I'm Your Man

Again I had a long review and it got lost because I got distracted. The first two songs I like a lot. Very 80s, but different style of 80s pop. First song is very dancey, much more lovey on the second. Everybody knows is very well written. I’m your ma is fine, again another very lovey song but 80s style. It was fine. Didn’t really like take this Walz. Goofy lyrics on jazz police but the piano solo is incredible. I also find myself wanting to dance to this one. Really good somgwriting again on I can’t forget. I really like this one. Really good production. Tower of sing is very interesting because I keep expecting it to breakdown and speed yo but it doesn’t. Still pretty good. I actually like his voice on this one. Good way to close the album. Overall it was good not great. Probably won’t ever listen to any of the songs again but enjoyable enough for the last 41 mins. 2.7 stars.

Not going to lie. The sound is dated. Very late 80s.

LC has a handful of truly great songs, and then like 30 that sound like slow dance at a wedding soundtrack. This album is mostly the latter. Not even Cohen's poet's cadence can make this one work. 2/5

Not a bad attempt at an album for a celebrity chef/travel documentarian.

No. 161 Very unique album and I love his voice and the more modern feel to it

Mans got a voice like a gravel pit.

Me recordó a mi papá y a Frank estén, una película musical del estilo de Sweerry Todss

A good album, I liked Ain't No Cure For Love and Take This Waltz the most.

2/5

I have this album in my collection. 4 stars. Fave track - I’m your man.

Hated this album at first. Now I like it

Didn't love it in first listen, but 2nd time around it started to grow on me

I dug this. It’s interesting to see how much it influenced Tom Morello’s Nightwatchman project

Not normally a fan of LC, but the 80s production works with his voice.

Almost lost a point for jazz police, but I think it might be a joke? Otherwise sublime

Like Bob Dylan, but better

A nice feel to it, but just a bit too samey. A high 3.

Resonant

Other than one track it was a delight

A couple catchy tunes, and the lyrics are pretty lyrical, but it doesn't overcome the occassional off-tone of Cohen's voice. 2.5/5

Enjoyed this both less and more than I thought I would?

All I knew about Leonard Cohen is he wrote "Hallejulah" but more familiar with [[Jeff Buckley's]] version, so this was a bit different from what I was expecting. However I dont hate it. Its got a "I dont care" type vibe as he belts out lyrics in that deep tenor.

*I liked this better than any other Cohen album I've heard, but it still drones on too much for me to appreciate more than a 3 *I did like the jazz instrumentation that showed up at times

If you had just tried to tell me that Leonard Cohen's new wave album was secretly *really* great, I would have just assumed you were insane. But, now, sitting on the other side of I'm Your Man, I think it makes a little sense. I think it has something to do with new wave's connection to goth, and goth's lineage, which, through a certain lens, makes it back to Leonard Cohen's starkest folk albums. And, when looking at it like this, it kind of feels like Cohen is giving his blessing to the next generation of gloom-mongers. But, there is still room for this to have gone wrong. I think the smartest thing that I'm Your Man does is keep the Leonard Cohen DNA at the front and center. Leonard Cohen is someone who has always come out on top due to the strength of his songs, and this is another great batch. And even though there are glossy synths and reverbed vocal passages, Cohen's poetry is still brutally, beautifully honest, and his vocals still fly in the face of conventional wisdom. And staying firm on these things alone is enough. Although, it doesn't just feel like Cohen was riding trends either. He taps into something almost dark wave-y on the chilly synths here. And there is a discotheque feel across the album that serves as a really cool backdrop to his anachronistic poetry. Songs like First We Take Manhattan, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, and Tower of Song are enough to make I'm Your Man carve out a worthwhile place in a very high achieving discography. Even Take This Waltz ends up working in it's own way, even if it's sort of dissonant with the vibe here. I was absolutely shocked that I liked this as much as I did, I guess I just didn't think that Cohen had it in him, but I am happy to be wrong.

As you'd expect lyrics are so sharp and witty its impossible to tell if the production is a joke at our expense or just some bad 80s, but can't really rate them separately...

Leonard Cohen is an acquired taste, and I’m… weirdly indifferent towards him? The title track and “Everybody Knows” are the best tracks. The rest are okay. This my 713th album generated and the first Leonard Cohen, so we’ll see how the rest are.

Very mellow, and kinda eerie

Leonard Cohen’s monotone still distracts me just as much as ever before.

respectfully WHAT

Tufft, dock några lite segare låtar

Mycket från honom på listan och jag har inte uppskattat allt, men det här fångade mig lite mer på något sätt.

Fjärde albumet med honom kändes först för mycket, men detta var bäst hittills!

oooh funky. this is not hallelujah first we take manhattan--oh my his voice is so deep. everybody knows--well this is ... less than cheery. the instrumentation is really nice, though. a classical guitar, maybe? a little mediterranean, for sure. i'm your man--oh that synth is so eighties and i love it. sounds like the nausicaa soundtrack. take this waltz--circus music counter: 2 enjoyable, wide range from funky-can't-stop-moovin-and-groovin to sad ballad to ... circus music. his voice is definitely unique and i enjoy it. i'd put this in the mid 4/5 range. tbd how i'll round it.

This was a really cool album!! Very unique and I love his voice and the more modern feel to it

totaaaaal niet wat ik van hem had verwacht, wat een zwoele stem. Ik vind het na een paar nummers wel oke - maar heel mooie muziek.

Disappointed that there are 5 Leonard Cohen albums on this list and The Future isn't one of them.

Jesus, I fucking hate this

Je demeure indécis encore face à ce cher Leonard après 2 albums. Je ne sais pas si je trouve sa voix réconfortante. J'aime assez l'ambiance de cet album, belles voix des choristes sur certaines chansons. Le classique Everybody knows est sur cet album. Pas mauvais, mais mitigé est mon avis,.

Eh, it was fine. Leonard Cohen generally isn't really my thing, but I didn't dislike it.

Better lyricist than singer, and most of the music was cheesy and not that engaging. But at least it was recognizable as music, so there’s that. I guess I didn’t hate it, but I’m not sure I’d actively seek it out. Maybe just stick to writing poetry.

Love Leonard Cohen, every chance this could end me down a rabbit hole

3/5

Leonard Cohen is a great poet. I like him a lot. The lyrics are acid and powerful. But I've never seen such a mismatch between the tone of the lyrics and the music. I don't know who was hired to produce this album but this is horrifying. It's tacky, dated and in extremely poor taste. Who thought it would be a good idea to have new wave style backing singers? I'll stick with Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs From a Room. This is painful stuff.

80's vipe and me I'm not sure about it. Me I like that album.

The music snob feels like I should put it higher, but it’s lowly-sung poetry over typical late-‘80s synth. May change later if I give it another spin or two.

I think Leonard Cohen is rightly regarded as a really important lyricist and songwriter, and this has a few moments, but mostly just ain't it for me.

This one barely gets to three stars, and honestly it’s mostly because it’s short. It’s over before it has too much time to wear me down, which helped a lot. Even Leonard Cohen wasn’t immune to the 80s synth obsession. The keyboards feel cheap and dated, and they take away from what actually makes him good. His writing is still there, but it’s buried under that plastic sound.

He’s a great songwriter, but a little dreary.

