Can someone recommen me some Leonard Cohen

pearlzepfan

I am a huge fan of folk music. And I've heard of him before but never researched him. And I really didn't know any of his work or what kind of music he played until very recently when I found out he was more of a poet that an actual songwriter. So now I'm very interested. I'm thinking about getting his debut.

The Darkness

I just picked up a pretty good compilation album of his, called 'More Best Of'. It has a lot of his more well known songs, such as 'EveryBody Knows', 'Tower Of Song', 'Democracy', 'The Future', 'Closing Time', Dance Me To The End of Love' and 'Suzanne'. The man is a genius, and should be recognized with the likes of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed for his lyrical gifts.

seagoat2

Get anything that has "Hallelujah" on it.....amazing song.

:-)

Evacuation Rules

His first album, "Songs Of Leonard Cohen", is a classic. His third album "Songs Of Love And Hate" is also amazing. The easiest route, however, would be to get "Essential Leonard Cohen" and be done with it. The only thing I don't like about that set is that it's a little light on the early years.

NakedClown

I hate to say it, but Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" outdoes anything Cohen did with it - but thank god he wrote the song...

I relate it to what PJ did with Victoria Williams' Crazy MAry...

seagoat2

NakedClown wrote:

I hate to say it, but Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" outdoes anything Cohen did with it - but thank god he wrote the song...

I relate it to what PJ did with Victoria Williams' Crazy MAry...

I agree completely....just giving the writer his nod! :-)

Blue27

I've never listened to any of his albums myself, but my sister loves him, especially his books. I think his voice is quite compelling and haunting. We went to see a new film about him at the L.A. Film Festival. He was actually there to introduce the film, and I was struck by how small and frail he seems compared to the grandeur of his voice. It's called "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" and is a documentary style film. It's mostly other musicians playing his songs - Rufus and Martha Wainwright, U2, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, lots of others. The performances are intercut with clips of Cohen and all those other musicians talking about him, his work, interesting anecdotes.

I have mixed feelings about the film as a whole - I thought it would have more of a biographical/historical point of view towards Cohen himself instead of focusing on the other musicians mostly- but it was cool to watch nonetheless. You realize just how self-deprecating he is even though he is highly admired and respected by so many artists. He has this extraordinary way of expressing himself. My sister wanted to cry hearing all these people "murder" his songs as she put it, LOL. Some sounded awful to me, some were alright. You might find it interesting to check out. You'll certainly hear many songs so you can get a feel for his lyrics.