Best of 2003: Best Heavy-Metal Neil Diamond

Brother Love
www.neildiamondtribute.com

Brother Love takes its name from the 1968 Neil Diamond hit "Brother Love's Traveling Show," but the group refuses to settle for attracting the singer's aging fan demographic. Songs like "Sweet Caroline" are powered up with heavy metal arrangements to create a sound that's more Vince Neil than Neil Diamond and are intended to draw college-age San Diego bar-hoppers. This isn't as unlikely as it sounds if one considers the contemporary hit remakes of classic Diamond cuts like "Red Red Wine" (Simply Red) and "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon" (Urge Overkill). "One of the toughest things I've ever done was to convince hard rock musicians to do Neil Diamond music," says Brother Love singer Gary Day. "It's a continuous sales effort actually keeping them in the band."