The two-disc retrospective The Essential Leonard Cohen traces the Canadian bard's musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little, to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence through the 1960s songcraft of "Suzanne" and "Bird on a Wire", the "folksinger" tag never really fit. Later highlights ranging from the deadpan drollery of "Tower of Song" and "Everybody Knows" to the apocalyptic anthemry of "First We Take Manhattan" and "Democracy" suggest that other labels might be more appropriate: cabaret surrealist, spiritual gadfly, sensual prophet, agent provocateur.

Cohen chose the selections, drawing more than half of the 31 tracks from three landmark albums--his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1988's I'm Your Man, and 1992's The Future--along with four from 2001's Ten New Songs. The collection justifies its title as deep as it goes, though it's a shame that Cohen's commercial profile couldn't justify the more elaborate box set his artistry warrants (one that would at least include lyrics and musician credits). Those who sample the consistently inspired music here might come to the conclusion that everything Cohen records is essential. --Don McLeese

Soulfood Essential, 23 Aug 2008
This is as fine an introduction to the works of Leonard Cohen as could be imagined. The track list, selected by the man himself, covers almost every period of his recorded output (Cohen is not prolific in the way, say, Bob Dylan is, or Neil Young), but I do feel some truly great stuff has been overlooked, i.e. the hushed, but haunting version of 'Story Of Isaac' from 1973's LIVE SONGS, which is one of the most profound things that anyone has ever written, the great live recordings from FIELD COMMANDER COHEN: Tour Of 1979, which admittedly was not released until after THE ESSENTIAL LEONARD COHEN appeared. Of those songs, I feel the title track is as good and epic a song as any he's recorded, and the version from NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY would have sufficed over e.g 'Take This Longing' which already appears on his GREATEST HITS. As for the Passenger version of 'Lover Lover Lover', what can I say? It is blistering! Likewise (from that same album) versions of 'The Window', 'The Smokey Life', 'The Stranger Song', 'The Gypsy's Wife' (long since a staple of the live act) and an unforgettable reading of 'Memories' from the unfairly-maligned DEATH OF A LADIES' MAN, are all worthy of inclusion. In fact, it's true to say that all Cohen's output is essential, but I would also have included 'Ballad Of The Absent Mare' and 'Came So Far For Beauty' from RECENT SONGS, 'The Old Revolution' from SONGS FROM A ROOM (if only for discovering it had been a minor hit in the UK: hats off to Dale Winton for pointing that out to me!), the live 'Joan Of Arc', 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong' and 'Hallelujah' from 1993's COHEN LIVE, 'Coming Back To You' and 'The Captain' from 1984's VARIOUS POSITIONS, but the greatest omission surely has to be the Lorca-inspired 'Take This Waltz' from the brilliant I'M YOUR MAN. I could eulogise forever. Suffice to say, if your not familiar with the man's work, this is the perfect place to start. After that, buy THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, his debut (perhaps, alongside Jeff Buckley's GRACE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO, the greatest debut of all time, for my money).

It's like sipping your best brandy whilst puffing on a quality cigar, 04 May 2007
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter stuff more appealing these days. Some people could sing the contents of the telephone directory given the right voice, he is one of them. "Democracy", "Tower of Song", "First we take Manhattan" and "Hallelujah" are stand out tracks but I defy anyone not to get lost in "Closing Time". This is by far my favourite. A fun song, with so many catchy hooks it just pulls you off your seat and invites you to dance with the nearest partner. You can almost smell the smoke and alcoholic fumes as if you are drinking in the bar with him. A tremendous talent......but what great assistance from his backing singers.

This is a great selection of his work. If you are a fan, you'll want it in your collection. If you are just curious, buy it.........it's a great introduction.


A lesson for what really music is, 02 Feb 2007
There's nothing missing from this collection. Not the quality, not the deep, truthful voice, not the fully poetic and inspirational lyrics, nothing. My boyfriend bought this CD and we can't get enough of it- especially DISC 2.
Cohen is and will remain unique in this industry, mainly because he has something solid yet so delicate to say, because he is a musician, because he possesses the gift to sing stories instead of 'telling a song'. Great music, great lyrics, great singer.

Simply Blown Away.....New Convert, 27 Nov 2006
Well I cannot believe I have lived for 42 years without listening to a Cohen Album.I tried this on spec seeing the reviews and having been a big Dylan/Springsteen fan for many years.For me this album has been like meeting a soulmate in a slightly run down but all too comfortable bar and wishing you had met them much earlier in your life!!!!!
Songs like "Democracy" and "I'm Your Man" cover the dark side of politics and personal relationships superbly and the former should be essential listening for the Neo-Cons of the White House.
I will not go over everything already written but this double disc set seems a top introduction to Cohen's development and style.I have already ordered 2 more albums from his back catalogue and I feel this discovery could hit my bsank balance hard in the near future.Totally recommended.

A wonderful cross section of Cohen's music, 18 May 2006
This album is superb value, two generous discs crammed with very special music. It spans the whole range of Cohen's output (up to "Ten new songs") and you can hear his voice becoming deeper and more melancholy as the tracks go by.

Whilst everyone will have his favourite Cohen track, it must be said that there is not a bad track in the collection. Whilst all are clearly "Cohen", there is within that heading a tremendous range of moods and styles from the driving rhythms of "Democracy" to the more reflective favourite "Suzanne". In the later songs Sharon Robinson (the co-writer) plays a big part, but I find these songs just as good as the "pure" Cohen: in any case one of Cohen's strengths is that he changes in style, but still remains distinctly himself.

As always the lyrics are superb and blend in perfectly with the music: really the two cannot be separated. For me the very ambiguity and different possible interpretations of the words of such songs as "Alexandra leaving" add to their universality and give them an appeal to so many people (and make them suitable for so many moods).

When I purchased this disc I had not listened to Cohen for some time and had forgotten just how much I liked him and just how unique he is. I regard it as one of the best discs in my collection

Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass crooner Alison Krauss may not be the likeliest of musical combinations. But on this welcome collaboration album, they work beautifully together, wringing a kind of magic from other people's songs. The key to the album is its versatility. Between them, Krauss and Plant can handle a vast repertoire on their own, and here they take on the lot, from folk laments and country soul to searing blues and upbeat rock & roll. Overseen by Elvis Costello producer T Bone Burnett and backed by high caliber musicians like guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, Raising Sand sees the duo create stellar covers of songs by Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Mel Tillis and The Everly Brothers, among others. Highlights include a killer version of Roly Salley's "Killing the Blues", and a cover of the Plant-Page collaboration "Please Read the Letter," though in truth, it's difficult to find a weak spot on the whole album. --Danny McKenna

Soulfood Essential, 23 Aug 2008
This is as fine an introduction to the works of Leonard Cohen as could be imagined. The track list, selected by the man himself, covers almost every period of his recorded output (Cohen is not prolific in the way, say, Bob Dylan is, or Neil Young), but I do feel some truly great stuff has been overlooked, i.e. the hushed, but haunting version of 'Story Of Isaac' from 1973's LIVE SONGS, which is one of the most profound things that anyone has ever written, the great live recordings from FIELD COMMANDER COHEN: Tour Of 1979, which admittedly was not released until after THE ESSENTIAL LEONARD COHEN appeared. Of those songs, I feel the title track is as good and epic a song as any he's recorded, and the version from NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY would have sufficed over e.g 'Take This Longing' which already appears on his GREATEST HITS. As for the Passenger version of 'Lover Lover Lover', what can I say? It is blistering! Likewise (from that same album) versions of 'The Window', 'The Smokey Life', 'The Stranger Song', 'The Gypsy's Wife' (long since a staple of the live act) and an unforgettable reading of 'Memories' from the unfairly-maligned DEATH OF A LADIES' MAN, are all worthy of inclusion. In fact, it's true to say that all Cohen's output is essential, but I would also have included 'Ballad Of The Absent Mare' and 'Came So Far For Beauty' from RECENT SONGS, 'The Old Revolution' from SONGS FROM A ROOM (if only for discovering it had been a minor hit in the UK: hats off to Dale Winton for pointing that out to me!), the live 'Joan Of Arc', 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong' and 'Hallelujah' from 1993's COHEN LIVE, 'Coming Back To You' and 'The Captain' from 1984's VARIOUS POSITIONS, but the greatest omission surely has to be the Lorca-inspired 'Take This Waltz' from the brilliant I'M YOUR MAN. I could eulogise forever. Suffice to say, if your not familiar with the man's work, this is the perfect place to start. After that, buy THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, his debut (perhaps, alongside Jeff Buckley's GRACE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO, the greatest debut of all time, for my money).

