CD Odyssey Disc 7: Leonard Cohen

The seventh disc is our second Canadian entry on the CD Odyssey - and a big departure from Black Sabbath.

Disc 7 is...Songs of Love And Hate

Artist: Leonard Cohen

Year of Release: 1971

How I Came To Know It: When I was in high school some of my friends and I would scour the poetry section looking for good stuff. It helped if it was dirty. It was there I discovered "Spice Box of Earth", a book of Cohen poetry. It was incredible stuff, made all the better because it had all kinds of dirty, erotic imagery. So I came by Leonard Cohen through his poems, not his music. In about 1989 I found out about his music, but "Songs of Love and Hate" came late to the collection - frankly it was hard to find.

How It Stacks Up: I have 10 studio albums of Cohen and 1 live album. I'd say of the 10 studio albums, I'd put this one 8th. This is not to say it is bad, it is more a reflection of how good Cohen is.

Rating: 4 stars

This album is a bit of a downer. It is Cohen's third release, after the ubiquitous "Songs" and the lesser known but incredible "Songs From a Room". It is not as good as these, but it has its moments.

Cohen is an incredible poet, who is underappreciated as a song writer. This particular album is a bit derivative of his earlier stuff musically, so not much there, but it does have some tracks that stand out.

In particular, "Last Year's Man" is a great expression of writer's block, and the pressure of success. Joan of Arc and Famous Blue Raincoat(both famously remade by Jennifer Warnes) still makes the cut in concerts. Joan of Arc in this original format is not a duet, and I think it suffers for it. Later versions with a female voice singing Joan's parts, and Cohen singing for "fire" are superior.

If you are a completionist, buy this album. It is not his best but it has enough great tracks to warrant 4 stars and some of your dough. If you only want to own 2 or 3 Cohen albums, I must reluctantly tell you to skip it (but only after advising you that you are a moron for wanting to skip any Cohen album not called "Dear Heather").

Best tracks: Last Year's Man, Famous Blue Raincoat, Joan of Arc.