[2] After 40 years recording solo for Columbia (Capitol had released Diamond's 1980 soundtrack album for The Jazz Singer.

On September 8, 2014, six of the tracks from Melody Road were premiered at the Capitol Records studios in Hollywood, CA at a listening party for a small group of music industry executives and journalists.

Of the songs, the article stated that "'Something Blue', the most commercial of the songs played Monday, has the classic Diamond mid-tempo lilt; the ballads 'The Art of Love' and '(Ooo) Do I Wanna Be Yours' offer springboards for Diamond's still-potent voice; and 'Seongah and Jimmy' is an eyewitness account of a romance between a woman from Korea and a man from Long Island.

"[4] The Wall Street Journal wrote that "The Art of Love" is a "tender offering from Diamond, who at age 73, hasn't lost that ability to convey a wide swath of emotions in just four minutes.

'Still remember the first word you wrote, in every single note that you play,' he declares in "First Time," a joyful remembrance of musical beginnings that recalls one of the singer's own early hits, "I'm a Believer."