I'm Your Man

the singing is quite dry, but everything else is pretty cool. perfect music to sleep to (derogatory)

first song was fine, a little dated maybe, but nice vibes. The rest was boring at best, "Jazz police" pure cringe...

i like some songs by Cohen but it's not very variation in his music. This time he monologues over 80s pop. because i wouldn't call it singing. i had heard "I'm your man" before and it was okej. Jazz police was surprisingly catchy and a fresh breeze. not that memorable or interesting to me

Not a big fan of Cohen.. sure he’s a great lyricist but his songs are quite boring. Sorry Lenny

Love his songs. Hate his renditions

I know he is legendary and all that but I just don't like his style of singing. It seems kind of talk singing that is not appealing to me. I'm not sorry I listened to this but I don't need to hear it again.

This feels like 1984 the album. Jazz Police! Cohen is a poet, but the music is very lacking on this one.

Vi er i dag samlet for at mindes en mester sangskriver. Den fabelagtige Leonard Cohen er fået bort og verdenen er her i 1980 blevet et fattigere sted. Den canadiske poet gik bort i en storm af synth, saxofoner og elektroniske trommer. Og han er kun det seneste offer for de 80’er produktioner der allerede har skyllet ind over vores dejlig musiske landskab. Må hans dybe baryton hænge i vores øre for evigt, og lad os bede for en genkomst engang ude i fremtiden. For vi vil have det mørkere.

Albumi #118, 28.11.2024 Cohenin kahdeksas studioalbumi on julkaistiin vuonna 1988. Useampi kappale on tuotettu kasarisyntikkasoundeille, mikä sinänsä ei ehkä kiehtonut tämän levyn osalta kovinkaan paljoa. Erityismaininta hittikappaleelle "Take This Waltz"

I wonder if the list makers meant to include this. Just because it’s Leonard Cohen does NOT mean it needs to be on this damn list! I wish I could time-travel to encourage the people who made the original list to try a little harder.

This album is strange. Cohen and synth-pop don't fit, in my opinion.

Leonard Cohen was hier nog redelijk goed bij stem zo te horen. Het is uiteraard met die duistere bromstem, hij lijkt nog steeds te mompelen in plaats van te zingen. Verder lijkt het iets op Nick Cave die we al veelvuldig hebben mogen horen. Maar dit keer op een ongelooflijke 80s manier met corny achtergrondkoortjes, zware synths en drumcomputers, en zelfs een goedkope saxofoon. Het vinkt wel een paar ergernissen af wat dat betreft. Ik kan niet zeggen dat het me echt pakt. Het zijn soort van gedichten zangerig voorgedragen en begeleid door muzikale tonen. Allemaal zo kunstzinnig mogelijk. Kunst met een grote K. Inmiddels heb ik het idee dat Cohen gewoon een trucje met een grote T doet. Zeker met die 80s sound eromheen klinkt het eigenlijk erg nep. Ik zit dan ook ergens tussen een 2 en een 3 in.

Take This Waltz was the only track I got all the way through. There is a characteristic of Leonard's vocal style that makes his voice seem horribly out of place with everything else in his songs, and I can't stand it. Take This Waltz was the only song he seemed to fit into correctly for me. 1.75

I guess Leonard Cohen is going to appear in my stats as one of those controversial artists, since I enjoyed You Want it Darker so much, and disliked this album immensely. After listening to the aforementioned (Darker), I was really looking forward to listening to more of Cohen's work, but I was to be disappointed, I was glad when this one came to an end.

I guess I don’t really like Leonard Cohen very much. There’s been a bunch of his albums on this list and I usually only feel lukewarm about them. This one has more of an edge to it — some darkness, some synths — but it doesn’t do much more for me than the other albums. I do love that deep voice of his. Very distinct, very dramatic.

Sometimes I find the vocals alright but others I can't stand, like I'm Your Man - "I'd howl at your beauty like a dog in the heat". Ew. The synth is fine but gets tedious fast. After that it just sounds like an old man doing karaoke 15 pints in Saying that Jazz Police I enjoyed, not sure it warrants a higher rating because of this however Maybe a harsh 2 but compared to what I've already rated in 3 I think a 2 is justified

Didn't hate it, but hard to take Cohen's "thing" seriously at times. Especially during Jazz Police

Though better than his death album, this music bores me. It's not bad, and lyrically some things stand out as poetic and insightful. But that's a bonus for me when on top of music that engages. And this does not engage enough.

