Customer Reviews

Songs From a Room

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a delightfully dark album! But if you know any Leonard Cohen songs, you already knew that, right? Wrong. This is dark even by his standards, a remarkable look at Vietnam and the 1960s generation gap from the enigmatic Canadian. Cohen being Cohen, of course, that can't be seen on the surface, which is what keeps the brilliant album brilliant instead of relentlessly depressing. The production style is extremely austere, apparently in reaction to what Cohen considered the excessive instrumental flourishes of his first album; whether intentional or not, this fits the lyrical atmosphere perfectly and adds to it.

While there is nothing overtly topical about the then-current issues at hand, youth alienation and war are addressed metaphorically throughout the set. "Story of Isaac," "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" and "The Old Revolution" are best seen through this lens. The album's token cover, "The Partisan," is a more transparent take on the horrors of war, and it fits well between the others. Perhaps most macabre is "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy," a chilling tale of a long-ago love affair that came to a tragic ending (and, characteristically, he remembers the year and what she was wearing!) This one hasn't turned up on any greatest-hits album that I know of, as good a reason as any to buy Songs From A Room. Amusingly, the album ends on an almost-cheerful note with "Tonight Will Be Fine" - perhaps even Leonard Cohen has his limits.

The booklet-style package features lyric sheets, a new appreciation by Anthony DeCurtis, and a sprinkling of pictures and interesting period memorabilia. Also new to this version are previously unreleased early versions of "Bird on a Wire" and "You Know Who I Am". I think they feel tacked on after the intensity of the original album, but they're interesting to hear on their own.

A much louder audio signal than the earlier CD. Still a good amount of hiss, but that's actually a good sign, as it means they havn't sucked the life out of it with lame noise reduction technology. Besides the louder audio signal, the most obvious improvement upon one listen are the high string parts on bird on a wire. Even more beautiful than before.

Definately worth purchasing even if you own the previous release. Great packaging as well. CD case is shaped like a small book, with a spine and bound pages within. Neat.

I was so excited to learn months ago that Leonard Cohen, the master of poetry in popular music, was having his first three albums rereleased and remastered. Songs from a Room is an acknowledged folk classic and the sound on this album is incredible.

If you are a longtime Cohen fan, then buy this album for the updated sound.

If you are a newcomer who is even slightly interested in Leonard Cohen, then buy this album. You will not be disappointed.

Hallelujah, finally Leonard Cohen's catalogue has been given it's proper dedication. It's almost a laughing stock that the previous leonard cohen releases didn't have lyrics. Cohen is probably the most notorious lyrist in the rock era, not necessary he is rock as we know it but he is of the modern era nevertheless. Anyway everything is perfect the appearance of the product in a digi-pak which opens up into a book with lyrics and some pictures from the appropriate era make this more than a worthwhile purchase. Infact it should be sold for more money than it's selling for on amazon because the value is that great. Did i forget to mention there's bonus tracks...and those are always subjective no matter how good or bad since they didn't come with the original album and usaully it's best they're left off for traditional reasons, but i won't comment if they were good or bad. However the mixing of this cd is beautiful, whoever did the mixing knew just what they were doing...not only is the vocals right there's this amazing seperation and reverbration going on here probably the latest recording techniques at work or the latest cd compressing abilities at work. I strongly recommend this, i recommend buying this CD for the 2nd time as it's worth it beyond comprehension. Give the other one to a friend who never heard of leonard cohen before, or sell it to the local CD store if you have one in your area, but i applaud you to buy this newly remastered CD.

This album is dry as bones and lean as a desert. It is the first Cohen album I owned -- on vinyl -- and it took me a while to latch on to it. But it was so worth it. Every passing year I seem to love it more.

"Story of Isaac" was the first thing to hook me; it is almost a chimera of two songs that are not closely related -- a biblical story from the point of view of the boy about to be sacrificed, and an antiwar song that recognizes the violence in all of us -- but they set each other off well.

