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"I Came So Far For Beauty" finds Cohen in a familiar self-effacing mode, recounting his vain search for the perfect muse. Like NEW SKIN's "There is a War," "The Traitor" effectively analyzes personal travails through militaristic metaphor, over ... Full Descriptionsemi-classical backing. The closing "Ballad of the Absent Mare," later covered by Emmylou Harris, comes off like an epic prose poem in the classic ballad style, but its slight cowboy lilt provides a nice contrast to the lyric. RECENT SONGS is arguably Cohen's most mature '70s effort.
After recovering from his traumatic studio experiences with Phil Spector on DEATH OF A LADIES MAN (Spector was said to have brandished a gun at some point), Cohen retreated to friendlier sonic climes. Aided by co-producer Henry Lewy, he filled RECENT SONGS with stately songpoems marked by lush (but never overdone), elegant arrangements. While there was always a pronounced literary streak in Cohen's work, the songs here find him at his most purely poetic, more the chansonnier than the troubadour.
Personnel includes: Leonard Cohen (vocals, guitar).
Hide Description Leonard Cohen Recent Songs Songs Purchase Recent Songs CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Black Heart Procession 2 CD (1999)
Recent Songs album
 $10.69  
The Black Heart Procession's beautifully bleak postmodern folk-rock falls in with the work of the Willard Grant Conspiracy, Tindersticks, Palace, Lambchop, etc. Like those groups, BHP use fragile, elegant music to frame poetic lyrics that express a deep sense of alienation and disillusionment. Like Lambchop, they use every instrument in the book to achieve their aim, from trumpet and synthesizer to sheet ...
| | Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man CD (1988)
Recent Songs CD music
$9.79 
The lyrics to "Take This Waltz" are based on Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "Little Viennese Waltz."
Contemporary music's poet laureate, Leonard Cohen performs in a universe of pessimism, cynicism, spirituality and profound romance, all stirred with a dash of wit. On I'M YOUR MAN, his acid words burn deep to the soul.
Cohen's poetry deals with powerful demons--"You loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win/You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline/How many nights I've prayed for this: to let my work begin." He is obsessed with religion--"Everybody knows what you've been through/From the bloody cross on top of calvary to the beach at Malibu"--and has a love/hate relationship with himself--"My friends are gone and my hair is grey/I ache in places where I used to play." Often, existential dilemmas rear their complex heads ("They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom"), but it is eroticism that truly drives Leonard Cohen--"I'd drive howl at your beauty like a dog in heat/I'd claw at your heart and I'd tear at your sheet/I'd say 'please, please, I'm your man.'"
Oh yes, there's music also. Cohen's deep, gruff vocals are offset by female singers, and by moody, textured instrumentation ranging from rock and jazz to classical and folk. Yet it is the language that is the true star of I'M YOUR MAN.
Recorded at Studio Tempo and DMS Studios, Montreal, Canada; Rock Steady, Los Angeles, California; Studio Montmartre, Paris, France; Soundworks, New York, New York.
Personnel: ...
| | Leonard Cohen Death Of A Ladies' Man CD
Recent Songs music CDs
$8.39
In retrospect, after Cohen's ironic latter-day embrace of Europop sounds, the brashness of Phil Spector's production style doesn't seem such an unlikely mate for Cohen's songs. At the time, though, the pairing of the genteel acoustic songpoet with Mr. Wall of Sound raised more than a few eyebrows. While Spector's famed everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach does largely preclude the opportunity for subtlety, the sheer audaciousness of the Big Sound works nicely with Cohen's spleen-venting sensibilities. Wailing at the top of his lungs over a sea of sound, Cohen comes off like a crazed, poetic carnival barker. Highlights are the ribald, funky and uproarious "Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On" (featuring backing vocals by Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg!) and the epic title cut. This isn't the place for neophytes to start, but for hardcore fans, it'll be irresistible.
Recorded at Whitney Recording Studios, Gold Star Recording Studios & Devonshire Sound Studios, Los Angeles, California.
Personnel: Leonard Cohen (vocals, guitar); Dan Kessel (guitar, keyboards, organ, synthesizers, ...
| | Leonard Cohen Future CD (1992)
Recent Songs songs
$11.39
Leonard Cohen's 1992 release, THE FUTURE, is both a cynical attack on civilization and a spiritual edification, with the gruff-voiced theme "I've seen the future...it's murder." From the sinister whisper of the opening title track, the mood moves to the redemptive optimism of "Light As A Breeze," and the sardonic political march, "Democracy." There's a highly unlikely cover of Irving Berlin's "Always"; peculiar for an artist known more for his lyrical poetry than for his interpretive skills. But Leonard Cohen's voice translates uniquely to interpreting pop standards, and he gives the song a highly original bluesy read. Another unlikely cut is the closing instrumental, "Tacoma Trailer," featuring fine Synclavier work by Bill Ginn.
THE FUTURE is brimming with the tormented poetry for which Cohen is so well-known. His foghorn voice is close to a murmur on many songs, and he sets the mood (dark and foreboding), as he often does, through the able assistance of his omni-present female back-up singers. With the superb lyrics of songs like "Waiting For The Miracle" and "Closing Time," Leonard Cohen remains rock's preeminent poet.
Personnel: Leonard Cohen (vocals); Dean Parks (guitar, mandolin); Bob Metzger (guitar, bass); Paul Jackson Jr., Dennis Herring (guitar); Bob Furgo (violin); Brandon Fields, Lon Price (tenor saxophone); Greg ...
| | Leonard Cohen Ten New Songs CD (2001)
Recent Songs album
$10.15
Sonically, the album continues Cohen's fascination with synthesizers, as first heard on 1988's I'M YOUR MAN. For his first album of the 21st century, he's embraced the digital world fully; nearly every sound is generated by the electronic artillery of Cohen's producer/L.A. cohort Sharon Robinson. There's a polished modesty to the arrangements, always completely subservient to Cohen's richly resonant lyrics and crater-deep voice. Wordwise, Cohen tackles the vagaries of love, the fragile nature of humanity, and the emotional subtext of global politics; typically ...
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Recent Songs CD music
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Recent Songs music CDs
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Recent Songs songs
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Recent Songs album
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Recent Songs CD music
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Recent Songs music CDs
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Recent Songs songs
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Recent Songs album
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Track Listing of songs: June Apple - Wade Ward; John Lover's Gone - Wade Ward; Old Joe Clark - Wade Ward; Sally Ann - Wade Ward; ...
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Recent Songs Review
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