It's like sipping your best brandy whilst puffing on a quality cigar, 04 May 2007
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter stuff more appealing these days. Some people could sing the contents of the telephone directory given the right voice, he is one of them. "Democracy", "Tower of Song", "First we take Manhattan" and "Hallelujah" are stand out tracks but I defy anyone not to get lost in "Closing Time". This is by far my favourite. A fun song, with so many catchy hooks it just pulls you off your seat and invites you to dance with the nearest partner. You can almost smell the smoke and alcoholic fumes as if you are drinking in the bar with him. A tremendous talent......but what great assistance from his backing singers.

This is a great selection of his work. If you are a fan, you'll want it in your collection. If you are just curious, buy it.........it's a great introduction.


A lesson for what really music is, 02 Feb 2007
There's nothing missing from this collection. Not the quality, not the deep, truthful voice, not the fully poetic and inspirational lyrics, nothing. My boyfriend bought this CD and we can't get enough of it- especially DISC 2.
Cohen is and will remain unique in this industry, mainly because he has something solid yet so delicate to say, because he is a musician, because he possesses the gift to sing stories instead of 'telling a song'. Great music, great lyrics, great singer.

Simply Blown Away.....New Convert, 27 Nov 2006
Well I cannot believe I have lived for 42 years without listening to a Cohen Album.I tried this on spec seeing the reviews and having been a big Dylan/Springsteen fan for many years.For me this album has been like meeting a soulmate in a slightly run down but all too comfortable bar and wishing you had met them much earlier in your life!!!!!
Songs like "Democracy" and "I'm Your Man" cover the dark side of politics and personal relationships superbly and the former should be essential listening for the Neo-Cons of the White House.
I will not go over everything already written but this double disc set seems a top introduction to Cohen's development and style.I have already ordered 2 more albums from his back catalogue and I feel this discovery could hit my bsank balance hard in the near future.Totally recommended.

A wonderful cross section of Cohen's music, 18 May 2006
This album is superb value, two generous discs crammed with very special music. It spans the whole range of Cohen's output (up to "Ten new songs") and you can hear his voice becoming deeper and more melancholy as the tracks go by.

Whilst everyone will have his favourite Cohen track, it must be said that there is not a bad track in the collection. Whilst all are clearly "Cohen", there is within that heading a tremendous range of moods and styles from the driving rhythms of "Democracy" to the more reflective favourite "Suzanne". In the later songs Sharon Robinson (the co-writer) plays a big part, but I find these songs just as good as the "pure" Cohen: in any case one of Cohen's strengths is that he changes in style, but still remains distinctly himself.

As always the lyrics are superb and blend in perfectly with the music: really the two cannot be separated. For me the very ambiguity and different possible interpretations of the words of such songs as "Alexandra leaving" add to their universality and give them an appeal to so many people (and make them suitable for so many moods).

When I purchased this disc I had not listened to Cohen for some time and had forgotten just how much I liked him and just how unique he is. I regard it as one of the best discs in my collection


eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

Soulfood Essential, 23 Aug 2008
This is as fine an introduction to the works of Leonard Cohen as could be imagined. The track list, selected by the man himself, covers almost every period of his recorded output (Cohen is not prolific in the way, say, Bob Dylan is, or Neil Young), but I do feel some truly great stuff has been overlooked, i.e. the hushed, but haunting version of 'Story Of Isaac' from 1973's LIVE SONGS, which is one of the most profound things that anyone has ever written, the great live recordings from FIELD COMMANDER COHEN: Tour Of 1979, which admittedly was not released until after THE ESSENTIAL LEONARD COHEN appeared. Of those songs, I feel the title track is as good and epic a song as any he's recorded, and the version from NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY would have sufficed over e.g 'Take This Longing' which already appears on his GREATEST HITS. As for the Passenger version of 'Lover Lover Lover', what can I say? It is blistering! Likewise (from that same album) versions of 'The Window', 'The Smokey Life', 'The Stranger Song', 'The Gypsy's Wife' (long since a staple of the live act) and an unforgettable reading of 'Memories' from the unfairly-maligned DEATH OF A LADIES' MAN, are all worthy of inclusion. In fact, it's true to say that all Cohen's output is essential, but I would also have included 'Ballad Of The Absent Mare' and 'Came So Far For Beauty' from RECENT SONGS, 'The Old Revolution' from SONGS FROM A ROOM (if only for discovering it had been a minor hit in the UK: hats off to Dale Winton for pointing that out to me!), the live 'Joan Of Arc', 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong' and 'Hallelujah' from 1993's COHEN LIVE, 'Coming Back To You' and 'The Captain' from 1984's VARIOUS POSITIONS, but the greatest omission surely has to be the Lorca-inspired 'Take This Waltz' from the brilliant I'M YOUR MAN. I could eulogise forever. Suffice to say, if your not familiar with the man's work, this is the perfect place to start. After that, buy THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, his debut (perhaps, alongside Jeff Buckley's GRACE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO, the greatest debut of all time, for my money).

It's like sipping your best brandy whilst puffing on a quality cigar, 04 May 2007
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter stuff more appealing these days. Some people could sing the contents of the telephone directory given the right voice, he is one of them. "Democracy", "Tower of Song", "First we take Manhattan" and "Hallelujah" are stand out tracks but I defy anyone not to get lost in "Closing Time". This is by far my favourite. A fun song, with so many catchy hooks it just pulls you off your seat and invites you to dance with the nearest partner. You can almost smell the smoke and alcoholic fumes as if you are drinking in the bar with him. A tremendous talent......but what great assistance from his backing singers.

This is a great selection of his work. If you are a fan, you'll want it in your collection. If you are just curious, buy it.........it's a great introduction.


A lesson for what really music is, 02 Feb 2007
There's nothing missing from this collection. Not the quality, not the deep, truthful voice, not the fully poetic and inspirational lyrics, nothing. My boyfriend bought this CD and we can't get enough of it- especially DISC 2.
Cohen is and will remain unique in this industry, mainly because he has something solid yet so delicate to say, because he is a musician, because he possesses the gift to sing stories instead of 'telling a song'. Great music, great lyrics, great singer.

Simply Blown Away.....New Convert, 27 Nov 2006
Well I cannot believe I have lived for 42 years without listening to a Cohen Album.I tried this on spec seeing the reviews and having been a big Dylan/Springsteen fan for many years.For me this album has been like meeting a soulmate in a slightly run down but all too comfortable bar and wishing you had met them much earlier in your life!!!!!
Songs like "Democracy" and "I'm Your Man" cover the dark side of politics and personal relationships superbly and the former should be essential listening for the Neo-Cons of the White House.
I will not go over everything already written but this double disc set seems a top introduction to Cohen's development and style.I have already ordered 2 more albums from his back catalogue and I feel this discovery could hit my bsank balance hard in the near future.Totally recommended.

A wonderful cross section of Cohen's music, 18 May 2006
This album is superb value, two generous discs crammed with very special music. It spans the whole range of Cohen's output (up to "Ten new songs") and you can hear his voice becoming deeper and more melancholy as the tracks go by.

Whilst everyone will have his favourite Cohen track, it must be said that there is not a bad track in the collection. Whilst all are clearly "Cohen", there is within that heading a tremendous range of moods and styles from the driving rhythms of "Democracy" to the more reflective favourite "Suzanne". In the later songs Sharon Robinson (the co-writer) plays a big part, but I find these songs just as good as the "pure" Cohen: in any case one of Cohen's strengths is that he changes in style, but still remains distinctly himself.

As always the lyrics are superb and blend in perfectly with the music: really the two cannot be separated. For me the very ambiguity and different possible interpretations of the words of such songs as "Alexandra leaving" add to their universality and give them an appeal to so many people (and make them suitable for so many moods).

When I purchased this disc I had not listened to Cohen for some time and had forgotten just how much I liked him and just how unique he is. I regard it as one of the best discs in my collection


eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

disappointed, 03 Nov 2008
I'm a huge fan of Lucinda and after seeing her in tremendous form at the glasgow barrowlands I went out and got my hands on as much stuff of hers as I could.
I must admit I'm a bit disappointed with this cd - maybe it will grow on me but there seem to be few powerful songs here.
It's almost as though it has been thrown together to meet contractual obligations.