**A strange album, mostly storytelling.

So I tried doing this whole project back in 2023, but I couldn't stick to it. Now I'm giving it another chance. I'm saying all this because on my first project I gave this album a 1. Somehow now, on my second listen, I like it more for some reason. It's not anything incredible; don't get me wrong. I like 'I'm Your Man' and 'Everybody Knows.' The rest is eh, alright. No song on this album is giving that much. I'm not saying you should throw in everything you can and hope for the best, but these songs seem a bit bare. There is nothing much to them. They're not leaving any kind of impression on me. I don't love them, and I don't hate them (like last time). I don't have a problem with the whole 'talking instead of singing' thing; I think it works pretty well on the two songs I like; it just gets bland over time. Those feminine backing vocals are really improving this a bit.

yasss except his voice got so low it was kind of scary to me

A weird one. The sound has not aged at all well (how many times will I write that about 80s albums) but there are some good songs in there behind the production. I liked First We Take Manhattan and Tower of Song. The front cover is also excellent - Leonard Cohen eating a banana.

Didn’t get on with this anywhere near as much as the previous Cohen album. There are some okay songs here, but it’s like a Nick Cave cover band discovering a collection of second hand synths, and just doesn’t suit his delivery well. ‘Jazz police’ is a particular low point that sounded almost satirical.

Just when I thought I’d heard the last Leonard Cohen album on the list, I get this - and it’s kind of weird. Actually, that’s underselling it. It’s baffling. Cohen’s trademark gravelly voice and sharp lyrics are there, as you’d expect, but they’re couched in this oddly generic/cheap 80s sound. At first, it kind of works - maybe because of the contrast - and then it doesn’t. I didn’t hate it, but it really threw me for a loop. First We Take Manhattan, Everybody Knows 3?

When I was a kid, all I knew about Leonard Cohen was that—like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and (most of) The Band—he was Canadian. That was good enough for me; I didn't even feel the need to actually know his music. But then I got to university and was DJing when a tribute album came in. I knew nothing about it but started spinning it anyway, especially Don Henley's version of 'Everybody Knows.' That led me to this actual album, where Cohen's deep, barking voice boomed out of the speakers on 'First We Take Manhattan.' It was like nothing I’d ever heard before—not really singing, not really talking, but something uniquely in between. And the lyrics! The sheer imagery is beautiful and dark, sometimes incredibly sad, and occasionally quite scary. By the time 'Tower of Song' came on, I was completely floored. An absolutely incredible album.

I had some misconceptions heading into this listen - that Leonard Cohen music was unrelentingly gloomy, and that I generally don't enjoy synthesizer-heavy pop music. But with that said, I found this to be an enjoyable listen. Cohen's voice is excellent, and I found a lot of wry humor in his lyrics. The orchestrations are generally nice as well. Definitely a case of "don't judge a book by its cover." While ultimately this isn't an album I will return to again and again, I do appreciate hearing it.

Ok. Ish.

Gravelly voice, singer-songwriter instrumentation with a whimsical lean (some almost electronic, some bongos, etc)

nothing to dislike

Tedious.

En su momento me pareció un pestiño. Una vieja gloria queriendo parecer joven. ¡Qué equivocado estaba! No digo que sea una obra maestra, pero tienen mucho más de lo que me parecía. Me guardo: "First We Take Manhattan", "Everybody Knows", "I'm Your Man" y "Take This Waltz".

Great album.

Curious but cool

Bizarre moment in the Cohen discography from what I've heard on this list, but I don't hate it

this one was cool. bring back talk singing

Just kinda a strange album with his voice. Surprised its so liked, he doesn't have the vocals for a synthy album, at least not one that's as upbeat as this. Would've thought traditionalists would've taken issue with it. It's not terrible, and some songs like Everybody Knows are fine, while I'm Your Man is solid, but its just not a very solid record that I usually expect from him. Jazz Police is terrible though.

Maybe not for me

Definitely more varied and interesting than You Want It Darker, but I think I slightly prefer the emotional gut punch of YWID vs this one. Some pretty solid and fun cuts, even if it's a tad too much on the 80's side for me. Liked Jazz Police quite a bit.

2 JAZZ POLICE

ok

Excellent apart from Jazz Police

I like it a lot. Takes a while to get used to his singing style, but actually when you get it, it starts to be quite calming or intense (depending on subject matter)

Not really my thing

Coming on like the whitest version of Barry White that ever whited, or possibly your Grandpop's drunk impersonation of Nick Cave, all set against c-grade electropop backing that sounds like a Commodore 64 game soundtrack. There are good songs here. Tower of Song, Everybody Knows, First We Take Manhattan are all brilliant - especially when they're sung by Marianne Faithful or Jennifer Warnes or Rufus Wainwright. But then we have Jazz Police. Oh dear. I think if they got Trevor Horn or Tony Visconti to produce then we might have had something. But as it is it's kind of laughable.

First taken by Leonard Cohen, secondly by George Michael. Everyone knows who’s catch phrase that is. Mr Len Houmous. 0.7 1/8 First We Take Manhattan

Everything about Leonard Cohen is legendary. Everything. He's Your Man.

One of my favorite tortured lounge singers. This album is chocked full of beautiful lyrics and one liners “all my friends are gone and my hair is gray. I ache in the places that I used to play”. Unfortunately, this album also leans heavily into 80 instrumentation. Synthesizers and the like. It cheapens the feel. Would be cool to hear these tunes with an orchestra/band.

Everything he does sounds like it’s written for a Made-For-TV network drama.

I thought this was GREAT! I’ve mainly known Cohen from his greatest hits. The songs on this are much less serious and arty. Some are downright amusing. I love the one about the jazz police. And this feels like real music, down to the backup singers.

Admittedly confused with its own identity between Cohen's folk songwriting and the new-age synth instrumentals, but I sorta respect it for how different it is, and at times even enjoy it. Probably the most 80s album ever conceived by virtue of being fueled solely by cocaine and the chase of obtaining a radio pop hit for suburbanites to listen to while driving into the city.

Such a pity. Leonard Cohen truly is a great songwriter, but for me this album is completely spoiled by the arrangements. I read he was trying to be more "modern" with this album. Well, maybe he was "modern" (for the time) but give me the man with the guitar, any time. Don't like the 80's synths. And don't like the omnipresent female choirs that don't always fit the music (IMO). Cure for Love starts like it could be a theme song for The Love Boat with the cheesy sax, and then it also has Celine Dion-esque synth sounds. Hmmm. Still a 3 because most songs are fundamentally good. If only they sounded better.

*1988. *He's Canadian. Didn't know that. *I started out skeptical, but this was a pretty haunting, gripping album with some catchy ear worms (e.g. No Cure for Love and Everybody Knows). *I like this - would revisit. The first half is better than the second though. RATING - 7/10

This is gross. The 80s sounds are giving me hardcore ick and I cannot STAND the way he sing-speaks. I almost gave this a 2 for Take This Waltz, but any goodwill I felt immediately vanished upon hearing Jazz Police.

It was alright, the songs were diverse enough. Id get the most out of it having the lyrics out in front of me but that’s just not how I like to digest music. Rating: 2.9

This is the first time I'm listening to a Leonard Cohen album start-to-finish. I'm not feeling this. The production quality sounds really cheap. I felt like this album was putting me to sleep, and not in a good way.

