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Songs of Leonard Cohen | 
| Artist: Leonard Cohen
Label: Sony Legacy
Category: Music
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $4.74
You Save: $3.25 (41%)
New (38) Used (18) Collectible (1) from $4.74
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 2112
Format: Extra Tracks, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 704742
UPC: 886970474221
EAN: 0886970474221
ASIN: B000NOKA0S
Release Date: April 24, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Suzanne | | • | Master Song | | • | Winter Lady | | • | Stranger Song | | • | Sisters of Mercy | | • | So Long, Marianne | | • | Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye | | • | Stories of the Street | | • | Teachers | | • | One of Us Cannot Be Wrong | | • | Store Room [#][*] | | • | Blessed Is the Memory [#][*] |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Canada's Answer To Bob Dylan November 2, 2007
Kurt Harding (Boerne TX)
33 out of 34 found this review helpful
In the late 1960s, Leonard Cohen was one of those fabled individuals of whom most serious music lovers had heard but who had not actually been much heard except through the voices of better-known singers who tirelessly promoted his songs. Over the years, Cohen became better known and has since become a cult hero in the world of those who like their music decidedly deep and decidedly dark.
I first became aware of Cohen back in the 1960s when I heard Judy Collins' haunting rendition of Suzanne. I liked that and I liked some other Cohen covers I later heard but never got around to actually buying a Leonard Cohen recording until some ten years ago. Since that time, I have gradually added to my collection of his music but did not acquire his first album until it was recently remastered. And what a piece of work it is!
Many have compared Leonard Cohen to Bob Dylan because both are masters of the English language and both are masters of poetic imagery. And like Dylan, Cohen has a peculiar talent for the blending of the sacred and the profane. You might even say that Leonard Cohen is Canada's answer to Bob Dylan. The last picture of Cohen in the attractive booklet that accompanies the CD even looks like Dylan does today! Despite the flattering comparison, however, Cohen is absolutely an original.
I like the dark, the brooding, and the bittersweet when eloquently and intelligently expressed, so its almost only natural that I am a confirmed Leonard Cohen fan. Every song on this CD, including the bonus cuts, is a winner. Suzanne is obviously the most famous cut closely followed perhaps by Sisters of Mercy. Good as they are they are not my favorites. Mine are Master Song, The Stranger Song, Stories of the Street, Store Room, and finally Teachers which is hugely evocative of the pre-commercial works of fellow Canadian Gordon Lightfoot.
On the Songs of Leonard Cohen, the listener is presented with an astounding body of work that, to paraphrase the updated liner notes, assures Cohen a place in the pantheon of great twentieth century songwriter/poets. There are precious few artists whose debuts are so auspicious as this. This is a recording that deserves a place in the music library of every serious music lover. Get it while you still can.
Original masterpiece enhanced May 15, 2007
Pieter (Johannesburg)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
Cohen's timeless debut has been enhanced by the addition of 2 extra tracks. The lilting poetry of Suzanne lures the listener into his world of romantic despair while introducing the essence of his sound: a deep monotone framed by sublime female backing vocals over simple but engaging melodies.
Master Song, Winter Lady and Stranger Song reinforce the desolate landscape although the melodies are less immediate. Cohen's genius shines brightly on the immortal Sisters Of Mercy, a strange mixture of the spiritual and the sensual that must be one of the most beautiful musical poems in the English language.
This delicate gem is followed by the powerful and evocative So Long Marianne and the understated Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye, both masterpieces of words, melody and arrangement - the female vocals on Goodbye is especially impressive.
Stories of the Street appears as a poem in one of Cohen's 1960s poetry books: Selected Poems 1956-1968 and deals with a visit to Havana during of just after the revolution. Interesting fact: The line "some girls wander by mistake" from Teachers was later used as an album title by the goth band Sisters Of Mercy: Some Girls Wander By Mistake
One Us Cannot Be Wrong addresses the beloved in a series of strange images before moving on to melodic whistling and ending with bitter shouted la la lahs. For those interested in other artists' take on Cohen: Suzanne has been beautifully covered by inter alia Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy and Geoffrey Oryema: I'm Your Fan, while Sting and the Chieftains' celtic version of Sisters Of Mercy is available on the Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen tribute album.