Sweet, 29 Oct 2008
Where previously we've had to wait two or three years between Lucinda records, it's only about 18 months since her last one this time. West was somewhat melancholy, reflecting Williams's mood over a broken relationship and the death of her mother. Little Honey is less so, starting off with the upbeat Real Love, and other songs such as Tears Of Joy, a blues which features a nice BB King-like guitar lick, mean that overall this is not West 2.

Nevertheless, there are some downbeat moments, and they start on track 2, Circles And X's, and Heaven Blues brings us right back to her mother. And whilst the mom-references on West stood well both in and out of context, this one ends up seeming a little self-absorbed.

Overall, however, though I've still not warmed to this collection as I did to West, this is another great album from Williams, combining her normal sharp songwriting, the familiar country-blues fusions, some incredible musicianship, such as Walt Fowler's flugelhorn on Knowing or Doug Pettibone's guitar anywhere, some eye-popping instrumentation (like washing machine, big ass drum and plastic sheet on Heaven Blues!) and excellent arrangements.

The one cover, AC/DC's It's A Long Way, is great, could be written just for her, and has some nice backing vocals, reminiscent of those on Stones' Gimme Shelter, with a gospel feel.

There's also an interesting point of comparison between the two versions of Jailhouse Tears, where I agree with the other reviewers who say they prefer the original: I love Elvis Costello but he tends towards overacting on this occasion, and the original has a fresher, less overproduced feel, which gives it a little more emotional authenticity.

Non-musical high points are the very detailed credits on the sleeve notes, which only fall down on the "bonus" version of Jailhouse Tears, all the lyrics available, and a nice Super Jewel Box to wrap it all in instead of one of those nasty cardboard things.


Lucinda - an inspiration, 26 Oct 2008
Reading the other reviews makes me realise what female rockers are up against.
How many great female guitar players can you name? How many women can get themselves taken seriously in the alpha male music world?
Lucinda is an inspiration, clearly her own person for better or worse. It has taken her decades to get this far and she has resolutely stuck with it. That is the reason I grab her records whenever they come out.
They may not be perfect, but what is? Yes, "Car Wheels" was a high water mark (and where most of us came in), but every record since has had at least a few gems; the great "Out of Touch" on "Essence" is a personal favourite. Lucinda has the ability to decribe universal emotions in plain, simple language; a rare gift. Plus her voice is truly special - raw, emotional, weary, vulnerable.
She makes most male rockers of her age pale into insignificance.

(Almost) a return to form, 22 Oct 2008
Little Honey is not another Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - in my view the last really good record Lucinda Williams made and, in my view again, a really seriously good collection of alt country rock tracks. But this does have some real high points (unlike the last one, West) as well as some real lows. The high points are probably Honey Bee (a typical piece of Lucinda raunch-rock), If Wishes Were Horses, which gets close to her best work of the past, and the early version of Jailhouse Tears - the one without Elvis Costello. The lows - particularly Little Rock Star and It's A Long Way to The Top - are very low indeed and maybe say a good deal about what I think is wrong with her recent work as a whole. The best of her work is based on imaginative observation and empathy with a whole range of characters - even if they draw on her own experience - while everything since Car Wheels on a Gravel Road has tended to sound to me as if it is drifting into the "poor little rock and roll star me" school of song-writing. It's A Long Way to The Top is a perfect example of that tedious and tired genre. This is not a bad record, but by the standard of her best work, neither is it really a very good one.

Tears of Joy.., 19 Oct 2008
'Car wheels on a gravel road' is one of my all time favourite albums that I think is an almost perfect collection of songs. On the first couple of listens I don't think "Little Honey" is quite as good - BUT it's not that far behind and I think it can only grow on you.

Many of the tracks have that same raw, lazy feel as 'Car wheels on a gravel road' but there is much more variety on this record. There are some real Stones-style heavy rockers like "Real Love", "Honey Bee" and even an AC/DC cover - "It's a Long Way to the Top" (backing band Buick 6 are fantastic throughout). Then we have beautiful laid-back ballads like "Knowing" and "If Wishes Were Horses" and also a straight country duet with old mate Elvis Costello on "Jailhouse Tears". Harking back to the start of Lucinda's career there are some nice, updated country blues "Circles and Xs" and "Heaven blues". If I had to pick a favourite I'd go for the slow, electric blues "Tears Of Joy", with Chet Lyster and Doug Pettibone's guitars sounding fantastic.

If you liked 'Car wheels on a gravel road' then I'm sure you'll like 'Little Honey', which has kept the same feel but added a rockier edge. I wouldn't say Lucinda had a great voice but it somehow seems to fit her blues/folk/country songs perfectly in a way that nobody else could match and on this record that distinctive voice is perfectly complemented by some great backing from Buick 6.

Even the production, laden with synthesized strings and cooing female choruses, is wry on I'm Your Man, a definitive Leonard Cohen album. Though still touched with the tragic ("Take This Waltz," based on a Garcia Lorca poem), the album often achieves its high points by combining Cohen's world-weariness with black-humoured evocations of social and romantic ills and artistic quandaries. "I was born like this, I had no choice," the gravelly Cohen intimates at disc's end. "I was born with the gift of a golden voice." ---Rickey Wright I'm Your Man appeared at a fortuitous moment for Cohen. The previous year, Jennifer Warnes had scored a major hit with Famous Blue Raincoat--an album of Cohen's songs. Possibly enthused by the idea of a large, primed and expectant audience, the 54-year-old Cohen delivered--in I'm Your Man--arguably the finest album of his illustrious career. The music here is never the baleful acoustic strumming Cohen is still popularly associated with: rather, he opted for a peculiarly sparse electronic style that often sounded as if it was being played on a variety of toys. This tack might have been disastrous--and indeed is, on "Jazz Police", the album's only clunker--but is redeemed by Cohen's gloomy, portentous voice, mixed well to the fore, and what might well be the finest collection of lyrics ever bestowed upon a rock & roll album. From the terrific opening line ("They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom/For trying to change the system from within", from "First We Take Manhattan") the words on I'm Your Man are relentlessly wise, rueful and hilarious, and capped splendidly by the climactic "Tower Of Song". This track, which has since been covered by James, the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Fatima Mansions and Nick Cave, among others, is the definitive statement of the magnificent absurdity of the rock & roll singer: "I said to Hank Williams... how lonely does it get?". Genius. --Andrew Mueller

Soulfood Essential, 23 Aug 2008
This is as fine an introduction to the works of Leonard Cohen as could be imagined. The track list, selected by the man himself, covers almost every period of his recorded output (Cohen is not prolific in the way, say, Bob Dylan is, or Neil Young), but I do feel some truly great stuff has been overlooked, i.e. the hushed, but haunting version of 'Story Of Isaac' from 1973's LIVE SONGS, which is one of the most profound things that anyone has ever written, the great live recordings from FIELD COMMANDER COHEN: Tour Of 1979, which admittedly was not released until after THE ESSENTIAL LEONARD COHEN appeared. Of those songs, I feel the title track is as good and epic a song as any he's recorded, and the version from NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY would have sufficed over e.g 'Take This Longing' which already appears on his GREATEST HITS. As for the Passenger version of 'Lover Lover Lover', what can I say? It is blistering! Likewise (from that same album) versions of 'The Window', 'The Smokey Life', 'The Stranger Song', 'The Gypsy's Wife' (long since a staple of the live act) and an unforgettable reading of 'Memories' from the unfairly-maligned DEATH OF A LADIES' MAN, are all worthy of inclusion. In fact, it's true to say that all Cohen's output is essential, but I would also have included 'Ballad Of The Absent Mare' and 'Came So Far For Beauty' from RECENT SONGS, 'The Old Revolution' from SONGS FROM A ROOM (if only for discovering it had been a minor hit in the UK: hats off to Dale Winton for pointing that out to me!), the live 'Joan Of Arc', 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong' and 'Hallelujah' from 1993's COHEN LIVE, 'Coming Back To You' and 'The Captain' from 1984's VARIOUS POSITIONS, but the greatest omission surely has to be the Lorca-inspired 'Take This Waltz' from the brilliant I'M YOUR MAN. I could eulogise forever. Suffice to say, if your not familiar with the man's work, this is the perfect place to start. After that, buy THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, his debut (perhaps, alongside Jeff Buckley's GRACE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO, the greatest debut of all time, for my money).