Ich kann mit Leonard Cohen nichts anfangen, fand das Album in meinem Hörmarathon gestern aber noch am ansprechendsten. Entsprechend schwache 3 Sterne..

Da passiert musikalisch nicht wahnsinnig viel, aber ich mag Cohens Stimme einfach sehr gerne und das zieht das Album auf 3 Sterne.

Klingt wirklich genauso, wie man sich ein 80s-Album von Cohen vorstellt. Musikalisch finde ich das wirklich furchtbar seicht instrumentiert. Er ist nicht der erste der alten Helden, die versuchen, sich dem 80s-Zeitgeist anzupassen, aber das hätte er wirklich besser bleiben lassen sollen, zumal sich diese Soul/Gospel-Einschübe mit der Produktion komplett beißen. Die Texte sind - soweit ich drauf geachtet habe - weiterhin großartig und sobald er sich wie im Closer musikalisch etwas zusammenreißt, gefällt mir das schon wieder erstaunlich gut. Aber ansonsten gibt es für mich hier wirklich ganz wenig zu holen. Knappe 2 Punkte, weil ich glaube, dass die Platte mit weiteren Durchgängen evtl. noch etwas wachsen könnte.

Hat mir überraschend gut gefallen.

Hat mir sehr gut gefallen. War auf die Länge aber doch zu ähnlich.

Stimme gefällt mir gut, Musik an und sich auch (brauch ich aber schon ne ganz bestimmte Stimmung dafür), textlich gefällt es mir weniger.

Ich hatte mir die Frage nie gestellt, aber jetzt weiß ich endlich was Leonard Cohen gemacht hätte, hätte man ihm mein altes Casio Keyboard hingestellt und gesagt "mach damit mal ein Album". Dann im Nachgang noch bisschen Backing Gesang aufgenommen und Zack war das Dingen fertig.

Lenny idk where you got your critical acclaim from but it definitely wasn’t from this album

Alright

super sexy songs, they very well presented powerful feminine energy.

3,25

This is the terrifying juxtaposition of sonorous baritone and 80s pop (i.e. music for serial killers).

Had some moments. 2.5/5

I watched Emerald Fennell's "Wuthering Heights" over the weekend, and this album falls into the same problem: it's too over-the-top and goofy to be taken seriously but at the same time, it takes itself so serious that it's can't be viewed/listened to as a campy good time, either. It's trying to do two things at once and it's doing neither one well. 2 stars.

4 for vocals, 2 for that keyboard

I didn’t mind this, but a lot of the songs sound similar. Jazz Police was most interesting to me

So much dead air. So pathetic sounding and really nothing I could identify with. This is the only album on the list that gets a hard thumbs down on every single track.

A bit too jaunty for Cohen's voice and lyrics IMHO, almost jovial when compared to my favourite album of his (Songs of Leonard Cohen). It works on 'Take This Waltz' but even this track doesn't come close to the likes of 'Sisters of Mercy'. Kinda sounds like he's lost his mojo in the 10 years since that album.

When I saw this as my next album my heart sank but upon listening I quite enjoyed it. He is like a storyteller and I found myself listening to each word. Something different, which can be a good thing.

This is the fourth Cohen album on the list that I've listened to and it's no better than the drivel of those previous efforts. Which brings up the question, "Was his publicist a voting member of the group that put the list together?"

I wish he wasn't my man

He sounds like a worse version of Billy Joel. It was barely singing. It was just Leonard speaking to me in an extremely low voice with some fake orchestra in the background. Adding a star because at least it was listenable.

funky beats into it

Senti que estava sentada num bar às 5h da manhã, em que a noite já está morta e estão pessoas deprimentes a dançar

A primeira faz me lembrar Daft Punk “Giorgio by moroder”, de resto não consigo ultrapassar a voz de homem que se acha smooth neste álbum em particular

Não esperava estes synths do Leonard Cohen. Vou ficar com a uma ou duas na cabeça, mas em geral não sinto que esta vibe 80s encaixe tão bem com a voz/vibe dele. Parece me mesmo que o álbum é um produto da época em que foi lançado.

Eu ate gosto de Leonard Cohen. O último álbum para mim e dos melhores que existe. Este achei fraco, musicalmente os backtracks não ajudam e as letras não compensaram. A parte da

Conversational rather than melodic.... (Which is a polite way of saying he cant sing and he believes that off key talking is an adequate substitute. Rubbish lyrics and $2 backing track consolidate this stinker to 1 star status)

Unfassbar geile Stimme, würde ich auch so hören.

I think I would have liked this pretty well if not for the dated sound. I love 80s music but that and Cohen just don't mix. That and the background vocals just really brought it down for me.

"Gift of a golden voice"

The songs are good, but the singing is mediocre and the production is not appealing. If not for First we take Manhattan, I would probably give it two stars.

I like Leonard Cohen's songs and really admire his career, but there's something about the sad 80s "modern" orchestration on this album that really (really) mars nearly every song on this album for me, with the only possible exception of "Take this waltz" (and even that can't redeem the truly atrocious following track "Jazz police"). It just sounds so much more vacuous than it should, especially because a number of the songs on this album are really well-written and interesting--"First we take Manhattan", "Everybody knows", the title track, and the classic "Tower of song". I'm glad he felt like he'd gotten his voice and style back on track with this album, but this isn't really my idea of great Leonard Cohen, sadly.

Really strong writing and the arrangements are great--especially the oud(!) on Everybody Knows and all the vocals throughout--he uses background vocals really well, so they're more integrated into the song rather than appealing filler. First We Take Manhattan is my favorite song but almost all the songs here are strong, even if they're not quite to my taste.

Did not like this as much as I expected. Songwriting/intrumentation feels very dated. Much as I love Cohen, and a couple of the songs on this album, this feels like it can stay in the past.

Sometimes I think that Eno/Lanois + Bono/Edge was the Lennon/McCartney of the 1980s. These songs are so incredibly overhyped and overplayed, yet listening to Streets Have No Name open this record is thrilling every time. The builds are masterful — filmic, sweeping and patient. My conviction persists that Edge is an absolute master in restrained, tasteful lead guitar, and one of the very best user of effect pedals, up there with Tom Morello. Anyone else with an echo pedal is risking masturbatory noodling off of the gate. But Streets just shimmers with its jittery echoing lead over choppy rhythm guitar. It's an incandescent album, and even its b-sides like One Tree Hill are magical.

The glossy, dated ’80s production and layered backing vocals weirdly work in this album’s favour, fleshing out the often sparse arrangements typical of much of Cohen’s work. Here, it works nicely, helping to soften and mask Cohen’s trademark monotone, but not his lyrical impact, making ‘I’m Your Man’ my favourite of his albums that I have had generated so far.

Smooooth as silk

Not great, he has a very creepy voice and all the songs sound the same

I am not a huge cohen fan but this wasn’t a bad album. Quintessentially 80s

Looks like he's enjoying that banana.

Never listened to this album all the way through before and its made no difference, Leonard Cohen just isn't for me. a few catchy tunes but can't get past some of the 'worst of the 80's' production.

