Three Chord Opera

Three Chord Opera is the twenty-fifth studio album by Neil Diamond, released in 2001. It marked the first album since 1974's Serenade to consist solely of original material written solely by Diamond, and the first album of any original songs since 1996's country-themed Tennessee Moon where he co-wrote all but one of the songs.

Three Chord Opera
Studio album by Neil Diamond
Released	July 24, 2001
Recorded	2000–01
Genre	Pop
Length	47:17
Label	Columbia
Producer	Peter Asher, Alan Lindgren
Neil Diamond chronology
The Neil Diamond Collection (1999) Three Chord Opera (2001) The Essential Neil Diamond (2001)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

The album also featured the song "I Believe in Happy Endings", written by Diamond for the 2001 comedy Saving Silverman in which he made a cameo.

The album reached number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[1][2] "You are the Best Part of Me", reached No. 28 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.^[3]

Track listing

All songs written by Neil Diamond.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"I Haven't Played This Song in Years"	4:25
2.	"Don't Look Down"	3:08
3.	"I Believe in Happy Endings"	4:29
4.	"At the Movies"	3:39
5.	"Midnight Dream"	4:57
6.	"You Are the Best Part of Me"	4:02
7.	"Baby Let's Drive"	4:35
8.	"My Special Someone"	3:35
9.	"A Mission of Love"	4:15
10.	"Elijah's Song"	2:56
11.	"Leave a Little Room for God"	2:53
12.	"Turn Down the Lights"	4:23

Personnel

• Guitar: Hadley Hockensmith, Doug Rhone, Michael Thompson
• Pedal steel guitar: JayDee Maness
• Bass guitar: Chuck Domanico, Reinie Press
• Keyboards: Tom Hensley, Alan Lindgren
• Accordion: Dominic Ordinaire
• Drums: Russ Kunkel, Ron Tutt
• Percussion: Peter Asher, Vince Charles
• Saxophone: Emilio Castillo, Everette Harp, Larry Klimas, Don Markese, Norbert Satchel
• Strings: Peter Asher, Assa Drori, Susie Katayama, Stephen "Doc" Kupka, Evan Wilson, Shari Zippert
• Horns: Adolfo Acosta, Greg Adams, Michael Bogart, Daniel Fornero, Ralf Rickert
• Backing Vocals: Peter Asher, Alvin Chea, Craig Copeland, Randy Crenshaw, Robert Joyce, Marc Mann, Colin Mitchell, Linda Press, Wendy Worth

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4]	3
UK Albums (OCC)[5]	49
US Billboard 200[6]	15

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[7]	Gold	35,000^
United States (RIAA)[8]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.