It's like sipping your best brandy whilst puffing on a quality cigar, 04 May 2007
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter stuff more appealing these days. Some people could sing the contents of the telephone directory given the right voice, he is one of them. "Democracy", "Tower of Song", "First we take Manhattan" and "Hallelujah" are stand out tracks but I defy anyone not to get lost in "Closing Time". This is by far my favourite. A fun song, with so many catchy hooks it just pulls you off your seat and invites you to dance with the nearest partner. You can almost smell the smoke and alcoholic fumes as if you are drinking in the bar with him. A tremendous talent......but what great assistance from his backing singers.

This is a great selection of his work. If you are a fan, you'll want it in your collection. If you are just curious, buy it.........it's a great introduction.


A lesson for what really music is, 02 Feb 2007
There's nothing missing from this collection. Not the quality, not the deep, truthful voice, not the fully poetic and inspirational lyrics, nothing. My boyfriend bought this CD and we can't get enough of it- especially DISC 2.
Cohen is and will remain unique in this industry, mainly because he has something solid yet so delicate to say, because he is a musician, because he possesses the gift to sing stories instead of 'telling a song'. Great music, great lyrics, great singer.

Simply Blown Away.....New Convert, 27 Nov 2006
Well I cannot believe I have lived for 42 years without listening to a Cohen Album.I tried this on spec seeing the reviews and having been a big Dylan/Springsteen fan for many years.For me this album has been like meeting a soulmate in a slightly run down but all too comfortable bar and wishing you had met them much earlier in your life!!!!!
Songs like "Democracy" and "I'm Your Man" cover the dark side of politics and personal relationships superbly and the former should be essential listening for the Neo-Cons of the White House.
I will not go over everything already written but this double disc set seems a top introduction to Cohen's development and style.I have already ordered 2 more albums from his back catalogue and I feel this discovery could hit my bsank balance hard in the near future.Totally recommended.

A wonderful cross section of Cohen's music, 18 May 2006
This album is superb value, two generous discs crammed with very special music. It spans the whole range of Cohen's output (up to "Ten new songs") and you can hear his voice becoming deeper and more melancholy as the tracks go by.

Whilst everyone will have his favourite Cohen track, it must be said that there is not a bad track in the collection. Whilst all are clearly "Cohen", there is within that heading a tremendous range of moods and styles from the driving rhythms of "Democracy" to the more reflective favourite "Suzanne". In the later songs Sharon Robinson (the co-writer) plays a big part, but I find these songs just as good as the "pure" Cohen: in any case one of Cohen's strengths is that he changes in style, but still remains distinctly himself.

As always the lyrics are superb and blend in perfectly with the music: really the two cannot be separated. For me the very ambiguity and different possible interpretations of the words of such songs as "Alexandra leaving" add to their universality and give them an appeal to so many people (and make them suitable for so many moods).

When I purchased this disc I had not listened to Cohen for some time and had forgotten just how much I liked him and just how unique he is. I regard it as one of the best discs in my collection


eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

disappointed, 03 Nov 2008
I'm a huge fan of Lucinda and after seeing her in tremendous form at the glasgow barrowlands I went out and got my hands on as much stuff of hers as I could.
I must admit I'm a bit disappointed with this cd - maybe it will grow on me but there seem to be few powerful songs here.
It's almost as though it has been thrown together to meet contractual obligations.

Sweet, 29 Oct 2008
Where previously we've had to wait two or three years between Lucinda records, it's only about 18 months since her last one this time. West was somewhat melancholy, reflecting Williams's mood over a broken relationship and the death of her mother. Little Honey is less so, starting off with the upbeat Real Love, and other songs such as Tears Of Joy, a blues which features a nice BB King-like guitar lick, mean that overall this is not West 2.

Nevertheless, there are some downbeat moments, and they start on track 2, Circles And X's, and Heaven Blues brings us right back to her mother. And whilst the mom-references on West stood well both in and out of context, this one ends up seeming a little self-absorbed.

Overall, however, though I've still not warmed to this collection as I did to West, this is another great album from Williams, combining her normal sharp songwriting, the familiar country-blues fusions, some incredible musicianship, such as Walt Fowler's flugelhorn on Knowing or Doug Pettibone's guitar anywhere, some eye-popping instrumentation (like washing machine, big ass drum and plastic sheet on Heaven Blues!) and excellent arrangements.

The one cover, AC/DC's It's A Long Way, is great, could be written just for her, and has some nice backing vocals, reminiscent of those on Stones' Gimme Shelter, with a gospel feel.

There's also an interesting point of comparison between the two versions of Jailhouse Tears, where I agree with the other reviewers who say they prefer the original: I love Elvis Costello but he tends towards overacting on this occasion, and the original has a fresher, less overproduced feel, which gives it a little more emotional authenticity.

Non-musical high points are the very detailed credits on the sleeve notes, which only fall down on the "bonus" version of Jailhouse Tears, all the lyrics available, and a nice Super Jewel Box to wrap it all in instead of one of those nasty cardboard things.


Lucinda - an inspiration, 26 Oct 2008
Reading the other reviews makes me realise what female rockers are up against.
How many great female guitar players can you name? How many women can get themselves taken seriously in the alpha male music world?
Lucinda is an inspiration, clearly her own person for better or worse. It has taken her decades to get this far and she has resolutely stuck with it. That is the reason I grab her records whenever they come out.
They may not be perfect, but what is? Yes, "Car Wheels" was a high water mark (and where most of us came in), but every record since has had at least a few gems; the great "Out of Touch" on "Essence" is a personal favourite. Lucinda has the ability to decribe universal emotions in plain, simple language; a rare gift. Plus her voice is truly special - raw, emotional, weary, vulnerable.
She makes most male rockers of her age pale into insignificance.

(Almost) a return to form, 22 Oct 2008
Little Honey is not another Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - in my view the last really good record Lucinda Williams made and, in my view again, a really seriously good collection of alt country rock tracks. But this does have some real high points (unlike the last one, West) as well as some real lows. The high points are probably Honey Bee (a typical piece of Lucinda raunch-rock), If Wishes Were Horses, which gets close to her best work of the past, and the early version of Jailhouse Tears - the one without Elvis Costello. The lows - particularly Little Rock Star and It's A Long Way to The Top - are very low indeed and maybe say a good deal about what I think is wrong with her recent work as a whole. The best of her work is based on imaginative observation and empathy with a whole range of characters - even if they draw on her own experience - while everything since Car Wheels on a Gravel Road has tended to sound to me as if it is drifting into the "poor little rock and roll star me" school of song-writing. It's A Long Way to The Top is a perfect example of that tedious and tired genre. This is not a bad record, but by the standard of her best work, neither is it really a very good one.

Tears of Joy.., 19 Oct 2008
'Car wheels on a gravel road' is one of my all time favourite albums that I think is an almost perfect collection of songs. On the first couple of listens I don't think "Little Honey" is quite as good - BUT it's not that far behind and I think it can only grow on you.

Many of the tracks have that same raw, lazy feel as 'Car wheels on a gravel road' but there is much more variety on this record. There are some real Stones-style heavy rockers like "Real Love", "Honey Bee" and even an AC/DC cover - "It's a Long Way to the Top" (backing band Buick 6 are fantastic throughout). Then we have beautiful laid-back ballads like "Knowing" and "If Wishes Were Horses" and also a straight country duet with old mate Elvis Costello on "Jailhouse Tears". Harking back to the start of Lucinda's career there are some nice, updated country blues "Circles and Xs" and "Heaven blues". If I had to pick a favourite I'd go for the slow, electric blues "Tears Of Joy", with Chet Lyster and Doug Pettibone's guitars sounding fantastic.

If you liked 'Car wheels on a gravel road' then I'm sure you'll like 'Little Honey', which has kept the same feel but added a rockier edge. I wouldn't say Lucinda had a great voice but it somehow seems to fit her blues/folk/country songs perfectly in a way that nobody else could match and on this record that distinctive voice is perfectly complemented by some great backing from Buick 6.