Later Cohen albums feel like a cigarette at midnight by a lakeshore with your best friend

Good, not great.

Cheesy 80s sounds still can't keep cohen down

Foram 40 minutos que passaram rápido e, quando assim é, só pode ser bom sinal. Bom álbum. Leonard tem uma voz espetacular. Gostava de o ouvir a ler um livro ou algo assim, tem um vozeirão. E as músicas são um bocado assim. É como se ele ele tivesse a contar uma história ou algo parecido e os vocais das mulheres elevam as músicas para outro nível. Muito bom álbum para se ouvir de fones. É um 4/5. Não quer dizer que vá voltar várias vezes a este álbum, mas foi uma boa experiência.

Dull, synth, pervy, old man album

You know what, this was dumb. Dump it. Trash it. This one’s garbage. Some of the worst keyboard sounds and playing combined with comical lyrics. Jazz police. Oh man.

First we Take Manhattan Ain’t no Cure for Love Everybody Knows Jazz Police

Ain’t No Cure for Love I’m Your Man Jazz Police Tower of Song

Painful

Not for me.

I love the romance, wit and despair of the lyrics and vocals, but my god that synth and chorus is painful. Still, I'm enticed by most everything this man does.

This shouldn’t work but I loved this album. A mix of so many strange things and very 80s but I dig it.

some of this album is really very good. nonetheless, 3

Leonard Cohen doing 80s stuff is awesome, idk what kinds charm Leonard has but it's like you gotta pay attention to him whenever he sings even if the lyrics are really funny sometimes. 8/10 that was cool

Brilliant!

Deep and interesting, thoughtful yet funny

Cohen managed to transition from folk music to synth-pop without losing most of his greatness. Only a very few people have achieved that. I think Cohen is better than his contemporary, Bob Dylan. Leonard's songwriting on "I'm Your Man" and other albums is something else. This album is far from perfect, however. 3 stars for "I'm Your Man".

Surely this can’t be serious. I mean it’s just not good. It’s also unfortunate when artists who are clearly established and have carved out their own unique path think they have to pivot to sound like a certain other decade and genre. Pairing his haunting and soulful voice with Casio-like synth sounds was not a good move and immediately cheapens it all. Everybody Knows is the only salvageable song here, and the rest is simply a cheesy, misguided 80s attempt to be someone he is not. Yikes.

Man, how low are we allowed to go on the beloved and renowned Leonard Cohen? His rep aside, there is just NO way anyone cherishes this album.

Man….this is not good. Sounds very cheesey and cheap. His voice worked on early albums but this made me rethink that. It was kinda like Seth Rogan’s role in Step Brothers…when they wore the tuxes and he thought it was weird and ironic but kind of cool. But then one of them farted and he completely changed his mind. This album is that fart. 1.5

15-20 years ago I decided to take a crack at making tracks in GarageBand. I used some of their built in beats and played around for maybe 20 minutes before I got tired and quit. This album sounds like if I had continued my pursuit for an albums worth of songs and then asked a boomer to groan over it. An objectively bad album. I like Leonard Cohen. But I do not like this version. I'm tempting to go 1* but resisting putting in the bottom of the trash with some of the other cray (looking at you, Joni!). 1.5/5

This isn’t that bad but probably not something I will revisit, pretty standard 2/3 stars. I’m feeling generous so I’ll say 2.5 and round up to 3.

Really? This is an album I must hear before I die? More of this BS is going to put me in an early grave frankly. It’s just toned down Tom Waits. Hard fucking pass.

If this album was just "Everybody Knows" it would get 4/5 stars. Some of the other tracks just bring the overall album down to 3 stars. Maybe somebody should call the jazz police for the dissonance of those back-up singers....

I wonder how good this could have been with a singer instead of the ghost voice from old haunted Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Reminds me of when captain Kirk decided to record an album. I spent most of the album confused.

"First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin!" Great start to an album- it set the whole tone! It feels like these songs would make great soundtracks to a movie. His voice is awesome! I'm Your Man was great. Take this Waltz reminds me of Tom Waits. I really enjoyed it. His sound has a dark, almost Halloween feel to it. I love his voice!

Buenas canciones lastradas por la producción típica de los años 80, que no sienta bien a Leonard Cohen.

Some great sound and great music on display here, a true banger album. Honestly though, I was a little unsettled by the lead singer's doing a lot more talking than vocals, so that brings it down a star for me.

I think I would have liked this 60% more with, like, 80% less synthesizer.

This is pretty dang great for a posthumous album.

The 80s really were a hellscape. I normally like Leonard Cohen, but this was just a jumble of synth and drum machine garbage.

Very very 80s. Almost so much so it's a joke. Some decent songs but mostly just lyrics heavy.

1/3. Though I don't even think it's a particularly bad album, I just wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Some of it feels cheesy (Jazz Police? Really??) and I'm just not a big fan of the psuedo-singing/spoken word thing song after song. The arrangements are good and I'm sure he has better work out there for me to listen to.

This was ok

Lenny really feeling himself on this one. Saved a song: N RYM: N

Good but aggressively 80s

Good songwriter but voice just not for me

I like early Leonard Cohen. Stuff like Famous Blue Raincoat and Chelsea Hotel, but the man went pretty shit pretty quickly. This middle of the road cack is a borderline one.

I too ache in the places that I used to play. Love Lenny. Love this album.

I don't know if Leonard Cohen is getting better everytime I listen to him, or if I'm just getting better albums later. This one was really good. Starts off with First We Take Manhatting, nice beat and in interesting story. Ain't No Cure For Love was nice. Everybody Knows was really funny. Take This Waltz was great. The rest of the album was solid. Loved it! Best song: First We Take Manhattan

Los mejores plátanos, los de Canarias

Songs would have been better without the 80s cheesy production.

pan cohen znowu przesladuje, ostatnio jego muzyka pojawia sie u mnie akurat gdy zawsze gdy trzeba dolozyc do gasnacego pieca uczuciowego, ale takiej plyty sie nie spodziewalem, jest to osma pozycja w jego dyskografii rocznik 88, wiec potrojna 8, tak jak na poprzednich albumach ktore znam i lubie szarpie on za bardzo imtymne strony uczuc, ale tym razem jest to cos innego, bo od surowych ballad w stylu okolo rokowo folkowym przechodzi on do synthowego popowania, glowna instrumentalna czescia krazka sa klawisze i roznorakie urzadzenia elektroniczne, a saksy czy smyczki sa gdzies w tle, nie mozna tez pominac tego jak duzo jest tutaj chorkowania, chyba same glosy zenskie poza cohenem, skoro instrumental stal sie bardziej ludzio przystepny, to naturalnie lirycznie tez jest o wiele prosciej i bezposrednio niz na starszych albumach, co tez dziwnie uderza, gdy samemu ostatnio jestem o wiele bardziej otwarty w wyrazaniu swoich uczuc i nie jestem pewny jeszcze czy jest to cos pozytywnego, wiec pan cohen znowu to zrobil i w dobrym momencie dal posluchac czegos co powinienem uslyszec, pewnie wkrotce bede mogl zreflektowac sie nad tym czy bylo warto sie na cos takiego szarpnac, ale poki co nadal nie jestem fanem takiej prostoty wyrazu w kwestiach milosci, dochodzi jeszcze kwestia tego, ze niektore kawalki sa jedynie coverami utworow napisanych dla kogos z kims czy jakis kolabow, jak aint no cure for love czy first we take manhatan i jeszcze cos bylo, wiec to troche kompilacja starszego materialu, jesli polowa kawalkow jest z recyklingowangego materialu, bo calosc to 40 minut na 8 trakach, wiec o ile nadal jestem fanem tworczosci cohenowej, to teraz mam albumik ktory lubie najmniej w jego dyskografii, wiec rowniez cenne doswiadczenie, na plejke dodam tytulowy im your man, majac na dzieje, ze nigdy nie przyjdzie mi byc jak podmiot liryczny z tego utworu, a drugim pickiem bedzie zamykajacy tower of song ktory chyba najbardziej do mnie trafil z calej plyty, zarowno przez minimalny instrumental, smutniejszy ton i wokal do ktorego przyzwyczail cohen

