Songs From a Room

this album is the logical stepping stone between the funeral dirge that was his debut album and the more haunting poems of his third. unfortunately its more like the former. id probably enjoy the songs performed by another artist.

It was alright, very calm

The first song of the album is one of the worst I have ever heard. The rest are only a little better. I'm sure the lyrics are brilliant but the music is not.

Sorry to the city of Montréal, the big Leonard Cohen mural is still cool.

I don't really like the music of Leonard Cohen and similar artists. It's too pretentious for me. Surprisingly, I quite liked the album. Although it's too melancholic for me to want to listen to it again, I still enjoyed listening to it. 3/5

Sad, folksy tunes for me just don't work with a full album. It's hard to keep your attention for such a slow crawl of songs that make you feel like such a bummer man. Props for infecting me at least with a sense of ennui.

Good, I guess

I mean, I get it, he's a poet and not necessarily a musician. I sometimes struggle with music from the 60s. It just sounds so dated. Some of this is good, like The Partisan, but I'm just overall not fucking with this album. I like his later stuff but this album is just not something I'm likely to return to.

Not the strongest Cohen album, but I'm a soccer for everything he has ever put out.

3.5

I view Cohen as more of a poet than singer. A bunch of his stuff is practically spoken word. No doubt he's a great songwriter/poet but I don't think you can rate this album highly since it's lacking on the instrumental side. I also really dislike the mouth harp. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

I am not a fan of Leonard Cohen, he sounds like he’s reading a book!

Well, i have reached my last Leonard Cohen album with Songs From A Room and unfortunately, we have ended with a whimper here. I say this not because i think the album is bad but because i can hardly remember anything about it. This is the Leonard Cohen album that felt the most like background noise because basically nothing interesting really happens in any of these songs. Other than that as well as The Butcher having some very awkward vocal parts, this album isn't terrible, the musicianship is decent and Lenny seemed to be developing his voice more during this album. The problem is that this album is still very forgettable and that is not something you want from an album so its only getting a 2.5.
Best Song: The Old Revolution
Worst Song: The Butcher
Side Note: Oh, and since this is my last Leonard Cohen album, I'll rank them here:
1. You Want It Darker
2. I'm Your Man
3. Songs Of Love And Hate
4. Songs Of Leonard Cohen
5. Songs From A Room

Another Leonard Cohen album that’s fine but kept from being great by his musical limitations. “The Partisan” is a banger though and there are some really haunting moments throughout.

It made me want to sleep in the best way possible.

Letztes Album von dem Typen hat 2 Sterne bekommen. Vielleicht war ich heut in einer anderen Stimmung, aber das folkige hat mir heute besser gefallen. Aber für 4 Sterne reichts dann auch nicht.

As poetry, I guess this would be OK. As music, not so much. The guy can't sing and the music is about as basic as it gets.

The Rolling Stone review from 1969 starts with a perfect encapsulation of this album:

"It doesn’t take a great deal of listening to realize that Cohen can’t sing, period. And yet, the record grows on you, and if you give it a chance, it has something to offer. But you can hardly be blamed if you aren’t willing to take the time."

However...

"something else does evolve on the far side of these stumbling blocks. It is a sound portrait of a man and of mood. A picture of Leonard Cohen: a terribly poetic, sensitive person who is depressed and depressing and who is capable of a great deal of honesty. His poetry, which might be considered sophomoric, becomes more serious when you realize that the man is pouring out his life before you. It becomes a somewhat painful thing to hear."

Finally:

"The backup and arrangements, while they occasionally underscore Cohen’s weakness as a singer, are superb at creating mood. The predominant mood is one of nostalgia and a rather wistful tenderness. And to someone who can relate to this sort of mood, the album would be appreciated."

And that's where I'm at. I'm not sure if I *like* it. but...I kinda don't hate it. I don't AT ALL see why he's so famous, but in a certain mood, I can see why someone would want to reach for this album. But I can also see why people would hate it.

Not a fan of Leonard Cohen.

pet peeve of mine is when people cover "Tonight Will Be Fine" in a slow tempo.

please stop

Oh. This is why we love him. Such profound wisdom in such a neat package. Yeah the second half drags, but the perfection of the first half cannot be found anywhere else.