AN ALBUM YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH, 03 Nov 2008
but that applies to all of Leonard Cohen's albums. "I'm your Man" features his perhaps most famous - or certainly one of his most famous - tracks of all time, FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN which is my favorite from this album and has been covered many times, but never has been performed as good as here. This certainly marks a change in Leonard Cohen's music, now not as minimalistic as before, but still as great as ever.

A majestic collection of songs of the highest quality., 01 Aug 2008
As an album that you hear when your parents play it and come back to later to realise it's simply amazing, you can't get much better than this. Leonard Cohen is an amazing man, who has created an amazing number of amazing songs over the year. For me, though, this is his essential album. Partly it's because my parents played it over and over when it first came out, and when I was too young to understand music like this for all its depth. I came back to it about five years ago to find that not only does it contain breathtaking songs, but I didn't have to wait a while to gain familiarity with them.

There isn't really time or space to go into detail about why each song is great, but suffice it to say that from the brooding Everybody Knows, to the wonderful 3/4 timed Take This Waltz, to the majestic closer Tower of Song, and everything in between, these are songs for all occasions. It'll take a bit of time - you'll need that familiarity that my parents bred into me before you fully appreciate this - and you'll at times have to look past the rather 80s synthetic instruments and the incredible blip of mediocre that is Jazz Police, but this album is magical.

Cohen's voice, his lyrics, and over all the craftsmanship and scale of his songs make this a truly excellent album. And one I can't rate highly enough!



Cohen: Man For All Seasons, 11 Aug 2007
There really are not words enough to describe the sweep and grandeur of Leonard's 1988 masterpiece. Age cannot wither, nor custom stale its infinite variety. There are many common misperceptions of Mr.Cohen, but none more frustrating to a lifelong fan than that of suicidal, morbid folk-singer. My own personal vision is of the ultimate caberet crooner, the last-dance, last-chance, end-of-the-night performer, dispensing gems of wisdom sometimes with an urbane humour, but always with love and a song in his heart: a mixture of Aznavour, Brel, and Noel Coward, with a little Brecht thrown in for good measure. This album answers perfectly that call, most seductively and gorgeously in LC's reading of Lorca's 'Little Viennese Waltz' (here recast as TAKE THIS WALTZ): "There's a concert hall in Vienna/ Where your mouth had a thousand reviews/ There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking/ They've been sentenced to death by the blues/ Ah! but who is it climbs to your picture/ With a garland of freshly-cut tears?/ Ay! Ay ay ay!/ Take this waltz/ Take this waltz/ Take this waltz, it's been dying for years." Monumental and crumbling, like Vienna itself, evoking grand balls of old, laughter, dancing, now fading with time like the Venice Byron and Shelley discovered. Make no mistake, this is writing of a grand scale, and anyone with a knowledge of Lorca's poetry will know how much fresh material Cohen has rendered from the original. Likewise, on First We Take Manhattan, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Tower Of Song, Cohen is very much relishing his role as bandleader and showman, never once taking himself too seriously, always underpinning every commentary with his much under-appreciated and very jewish wit: "If you want to sleep a moment on the road/ I will steer for you/ If you want to work the street alone/ I'll disappear for you..." Most songs that even try to be funny usually pull up short somewhere. Here, in the title track, Leonard could give Noel coward a run for his money, in that it's hard to know if he's being achingly self-deprecating or deadly serious, such is the play of his word-craft. Similarly, on the oft-quoted "born with the gift of a golden voice" line from TOWER OF SONG, I recall how it raised a mass titter from a packed Albert Hall in 1988, yet I've always been of the opinion that LC wrote that line in earnestness: he is not so much mocking the flat drone of his singing voice, but saying that what emanates from that organ is golden and beautiful and beyond his control. In other words: he couldn't help it if he tried. Just as the most simple of melodies and statements such as AIN'T NO CURE FOR LOVE sprung from a conversation about AIDS he'd had with Jennifer Warnes, he can't help but fill it with the loveliest of details: "I see you on the subway/ I see you on the bus/ I see you lying down with me/ And I see you waking up/ I see your hand/ I see your hair/ Your bracelets and your brush/ And I call to you/ I call to you/ But I don't call soft enough..." Or, in FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN: "Remember me, I used to live for music/ Remember me, I brought your groceries in/ Well, it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded..." Could I also be the first to defend the inclusion of JAZZ POLICE, here, replete with dry, jewish, masculine humour: "Let me be somebody I admire/ Let me be that muscle down the street/ Stick another turtle on the fire/ Guys like me are mad for turtle meat..." It's rare indeed, to find such a wealth of poetry anywhere, let alone an album of popular song. As for those who abhor the sub-eighties production going on here, I have to say I've never found it dating as it only enhances and underpins the naked, honest phrasing of Mr.Cohen. For my money, this ranks as highly as SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE and only loses out to THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN because that album is chock-full of bonafide classics like SUZANNE and SO LONG, MARIANNE and others just too lovely for words.....



Lorca and more, 15 May 2007
The singalong melodies of Manhattan, Aint No Cure and Everybody Knows contrast well with Cohen's trademark preoccupation with romantic despair and judeo-christian imagery as in: "It's written in the scriptures, it's written there in blood ..." or "everybody's got this broken feeling/Like their father or their dog just died."

John Bilezikjian's oud adds a special dimension to Everybody Knows. The elegant Take This Waltz is a lilting song that brings the Vienna of Federico Garcia Lorca to life in a series of vivid images driven by a fervent longing for the beloved. The brilliant arrangement is enhanced by Raffi Hakopian's violin and the voice of Jennifer Warnes.

The wistful I Can't Forget has been covered by The Pixies, while Tower of Song has been interpreted by artists as diverse as Marianne Faithfull, Robert Forster and Nick Cave and lent its title to the 1995 tribute album. I'm not crazy about either the experimental Jazz Police or the title track, but I am evidently wrong since I'm Your Man has been covered by Elton John and Bill Pritchard.


Be careful, 20 Oct 2006
Be careful with this album, played too often and Cohen will steal your soul. And you'll want to be stolen.

Various Positions was Leonard Cohen's first album of the 1980s, yet was in keeping with the rest of his albums in two important respects: one, it sounded absolutely nothing like anything else anyone else was doing; two, it was a compelling reason for anyone else dealing in songs of love and its loss to wonder why they were bothering. As a lyricist, Cohen has few, if any, peers--he has never been the relentless doom-monger of popular myth, but a wise, warm and frequently very funny chronicler of heartbreak. Cohen, like very few others, has always appreciated that love is at least as much comedy as tragedy. Various Positions contains some of Cohen's best--"Dance Me To The End Of Love", "Coming Back To You" and a shortened, accusatory version of "Hallelujah", later covered to such majestic effect by Jeff Buckley. It also contains the bizarre country epic "The Captain", in which Cohen plays the part of a young officer being handed command of his unit by his dying superior. All are sung in Cohen's trademark husky drone and all are the work of a writer who, here as always, uses language like Vincent used paint. --Andrew Mueller

Soulfood Essential, 23 Aug 2008
This is as fine an introduction to the works of Leonard Cohen as could be imagined. The track list, selected by the man himself, covers almost every period of his recorded output (Cohen is not prolific in the way, say, Bob Dylan is, or Neil Young), but I do feel some truly great stuff has been overlooked, i.e. the hushed, but haunting version of 'Story Of Isaac' from 1973's LIVE SONGS, which is one of the most profound things that anyone has ever written, the great live recordings from FIELD COMMANDER COHEN: Tour Of 1979, which admittedly was not released until after THE ESSENTIAL LEONARD COHEN appeared. Of those songs, I feel the title track is as good and epic a song as any he's recorded, and the version from NEW SKIN FOR THE OLD CEREMONY would have sufficed over e.g 'Take This Longing' which already appears on his GREATEST HITS. As for the Passenger version of 'Lover Lover Lover', what can I say? It is blistering! Likewise (from that same album) versions of 'The Window', 'The Smokey Life', 'The Stranger Song', 'The Gypsy's Wife' (long since a staple of the live act) and an unforgettable reading of 'Memories' from the unfairly-maligned DEATH OF A LADIES' MAN, are all worthy of inclusion. In fact, it's true to say that all Cohen's output is essential, but I would also have included 'Ballad Of The Absent Mare' and 'Came So Far For Beauty' from RECENT SONGS, 'The Old Revolution' from SONGS FROM A ROOM (if only for discovering it had been a minor hit in the UK: hats off to Dale Winton for pointing that out to me!), the live 'Joan Of Arc', 'One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong' and 'Hallelujah' from 1993's COHEN LIVE, 'Coming Back To You' and 'The Captain' from 1984's VARIOUS POSITIONS, but the greatest omission surely has to be the Lorca-inspired 'Take This Waltz' from the brilliant I'M YOUR MAN. I could eulogise forever. Suffice to say, if your not familiar with the man's work, this is the perfect place to start. After that, buy THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, his debut (perhaps, alongside Jeff Buckley's GRACE and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO, the greatest debut of all time, for my money).

