The Essential Leonard Cohen

( 5 )

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Richie Unterberger
The tracks on this two-CD, 31-song anthology, spanning Cohen's career from his 1967 debut album through 2002's Ten New Songs, were chosen by Cohen himself. It could thus be regarded as an accurate mirror of how Cohen sees his own career path and catalog highlights. And there are many of the songs you would expect from any decent Cohen retrospective: "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy," "So Long Marianne," "Bird on a Wire," "Famous Blue Raincoat," and "I'm You're Man," for instance. Still, the balance and selection isn't ideal. There's just one song "Famous Blue Raincoat" from Songs of Love and Hate, and no songs at all from Death of a Ladies Man. Cohen's 1988-2002 period ...
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More About This Product

Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide - Richie Unterberger
The tracks on this two-CD, 31-song anthology, spanning Cohen's career from his 1967 debut album through 2002's Ten New Songs, were chosen by Cohen himself. It could thus be regarded as an accurate mirror of how Cohen sees his own career path and catalog highlights. And there are many of the songs you would expect from any decent Cohen retrospective: "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy," "So Long Marianne," "Bird on a Wire," "Famous Blue Raincoat," and "I'm You're Man," for instance. Still, the balance and selection isn't ideal. There's just one song "Famous Blue Raincoat" from Songs of Love and Hate, and no songs at all from Death of a Ladies Man. Cohen's 1988-2002 period is arguably overrepresented, with about half of the package's tunes dating from that era. And because his later period is so prominently featured, most listeners won't be able to get around the fact that his voice declined in expressive range in the later years, and his material was less striking than his best early songs. Still, for those who've enjoyed Cohen all along, it's a good dose of much of his better work, and certainly doesn't skimp on the running time, with each of the discs lasting 78 minutes.
Rolling Stone - Pat Blashill
The dark, poetic music of Leonard Cohen should be listed on the periodic table of elements -- when you discover it, it suddenly seems as necessary as oxygen.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/22/2002
  • Label: Sony
  • UPC: 696998688421
  • Catalog Number: 86884
  • Sales rank: 2,520

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Suzanne (3:48)
  2. 2 The Stranger Song (5:00)
  3. 3 Sisters of Mercy (3:33)
  4. 4 Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye (2:54)
  5. 5 So Long, Marianne (5:39)
  6. 6 Bird on a Wire (3:25)
  7. 7 The Partisan (3:25)
  8. 8 Famous Blue Raincoat (5:09)
  9. 9 Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (3:06)
  10. 10 Take This Longing (4:06)
  11. 11 Who by Fire (2:34)
  12. 12 The Guests (6:40)
  13. 13 Hallelujah (4:38)
  14. 14 If It Be Your Will (3:42)
  15. 15 Night Comes On (4:40)
  16. 16 I'm Your Man (4:25)
  17. 17 Everybody Knows (5:37)
  18. 18 Tower of Song (5:37)
Disc 2
  1. 1 Ain't No Cure for Love (4:51)
  2. 2 Take This Waltz (5:59)
  3. 3 First We Take Manhattan (5:51)
  4. 4 Dance Me to the End of Love (6:06)
  5. 5 The Future (6:41)
  6. 6 Democracy (7:05)
  7. 7 Waiting for the Miracle (7:42)
  8. 8 Closing Time (5:59)
  9. 9 Anthem (6:00)
  10. 10 In My Secret Life (4:54)
  11. 11 Alexandra Leaving (5:24)
  12. 12 A Thousand Kisses Deep (6:28)
  13. 13 Love Itself (5:22)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Leonard Cohen Primary Artist
Technical Credits
Leonard Cohen Composer, Producer, Illustrations
John Simon Producer
Roscoe Beck Producer
Rebecca de Mornay Producer
Yoav Goren Producer
Bob Johnston Producer
Henry Lewy Producer
Steve Lindsey Producer
John Lissauer Producer
Bob Ludwig Mastering
Bob Metzger Producer
Michel Robidoux Producer
Leanne Ungar Producer
Nancy Donald Art Direction
Jean-Michel Reusser Producer
Sam Tata Cover Photo
Jon Newman Packaging Manager
Sharon Robinson Producer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 5 )
Rating Distribution

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Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Essential Leonard Cohen

    One of his best

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 1, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Real Music

    Wonderful CD! No wonder Leonard Cohen won a lifetime achievement award at the recent Grammys.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    ESSENTIAL is Right !!

    For those of you not familiar with Leonard Cohen's work, spanning the mid-60's to the present, this is THE introduction to one of the most gifted of folk-song writers and singers (you gotta "love" his voice like you "love" Dylan's voice). His work tends toward the dark and pensive, and his latter work is tinged with tasteful electronica that's smooth with a silky sadness or, perhaps, acceptance. For those familiar with Cohen, but thought he had disappeared years ago, this is proof that the man is still a genius (this set includes 4 tracks from his most recent release). For those who have every album he has released over the years, this is still a great collection to throw on the CD player and get a nice career overview w/o having to fuss with alot of CD's to get to the great stuff. Cohen selected all the songs to be included in this anthology, and, except for a very few very minor quibbles, these 2 discs define the man's best work. Truly a treasure - buy it, own it, love it...again and again.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 26, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 28, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 5 Customer Reviews