Before teenagers were wearing mascara and donning tight jeans, there was Neil Diamond. His songs of sorrow and loss are probably some of the most downright emotional songs ever written. Therefore, it should be assumed that “Home Before Dark” would continue with this trend.

Wow, this may be the saddest album to come out this year. Songs like “If I Don’t See You Again” and “Another Day (That Time Forgot),” are legitimate tear-jerkers. Diamond’s powerful voice shines throughout his tales of loss and depression, but really, all this album is going to do is make people depressed.

The problem with this album is that it would be brilliant if the people who were listening to it were already sad, like those who have failed finals and will not be attending college next year. If that is the case, pop in “One More Bite of the Apple” and get to crying.

Yet for all of those who are actually happy or have smiled sometime in the last few days, stay away from this new Neil Diamond album. It will only bring people down, and there are so few artists who can actually capture human emotion like Mr. Diamond. Listening to this album, every conversation had is a break-up, every phone call is the last one and everything written is a “Dear John” letter.

Neil Diamond has some great music, and there are some legitimate jams on this record. However, it should just sit on a shelf, collecting dust until someone gets dumped or some other terribly sad cliché happens.