Leonard Cohen Band

Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (born 21 September 1934) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work has explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships.[2] Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received a Princess of Asturias Awards for literature.

 

Leonard Cohen

Laughing Len. The Ladies' Man. The Existential Comedian. The Bard of Our Great Depression. The High Priest of Solitude. One of the greatest songwriters to ever live, bar none. While not, in any traditional sense, a "singer", Cohen brought his talents as a poet to bear in creating one of the most impressive songbooks of any artist. His sound changed a bit over the years, but the production and music were always a vehicle for the lyrics, and they were consistently exceptional.

Recommended Listen:
The Songs of Leonard Cohen

Crash Course:
1. The Songs of Leonard Cohen
2. Death of a Ladies Man
3. I'm Your Man

Compilation Replacement:
The Essential Leonard Cohen

Signature Songs:
1. "Suzanne"
2. "Bird on a Wire"
3. "Famous Blue Raincoat"
4. "Chelsea Hotel No. 2"
5. "Hallelujah"

Personal Note:
I chose the albums not necessarily to shoot for his three "best" so much as to give the best spread of his career. Also because I think Death of a Ladies' Man (his most controversial record) is his masterpiece, so I'm biased. You really can't go wrong with Songs of Love and Hate or New Skin for the Old Ceremony. Also some of his later records like The Future and Ten New Songs are pretty essential.

 

wow I'm Your Man has a stacked tracklisting, First We Take Manhattan is also one of my favorite songs of his

at this point Hallelujah feels like Jeff Buckley's song, the same way Watchtower is Jimi's

 

I debated cutting it for Tower of Song or I'm Your Man, but that just felt off

 

Missed that this thread was posted! I've scratched the surface with Cohen, but haven't got anywhere remotely close to properly exploring his discography. Will hopefully find the time this week.

 

Today is his 82nd birthday, good timing Chris

 

The Songs Of Leonard Cohen is a phenomenal record and was the first I heard of his a few years back. Kinda hard to listen to now bc the person who showed me it has since passed away but I did today anyway for this thread and now I cry.

 

Utterly accidental, but awesome nonetheless.

 

Prob doesn't help that the best song on the record is "So Long, Marianne"

 

First time with Recent Songs and really blown away considering it's generally viewed as one of his minor releases. He has the more confident, loose vocal style of the previous album and slightly beefed up arrangements that he could get away with as scaled back from his collab with Spector. "The Guests", "Came So For Beauty" and "The Smokey Life" are particular highlights

 

Death of a Ladies Man will legit always be my favorite album of his. It's definitely an incongruous combination, but not as jarring as it gets cracked up to be. Spector adds a LOT, but they always fit the songs, and Cohen wrote some of his most outsized and sexually charged songs to suit the collaboration. "Memories" is just such an absurdly good song, taking lust to a grand and epic scale that really makes you feel the want being sung about. And as his humorous side goes, it's hard to top "Don't Go Home with Your Hard On".

 

Leonard Cohen Dead at 82

jesus, we're really losing everyone this year

 

Bummer, man. I was never super into him but really liked what I heard

 

Fuck this stupid year.

 

Just got this news from Craig's tweet after way too much whiskey. Fuck man. This one hurts bad

 

RIP. At least he went out on a high note, You Want It Darker is a fantastic album.

 

It's a damn shame 90% of this forum might not even know who this man is.

 

Chelsea Hotel No 2 is about as perfect as a song can get. It really captures a moment of numbness and loneliness shared with another person. It's beautiful.

 

three months ago I bought Songs of Leonard Cohen, Songs of Love and Hate, and Songs From a Room because they were five bucks each at Barnes and Noble (along with Ziggy Startdust, Grace, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and I'd been meaning to anyway. I hadn't gotten around to listening to them yet though, but now I feel compelled to. I listened to some of his stuff through the years, just from the ubiquity an artist like this gets as well as from a lot of my favorite artists covering or citing him as an influence. This will be my first time listening to him in album format, it sucks it took me so long and that i waited for these circumstances.

 

Fuck.

Fuck this stupid year.

I saw him a few years ago, in his 70s, absolutely kill an arena show. He did 3 encores and skipped on and off the stage each time. He was truly one of the most staggeringly gifted writers ever to grace the medium.

 

Leonard Cohen Makes It Darker

I printed this out a couple weeks ago and have read it a few times. If you haven't read it yet, you should.

 

I just got into him in the last few months after watching McCabe and Mrs. Miller, wish I'd discovered him sooner. He's all I've felt like listening to the past two days.

 

Ten New Songs is just so good. Probably the most accessible thing he's done. "In My Secret Life" is such a fantastic opener.

 

Spinning Live at the Isle or Wight Festival last night and this morning and it's really making me sad I never got a chance to see him live. Never getting to see him or Lou Reed will always be two of my biggest regrets. Anyways, check out this album if you haven't, it's amazing.