not my style

Quick someone call the Jazz police

Everything that Leonard Cohen did makes me feel strangely uncomfortable, but in a good way. Meanwhile, he can go pop, he can sing a french ballad, with lyrics without a steady meaning, but still, all perfect, with all the right dots in all the right places. 5 stars.

“Leonard Cohen is a great lyricist, but I’m not sure his music could be any worse than it is.” 80’s Leonard Cohen: “Hold my beer”

Didn’t expect Leonard Cohen to take me to the club!

He couldn't sing but Damn could he write songs. 5 Stars.

I didn't love it. I think Leonard Cohen is a very talented writer and I think he knows what he's going for. But this whole sophist-pop thing with the synths and female backing vocals; just not for me. I really like the closer and Everybody Knows, but the rest is OK or rather unamusing. I know I'll be hearing better things to come from this gentleman, but until then...(5/10, 2/5 on this scale)

I do not get the Leonard cohen acclaim

Can I be arrested by the jazz police so I dont have to listen to this anymore? 1/5

Ikke lige mig

He's honestly a really good songwriter, but the slow, artsy, poetry type songs are not my cup of tea

I really don't like his voice. The music is fine, but his voice ruins it for me. I can't focus on if the lyrics are that good.

This album inspired me to go and listen to more Leonard Cohen albums, but now my question is, why this one? Some great songs, but a lot of his earlier albums are better. Definitely made me a Cohen fan though Favorite Songs: Everybody Knows, Tower of Song

I heard Songs Of Leonard Cohen for the first time this week, it blew my mind. This, however, is an absolute pile of utter bollox. I can never unhear this nonsense.

I love his voice, so refreshing The backing vocals are angelic Favourite: Ain’t no cute for love Least: first we take Manhattan

Love it!

It's like Sharknado 3D. The product is niche and now the novelty has worn off, so the artist introduces a special feature. But it makes it more unpalatable and more niche. I thought I liked his stuff. Turns out I don't, not with the budget entry Casio keyboard.

I did not know that Vincent Price put out an album after his Thriller success. From the cheesy 80s production to the baffling Kirk Van Hooten Can I Borrow A Feeling songwriting, this is a mess. Unintentionally hilarious at times & every single song is too long. Last Waltz is good though. 1

Not fond of music where the artist is basically just talking instead of vocalizing.

3.8

Perhaps the only Leonard Cohen album I've ever enjoyed. I prefer his vocals matched against the synths and the lush production of the 80s versus the spartan boredom of the 60s and 70s. To those who disagree, you are wrong. Having said that, he is still not my cup of tea. And WTF was "Jazz Police"?

I dunno man, I just like Leonard Cohen. The music would drive me up a wall for just about anyone else, but the “high intensity” keyboards kinda work for him. I’m honestly not sure why. And, while I love his voice, he’s not a great singer, at least not in the traditional sense. “Everybody Knows” is such a badass song and probably my favorite of his, probably due to how many times I watched Pump Up the Volume as a kid (that movie definitely loses a lot of its magic as an adult, but Everybody Knows still stands out as the centerpiece of that movie). But sincerely, I don’t know why the rest of this album works for me (with exception of Jazz Police. That song is a challenge for me). It shouldn’t, but I think that, maybe, Leonard Cohen is just made of magic. 4.0/5

Not my fav

Meh. I guess I’d rather listen to this than heavy metal.

This man may be a great songwriter, but he has a horrible voice. I can't listen to him.

I wasn't 100% on board but the closing track is sublime. I think it could do with more listens. High 2s.

That voice is unforgettable... surprisingly varied songs

idk i likes the songs but the guys voice just sounds like he’s talking

I've never heard a Leonard Cohen record front-to-back, but I have heard Everybody Knows from movies. Turns out there are a couple other songs from this one that are popular - First We Take Manhattan, Ain't No Cure for Love. Cohen growls and whispers his wry lyrics with his typical dry humor and bass/baritone voice, but the production and instrumentation on this are very 80's - lots of synthesizer, which makes it sound dated and more than a little hokey. I'm not sure if the cheesiness is intentional, it could be part of Cohen's sarcastic persona coming through or him being self-deprecating in a subtle way. Beat poets and Sinatra influence his work, and in turn you can see where Nick Cave gets his inspiration. Despite the dated production, the melody and construction of the songs comes through well - it would be interesting to hear them re-recorded without synths to see what other interpretations could improve on. I hope the other Cohen records on this list are better representations of his reputation, though.

Haunting. What an album!

Leonard Cohen albums get 5 stars in this house, but everybody knows that some of the 80s production is terrible, particularly on First We Take Manhattan. And obviously we're pretending Jazz Police doesn't exist. That aside, another great Leonard Cohen album...

i know i’m going to get flack for this, but i tried and just couldn’t get into it.

Not even electronic elements can save Cohen from being the worst vocalist I've ever heard. Painfully boring songs with atrocious singing

Dude is the GOAT. So the only song of his I was at all familiar with was Hallelujah, so I wasn't expecting 80s synth pop, but like, this shit's great.

Well it's not the worst album on your list. At least I could listen to it without stopping, but that's not saying much. Never understood the draw this guy has on people. I will not ne coming back to this.

I’m Your Man by Lenny Cohen is an album that starts strong with a solid threefer of Manhattan, Ain’t No Cure, and Everybody Knows. Starts fading at title cut, didn’t like Jazz Police. Good, melancholy finish with Tower of Song which reminded me of his You Want It Darker album, although this album was better. (2.49*s) For some reason, his songs always sound dated to me, maybe it’s the background singers.

When I saw another Cohen album, I thought I was sentenced to 40 minutes of boredom. Still the solemn tone but significantly better than the other Leonard's on the list. I connected with the music and lyrics on I'm Your Man much more and can finally give the artist his due as a writer. Despite this, the record was not what I would consider great and surprised this was a chart topper all over the world. There is much about this ladies man I do not know but he must have been a sensation at some point. 1.92 stars for being trapped in that Tower of Song.

