I bought the new Neil Diamond album. Never thought I'd say that.

I was curious because every review I'd read just lauded "12 Songs." Rick Rubin produced the record. He's worked with The Beastie Boys, The Black Crowes and Johnny Cash's later works.

The album is kind of sparse, but uses simple, rich sounds. Sparse and rich? OK, it uses a few instruments (mainly Diamond's acoustic guitar) really well.

It's worth a listen for the Diamond fan and those who might want to get familiar with a legendary artist.

Here's what I've been listening to:

"The More You Ignore Me The Closer I Get" (Live) by Morrissey
"Captain Of A Shipwreck" by Neil Diamond
"Use It" by The New Pornographers
"Finish Your Collapse And Stay For Breakfast" by Broken Social Scene
"Acrobat" by U2
"So Real" by Jeff Buckley
"Act Naturally" by The Beatles
"Higher Ground" by Stevie Wonder
"Money" by Pink Floyd
"40" by U2

I'm still on a bit of a high from one of the best concerts I've seen and heard. You see, Friday night I spent the evening with the biggest band in the world.

That's right. I went to a U2 concert.

It was my first time at Philips Arena (I had been to a few shows at the old Omni). It's a big place and I can't imagine there was an empty seat in the house. I missed opening act The Institute. And I didn't have a floor seat, so I knew my spot in the nosebleeds was waiting for me. It was high up there, but still a good vantage point.

The band tore through its career-spanning material, hitting mostly, of course, on its songs from "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb." Bono and the band also would veer into other tunes as well, adding parts of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Blackbird" and "Rock The Casbah" to the set.

The stage had the band's now-signature ramp out into the crowd. Each band member ventured out at some point in the show. Bono did more than a few laps and engaged the audienece well, telling stories, starting chants and bringing a few people up on stage.

And despite the massive success of the men on stage, the music was the star. Sure, if I had written the set list the show might have sounded slightly different. But no one went home disappointed.