Songs of Love and Hate

Leonard Cohen

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 7, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002AZY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #125,607 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Avalanche

2. Last Year's Man

3. Dress Rehearsal Rag

4. Diamonds in the Mine

5. Love Calls You by Your Name

6. Famous Blue Raincoat

7. Sing Another Song, Boys

8. Joan of Arc

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

By the time Leonard Cohen began his recording career in 1967, the iconoclastic Canadian troubadour was already well established as a poet and author. He quickly emerged as one of the era's most original and influential singer-songwriters, building a large and legendary body of work that continues to inspire artists and listeners alike.

Much of Cohen's reputation and mystique was established by his early work for Columbia Records, particularly the five albums he recorded between 1967 and 1974. Now, these five classic albums, unavailable on vinyl for two decades, have been lovingly restored to their original LP format.

For their new Sundazed editions, all five albums have been meticulously remastered and have been sourced from the original Columbia Records stereo masters in order to preserve the sound of the original albums. In keeping with the exacting standards for which Sundazed has become known, each album will be pressed on high-definition vinyl, with complete original cover art.

With 1971's Songs of Love and Hate, Cohen delivered one of his most emotionally intense sets, with such memorable numbers as "Avalanche," "Famous Blue Raincoat" and "Joan of Arc" ranking with his greatest compositions. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death Folk, December 15, 2003

By	K. H. Orton (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Without a doubt this is Cohen's darkest, most ambitious & quite possibly most depressing record. I think he inadvertently created a whole new genre here---Death Folk. Self proclaimed fans range from Kurt Cobain to Nick Cave. So, if you're looking for the flower child nostalgia of of "Suzanne", proceed immediately to the latest greatest hits collection.

"Avalanche" definitely veers on the hate side of things. Lyrically speaking, it's like stumbling across Richard The Third in an abandoned mineshaft. Toss in some stark, flamenco guitar & you get the picture. A dark start to a creepy, often disturbing album.

"Last Year's Man" is a fitting tribute to any old Casanova whose seen his 15 minutes come & go. The only thing missing here is a knout & a hairshirt. On "Dress Rehearsal Rag", the whole song reeks of dried blood, bandages & transient hotels. The only real upbeat number is, "Diamonds In The Mine", where he sings like he just gargled with Drano.

"Love Calls Your Name" has to be one of Cohen's most epic & underated ballads, while "Famous Blue Raincoat" is one of his more well known. It's certainly the only song off here ever included on a Best Of.

The purvasive atmosphere of jaded sarcasm comes to a fore with, "Sing Another Song, Boys" & by the time he gets to "Joan Of Arc" you'll be reaching for ABBA's GREATEST HITS.

Pretentious, cynical & pissed off---this is the sound of Cohen strumming his six-string with an open vein. He's never done anything like it, before or since. I suppose only Lou Reed's BERLIN comes close.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mesmerizing Look At The Mad Genius Of Leonard Cohen!, August 18, 2000

By	Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Leonard Cohen has been described as the poet of existential despair, and none of his several vintage albums is more edgy and desperate than this thirty year old offering with its white on black lettering and stark unshaven images of a man on the very verge of madness. On the back cover of the original album was large block-lettered script reading " They locked up a man/Who wanted to rule the world/ The fools/ They locked up the wrong man". Ah, such saintly pretensions! Yet Cohen is mad like a fox, cleverly setting his snares for those fools who don't recognize his own magnetic powers, charisma, and outright poetic genius. In "Avalanche" he sets the first proper insane tone, carefully evoking his curious blend of old world images and slamming them against contradictory notions like sexy religiosity, employing profoundly arcane symbols alongside profane contemporary longings.

He continues his mad mystic pounding on the door of his inner longings with "Last Year's Man". His own comment on the song is that he always waits for the children's chorus. It and he are both haunting here, his use of old testament language powerfully drawing a word picture that leaves one gasping for air. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" is an ironic improvisation of an old poem from the "Spice Box of Earth" book he first published in the late 1950s, while "Love Calls You By Your Name" is another evocative and mysterious display of his amazing poetic genius put to good musical use. I have always loved "Famous Blue Raincoat", a long and revealing tale of a man writing to a old friend who cuckolded him with his wife, filling him in on his own feelings, perceptions, and surprising take on the affair. It is hard to describe "Joan Of Arc", except to say she is an emblematic figure to Cohen, a kind of sexy virgin, a saintly vixen, a womanly icon embodying both the purity and prurience of the world in a single ethereal figure. Of course he wants to bed her. Cohen is nothing if not hypnotically suggestive, and he takes one on a mind's ride that makes you want to either jump off a bridge or scream in delight. This is a superb album by a consummate artist, whose voice and style fit his evocative message like a well-worn leather glove. Black on black, of course. Enjoy!

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ageless Music, February 16, 2003

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Like all Cohen's early albums, Songs Of Love & Hate has grown in stature down the decades. Famous Blue Raincoat was beautifully covered by Jennifer Warnes on her album of the same name which also contains a duet with Cohen on a longer version of Joan Of Arc. Sing Another Song Boys is Cohen at his bitter best, its harsh chorus atypical of the image of the subdued folkie but pointing to later songs like Lover Lover Lover on 1974's New Skin For The Old Ceremony. Diamonds In The Mine is in the same vein, where the celestial female vocals are particularly effective in balancing Cohen's raw voice on this tale of stunning imagery. (In retrospect, in tone and delivery these two songs are not too far removed from tracks like Iodine or Paper-Thin Hotel on his much-criticized Phil Spector produced album Death Of A Ladies Man). Besides those to, the other track are typical early Cohen. With astonishing elegance and simplicity, the haunting melodies, poetic lyrics and ragged voice have a way of establishing themselves in the consciousness of the listener. Few other artists touch the strings of the soul in the way that Cohen does. Perhaps Richard Thompson comes close now and again, as do Nick Drake, Lou Reed on Berlin, Nick Cave and definitely Swans and Angels Of Light. "Love and Hate" is another jewel in Cohen's crown of ageless music.