Neil Diamond [ tickets ]'s first collection of original material in five years will reach stores on July 24, according to Columbia Records. A major U.S. tour will get underway this fall to support the release.

The new album, titled "Three Chord Opera," was produced by Peter Asher (Cher, Linda Ronstadt, Sarah Brightman) and Alan Lindgren (whom Diamond has often enlisted as a keyboardist and arranger).

The new album is described in a label press release as one of Diamond's most "personal" albums, "showcasing the patented Diamond blend of balladry, doo-wop, show tunes, jazz, pop and rock & roll." Diamond's last album of original material, 1996's country-influenced "Tennessee Moon," was certified gold by the RIAA six months after its release for selling more than 500,000 copies.

"Three Chord Opera" marks the first time since 1974's "Serenade" in which all of the music and lyrics on a Diamond album were penned by the artist himself. Although Diamond has written the vast majority of the material that has appeared on his albums since then, there is at least one cover song or shared song credit on those albums.

Diamond is the subject of a VH1 "Behind the Music" program that is tentatively scheduled to debut around the time of the new album's release. He is also scheduled to appear on the NBC TV's "Today" show on July 27 and on the A&E cable network's "Live by Request" on July 28.

Dates and venues for Diamond's fall tour--which is expected to launch in September--will be announced "soon," according to his label.

Diamond toured the arena circuit regularly from the '70s through the mid-90s, and proved to be one of the most reliable draws. According to Amusement Business, his 1996 tour was the fifth-highest grossing of that year, pulling in $25.3 million.

His 1991 "Love in the Round" tour was the top-attended concert by a solo artist of 1991, according to Columbia Records.