Leonard Cohen is a particularly interesting musician. Starting out in music when he was already 33-years old yet still becoming one of the most renowned folk singer-songwriters of all time. This would perhaps not be too surprising if his contemporaries such as Paul Simon and Bob Dylan weren't making waves in the industry by their tender 20s.
Age is not an issue with Leonard Cohen though, as an avid fan at 17 years of age I can confirm this - and I know many fans of a similar age. This appeal may have something to do that Cohen possesses the characteristics that most aspiring adolescent males will come to possess; bitterness, sex drive and a penchant for poetry (though he is likely to be more successful than most) and while he may be news to you as the Hallelujah to your mother or the elegantly dressed but fatefully morose figure on the Greatest Hits covrer of 1975 that your household probably owns - he is an exceptionally talented and accessible character, seriously. Songs from Leonard Cohen to New Skin for The Old Ceremony charts the early tenure of Cohen and what is usually considered his most versatile period. He would later go through many Dylan-like changes such as a different voice, incorporating jazz and creating the massive Hallelujah. Cohen continues to tour sporadically and his most recent album was 2012's Old Ideas.
SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN (1967)
And so the musical odyssey began with Songs of Leonard Cohen a debut so well established and realised it's impressive to think it marked Leonard's first foray into music. The album starts with Suzanne a song which is only challenged by Hallelujah for popular credence amongst his catalogue. The song is breathtakingly refined and really quite beautiful. The song is the perfect mix of the love vs lust semantics that is found in many Cohen songs but delivered in each with a new sensibility and an obstacle poetically delivered to influence the narrator. Master Song has the bitter observation turned up to 11 and peaks with the enchanting carnival sound that crops up in the latter stages of the song's uncommon 6-minute length. Winter Lady again pits a woman at the heart of the narrator's story but this time it is a short, bittersweet affair. The Stranger Song begins a run of consistency and brilliance that never really subsides until after the haunting yells that echo out of One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong as if stuck in a chamber pop nightmare. Songs of Leonard Cohen probably boasts the highest number count of 'Cohen classics', with 4 or 5 of it's 10 songs usually finding their way to a compilation of his. In some ways it is his most impressive album, but in other ways it is probably the least album of those reviewed here that really ought to be consumed as one album listen. That isn't really a detraction from the album, the group of songs here are arguably his best, and it plays like a greatest hits. But the sheer fact that it isn't a greatest hits, and Leonard has similarly well-acclaimed albums of around the same time, mean the allure of the others is sometimes stronger as they seem to have more to prove than this perhaps more understood classic. Bonus tracks Store Room and Blessed Is The Memory are equally as stellar as most of the songs here and should definitely be acquired by fans of the album.
9.5/10
Tracklist:
Suzanne
Master Song
Winter Lady
The Stranger Song
Sisters Of Mercy
So Long, Marianne
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
Stories From The Street
Teachers
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong
SONGS FROM A ROOM (1969)
Songs From A Room is everything you would wish for after the superb Songs of Leonard Cohen.There is enough difference and similarity to this record to make it stands on its own, and crucially there is almost no surrender of quality. The album cover suggests the black and white bleakness the record largely follows, only 'A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes' and 'Tonight Will Be Fine' are exceptions to this rhythmically, and even then they make up for their subtlety mirthful nature with implications of negativity within the lyrics. The record is best appreciated in one sitting as the sum of it's parts, although almost equal to Songs Of, may often not weigh up against some of the individual tracks on the former. 'You Know Who I Am', 'Lady Midnight' and 'Tonight Will Be Fine' play out as the final three-tracks superbly, each featuring enough tenderness and wistfulness as the last. 'Bird on The Wire' is strangely more forgettable here, in my opinion, when weighed against the other material, and isn't an as striking Cohen classic as many of his others. The use of Jew's harp makes it a particularly unique affair, and the relatively short running time of the album and its intriguing, beguiling ideas make it an album that is easily re-listenable.
8.8/10
Tracklist:
Bird on The Wire
Story of Isaac
A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes
The Partisan
Seems So Long Ago, Nancy
The Old Revolution
The Butcher
You Know Who I Am
Lady Midnight
Tonight Will Be Fine
SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE (1971)
Songs Of Love And Hate is Cohen's most captivating album in his legend - but not necessarily the finest. There appears to be almost little to no consensus on this album; it is extremely polarizing. To some it is Cohen's masterpiece; it's hard not to see why.
The largest palette of emotions is evident on Songs Of Love And Hate, Cohen is namely loving and hateful, but also spiteful, angry and bashful. Coupled with 'Famous Blue Raincoat' and 'Joan Of Arc' which were more of the "typical" Leonard Cohen sound that had been developed on his first two albums, the "character of Cohen" is expanded tenfold, something that might shock or surprise fans of his earlier work.
This leaves the album rife for the criticism and study that has endured to even now. Some see the album's (supposed) departure from the rich, lyrical poetry of the likes of 'Suzanne' as deductive and so the album comes off as self-indulgent and ugly.
True, the album is harsher and largely darker, but arguably this is a natural progression from the often overly impassive nature of Songs From A Room simply set to the backdrop of eight, longer cuts. There also seems to be less craft and fine-tuning put into the songs, which is in definite contrast to his earlier albums, but makes Cohen come across as more of a poet and a writer than a musician, which is of course what he was first and foremost. He is arguably more human on this album, with the good points and bad points left purposely for his audience to see. Crucially the album ought to be listened to by anyone who considers themselves even the meekest of Leonard Cohen fans; to not hear the likes of 'Dress Rehearsal Rag' and 'Diamonds in the Mine', contrasted with 'Love Calls You By Your Name' and 'Joan Of Arc' is simply a crime.
9.0/10
Tracklist:
Avalanche
Last Year's Man
Dress Rehearsal Rag
Diamonds in the Mine
Love Calls You By Your Name
Famous Blue Raincoat
Sing Another Song, Boys
Joan Of Arc
NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY (1974)
Coming three years after the grueling and beautiful (and often gruelingly beautiful) Songs of Love and Hate, New Skin for the Old Ceremony saw Cohen returning to a formula more akin to Songs of Leonard Cohen, whilst expanding his sound to include jazz-influences and folk rock.
Arguably his most accessible album, New Skin strikes the balance of maintaining itself as a stellar set of songs against Cohen's evident maturation as a musician, a result which would strike a chord with his generally older audience. Consistent and commercially viable, the album could be seen as Cohen's peak, were it not without perhaps the 'sting' that his earlier albums so dearly wear on their sleeves. This will make the album more alluring to some, and as a starting point to Leonard Cohen it is harder to think of a better place than here, besides his debut.
Leonard's excellence is best appreciated on Chelsea Hotel #2, Field Commander Cohen and Take This Longing, though no song is particularly ignorable or uneventful. Is This What You Wanted is a little too grimacing to open an otherwise richly evocative album, and Leaving Green Selves is almost in resemblance of One Of Us Cannot Wrong, and is a excellent closer.
8.7/10
Tracklist*:
Is This What You Wanted
Is This What You Wanted
Chelsea Hotel #2
Lover Lover Lover
Field Commander Cohen
Why Don't You Try
There Is A War
A Singer Must Die
I Tried To Leave You
Who By Fire
Take This Longing
Leaving Green Sleeves
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