Songs From a Room

*yawns in complex lyrics*

His voice hadn't turned as gravelly as it would on his later albums, and the music sounds at least partially uplifting which goes again his later work also, but the lyrics are still dark as fuck.

Sometimes I just don’t feel like working to understand. He basically writes poetry then puts the poem to music. So many poems in the world that I kind of know I should grasp the meaning, but I don’t quite. That’s this album: I know the lyrics are special but I’m not in the mood to work for it, and it’s not musical enough for me to want to come back to it later.

Lady Midnight on kyllä kaunis kappale. Muutenkin taas kerran erinomaista laulumusiikkia Lennulta.

Definitely a vibe going on here. Didn't enjoy this quite as much as other Leonard Cohen albums. Not sure why. Maybe the songs aren't quite as strong.
Having said that, The Partisan is great and the whole thing sounds soothing as fuck late at night.

This guy cannot sing. Should have stayed in his room and locked the door so he can sing his depressing music to himself. 1.5/5

I'm trying to decide if Leonard Cohen is the most ridiculous example of an artist with multiple albums (5!!!) that shouldn't have multiple albums in the 1001. If you're David Bowie or the Beatles, both of whom evolve significantly from album to album, you get multiple albums. Pink Floyd deserves multiple albums because they are so varied. Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder get multiple because they have multiple iconic albums. Leonard Cohen is none of the above. Probably one of the biggest mistakes of the book.

Anyway, rant over. To review the album - the only other one I've reviewed so far was Songs of Love and Hate, where I definitely felt more hate than love. This album has a fair amount of the same problem - rambling, drawn out songs, with pretentious lyrics. One big difference is that he doesn't have quite the depth and weight to his voice that he had on Songs of Love and Hate only two years later, except for a couple of tracks (e.g., The Partisan, You Know Who I Am). Occasionally he made me think of a less weird sounding Bob Dylan (e.g., The Old Revolution), but Bob's lyrics connect with me more than Leonard's. I gave Songs of Love and Hate a 2...I'd say this one is a 2.5 because it had a little more energy and variety, but I can't bring myself to round up. Songs I liked: A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes, The Partisan (about the French Resistance during WWII - I particularly liked this track and the French part is very stirring), Seems So Long Ago Nancy (typically long and rambling, but powerful lyrics). Songs where Leonard needs to settle down: You Know Who I Am (although I do like the vibe of this song), Tonight Will be Fine (which would sound better if it was Johnny Cash singing).

I loved this album. It wasnt one I was familar with all the way through but I really enjoyed exploring it. Cohen is one of the greatest musical storytellers there is. Great lyrics delivered well.

Bird on a wire and the partisan are great songs.

Favourite song: The Butcher and Partisan
Least favourite: All great stories
Album artwork: Standard Leonard Cohen album cover

3.5
I always enjoy his music, usually end up needing to have a nice hard drink and a cozy chair to listen.

Okay. Talented songwriter.

I promised to re-evaluate Coen's earlier work after I enjoyed You Want it Darker so much, but it honestly does nothing for me. I know his lyrics might be very poetic, but I can't grasp them properly when they are packaged within such terrible music. His singing is almost offensively bad, and the music is uninteresting and uninspired. I feel a bit hypocritical now because I do enjoy Bob Dylan's 60s output, but the difference there is that Dylan knew how to write an interesting melody and was a decent guitarist too. This album is significantly worse than Coen's debut, and doesn't belong on this list IMO.

i think this one is better than his first and the first half is exceptional. Kind of dies down towards the end but a fun listen for sure

Hated this so much I searched the list to see how much more LC we have to endure. Two down, two to go.

This is a concept album where the artist jokingly has decided to unnecessarily shoehorn the jaw harp he won at the county fair into every track to hide the fact he's a terrible singer and see if anyone would notice.

This was a huge miss for me. Wildly unenjoyable. To plagiarize from the title of a Gin Blossoms album: A New Miserable Experience

Sorry this is one of the Leonard Cohen albums I don’t think needs to be on the list, just a bit dull for me.

Storytelling - 5
Poetry - 4
Music - 5
Voice - 3

better than his later works. he actually sings? He can still set a mood though. and that mood is dark. Which is always a good thing

LC just doesn't do it for me. Every song is the same...not sure why he (and Tom Waits) is someone I just can't get into. 1.5/5

I could do without the Jaw Harp on EVERY BLOODY SONG. And is that a Swanee Whistle on "Tonight Will Be Fine" ? (If it's not, there's no excuse for how out of tune it is). I also think I prefer gravelly old Leonard Cohen to this younger version. But the songwriting is pretty great (check out kd lang's version of Bird On the Wire).

My second Cohen this week! This one is a bit more varied than "Songs of," but it does get a little bit corny in the more Western-influenced tracks.