Track Listing

1. Guests
2. Humbled in Love
3. Window
4. Came So Far for Beauty
5. Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant)
6. Traitor
7. Our Lady of Solitude
8. Gypsy's Wife
9. Smokey Life
10. Ballad of the Absent Mare

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16471 in Music
• Released on: 2008-02-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

Customer Reviews

The Rare Genius of a Maestro
The Rare Genius of a Maestro

The unmistakable talent of Leonard Cohen was apparent from his early days, but when one looks at his work in chronological order (see below), then his need to break from his almost folksy style occurred after "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" (1974). His first experiment with a different form of expression was Death of a Ladies' Man in 1977, arguably his worst performance, and one that he himself denotes as a "catastrophe". That was also the last time that Cohen had allowed someone else (in this case, Phil Spector) to influence his work.

Recent Songs appeared in 1979, and although not always widely acclaimed, contains some of his best work as an artist. The old Cohen is still there, but the power of his poetry blends extremely well with his beautiful but haunting delivery.

Here is the watershed that is the hallmark of true art - allowing the author to break free entirely from the bonds of method and style, culminating in an exceptional and unique piece of work. In contemporary music there really is no equivalent.

On this record Cohen covers the gamut - from his cynical and outright scary "The Guests" - where he deals with his struggle to understand God - to the "Ballad of the Absent Mare" - which is an absolute testament to the power of the artist. All his work on this album is outright marvelous, but especially the cuts "The Window", "The Traitor" and "Ballard of the Absent Mare" deserves further mentioning. Here Cohen combines reason, rhyme and beauty in an apparent effortless fashion, and proves beyond any doubt why he should be considered as possibly the most outstanding English balladeer of modern time.

The record is a must for the truly discerning mind.

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Releases in sequential order:

1997 - More Best Of Leonard Cohen

1994 - Cohen Live

1992 - The Future

1988 - I'm Your Man

1984 - Various Positions

1979 - Recent Songs

1977 - Death of a Ladies' Man

1975 - The Best of Leonard Cohen

1974 -New Skin for the Old Ceremony

1973 -Live Songs

1971 - Songs Of Love And Hate

1969 - Songs From A Room

1968 - Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Poetry In Motion
Not widely recognized as being a very good Leonard Cohen album, but it, in fact, is. A lovely use of violins throughout and the presence of the band Passenger on several tracks, makes this the best Leonard Cohen album, musically. There are actually fairly-long musical interludes and solos on this album, which is somewhat rare for Cohen... hence, the longer-than-usual running times of the songs on this album compared to previous ones. This is, of course, in addition to his usually brilliant lyrics. They are more poignant here, in fact, than almost any place else. Some of his most beautiful songs lie herein. The opener, The Guests, is a perfectly sardonic way to open the album. Humbled In Love is lyrically similar, in it's delivery, and about as good. Songs like The Window, The Traitor, and The Smokey Life, are excellent, seemingly highly-confessional songs that fit nicely into Cohen's repetoire. However, my personal favorite off the album is Came So Far For Beauty, a poignant, absolutely beautiful touching little piece with a totally appropriate musical backing. The cover of the Lost Canadian is also a nice addition. The allegerical Ballad of The Absent Mare brings the album to a triumphant close. A must-own.

OH MOTHER OF GOD....
This is the first LC album I've ever heard, and I've got a bad feeling that I'm going to do something crazy tomorrow -- LIKE BUY THE REST OF HIS ENTIRE CATALOG IN ONE SHOT -- because "Recent Songs" is absolutlely masterful. And beautuiful. And haunting. And every thing else affecting Art should be. ...