It's like sipping your best brandy whilst puffing on a quality cigar, 04 May 2007
The voice is the first thing you notice. The early poetic renditions on such classics as "Suzanne", "Sisters of Mercy" and "Famous Blue Raincoat" are presented in a voice that is deadpan but not as gruff as in later years. This was at a period when he was a well kept secret and with a style and presentation that not everyone took to. Move onto disc 2 and you notice how the voice deepens and the songs become bigger. One thing that Cohen has never failed to deliver is quality songs with curious stories to tell. He has an almost hymn-like or gospel touch on a lot of his work, usually enhanced by superb backing singers and wondrous musicians and arrangements.

I move between both of his periods with equal ease, but I find the latter stuff more appealing these days. Some people could sing the contents of the telephone directory given the right voice, he is one of them. "Democracy", "Tower of Song", "First we take Manhattan" and "Hallelujah" are stand out tracks but I defy anyone not to get lost in "Closing Time". This is by far my favourite. A fun song, with so many catchy hooks it just pulls you off your seat and invites you to dance with the nearest partner. You can almost smell the smoke and alcoholic fumes as if you are drinking in the bar with him. A tremendous talent......but what great assistance from his backing singers.

This is a great selection of his work. If you are a fan, you'll want it in your collection. If you are just curious, buy it.........it's a great introduction.


A lesson for what really music is, 02 Feb 2007
There's nothing missing from this collection. Not the quality, not the deep, truthful voice, not the fully poetic and inspirational lyrics, nothing. My boyfriend bought this CD and we can't get enough of it- especially DISC 2.
Cohen is and will remain unique in this industry, mainly because he has something solid yet so delicate to say, because he is a musician, because he possesses the gift to sing stories instead of 'telling a song'. Great music, great lyrics, great singer.

Simply Blown Away.....New Convert, 27 Nov 2006
Well I cannot believe I have lived for 42 years without listening to a Cohen Album.I tried this on spec seeing the reviews and having been a big Dylan/Springsteen fan for many years.For me this album has been like meeting a soulmate in a slightly run down but all too comfortable bar and wishing you had met them much earlier in your life!!!!!
Songs like "Democracy" and "I'm Your Man" cover the dark side of politics and personal relationships superbly and the former should be essential listening for the Neo-Cons of the White House.
I will not go over everything already written but this double disc set seems a top introduction to Cohen's development and style.I have already ordered 2 more albums from his back catalogue and I feel this discovery could hit my bsank balance hard in the near future.Totally recommended.

A wonderful cross section of Cohen's music, 18 May 2006
This album is superb value, two generous discs crammed with very special music. It spans the whole range of Cohen's output (up to "Ten new songs") and you can hear his voice becoming deeper and more melancholy as the tracks go by.

Whilst everyone will have his favourite Cohen track, it must be said that there is not a bad track in the collection. Whilst all are clearly "Cohen", there is within that heading a tremendous range of moods and styles from the driving rhythms of "Democracy" to the more reflective favourite "Suzanne". In the later songs Sharon Robinson (the co-writer) plays a big part, but I find these songs just as good as the "pure" Cohen: in any case one of Cohen's strengths is that he changes in style, but still remains distinctly himself.

As always the lyrics are superb and blend in perfectly with the music: really the two cannot be separated. For me the very ambiguity and different possible interpretations of the words of such songs as "Alexandra leaving" add to their universality and give them an appeal to so many people (and make them suitable for so many moods).

When I purchased this disc I had not listened to Cohen for some time and had forgotten just how much I liked him and just how unique he is. I regard it as one of the best discs in my collection


eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

disappointed, 03 Nov 2008
I'm a huge fan of Lucinda and after seeing her in tremendous form at the glasgow barrowlands I went out and got my hands on as much stuff of hers as I could.
I must admit I'm a bit disappointed with this cd - maybe it will grow on me but there seem to be few powerful songs here.
It's almost as though it has been thrown together to meet contractual obligations.

Sweet, 29 Oct 2008
Where previously we've had to wait two or three years between Lucinda records, it's only about 18 months since her last one this time. West was somewhat melancholy, reflecting Williams's mood over a broken relationship and the death of her mother. Little Honey is less so, starting off with the upbeat Real Love, and other songs such as Tears Of Joy, a blues which features a nice BB King-like guitar lick, mean that overall this is not West 2.

Nevertheless, there are some downbeat moments, and they start on track 2, Circles And X's, and Heaven Blues brings us right back to her mother. And whilst the mom-references on West stood well both in and out of context, this one ends up seeming a little self-absorbed.

Overall, however, though I've still not warmed to this collection as I did to West, this is another great album from Williams, combining her normal sharp songwriting, the familiar country-blues fusions, some incredible musicianship, such as Walt Fowler's flugelhorn on Knowing or Doug Pettibone's guitar anywhere, some eye-popping instrumentation (like washing machine, big ass drum and plastic sheet on Heaven Blues!) and excellent arrangements.

The one cover, AC/DC's It's A Long Way, is great, could be written just for her, and has some nice backing vocals, reminiscent of those on Stones' Gimme Shelter, with a gospel feel.

There's also an interesting point of comparison between the two versions of Jailhouse Tears, where I agree with the other reviewers who say they prefer the original: I love Elvis Costello but he tends towards overacting on this occasion, and the original has a fresher, less overproduced feel, which gives it a little more emotional authenticity.

Non-musical high points are the very detailed credits on the sleeve notes, which only fall down on the "bonus" version of Jailhouse Tears, all the lyrics available, and a nice Super Jewel Box to wrap it all in instead of one of those nasty cardboard things.


Lucinda - an inspiration, 26 Oct 2008
Reading the other reviews makes me realise what female rockers are up against.
How many great female guitar players can you name? How many women can get themselves taken seriously in the alpha male music world?
Lucinda is an inspiration, clearly her own person for better or worse. It has taken her decades to get this far and she has resolutely stuck with it. That is the reason I grab her records whenever they come out.
They may not be perfect, but what is? Yes, "Car Wheels" was a high water mark (and where most of us came in), but every record since has had at least a few gems; the great "Out of Touch" on "Essence" is a personal favourite. Lucinda has the ability to decribe universal emotions in plain, simple language; a rare gift. Plus her voice is truly special - raw, emotional, weary, vulnerable.
She makes most male rockers of her age pale into insignificance.

(Almost) a return to form, 22 Oct 2008
Little Honey is not another Car Wheels on a Gravel Road - in my view the last really good record Lucinda Williams made and, in my view again, a really seriously good collection of alt country rock tracks. But this does have some real high points (unlike the last one, West) as well as some real lows. The high points are probably Honey Bee (a typical piece of Lucinda raunch-rock), If Wishes Were Horses, which gets close to her best work of the past, and the early version of Jailhouse Tears - the one without Elvis Costello. The lows - particularly Little Rock Star and It's A Long Way to The Top - are very low indeed and maybe say a good deal about what I think is wrong with her recent work as a whole. The best of her work is based on imaginative observation and empathy with a whole range of characters - even if they draw on her own experience - while everything since Car Wheels on a Gravel Road has tended to sound to me as if it is drifting into the "poor little rock and roll star me" school of song-writing. It's A Long Way to The Top is a perfect example of that tedious and tired genre. This is not a bad record, but by the standard of her best work, neither is it really a very good one.

Tears of Joy.., 19 Oct 2008
'Car wheels on a gravel road' is one of my all time favourite albums that I think is an almost perfect collection of songs. On the first couple of listens I don't think "Little Honey" is quite as good - BUT it's not that far behind and I think it can only grow on you.