It seems wrong to blather on and on about an album that is beautiful because it is so spare. When you look up the word "plaintive" in the dictionary there should be an illustration of this album cover. I hope the new remixes don't run over that austerity. This is music that gives you space to breath, and think, instead of pounding you over the head with mindless sound. I have the earlier CD, and when I play it I find myself missing the vinyl crackles.

Leonard Cohen followed up his debut album with another masterpiece, this collection of magnificent songs of solitude, despair and resignation. Besides The Partisan, a song about the French resistance with its beautiful French verses and female vocals, all compositions are by Cohen.

The most popular number here is Bird On A Wire that has been covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Judy Collins, Rita Coolidge, Tim Hardin, The Neville Brothers and Jennifer Warnes.

For some reason, the opening lines of Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes make me think of Frodo's journey to Mordor in Lord Of The Rings: "A bunch of lonesome and very quarrelsome heroes/Were smoking out upon the open road." Other highlights include The Story Of Isaac and The Old Revolution, in both of which Cohen's characteristic Biblical imagery surfaces, and the somber Lady Midnight with its many layers of meaning.

Seems So Long Ago is a wistful confessional dirge whilst You Know Who I Am is a delicate love poem with esoteric undertones: "I am the one who loves changing from nothing to one". The mood lightens up on the former closing track Tonight Will Be Fine with its catchy melody, driving rhythm and erotic lyric, although even here the sadness is just a sigh away.

This reissue booklet includes liner notes by Anthony DeCurtis, one full-color and four black & white photographs plus a full-color painting of a chair. Both extra tracks were originally produced by David Crosby and for reissue by Bruce Dickinson. The first, Like A Bird, is an earlier version of Bird On The Wire. This version is less flowing, more halting than the familiar one. Nothing To One is the earlier version of You Know Who I Am.

Cohen's sublime music has a transcendent, spiritual quality. These haunting songs "from a room" have lost none of their poetic impact after 4 decades; their grace, elegance and beauty shine on.

I'm Your Man

I'm Your Fan

This is my first exposure to Leonard Cohen, and I'm pretty impressed. Songs from a Room can best be described like this- take a haunting, quiet atmosphere and combine it with a sad style of softly sung folk-rock including acoustic guitars and other pleasant arrangements. Maybe it's just me but Leonard's voice closely resembles Lou Reed.

It's pretty good, though much like Nick Drake's first album, I have to be in a certain mood in order to really appreciate it.

Highlights include "Story of Isaac" which tells a great story about a father and son going on an adventure, and the devastatingly honest emotions in "The Old Revolution".

The entire album contains the same kind of downbeat mood, and it honestly works really well. I'm not too crazy about "Birds on a Wire" though because the vocal melody is quite predictable, but the rest of the material is really quite solid.

Songs from a Room being Cohens 1969 and his second record over all. Cohen writes with conviction and his vocals are impeccabale. What I love about Cohen is that one believes what he sings about. The Story of Isaac is a great track which harkens back to the old testament in a very subtle and well done way. The Partisan is a great track that talks about World War 2. This song is not written by Cohen but he does a great rendition of it. The book-let is very odd. On the cover we get a photo of a pensive looking Cohen. It contains no lyrics and not other pictures. The picture on the back is a very strange one of woman with a typewriter. This is truly a classic record and should not be missed. 5/5!

Seems fitting that a day before the first Cohen tour in 15 years was announced today that I randomly heard A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes on my iPod. That sent me home to listen to the whole Songs from a Room CD, something I hadn't done in at least 15 years. It's always been overlooked a bit, I think, wedged as it was between his debut and the new direction (for then) and very dark Songs of Love and Hate. It's also under-represented on Essential Leonard Cohen, with only Bird on a Wire and The Partisan included.