On the I'm Your Fan tribute there are interesting interpretations of Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye by Ian McCulloch, Stories Of The Street by That Petrol Emotion and So Long Marianne by James.
This reissue booklet includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis, three black & white photographs of LC and two full-color paintings by the artist. Both extra tracks were originally produced by John Hammond and for reissue by Bruce Dickinson. The second, Blessed Is The Memory, is the more immediately appealing with its lovely organ flourishes.
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Songs from a Room
Flowers for Hitler
The beginning of the majestic Leonard.... May 8, 2008
Grigory's Girl (NYC)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This was Leonard Cohen's first album, and it's an amazing album. It's filled with some of his best songs ever, songs that sound new everytime you listen to him. It starts with one of his signature songs, Suzanne. Surprisingly, it's not about a lost love or a current love, but a woman of impeccable taste and hospitality. I especially love The Stranger Song, which grows more brooding and profound every time I listen to it. Sisters of Mercy, So Long, Marianne, and Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye are three other songs that are truly endearing. This is the beginning of the amazing journey for Cohen, as most of his work has been surprisingly consistent and always worth listening to. Many times when an artist has a great debut, he burns out afterwards. Not Leonard. He's aging most gracefully.
An interesting note to cinema buffs. Many of these songs are featured in Robert Altman's masterful McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and the song Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye is featured in Werner Herzog's Fata Morgana.
Essential listening from one of Canada's greatest men.
A Shiver Inducing Masterwork March 4, 2009
Josh Z. Bonder (Toronto)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
7 reviews?!? I'd like to think the lack of reviews for this album merely indicates the difficulty of expressing in words the profound impact of these songs, a task perhaps only fit for the wordsmith Mr. Cohen himself. This album touches a sensitive nerve with me every time I listen to it, and it's one of the few that can reduce me to tears again and again. Not only does it strike a chord with me again and again, but it somehow manages to escalate in impact and profundity with each listen as the mysteries contained within reveal themselves gradually. Perhaps not everyone will feel this way, but there's something about Cohen's ability to convey very complex feelings and human conundrums through abstract yet direct poetics, and sparse but exacting musical backing which cuts me to the quick.
While Cohen has had a consistently strong career, always creating excellent material of a standard other artists would be lucky to even come close to, this first album is arguably his strongest. Each album is strong in its own way, and comparing them misses the point, but this album manages to move me more than any of the others (Songs of Love and Hate and Songs From a Room come close). This may just be personal bias or preference, this being my introduction to Mr. Cohen, and having heard it at a time and place that left me open to its devastating impact. But I challenge anyone to listen with an open mind to "One of us cannot be wrong" and defy them to keep from shivering or all out weeping. Listen to "Sisters of mercy" and you can't deny being buoyed by its sense of sensual deification and grace. Listen to "The stranger song" and try not to be intrigued by the mysteries like "...a highway, curling just like smoke above his shoulder." I could go on, but again, there's only so much one can say about this incredible album. It would take the words of Mr. Cohen himself to convey the emotional impact these songs can have on an interested mind and an open heart.
Just a word about the remastered version: Sound quality is top notch and a marked improvement over the old CD version, with the sparse arrangements coming forward, filling and leaving space perfectly. The bonus tracks are a very nice addition and a pleasure to hear, though they are somewhat less "necessary" than any of the original songs. Either way, a great buy and a very worthwhile replacement of the old columbia CD.
Songs of Leonard Cohen April 7, 2008
B. McReedy (Texas Panhandle)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The songs on this cd are classic Cohen. If you like Leonard Cohen, you will love this cd. Turn down the lights, turn the volume up, sit down and just contemplate his voice and words. An awesome poet, songwriter, singer.
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