1. FIRZT - 1.5 2. cure - 1 3. knouuz - 1 4. man - 1.5 5. uualtz - 1.5 6. police - 0 7. forget - 1 8. touuer - 1.5

I'm so tired of Leonard Cohen. When I listen to music the vocalist is probably the most important part for me. If I don't like their voice, I can't enjoy the music. Enter this monotone man who talks more than he sings. The beauty of his lyrics don't matter if the delivery is so incredibly dull.

I guess there are some good songs, but the music is rubbish

..(.

In a nutshell: somethings change, some stay the same. Compared to earlier releases in the book, Cohen’s album-making approach had a little shakeup. Cohen’s voice has deepened and he embraced synth. I’ve resigned to the fact that Cohen is simply a great poet with a predictable approach to arrangement. To me, he is the Wes Anderson of contemporary music: same approach, different colour palate, new location. The breakneck pans get boring after a while. As does Cohen’s decision to utilise backing singers and instruments with little style variation on this album. We got that element overload with the juice harp on “Song From A Room” The best way I can sum it up is to quote boygenius: “…I am not an old man having an existential crisis at a Buddhist monastery writing horny poetry…” Overall 3/10

Look, these songs are lyrically interesting, but they aren't in any way musically interesting. I was out by the time Cohen started playing a trite waltz. This should have been a book.

Leonard Cohen and synth is an odd combination. But you know, I like when artists do weird stuff like this, good or bad. This is just more bad than good, as usual Cohens writing is good, but musically its a big miss.

I’m tired of Leonard Cohen albums. This synthy nonsense did not do it for me. Nice to hear where the bummer opening song to Justice League came from at least!

Painfully 80s at points, Leonard not clicking for me

Very slow and uninteresting

Very disappointed in this one

His voice is cool and his poetry is quite combative

80's Leonard Cohen.. It's slightly uptempo.. Still not sure why he sings like a bullfrog.

I get Cohen’s appeal to many, mainly as a poet/ lyricist. But I just cannot listen to his music.

.

Basically spoken word poetry over some typical 80s pieces of music. They don't really go together. I don't deny Leonard Cohen's writing skill, but there is a bit of a clash between his vocals and the music that just doesn't make sense. I enjoyed the saxophone at the start of Ain't No Cure for Love though.

first track really good but other ones really robotic...

2-3

No nearly as enjoyable as the other Leonard Cohen album I heard from this list.

There's some okay stuff on here, but I can't stand anything that screams EIGHTIES like this. I want to like Leonard Cohen, but — like Tom Waits — the more I listen the less I want to hear.

Naihurmuri lauluntekijä soundi kuitenkin vituttaa (heh referenssi albumiin kaksi viisi seitsemän)

man...mad respect for Leonard, but this ain't it

Amazing vocals, and super buttery instrumentals but not really something I'd come back too

hate the production

Well, that was one of the weirdest albums I’ve gotten so far. I was not prepared for this album when I saw Leonard Cohen. I was thinking it was going to be similar to “Hallelujah” — admittedly the only song I know by him. Instead, the opening track is like some uber-villain theme song I’d expect from Scar from the Lion King or Brain from Animaniacs. This album is peak 80s. So many synths, so much cheese, so melodramatic. Cohen’s deep bass sing-talking takes some getting used to. I’m still not sure how I feel about it. The backing vocals on songs like “Ain’t No Cure for Love” are nice (but also very 80s). The bouzouki on “Everybody Knows” was an interesting twist. The first three tracks aren’t terrible, but I feel like it gets progressively cheesier and more ridiculous after that. And too many of the songs overstay their welcome, clocking in at nearly 6 minutes. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be tongue-in-cheek or if he's serious. Ultimately I couldn’t wait for it to end. 2/5

It’s like Leonard Cohen, doing kareoke versions of his own songs

Having never heard this album before, my first thought was “Wow, a Leonard Cohen synthpop album? That’s so fucking cool.” But then I got to “Everybody Knows” and instead thought “Ok, this is way too on the nose for fucking Leonard Cohen right?” and then I did something I almost never do and checked the global reviews for this album and saw someone insinuate “Everybody Knows” is about AIDS and I’m still so fucking mad about that that I’m pulling off my copy of the pop literary analysis book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster off my shelf; in that book, Foster makes an interesting comparison between tuberculosis-as-metaphor in Victorian literature and AIDS in contemporary literature as diseases loaded with symbolic potential (to be clear: he is not being as pithy as that summary makes it out to be). At the risk of being overly simplistic (and I know I am) and overly prescriptive (and I know I am), Leonard Cohen would be smarter than to write that sad sack of a fucking song about AIDS, nor does it have any remote metaphorical or symbolic significance to say anything interesting about AIDS in the first place, and to be clear, it is not saying anything about AIDS at all. Oh, right, sorry, I have to review the rest of this album! I wasn't honestly thrilled with it, except for “First We Take Manhattan”, which is so fucking good.