Leonard has always been late night listening and never more than here. The vocals are mostly quiet, low-key, and -- for Leonard -- more on key than not. The arrangements are equally simple. And the mood, despite five songs of revolution and other violence, is consistently introspective. Even in those five, the lyric sings of individuals, Issac facing his father's knife, the quarreling heroes, the partisans who die alone to protect the cause.

There are a handful of songs here that don't really engage me -- Isaac has always been way too biblical for my taste and The Butcher and You Know Who I Am (the latter in both versions) just drag. But the rest is a beautiful mix of memory. loss and (in the perfect Tonight Will Be Fine) acceptance of both. Today I feel like cuts 3-6, highlighted with Seems So Long Ago, Nancy, are as good a set of four consecutive cuts as Leonard ever put on record.

Songs from a Room is nearly forty years old, old enough for me to think it may be ageless.

I guess that most artsits would be lucky to create an album like Songs from a Room; It's half a masterpiece, and most musicains have never even recorded an eighth of one. Of course, Leonard Cohen isn't "most musicians." He's made some of the greatest music of his generation, works that, at their best, rival those of Bob Dylan in terms of sheer poetic vertuosity. Seen in that light, Songs from a Room isn't a great album. Certainly, it's a very good one, a record with plenty of great songs and musical moments. There are cutting lyrical insights here, and several subtly beautiful melodies. Unfortunatly, there are also far too many uninspired songs and uninteresting musical ideas to call this a great album.

The best songs here demonstrate Cohen's unique songwriting abilities: the chilling "Story of Isaac" is a tense, nightmarish study of generational friction and self sacrifice. Cohen's lyrics are bitter, bruised, and full of genuine menace. In the song's spine-tingling conclusion, Cohen spits: "When it all comes down to dust/ I will kill you if I must/ I will help you if I can," brilliantly summarizing a bleak but deeply felt view of human nature. "The Butcher" runs along similar lines; with its brutally simple guitar chords and stark lyrical imagery, the song conveys the feeling of bitter disilousionment with startling accuracy. "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" is as haunting as it is beautiful. Its ghostly, spare melody is the ideal framing device for Cohen's brittle, regretful lyrics- it's a song full of painful memories and quiet loss. Interestingly, one of the best songs here wasn't even written by Cohen- "The Partisan" is a cover of a World War II era ballad that tells the story of a member of the French Resistance. Cohen's performance smolders with quiet, but undeniably present, tension, his voice electric with barely subdued nervous energy.

But not every song on the album is as good as these four- "A Bunch of Lonesome Heros" could have been an excellent song, but its gorgeously dramatic melody is buried under an incredibly unpleasant production, which bathes the music in echo and odd backing instruments. The half-formed lyrics don't help much, either. "You Know Who I Am" matches a convoluted guitar line with some incredibly pretentious lyrics ("I am the distance you put between/ all of the moments that we will be"), and "Tonight Will Be Fine,' despite being bouncy and jaunty, is completely joyless. Cohen's whistling during the final verse is just plain annoying. "The Old Revolution" and "Lady Midnight" are only halfway interesting in terms of lyrics and melody, and each one fails to leave a lasting impression. Finally, there's "Bird on a Wire." Although it's probably the most well-known (and perhaps well-liked) track on this album, I honestly think that it's the weakest song here. Cohen's performance is annoyingly melodramatic, full of painful high notes (a poor attempt to cover up the lack of genuine emotion in the man's voice). The music itself is overly sweet and completely inconsequential: the guitar line is a dull, mumbling cliche, and it's augmented by an equally worthless string section. The lyrics are direct but half-baked. Although the first few lines ("Like a bird on the wire/ like a drunk in a midnight choir/ I have tried. in my way/ to be free") are genuinly poetic, they're counterbalanced by some of Cohen's most insufferably over-earnest declerations ("I will make it all up to thee," he sings, has voice raspy and insincere).

So, that leaves us with an album that, at its best moments, is as powerful and transcendant as anything Cohen has ever written. But at its worst...