Thank God For Rick Rubin

The title of this post is probably not the most heard of statements, however I stand by it.

A quick google search yielded this result:

Probably the only thing 100% certain about Rick Rubin is that music is his overriding passion, the filter he sees the world through. He’s done landmark albums with Run-DMC (Raising Hell), the Beastie Boys (Licensed to Ill) and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (BloodSugarSex- Magik, Californication). His shotgun marriage of rock and rap—Aerosmith and Run-DMC’s smash collaboration on “Walk This Way”— revitalized Areosmith’s stalled career and started a revolution in rock itself. His continued involvement with Tom Petty (Wildflowers, Echo) and Johnny Cash (American Recordings, Unchained) helps keep these artists vital and current. He thinks nothing of working with Slayer (five albums) and Danzig (four albums) on one hand and Donovan (Sutras) on the other. And, after all his success, Rubin still does hang in ratty rehearsal halls, not letting his bands near a proper studio until the songs are great. He’s an enigma, a cipher, but his love of music is clear as day.

A new album has been making the marketing rounds over the past two weeks, 12 Songs by Neil Diamond. It seems to me that 12 Songs is a re-introduction of "The Jazz Singer"; much like the American Recordings Rubin created with Johnny Cash (Note: I am of the opinion that Johnny never really went away, but I commend Rubin for helping Cash focus his efforts again).

Rubin's applied strategy for Johnny Cash was elemental:

In the beginning, Rubin simplified the Cash sound, stripping it of the studio gimmickry and melodramatic production that marred most of his releases in the late 1970s and '80s. Rubin told him: "You would take your guitar, sit down in front of a microphone and sing me the songs you love. Just sing me everything you want to record.

It's a simple formula. Exceptional talent + open slate = Good music. Isn't that what it should be all the time?

Keep 'em coming, Rick...