Various Positions

New Skin for the Old Ceremony	I'm Your Man Even the production, laden with synthesized strings and cooing female choruses, is wry on I'm Your Man, a definitive Leonard Cohen album. Though still touched with the tragic ("Take This Waltz," based on a Garcia Lorca poem), the album often achieves its high points by combining ...	The Future Leonard Cohen's deeply personal first LPs came out at a time when many of his peers were issuing furious, counterculture-inspired rants; he clearly had little interest in sticking with the pack at the time. So it makes a certain kind of contrary sense that Cohen would put out an ...	Recent Songs	Ten New Songs Where has Leonard Cohen been for the past nine years? The legendary songwriter's mostly been in a Zen monastery, it turns out, obsessively rewriting and polishing the oblique, lapidary lyrics for this austere collection. Ten New Songs is arguably Sharon Robinson's record as much ...
Songs of Love and Hate	Songs from a Room	Essential Leonard Cohen This two-disc retrospective traces the Canadian bard's musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence throug...	Songs of Leonard Cohen	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man Already an accomplished poet and novelist before he ambled into the music business in his mid-'30s, Leonard Cohen has remained as musically influential as he is publicly enigmatic for four decades. This celebration of Cohen's songbook began as a free concert that quickly mushroom...

I missed Leonard in the 60's and 70's
I missed the 60's and 70's raising children. I heard a voice in the background of a video thru the internet. I asked around and finally found that it was Leonard Cohen. I love his voice. He tells a story thru his songs and they are calming to me. I'm glad I found him. It's never too late. I now have 6 of his CD's.

A nice job all the way through...
I've been a casual Cohen fan since BEFORE he even made music for money. When I was in college, Leonard's novel "Beautiful Losers" was a moderate hit in artsy, intellectual circles. I aspired to be in such a circle, so I read the book. Only months later did I find out that he was a singer/songwriter as well. In the past 40 years, I've only bought a few of his albums, and none in the past two decades. Last month, however, I found this one on sale for an irresistable price and plunged in. I like all the tracks. While none of the songs have the commercial appeal of his early folk hits such as "Suzanne" and "Bird on a Wire" and "Sisters of Mercy", they are all poetic, competent, pleasant, and feature Leonard in good voice. I saw Mr. Cohen in concert only once, around 1970, and while he appeared to be stoned and not aware of his surroundings, it did not affect his singing. Maybe that's just the way he handled stage fright? "Various Positions" was a bargain, for me, and will get a fair share of repeat play.

I Can't Say So Long Marianne
Leonard Cohen, the debut album released in 1967 is a timeless, brooding, manostic masterpiece. It captivated me to the point where I listened to it almost exculsively for four months or more. I became so engrossed in it that once I put it on, I had to listen to it entirely, without interuption at least once, sometimes as many as four times consecutively. Did I flip out for any subsequant Leonard Cohen release? Well, Songs of Love & Hate comes closest. The Bob Johnston production mimics John Simon and the songwriting is top notch even for Leonard's high standards. But none of his other albums has the same impact or poigancy. Even Songs For A Room isn't as intimate or moving. So twenty-something years later along comes Various Positions and I'm drawn in...Not like a first love that envelopes you, but a soft wisper that intoxicates you. I like it..I like it alot... I'm not back at that monastry and I'm not quite at that whorehouse either...Afterall I can't stop loving Suzanne and No I can't say so long Marianne. Until then I'll consider some various positions.

"...golden voice"
Of course you have to like Cohen's "gift of a golden voice," which not everyone appreciates, but if you do, these are some of his best songs. Unfortunately no liner notes, otherwise a bargain of a CD.

What about The Law?
I had to write this review just to give praise to the song "the Law" on this disc. None of the other reviewers seem to have mentioned it at all, other then they liked it. And in my opinion, its easily the second best song on the album after Hallelujah. Its in my Top Ten Favorite Leonard Cohen Tracks. Theres nothing else like it, it has a very dark reggae vibe to it. The music kinda reminds me of a slowed down "gangsta party" by 2pac. The Melody is lovely and mysterious, and the lyrics are very touching. I just wanted to give Leonard some credit for that song, I absolutely love it. thanks.