I really disliked the prior Leonard Cohen albums on this list. I found them overly slow and depressing so I'm Your Man came completely out of nowhere for me when it started with synth lines and a much more upbeat approach. I was pleased that I wouldn't have to suffer an album of an old gravelly man complaining again. I'm Your Man actually wasn't bad. Maybe I shouldn't completely give up on LC as it sounds like this was direction he took during a middle portion of his career. I don't think he will be someone I become a long-term fan of, but there were sections of I'm Your Man that I enjoyed. I can see why this had a handful of singles as the modern synth sound works decently well for him. I'm still not convinced but maybe I don't have to write Leonard Cohen off completely like I previously thought in the wake of his prior folk albums. 2.22 stars

3.9/5 Stars Top Songs: Everybody Knows, First We Take Manhattan, Ain't No Cure for Love

He really is my man

Ever wonder what Leonard Cohen would sound like when backed by the demo setting of a 1980s Casio? Here you go, and it fucking rules.

leonard cohen goes synth pop. who asked for this? his voice clashes so badly with the clean and precise 80s production. it's laughably bad sounding. the songwriting is decent but a far cry from the days of 'suzanne'. 'jazz police' is genuinely one of the worst tracks I've heard in this entire project. feels like an equivalent misstep to dylan's 'empire burlesque' which is not the company you want to keep. why is this on the list exactly?

Instrumentals and backup vocals are okay but Cohen only talks, not sings (kind of like Shatner but less funny) - the lyrics also make me want to gag.

Like a Poundland Pet Shop Boys. Crap, and I do hate Cohens voice

My dad loves Leonard Cohen (he wanted to name our dog after him until my mum vetoed it), and we listened to I’m Your Man a lot in the car when I was a kid. So maybe it’s genetic or maybe it’s Stockholm syndrome, but I adore this album. After a couple of pints, I could even try to mount an argument that the production is a deliberate artistic choice to add ironic distance and not just Cohen using the presets on a cheap keyboard and calling it a day.

Lowkey unerwartet geil

Enttäuschend

Lame.

1,5/5

As a Montrealer I am obliged to like Cohen and I do. Unquestionably one of the greatest writers of songs/stories ever. But I do not like this album. I can smell the hair spray coming off his backup singers 35 years later. The songwriting is still there and I guess good for him for modernizing, but my opinion that type of 80s music has not aged well. But I bet stripped down versions of these songs are incredible. 5.8/10

I'am your man! Oder aucn nicht, was ist das für Musik, Götterdämmerung? grösste Überraschung bisher....c

this sounds so bad. like not even bad songs it just sounds so bad. why does he sing like that. why is the synth like that. why is nothing about these songs interesting

Stylistically more varied than the other Leonard Cohen albums I've heard, but to what end? 2.5

idk why i don't like this album. maybe cause my dad played it so often. maybe because it regularly dips into what sounds like "lounge singer residency in vegas with a backing track, not real backup singers" territory. the production just doesn't mesh for me. everybody knows rules though.

rare that an album loses me in the middle but gets me back at the end! really enjoyed the almost goofy 80s production and the chorus of female vocalists

At least like a top three Leonard Cohen album for me - I don't like Jazz Police very much but Everybody Knows is on here and that one is >>>> I also turn on the opening track with some frequency....I admittedly don't really sit and listen to this whole record often/at all so I guess like a 4.5 rounded down. Also I'm allergic to bananas so cover photo is kinda rude

Incredible voice. Get it out of my ears. 2/5

I found it quite mesmerising

Prob my fave of the Leonard Cohen albums so far.

I appreciated how he gave this album a more modern sound for the time period, but it still felt like he was more so speaking than singing.

A few gems, like Everybody Knows, but other tracks missed their mark.

This was such a fun album to listen to, I felt like I was in an 80’s movie! First we take Manhattan is a very groovy opening track. I really liked the album but the highlight track was Jazz City, it was such a cinematic experience and the jazz city adlibs?? Rating: 4/5

2/5

Northwest strongest album by Cohen but still a solid one. The opener, I‘m Your Man and Tower of Song are still bangers.

Somewhere on this website there’s a list of the lowest-rated albums. They are all weird and noisy. Some of them are good, but weird and noisy albums are sailing into the wind of broad acceptance, and I don’t think those artists would be too concerned about it. It might be part of their point. This week I listened to Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart. I can’t remember if TMR is on that low-rated list, but it’s a classic of the critical/popular taste split. It’s provocative and actively resists pleasant listenability, and it’s 80 minutes which makes it tiring, but it’s also interesting, humorous, sincere, and, importantly, made by a band of musicians. Yes, weird musicians. Should you fire your wedding’s string quartet and get these guys? Maybe not! Tons of weird artists on this list that aren’t for everyone, it’s no problem at all. Also this week I drew the extremely short straw of Electric by the Cult. Those poor mopes sold their souls for the chance to be booed off the stage opening for the band who opens for the band who opens for Ratt. But they are recognizably a band, with guitars and a singer and songs (which aren’t good, at all), and a producer you’ve heard of. There are lots of ways to be musicians. Leonard Cohen is not doing any of them. Leonard Cohen is not a musician. I’d bet LC thinks music is silly and probably a scam, so who cares. I suspect he has a disability which prevents him from seeing the difference between music and what he does. He makes records like someone who has heard of records, but hasn’t listened to any because it’s beneath him. Because, you see, he’s A Writer. I will grant that he writes, and will not spend many cycles trying to convince you he’s a bad writer, though he is. Because I am a *music listener*, appeals to purely literary merit are category errors. Not to say I don’t respect the word part, and I love some very wordy artists. And there’s nothing wrong with being words-first; Bob Dylan (a musician) e.g. But music needs to be music foremost. I don’t need the words to be good, or in my native language, or present. Every positive review of LC praises his poetry. Super. Put the poems in books and sell the books in a bookstore. Leave music alone. If you take LC out of these records and put in Shakespeare, nothing happens, it still sucks. (I’d wonder how someone so talented has such poor taste in other areas; this isn’t a problem here.) OK, I can’t resist. Did anyone get all the way through Jazz Police? 5star poetry admirers, which line is better? 1) Jazz police are looking through my folders; 2) Jazz police are talking to my niece. He can’t (won’t?) sing, there’s not a melody in the whole set, his Horniness Expert schtick is eww, the instruments are picked at random, the backup singers are a premonition of AI. He thinks he’s a mediocre poet who’s cannily slumming in music as a career, but music isn’t a slum, jerk.

No notes.

Musically, it sounds like a soundtrack to an 80s legal drama. Lyrically, it's Leonard Cohen. Open, honest and kind of creepy. I didn't hate it.

Mellow but enjoyable.