Many of the tracks have that same raw, lazy feel as 'Car wheels on a gravel road' but there is much more variety on this record. There are some real Stones-style heavy rockers like "Real Love", "Honey Bee" and even an AC/DC cover - "It's a Long Way to the Top" (backing band Buick 6 are fantastic throughout). Then we have beautiful laid-back ballads like "Knowing" and "If Wishes Were Horses" and also a straight country duet with old mate Elvis Costello on "Jailhouse Tears". Harking back to the start of Lucinda's career there are some nice, updated country blues "Circles and Xs" and "Heaven blues". If I had to pick a favourite I'd go for the slow, electric blues "Tears Of Joy", with Chet Lyster and Doug Pettibone's guitars sounding fantastic.

If you liked 'Car wheels on a gravel road' then I'm sure you'll like 'Little Honey', which has kept the same feel but added a rockier edge. I wouldn't say Lucinda had a great voice but it somehow seems to fit her blues/folk/country songs perfectly in a way that nobody else could match and on this record that distinctive voice is perfectly complemented by some great backing from Buick 6.

AN ALBUM YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH, 03 Nov 2008
but that applies to all of Leonard Cohen's albums. "I'm your Man" features his perhaps most famous - or certainly one of his most famous - tracks of all time, FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN which is my favorite from this album and has been covered many times, but never has been performed as good as here. This certainly marks a change in Leonard Cohen's music, now not as minimalistic as before, but still as great as ever.

A majestic collection of songs of the highest quality., 01 Aug 2008
As an album that you hear when your parents play it and come back to later to realise it's simply amazing, you can't get much better than this. Leonard Cohen is an amazing man, who has created an amazing number of amazing songs over the year. For me, though, this is his essential album. Partly it's because my parents played it over and over when it first came out, and when I was too young to understand music like this for all its depth. I came back to it about five years ago to find that not only does it contain breathtaking songs, but I didn't have to wait a while to gain familiarity with them.

There isn't really time or space to go into detail about why each song is great, but suffice it to say that from the brooding Everybody Knows, to the wonderful 3/4 timed Take This Waltz, to the majestic closer Tower of Song, and everything in between, these are songs for all occasions. It'll take a bit of time - you'll need that familiarity that my parents bred into me before you fully appreciate this - and you'll at times have to look past the rather 80s synthetic instruments and the incredible blip of mediocre that is Jazz Police, but this album is magical.

Cohen's voice, his lyrics, and over all the craftsmanship and scale of his songs make this a truly excellent album. And one I can't rate highly enough!



Cohen: Man For All Seasons, 11 Aug 2007
There really are not words enough to describe the sweep and grandeur of Leonard's 1988 masterpiece. Age cannot wither, nor custom stale its infinite variety. There are many common misperceptions of Mr.Cohen, but none more frustrating to a lifelong fan than that of suicidal, morbid folk-singer. My own personal vision is of the ultimate caberet crooner, the last-dance, last-chance, end-of-the-night performer, dispensing gems of wisdom sometimes with an urbane humour, but always with love and a song in his heart: a mixture of Aznavour, Brel, and Noel Coward, with a little Brecht thrown in for good measure. This album answers perfectly that call, most seductively and gorgeously in LC's reading of Lorca's 'Little Viennese Waltz' (here recast as TAKE THIS WALTZ): "There's a concert hall in Vienna/ Where your mouth had a thousand reviews/ There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking/ They've been sentenced to death by the blues/ Ah! but who is it climbs to your picture/ With a garland of freshly-cut tears?/ Ay! Ay ay ay!/ Take this waltz/ Take this waltz/ Take this waltz, it's been dying for years." Monumental and crumbling, like Vienna itself, evoking grand balls of old, laughter, dancing, now fading with time like the Venice Byron and Shelley discovered. Make no mistake, this is writing of a grand scale, and anyone with a knowledge of Lorca's poetry will know how much fresh material Cohen has rendered from the original. Likewise, on First We Take Manhattan, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Tower Of Song, Cohen is very much relishing his role as bandleader and showman, never once taking himself too seriously, always underpinning every commentary with his much under-appreciated and very jewish wit: "If you want to sleep a moment on the road/ I will steer for you/ If you want to work the street alone/ I'll disappear for you..." Most songs that even try to be funny usually pull up short somewhere. Here, in the title track, Leonard could give Noel coward a run for his money, in that it's hard to know if he's being achingly self-deprecating or deadly serious, such is the play of his word-craft. Similarly, on the oft-quoted "born with the gift of a golden voice" line from TOWER OF SONG, I recall how it raised a mass titter from a packed Albert Hall in 1988, yet I've always been of the opinion that LC wrote that line in earnestness: he is not so much mocking the flat drone of his singing voice, but saying that what emanates from that organ is golden and beautiful and beyond his control. In other words: he couldn't help it if he tried. Just as the most simple of melodies and statements such as AIN'T NO CURE FOR LOVE sprung from a conversation about AIDS he'd had with Jennifer Warnes, he can't help but fill it with the loveliest of details: "I see you on the subway/ I see you on the bus/ I see you lying down with me/ And I see you waking up/ I see your hand/ I see your hair/ Your bracelets and your brush/ And I call to you/ I call to you/ But I don't call soft enough..." Or, in FIRST WE TAKE MANHATTAN: "Remember me, I used to live for music/ Remember me, I brought your groceries in/ Well, it's Father's Day and everybody's wounded..." Could I also be the first to defend the inclusion of JAZZ POLICE, here, replete with dry, jewish, masculine humour: "Let me be somebody I admire/ Let me be that muscle down the street/ Stick another turtle on the fire/ Guys like me are mad for turtle meat..." It's rare indeed, to find such a wealth of poetry anywhere, let alone an album of popular song. As for those who abhor the sub-eighties production going on here, I have to say I've never found it dating as it only enhances and underpins the naked, honest phrasing of Mr.Cohen. For my money, this ranks as highly as SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE and only loses out to THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN because that album is chock-full of bonafide classics like SUZANNE and SO LONG, MARIANNE and others just too lovely for words.....



Lorca and more, 15 May 2007
The singalong melodies of Manhattan, Aint No Cure and Everybody Knows contrast well with Cohen's trademark preoccupation with romantic despair and judeo-christian imagery as in: "It's written in the scriptures, it's written there in blood ..." or "everybody's got this broken feeling/Like their father or their dog just died."

John Bilezikjian's oud adds a special dimension to Everybody Knows. The elegant Take This Waltz is a lilting song that brings the Vienna of Federico Garcia Lorca to life in a series of vivid images driven by a fervent longing for the beloved. The brilliant arrangement is enhanced by Raffi Hakopian's violin and the voice of Jennifer Warnes.

The wistful I Can't Forget has been covered by The Pixies, while Tower of Song has been interpreted by artists as diverse as Marianne Faithfull, Robert Forster and Nick Cave and lent its title to the 1995 tribute album. I'm not crazy about either the experimental Jazz Police or the title track, but I am evidently wrong since I'm Your Man has been covered by Elton John and Bill Pritchard.


Be careful, 20 Oct 2006
Be careful with this album, played too often and Cohen will steal your soul. And you'll want to be stolen.

leonard cohen the legend!!, 12 Nov 2008
this album is fab hallialuah made me buy it but the whole album is fab buy it the story about hallialuah on radio2 thats how i got to hear of him he deserves much more regonition why hasant he? bob dylan does and i think leonard cohen is much better and his voice is better too!! alson get songs of leonard cohen from the 60s and songs of love and hate!! buy them you wont regret it ive also just recieved richard hawleys ladys bridge album fabalous too!!

TIMELESS, 01 Nov 2008
A great CD and well worth the 4 pounds I spent on it, after seeking high and low in every store here in Germany for it. It was the only CD missing in my Leonard Cohen collection and I regret not having gotten it earlier. Together with Jennifer Warnes and a fairly minimal orchestration Cohen proves once again he doesn't need a WALL OF SOUND to make a great CD.

