Rick Rubin puts on the bling

For anyone not familiar with Rick Rubin, he is the man responsible for producing RUN DMC's Raising Hell and the Beastie Boy's License to Ill. Both of these albums were important to my musical development in the late 80's. More recently Rick Rubin is the one who made Johnny Cash cool . . . again. Cash's American recording sessions done with Rubin recreated the country legend into singer-songwriter for any music lover. No doubt that many such as myself fell in love with the man in black's comeback recordings.

You may or may not know this about me, but I grew up listening to Neil Diamond. Coming to America is an essential part of the soundtrack of my youth. Yes, Neil Diamond, Cat Stevens and Quiet Riot made my elementary school years what they were. The former two have been enjoyed throughout my life, and the latter? That is reserved for nostalgic listening. So imagine my delight when I heard that Rick Rubin was teaming up with Neil Diamond for a stripped down recording style, similar to Cash's American recordings. His new album is called 12 Songs and is available now, but it appears not in any digital formats (CD's are useless to me these days). I am looking forward to hearing this one so if anyone knows where to find the digital files, please fill me in.

Oh yeah, I couldn't mention Neil Diamond without mentioning the irony of his Christmas Album.

In the meantime, if you are a Rick Rubin fan, what artists would you like to see him revive?