3.5/5

I’ve never really found Leonard Cohen’s music very interesting. A common criticism I expect. On this album he tries to snaz things up with the synths and backing vocals, but it all feels weird and out of place on most songs. Cohen trying to stay “relevant” in the 80s is what this seems like, even though I doubt that targeting the trendy youths is a very good marketing strategy for Cohen’s type of music. Leonard Cohen is a fantastic songwriter, don’t get me wrong. There’s some beautiful poetry on this album, which makes up for my distaste towards the arrangements. So overall, a decent album. Solid 3 in my book

Leonard Cohen was also around in the 80s, and this album certainly sounds like it. He apparently ate bananas, and he's your man. The synths and music are all hallmarks of the time. But somehow Cohen still retains his trademark darkness at points, as long the music stays as a low-key accompaniment in his stuff anyway. This is true in the first track, but perhaps not in second track, Ain't no Cure, where the music comes off a bit jangly and cheesy. Everybody Knows is solid, and most of the rest of the album is pretty good except for Jazz Police, which is a little goofy and sounds like Cohen is beefing with someone back in the 80s. 4/5

I entered the Cohen-sphere at his bookends: I first listened to his debut album probably 12 years ago and didn’t dive deeper until his final album You Want it Darker came out in 2016. I was mesmerized by YWID and have steadily explored his catalog since. I’m Your Man is certainly closer to YWID than Songs of Leonard Cohen, but it’s much more an exploration of life, spirituality and sex than of death. Its use of synths is surprising for Cohen, but it works beautifully. The opening track is a fantastic example of this. Ain’t No Cure For Love is Leonard at his poppiest. Everybody Knows is Cohen at his dark, paranoid best. The title track is Cohen at his horniest, I think. It’s an album worth exploring multiple times, best listened to while reading the lyrics.

Leonard Cohen is a treasure. Unique and special and just ... yeah. I don't even think this is his best album but it is still untouchable. He is kind of a folk, blues, spoken word poet but he is sublime and extraordinary You would never put this on a party playlist or background for a dinner party. It is reserved for times when you just sit by yourself and listen. But it is worth it. Spending time with this man is worth it as it GIVES to your soul. It is not all deep and emotional, some of it is funny and observational but it is life. But it is a good life!

Like… what’s going on here. It was super campy and the jazz police is in contention for the worst song I have ever heard… but I kinda fucked w it too. Idk I was confused but not terrible

All I have to say about that album is: JAZZ POLICE!

Find him a bit boring really. Some nice 80’s background at times though.

This is far better than the other 3 Cohen albums (all late 60s/early 70s) I've gotten on this list that were just slightly more interesting versions of Bob Dylan. On this record, Leonard actually puts effort into the music side of things, producing some very intriguing tracks that allow his lyrical abilities and great voice to shine 3.5/5.0: Very Good

im not sure if leonard is growing on me or not. i certainly prefer this over the other three albums ive had from him where most of the music consisted of barely strummed guitars. the music on this is very dated but actually went surprisingly well with his voice.

I wanted to like this more, because Leonard Cohen's dark lyrics about the climate of '80s America with the cheesy synthpop works so well in describing Trump's America both then and now, but if I'm being honest with myself - it sounds so dated and gimmicky. Great songwriter though! But apart from a curiosity and a time capsule of the emotional/political climate at the time I'm not sure how good this really is.

This guy.... It's like someone competing in a poetry contest. I can't stand it.

Dookie

- this is so late 80s - Not a fan of the first song, didnt finish - this is badddd - I literally hate this I’m not finishing it

I have a friend who would fly all over the country to see Leonard Cohen…I couldn’t and can’t get into his music.

Hadn't heard this either. Everybody Knows feels like a song for the times, tho it came out in 1988.

Not my favourite Leonard Cohen album But wouldn’t you like to be able to write songs like this? A master at work.

Too much of this album is set to what can only be described as a Yamaha Home Organ arrangement. Personally, I'd rather listen to John Shuttleworth for that kind of material. And I do.

Weird album. I’m into it

its so fucking funny to me that for like 9 years all music was just people scatting over casio keyboard presets and this album is no difference, altho... pretty good!

Decent and relaxing

I really struggle with Cohen. I’ve heard worse albums of his

Everybody knows this is a great album... ah, give or take a song or two…

Leonard Cohen’s style mixed with 80’s synths is a REAL weird mix that doesn’t really work. I might just not be into Leonard Cohen’s style.

Un de mes albums prefs, dans ma collection de vinyles c'est pour dire. J'adore cet artiste, une folk poétique et profonde, de très belles instrus (!!), un timbre qui me touche, des morceaux intéressants ou simplement beaux !

3.5

Well, straight off the bat, this is a great album...except the backing vocals. Cohen's voice is great and even the 1980s stylings don't completely mess things up. But those backing vocals spoil it for me.

Bastante atmosférico / Voz marcante Quero ouvir novamente.

First We Take Manhattan! Then the world. Thank God for Leonard Cohen. When I see those questions about who would you bring back from the dead for just one more concert....for me, it's always Leonard Cohen. This is not my favorite album by him, but it is still great. Standouts: First We Take Manhattan, Take this Waltz, Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man, Ain't no Cure for Love.... damn everything!

Awsome. Tower of Song is my favorite. Probably my favorite Cohen album on this list so far

I've been interested in this guy since I heard him sing Suzanne. He is one of the better songwriters out there. That said, this album is pretty good. Let's Take Manhattan, and There Is No Cure For Love are two of my favorites.

Leonard Cohan may be a brilliant poet and lyricist, but he has the voice of an accomplished actor who’s been given the lead in a musical… but can’t actually sing at all. No matter how hard he tries to smother himself in background singers, he just can’t hide that unflattering truth. By the time you get through “Jazz Police”, you’ll be either a bonafide fan or a completely broken person. Or maybe I’m just not in on the joke. “First We Take Manhattan” “I’m Your Man” “Tower Of Song”

The backup singers kept reminding me of Little Shop of Horrors, and so I keep picturing Leonard Cohen singing to a giant man-eating plant. I liked Tower of Song, but the rest didn't do much for me.

Overuse of synthesizers and drum machine. Very flat and dull music, despite Cohen's thoughtful lyrics. Title track and Tower of Song were rare highs in an album that otherwise made me feel nothing at all. No edge.

I was not expecting an 80s jump scare among Cohen’s discography, but when jazz police came on I was more on board with this as a strange detour from the cohen I’ve been used to

Such a contradicting impressions about this record… On one hand is boring vocals from the artist. On the other hand great songwriting and strong back vocals. I added Jazz Police song to my collection because is sounds very unusual and have cool female vocal lines.

I can appreciate the weirdness of it but its a lil to slow for me

Excellent album. 5 stars.

Amazeballs. 5 *

I do not understand the appeal of this guy at all. This was awful.

It’s fine

Excellent!

There are some great songs on this album: Tower of Song and Everyone Knows - but the tinny production values are horrific.

Ровный поп, не зацепился ни за что.

