Diamond Mixes the Glitter With Some Songs Sung New

“Do you have the nerve?”

Neil Diamond posed that question twice Tuesday to a packed house at the Pond of Anaheim.

Putting on a tone of mock sternness, he wanted to know if his 19,322 enraptured admirers (his own announced tally) had the nerve to stand up and dance to a couple of his brighter, sway-along numbers. He didn’t really need to ask.

But--and this is a nice surprise--it’s a question Diamond should be asking seriously of himself these days. After nearly 20 years mired in schmaltz, he has come up with a new album, “Tennessee Moon,” that gives him the traction to break free of the middle of the road. It’s a warm, country-tinged mainstream pop album in which the songs, written mainly with veteran Nashville-based collaborators, turn the focus on the feelings and dramas inherent in the material rather than serving as mere platforms for star-turn dramatics.

Does Diamond have the nerve, at 55, to invest fully in that new direction, swear off the treacle and the grandstanding, and get back to being what he was in his 20s--a writer and performer of enduring, indelibly melodic pop songs with a firm, earthy rootedness in folk, R&B; and rock ‘n’ roll?

The answer at the Pond (where he was scheduled to play a second sold-out show Wednesday) was that Diamond has not taken a daring leap but at least is moving in the right direction. While everything dislikable in his style was on display, including bloated, histrionic ballads delivered with a grating, baritone bellow and semi-operatic posing, it was distinctly outweighed by everything that was worthwhile.

Give Diamond a strong, roots-based rhythmic pulse, and some alchemy occurs by which those bloated histrionics are turned into persuasive, large-scale drama. A peak example was “Holly Holy,” in which ringing, inexorable gospel piano chords pushed him to a crest of fervor so convincing that, had he issued an altar call, he might have converted thousands to any creed he wished.

Diamond’s two-hour-plus show got rolling with fully engaged versions of such prime and diverse ‘60s songs as “Solitary Man,” “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” and the lusty celebration “Cherry, Cherry.”

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Diversity and solid songwriting also highlighted a five-tune sequence from “Tennessee Moon” that included a powerhouse anthem, “Can Anybody Hear Me,” stripped-down blues and folk, and a pop ballad, “Marry Me,” that proved Diamond’s music can be lush without having to gush.

One could almost forget the sequins woven through the singer’s faux-flannel shirt and take him for a straightforward, down-home songsmith with no grandiose persona to sell.

But “Hello Again,” “Love on the Rocks” and several other gaseous ballads were big crowd-pleasers, and it would indeed take a lot of nerve for Diamond not to play them for his fans. Can he, or can he not, challenge them by singing a refrain that goes, “I’ll be what I am, . . . no more schmaltzy, dreary man”? For now, it may be achievement enough that a songwriter who had been creatively insignificant for so long has made it worth asking.