Neil Diamond

“There are two types of people in the world,” Bill Murray posited in What About Bob?, “Those who like Neil Diamond and those who don't.” That may have been true in 1991, but for the past 15 years, Diamond has been mounting a slow but steady comeback, and these days the anti-Diamond camp is a whole lot smaller than it’s perhaps ever been. Rick Rubin can claim some of the creditas with Johnny Cash, Rubin produced a stripped-down “comeback” album for Diamond, 2005’s 12 Songs, which earned Diamond’s strongest reviews in ages. But in truth, the seeds had been planted long before, when sports stadiums, fraternities and karaoke bars adopted “Sweet Caroline” as their new anthem, and as Diamond likeably riffed on his iconic image on television and in films like Saving Silverman. Lest there be any doubt that Neil Diamond is loved, his latest album, Home Before Dark, debuted atop the Billboard charts, making the 67-year-old the oldest artist ever to claim that honor. Diamond does an 8 p.m. concert at the Bradley Center tonight.