave the new. We like the old, but we want the new.

I think you’ll like "Forgotten". If you like Neil Diamond to begin with. All the schmaltz has been shaved off. What’s underneath is so honest, so human, that you can’t stop playing it. It’s not about the perfection, but the life contained within. The cheesy organ. That guitar riff.

Unfortunately, everyone’s so interested in the money, people only care about the money. It’s keeping the music from the audience. If it gets there, endless riches can pour out of fans’ wallets. But it also requires the middle men, the filters, to be in it for the love too. I’d take a music blogger over a terrestrial radio station any day. They do it because they believe. I believe. Do you?