Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man [Soundtrack]

Leonard Cohen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Verve Forecast
• ASIN: B000G73UEU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,258 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Already an accomplished poet and novelist before he ambled into the music business in his mid-'30s, Leonard Cohen has remained as musically influential as he is publicly enigmatic for four decades. This celebration of Cohen's songbook began as a free concert that quickly mushroomed into a star-studded live tribute film shot at Sydney's famed Opera House and Brighton Dome. Musically supervised by Hal Willner (who's produced similar recorded tributes to Mingus, Monk, Rota and Weill), it recasts Cohen's evocative, emotionally uncompromising songs in compelling performances by singers who range from fellow cult heroes Nick Cave and Beth Orton to energetic newcomer Teddy Thompson and even rock gods U2. The latter's powerful collaboration with Cohen himself on the signature "Tower of Song" bookends Martha Wainright's solo opening rendition of the composition, deftly underscoring the project's eclectic artisanship in the bargain. Cave somehow channels the title track through Chicago's South Side via Weimar Berlin, while Teddy Thompson ponders "The Future" with exuberance and The Handsome Family informs "Famous Blue Raincoat" with elegant melodrama. Other standouts include Rufus Wainwright's nouveau Tango work-up of "Everybody Knows," Perla Batalla's gorgeous, Norteño-seasoned "Bird On a Wire" and her collaborations with Cave and Julia Christenson on "Suzanne" and "Anthem." A collection that's both a savvy primer to Cohen's catalog and impressive artistic achievement in its own right. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

This soundtrack features powerful performances of Cohen masterpieces by an outstanding array of today's top singer-songwriters. The tracks on the CD were recorded live at Hal Willner's "Came So Far For Beauty: An Evening of Leonard Cohen Songs", at the Brighton Dome as part of the Brighton Festival 2004 and at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival 2005, except "Tower of Song"featuring Leonard Cohen and U2.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the same performances from the DVD..., December 20, 2006

By 

Anonymous Coward - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (Audio CD)

Sadly if you are looking for Martha Wainwright's amazing performance of The Traitor from the DVD Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, you won't find it here. For some strange reason they have used alternate versions of the music from the DVD for this CD. For me this was unexpected as I got the CD 'Original Soundtrack' for the performances I had seen on the DVD. Seems like I was duped.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where is Hallelujah ??????, May 7, 2007

By 

B. Byrd (california) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (Audio CD)

I am a long time fan of Leonard Cohen and thoroughly enjoyed the "I'm Your Man" DVD, so happily bought the soundtrack...... BUT where are my favorites on this cd? The Traitor version is different from the amazing dvd rendition, and my all time favorite tune from the movie, Hallelujah, is missing!!!

Most people are probably familiar with, and prefer, the Buckley rendition of this wonderful Cohen song. I, too, loved it until I was blessed to hear the Rufus Wainwright version -- now nothing else compares, especially with the harmonies and additional performers on the dvd. Yes, you can find the song by Rufus on one of his albums, but it's not the one from the dvd -- even the director expressed disappointment at its ommission from what should be a compillation of the best and most important songs.

Still worth a listen, especially for Antony's chilling version of "If it be your will" and a couple others, but I need to learn to read the song list & also how to get an audio dub from the film!!!

Get the DVD instead!

57 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I so wanted to love this cd..., July 29, 2006

By 

Laurie Eckhout (Juneau, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (Audio CD)

There are a few good songs here...No, there are a few really great covers of Leonard's masterpieces. Unfortunately there are several that left me just shaking my head and wondering why something better was not presented to showcase this genius of a song writer.

Highlights:

Antony's cover of "If It Be Your Will" (worth the price of the cd)
ANTHEM sung by Batalla/Christensen is sublime.
Also, the 2 songs by Thompson are quite good, especially "The Future."

What was done to some of these pieces seemed tragic. "Winter Lady" is a lowlight, as is "Famous Blue Raincoat."

This should have been so much better. Better song selections and certainly better renditions of Cohen's wonderful songs.

There are some really great Cohen covers out there so I know it can be done. Better yet, listen to The Man himself. No one tops Leonard singing Leonard.

I wish this was better, but do consider it for the Highlights. They are very good.
Laurie