No, you're not, the critic quickly responded to the album title and then stopped. wait a minute. the critic looked at the page again. The man on the cover is no other than Mister Leonard Norman Cohen, their long time self-claimed archnemesis. And here's their testimony. so, people who hates nick cave used to think that the facts that he has 6 albums on this list means hell. But as a fan of dear old nick, listening to goddamn canadian Asshole leonard cohen’s work is the REAL equivalent of being stuck in hell, especially when I found out that there's five of them on the list. The first reason is he sounds so boring and drony and sleepy and LOW. the second reason is that the accompaniment is boring too. the last one is because my ex is a fan of him, and I tend to listen to his songs a lot. Actually, he's not my ex, just a boi that I had a crush on, and everything that I did is voluntary. And what’s even worse than that is the fact the nick admires leonard’s works. Oh shit. but the listening must go on. so i took out all my cohen related stuffs that i got during the previous relationship. six CD (including the one of the banana album), one vinyl, eight books, one magazine, I arranged them into an altar one by one. and i flipped a huge bird before scribbling a bunch of slurs and stuffs on it. after all these fiddling around, i inserted the CD and pressed play. awful synths blasted out from the cd player. cheesy. and then he began singing. deep, deadpan, as if he's playing a action film villain. "They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom, for trying to change the system from within." yes sir keep being bored. we are so entertained by this. "First we take manhatthan, Then we take Berlin." Silly idea. I am going to NYC for college in the future. Berlin is also an important part of my mind. How dare you have the courage to take over both of them, although its just the words of a character that you are playing. hear that evil laughter at the beginning of the third verse? unnecessary acting. But its not the worst part: there's this unnecessary backup singers that sing the whole chrous and appear once in a while. Too much, i told myself. you are just hiding the fact that your voice sound bad by using these poor ladies. The only merit of the song is how rhythmic that it is. Then, "Aren't No Cure For Love" began. i can't tell you what i feel when THAT SYNTH SAXOPHONE hit. its just... straight up awful. i just don't understand why i used to like this song that much! is it because of my ex and how i used to hopelessly adore him? its basically the part of synthpop that i loathes written into a whole song! like, saxophone. basic drums. and even more awful female vocals. What happens next is that Mr. Cohen decided to become a cynic in "Everybody Knows". go on, go on, drone on. keep being a cynic. the world is hopeless but everybody around me are trying to create a change. thank you so much, as a fellow cynic turned one time optimist. also, by hearing this, can you believe that this was released near the end of the 1980s? it sound like 1985 or even earlier. implicit racism still existing and will never change? can't you just take a good long look at the world. Speaking of being a hopeless romantic... Look at the title track, everyone. Dude wants a woman so bad that he's willing to engage in BDSM activities. what the fuck do you mean when you said that "if you want to strike me down in anger/here I stand/I'm your man"? does that means i can spit on your grave and punch the air and kick on the tombstone? also guys, if you really want to listen to this song, Nick Cave have a genius cover filled to the top with his drama and flair and you should listen to it. any time. don't thank me. Halftime break arrived soon and its time for me to talk more about the context™ behind all this rant. So. there's this cohen fan that im friends with. he is really really nice and i think i have developed a crush on him. i got really hazy in my mind and tried to tell him that i love him for many times. eventually he got fed up with me and ghosted me. i was basically in many intertwining emotions during the next few months. eventually i began to loath him and i found cohen extremely unattractive, and he become one of my least favourite singer. so that's why i whine and hate and said bad things so hard. it's just some natural feelings. not too strong but able to continue on. continue to the second half. no, leonard, i will not take your weird dance, leave me alone with your weird adaptions of queer Spanish poet's works and your cliche 3/4 time beat and this really undynamic song. also... please don't get me started on how bad jazz police is. i live in a place where the cops are not that bastard and jazz is an ok genre, and i also this is not jazz. it have some really "jazzy" chords and a bit of dissoance, more cheesy backing vocals, a piano solo that i completely don't understand and some lyric that i literally don't know how to talk about it. but i had a second thought... this song is catually funny and i guess i might stop hating it. but thats the only redeeming quality of it... two songs left and they have all been covered by my favourite singers. first featuring I Can't Forget, covered by the one and only, Best fake creep and hornyboy of britpop, Jarvis Cocker. when cohen drones on and on backed by the synth in his version, Jarvis slightly sped up a bit and added a tiny bit of his usual dramatic flair to the song, and with a graduate speedup in the end, he managed to make the song less boring, of course. Typical Jarvis. a perfect 10/10. At the same time, Nick Cave's deconstruction and reconstruction of Tower of Song is way more radical. in the original version, we hear cohen's meteronome ticks on and his lame keyboard solo plays through the five dollar keyboard, the backing vocals developed a lighter way of deliverary with nonsense scatting. everything is so quiet and boring and nonsense. the lyrics are even worse... "i was born with the gift of a golden voice". clearly thats ironic but his fans seemed to believe it. boring at least and utter unlistenable at most. but mister cave... edited from an improvisation totalling thirty minutes, he brought to the table a reconstruction with original lyrics (even changing the "hank williams" in the lyrics to cohen himself), reverbed vocals, the strum and dang and tempo and dynamic change. Singing "golden voice" with both irony and sincere and boasting. adding in many spoken word section graduately building up tension. stammering. sincere laughter. the only redeeming quality of the album is that it provides some comedic relief to my anxious and boring heart. it showed us that a fifty years old serious old bloke can find fun in making shitty songs accidentally. and i think i should give it a three. but anyway, some final notes about the boy i kept calling my ex. we recently reconciled and are friends again. and we may meet again in family gatherings. cause after all these bullshit, i'm now sober and he's still my cousin. but its all platonic and we're happy to return to normal. also we are not incestous. its just platonic and he don't like me after i got too near. we don't have the chance to meet each other except for family gatherings. ITS SERIOUS! 3/5

Listened to this in the car in mid November with my almost five year old daughter. After one or two songs she goes “daddy are you listening to Halloween music?” Which is totally fair.

Ну музично це капелюх ще той. Рятує сама персона Коена.

Я дуже люблю Коена, але оцей його електронний період мені взагалі не йде і ніколи не йшов. Постарішав цей звук погано, як на мене. Досі не розумію чому цей альбом є одним з найпопулярніших у Коена. Звісно тут присутній його фірмовий шарм та харизма, а також класні тексти, але чисто музично мені це не подобається.

Like a bad Bowie on some kind of drug trip. I could barely stand it. 1/5

J’adore Leonard Cohen du début à la fin. Peu importe sa phase.

Tous des hits! This Waltz est depuis longtemps une de mes chansons préférées, tout style confondu. C'est un peu ce qui m'a initié aux chansonniers anglo-saxons. J'ai compris qu'ils pouvait être PRESQUE aussi bons que les chansonniers francophones...

Mon préféré de Leonard, et que je connais déjà bien. Y’a des hits au pouce carré ici! J’adore la voix grave de l’homme, parfaitement bien complétée par les angeliques voix de ses choristes. Très 80s comme son mais qui a merveilleusement bien vieilli. Peut-être pas Jazz Police mais elle demeure quand même excellent dans son son un peu kitsch.

Oh ffs please put something decent up here

Lots of love for the 80s feel

музыкально это полный отстой. говорят там хорошие лириксы, но я это, как известно, плохо оцениваю. но голос крутой у дядьки, тут сказать нечего. так что среднее что-то

Cohen's voice is so mesmerizing and smooth. This album is just acceptable though.

This album kicked me in the face like a horse

To be honest, the album is fairly mediocre but listenable. i would normally rate it 3 stars but i'm giving it 4 solely because of First We Take Manhattan. it is such a great song that the album deserves a listen just to discover this track and put it on repeat. furthermore, there are countless covers of this song by musicians from a wide spectrum of genres. i was especially surprised to discover a cover by Sirenia from 2004 as I was a big fan of theirs in the early 2000s. Aside from that, jazz police is also quite enjoyable.

who told him he can make music like this? can't believe im begging him to go back to the boring acoustic stuff

I couldn't get into this record. I think a lot of it was because of the instrumentation. Favourite Track(s): Everybody Knows Least Favourite Track(s): First We Take Manhattan, Tower Of Song

Listened on walk to Liverpool Street. I liked it