In Brief

In “I Believe in Happy Endings,” Diamond sings about how sad songs and glad songs make him feel. What about bad songs? What about the trite sentimentality of “You Are the Best Part of Me”? What about the banality of “At the Movies,” in which he sounds as if he thinks fans have never actually seen a movie? Oh, for the days of sideburns and fringe--not to mention “Brother Love” and “Solitary Man.” Diamond plays the Forum Dec. 21.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two (fair), three (good) and four (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.