Stages: Performances 1970–2002

Stages: Performances 1970–2002 is a box set by Neil Diamond that was released by Columbia Records in 2003. The set consists of five compact discs of concert recordings plus a DVD containing live recordings plus a documentary.^[2]

Stages: Performances 1970–2002
Box set by Neil Diamond
Released	September 30, 2003 (2003-09-30)
Recorded	1970-2002
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	5:14:16 (CDs only)
Label	Columbia
Producer	Neil Diamond, Sam Cole
Neil Diamond chronology
Play Me: The Complete Uni Studio Recordings...Plus! (2002) Stages: Performances 1970–2002 (2003) 12 Songs (2005)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

The first two CDs of the set, "A Night in Las Vegas", are drawn from Diamond's December 27, 2002, performance at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The third and fourth CDs consist of material recorded between 1970 (the same version of the song "Lordy" appears on Diamond's 1970 album Gold) and 2001 in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Germany. The fifth CD is devoted to Christmas music. The DVD features Diamond's July 2002 show in Dublin plus a documentary "Welcome to Diamondville".^[3] Stages reached position number 137 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[4]

Allmusic critic Thom Jurek gave the collection a negative review, stating:

This is a job shoddily and, yes, very cynically done. Where Hot August Night and Hot August Night II were real occasions to celebrate Diamond's mind-blowing live potential, Stages is really just a marketing ploy to get fans, the people who should be rewarded, to shell out more of their hard-earned dollars for considerably less aesthetically.^[2]

Compact disc track listing

Disc one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Overture" Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren 2:09 2. "America" Neil Diamond 4:17 3. "A Mission of Love" Neil Diamond 4:13 4. "Hello Again" Neil Diamond, Alan Lindgren 4:02 5. "Kentucky Woman" Neil Diamond 2:24 6. "The Boat That I Row" Neil Diamond 2:39 7. "Cherry, Cherry" Neil Diamond 2:43 8. "Red Red Wine" Neil Diamond 2:39 9. "I'm a Believer" Neil Diamond 2:42 10. "Play Me" Neil Diamond 4:21 11. "Love on the Rocks" Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond 3:38 12. "Soolaimon" Neil Diamond 5:07 13. "If You Know What I Mean" Neil Diamond 3:40 14. "Beautiful Noise" Neil Diamond 3:22 15. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" Neil Diamond 2:54 16. "I Haven't Played This Song in Years" Neil Diamond 4:25 17. "You Are the Best Part of Me" Neil Diamond 3:59 18. "Forever in Blue Jeans" Richard Bennett, Neil Diamond 3:37 Total length: 1:02:51

Disc two No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Starflight" Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren 5:06 2. "Captain Sunshine" Neil Diamond 3:19 3. "Holly Holy" Neil Diamond 4:21 4. "Sweet Caroline" Neil Diamond 4:06 5. "Sweet Caroline" (reprise) Neil Diamond 4:06 6. "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Neil Diamond 3:14 7. "Yes I Will" / "Lady Magdalene" Neil Diamond 8:01 8. "Shilo" Neil Diamond 3:26 9. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" Bob Russell, Bobby Scott 3:58 10. "I Am... I Said" Neil Diamond 5:07 11. "Cracklin' Rosie" Neil Diamond 3:07 12. "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show" Neil Diamond 5:00 13. "America" (followed by walk off) Neil Diamond 4:17 Total length: 57:08

Disc three No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Lordy" Neil Diamond 4:55 2. "Brooklyn Roads" Neil Diamond 5:28 3. "Home Is a Wounded Heart" Neil Diamond 2:40 4. "The Last Picasso" Neil Diamond 4:29 5. "The Last Thing on My Mind" Tom Paxton 4:20 6. "You Got to Me" Neil Diamond 2:45 7. "God Only Knows" Tony Asher, Brian Wilson 4:08 8. "Lay Lady Lay" Bob Dylan 4:08 9. "Glory Road" Neil Diamond 3:52 10. "Rocket Man" Elton John, Bernie Taupin 6:07 11. "Say Maybe" Neil Diamond 4:06 12. "Once in a While" Neil Diamond 3:39 13. "Rainy Day Song" Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond 4:31 14. "Guitar Heaven" Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond 3:36 15. "Songs of Life" Gilbert Bécaud, Neil Diamond 3:32 16. "Fire on the Tracks" Neil Diamond 3:03 17. "Brooklyn on a Saturday Night" Neil Diamond 3:41 18. "Primitive" Neil Diamond 4:24 19. "The Story of My Life" Neil Diamond 3:39 Total length: 1:17:03

Disc four No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "This Time" Neil Diamond, David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock 3:55 2. "The American Popular Song" Tom Hensley 5:13 3. "Teach Me Tonight" Sammy Cahn, Gene DePaul 2:07 4. "Dedicated to the One I Love" Ralph Bass, Lowman Pauling 1:54 5. "Spanish Harlem" Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector 3:43 6. "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight", "The End" (Beatles medley) John Lennon, Paul McCartney 3:40 7. "Sweet L.A. Days" Neil Diamond, Doug Rhone 3:54 8. "Fortune of the Night" Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren 4:08 9. "Mountains of Love" Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren 4:53 10. "If There Were No Dreams" Neil Diamond, Michel Legrand 3:14 11. "All I Really Need Is You" Neil Diamond, Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren 4:39 12. "Yesterday's Songs" Neil Diamond 2:49 13. "Can Anybody Hear Me" Neil Diamond, Bill LaBounty 3:50 14. "Talking Optimist Blues (Good Day Today)" Neil Diamond, Gretchen Peters 2:53 15. "Everybody" Jesse Diamond, Neil Diamond 3:46 16. "Marry Me" Neil Diamond, Tom Shapiro 3:55 17. "In My Lifetime" Neil Diamond 4:44 18. "I Got the Feelin' (Oh No, No)" Neil Diamond 2:12 19. "Longfellow Serenade" Neil Diamond 3:50 20. "Unchained Melody" Alex North, Hy Zaret 3:50 21. "I Believe in Happy Endings" Neil Diamond 4:27 Total length: 1:17:36

Disc five No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "O Holy Night" Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight 3:33 2. "Silent Night" Franz Gruber, Joseph Mohr 4:03 3. "White Christmas" Irving Berlin 3:55 4. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Johnny Marks 2:46 5. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" Traditional 1:12 6. "The Little Drummer Boy" Katherine Kennicott Davis 3:57 7. "Morning Has Broken" Eleanor Farjeon, Cat Stevens, traditional 3:02 8. "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" Neil Diamond 3:37 9. "The Christmas Song" Mel Tormé, Robert Wells 3:32 10. "Winter Wonderland" Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith 3:03 11. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" J. Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie 3:43 12. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" Traditional 3:15 Total length: 39:38

DVD track listing

1. "America"
2. "Hello Again"
3. "Solitary Man"
4. "I'm a Believer"
5. "September Morn"
6. "Beautiful Noise"
7. "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"
8. "Sweet Caroline"
9. "Sweet Caroline" (reprise)
10. "I Am... I Said"
11. "Cracklin' Rosie"
12. "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show"
13. Backstage:"Welcome to Diamondville"

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Jurek, Thom. Stages: Performances 1970-2002 at AllMusic. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
3. "Box Set Celebrates Diamond's 'Stages'". Billboard. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
4. Diamond, Neil. "Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 12, 2014.