The Other Side Of Sorrow And Despair, 09 Sep 2007
Cohen made three classic albums with John Lissaeur at the helm: 1974's New Skin For The Old Ceremony, 1979's Recent Songs, but at the apex of these achievements stands 1984's Various Positions, in that it paved the way for a new audience to discover Leonard Cohen afresh. This wasn't done by just adding the odd synthesised drone here and there, for there is the same continuity of themes and musical genres threaded consistently through the works (compare New Skin's 'Why Don't You Try?' or 'I Tried To Leave You' alongside Recent Songs' 'Came So Far For Beauty' or 'The Smokey Life', i.e., and you'll find they sit naturally next to tracks like 'Hallelujah' or 'Coming Back To You', whereas 'Night Comes On' and 'If It Be Your Will' would not have sounded out of place on Songs From A Room). What appears so much different about Various Positions is more to do with Cohen as an artist: he sounds rejuvenated and almost ready to make that protean leap towards making that one true classic that would positively redefine him for generations to come. I refer, of course, to I'm Your Man. I was recently tickled to read of a conversation around this time between Leonard and Bob Dylan, where Leonard asked Bob how long it took him to write 'I And I' from the album Infidels. "About ten minutes," was the forthright reply Bob gave. "How long did it take you to write 'Hallelujah'?" "Three or four years," deadpanned Cohen, later explaining: "it really took about five years, but I didn't want to look like I was dragging my heels or anything." The point being: you can appreciate the precision and care that Cohen took in recording certain tracks on Various Positions. 'Hallelujah', apparently, was whittled down from dozens of seperate verses, all presumably containing a unique rhyme such as 'do ya', 'overthrew ya', 'fool ya' (you get the picture), just as similarly 'Democracy' from The Future was whittled down from hundreds of different verses. This is craft of a higher order.
Elsewhere, we are treated to such gems as Dance Me To The End Of Love, one of those definitive mission statements that Cohen seems to throw out effortlessly, even though we know this can't possibly be the case. 'Coming Back To You' returns to Leonard's country roots with classic ambiguous imagery: is it literal, or devotional, or both? 'The Law' has a slight reggae lilt, and 'Night Comes On' is a masterpiece of darkness and shade. Side Two of the original kicks off with the masterful 'Hallelujah' and ends with the anthemic and positively hymnal 'If It Be Your Will', taking in faux-country ('The Captain'), dark nursery-rhyme ('Hunter's Lullaby'), and the celebratory 'Heart With No Companion' along the way. The whole proceedings presaged a huge seismic shift in the perception of Leonard Cohen as some doom-laden troubadour. Had he not gone on to record the collossal I'm Your Man, I feel many would have regarded this as his best by a long chalk since the first album. As it stands, Various Positions, remains Leonard's transitional masterpiece, and you can do lots worse than shell-out a fiver or less to have this in your collection.

Leonard Cohen at his best, 08 Feb 2005
This is one of my favourite Cohen CDs, as it has no tracks I tend to skip past. As usual it is Cohen's strong lyrics (more poetry really) and the quality of his voice that holds the simple backing tunes together. Being exposed to country music as a child by my father I particularly like, well love actually, 'The Captain' (he even gently mocks the format in the lyrics) but there other strong songs in there as well you may prefer, like 'The Law' or 'The night comes in' or 'Hallelujah' [yes, the song from Shrek written by LC & sung by Neil Diamond]. However I do find the superb track 'The night comes in' rather sad and uncomfortable listening [even more than 'The story of Isaac' on Songs from a room] - although music that's powerful enough to move you certainly can't be considered a bad thing. Cohen's words are often interestingly cryptic, moving and deeply reflective, rather than being outrightly political or 'protest'. If you are new to Leonard Cohen I'd also get the later 'I'm your man', plus perhaps 'The Future' and 'Songs from a room'. The recording quality of all these re-released Cohen CD's is very good, and this one is no exception. They are also great value when offered for under a fiver.

'Embrace and hold us tight, all your children dressed in rags of light', 15 Mar 2002
This 1984 album, the last of Cohen's folk masterpieces and one subtly spiced with country, never grows stale due to the intricacy of its arrangements - vocal & instrumental - while perennially revealing deeper layers of metaphysical & symbolic significance. Or as one ages one understands better! Particularly sublime is the interaction of male & female vocals calibrated to bring out the best in both. The devotion and the vocals of Anjani Thomas and Jennifer Warnes make a major contribution to the music's enduring beauty.

Cohen's gift of melody & rhythm finds buoyant expression in Dance Me to the End Of Love which may sound catchy and even frisky like a simple pop tune but if one pays attention multiple meanings & possibilities emerge. In contrast, Coming Back to You unfolds slowly and solemnly through a graceful melody wed to imagery that navigates delicately between romantic & divine love. The two tracks The Law and The Night Comes On evoke something of John Berryman's poetic sensibility ... The Moon and the Night and the Men, The Song of the Tortured Girl and above all, Sonnet number 34.

The Night Comes On may be the absolute highlight of this album, a rare gem ranking amongst the greatest of Cohen's songs. Like assembling a pearl necklace, it strings striking images of the domestic & personal, the universal, the spiritual, historical and prophetic on a thread of longing. As the song unfolds, the symbolism unleashes an almost supernatural power that stirs the psyche hinting at or conjuring vague specters of ancient memories. There are close correspondences in the song Anthem on The Future.

Being familiar with John Cale's soaring version of Hallelujah on the tribute album I'm Your Fan and Jeff Buckley's on Grace, Cohen's own sounds somewhat monotone and subdued, still beautiful but constrained within a narrow range compared to the aforementioned. The tale of David & Batsheba that started with desire, led to murder & a string of tragedies but was ultimately transformed into the redemptive, relies in the songwriter's version on the atmosphere created by the female vocals rather than his voice.

The words of the rhythmic lilting song The Captain with its tinkling piano, tangy country flavor & ironic comment on "some country-western song" contain & conceal more than they reveal as they undulate on the tune & the beat. Then the tempo drops for the cold & alienating Hunter's Lullaby that in arrangement (not mood) resembles the 1979 album Recent Songs. The message is baffling but may refer to the subconscious impulses that isolate & lead us astray. There is a sense of menace & desolation without the redemptive introspection of The Beast In Me by Nick Lowe on his album The Impossible Bird.

Cohen's mysticism, masked or open, infuses every song. It manifests most painfully in Hunter's Lullaby & most inspiringly in The Law, The Night Comes On & The Captain while in Heart With No Companion it shines like a thousand suns. The healing power can go everywhere and reach anyone, only & exactly because it has been shattered. It recalls the crack in everything that allows the light in on the aforementioned Anthem, a reference to the shattering of the vessels as explained in the Arizal's The Tree of Life: Introduction to the Kabbalah of Isaac Luria as preserved by Rabbi Vital, and less clearly in the Zohar.

The impassioned Heart With No Companion combines a lilting uptempo beat & hypnotic tune with lyrics contemplating disillusionment, shattered dreams & immobilizing fear exacerbated by a terrifying prophecy: "Through the days of shame that are coming/through the nights of wild distress". These negatives are all erased, however, by the lines: "Now I greet you from the other side/Of sorrow and despair/With a love so vast and shattered/It will reach you everywhere". The defiance expressed by: "Though your promise count for nothing/You must keep it none the less" is in fact the antidote to nihilism, affirming the primacy of spirit and of the word. Land Of Plenty on Ten New Songs covers some of the same territory: "For the Christ who has not risen/From the caverns of the heart/For what's left of our religion/I lift my voice and pray/May the lights in the land of plenty/Shine on the truth some day".

If Hunter's Lullaby seemingly submits to despair whilst Heart With No Companion directly defies it, the final song is a prayer of intercession on an ancient pattern, the same to which The Lord's Prayer conforms. With praise and reverence, If It Be Your Will intercedes not only for the tormented souls in hell but for all the children in their "rags of light," the remnants of the shattered vessels. As a sung prayer it is as moving as Calling My Children Home performed by Emmylou Harris on Spyboy although it is serene where Emmylou's song yearns with burning heartache. The one represents Rachel weeping for her children whilst the other calms the tempest with trust in the Eternal Divine, knowing that Spirit in mercy overrules The Law (of cause & effect).

Revisiting Anjani and Jennifer, I highly recommend the first's inspiring album The Sacred Names on which she sings in Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Aramaic, Portuguese & English, and the second's sensitive interpretations of Cohen compositions on her Famous Blue Raincoat, the Twentieth Anniversary edition that has been enhanced by four extra tracks: The Night Comes On, Ballad of the Runaway Horse, If It Be Your Will & Joan of Arc live in Antwerp where the Novecento Orchestra, West Brabants Operakoor & De Tweede Adem support Jenny & her band, adding depth to Cohen's elegy to the Maid of Orleans.