Pretty bad.

I really really like a couple of Leonard Cohen albums. This is not one of those. It's not new to call him a great poet with shit music, but it bears repeating.

Guess I'm just not a Leonard Cohen guy. Bleh this album

I sort of knew what to expect. I sort of got it. The full 80s-ness was a bit of a surprise, but Cohens lyric delivery certainly wasn't. I sort of enjoyed it. But that depended on how much I listened to it. I really like the idea of a Jazz Police.

Everybody knows I used to be a poet Everybody knows I have a gift for words Everybody knows my songs are inconsistent Ah, that some of them will be turds Everybody knows I've got no choice Everybody knows I've got limited range So I sing real low Everybody knows. Everybody knows I'm from North of the border Everybody knows I've got backup singers Everybody knows I'm a real bummer Ah, the haunting chords still linger Everybody knows there's a hit here somewhere If I can just decide where it goes Everybody knows.

No idea what I just listened to. It wasn't horrible...just bizarre. If you told me it was some sort of joke, I'd believe it. His voice sounds like a cross between Neil Diamond and Tom Jones.

Leonard Cohen has some great tracks, but not on this album. I love the 80s, but I found this too much.

I thought maybe I'd like this, but I didn't (except for 'I'm your man' which I have a bit of a soft spot for!) Smooth vocals, a few nice lyrics - then completely destroyed by epically awful synths, backing vocals and drum machines.

Tower of Song //

2.5/5. Meh, kind of a vibe but mostly boring. Didn't have a bad time listening to this, though.

Boring, not to my taste at all.

You are not my man at all Leonard, because you are too depressing even for someone who loves to mope about.

Weird sappy Folk.

This is just 80s slam poetry.

He has the sort of gravelly voice you actually don't want to listen to and his love songs are not very romantic. We struggled with this one. This is what people who don't listen to Radiohead, think Radiohead is like.

it’s ight 5/10 i can’t get behind his voice

This was strange and I really did not enjoy it. For me, Leonard Cohen's deep voice is not well suited for upbeat 80s production values. The songs were ok for the most part, but I just could not get past the sound. I won't come back to this one.

bit twee for me

Not my thing really.

boring album to be honest, isn’t something i’d usually listen to and i just wasn’t interested

I still just don’t get the appeal. He “sings” too low so it sounds like shit. Maybe he’s like Bob Dylan where he writes better than sings/performs but even the content isn’t great lyrically.

A bit generic to be honest.

too pop for me

I didn't know that Leonard Cohen did this much cocaine! This is really peak cocaine music to me. So much synth. I was very excited for my first Leonard Cohen during this project, but this let me down. I didn't think this modern version of Cohen was all that effective for me.

I'm Your Man

just barely on the wrong side of “is this genius or is this crap?”

Eh.

Leonard just does not do it for me. He would have made a great poet but singing? No. And the 80s production and the backing vocals with that voice just doesn’t work. ‘First We Take Manhattan almost sounds like a parody to me here.

Infrequently interesting

This album was not at all what I expected! My only exposure to this artist was the 30 seconds of looking at the cover art just before listening to the album. I was prepared for some Tony-Bennett-like crooning, maybe some jazz, or maybe some jazz-fusion. Blasting me with concentrated 80s in the first track was disorienting. I'll loved “The Tower of Song.” It was smooth and had me bobbing along to the groove immediately. I kind of liked “Jazz Police” for it's absolute quirkiness and ridiculousness. I have mixed feelings about the titular track, “I'm Your Man” because I kind of like it but cannot identify why yet. It sounded like his vocal style rotated through channeling Bowie, Waits, and Shatner. But I couldn't follow the purpose of the lyrics most of the time. The tracks that are more new-wavy, like “First We Take Manhattan” don't work for me. I think I'd probably love instrumental versions of them because the synths sound intriguing and complex, but his singing obfuscates the details. I'll remain optimistic and speculate that this album is pure form, “all about the art,” and had no interest in pandering to any commercial whims. I'll also speculate that it accomplished what the artist wanted. I can appreciate an abstract work of art, but they don't all land to the same people nor at the same time. And over-all, this album didn't land for me this time.

Can't say I'm a fan but the guy has a nice voice and spans many decades

It sounds like a mash up album where they took Cohen’s vocals and laid them over some random synth backing tracks and back up singers. It kinda works sometimes but even when it doesn’t it’s at least kind of funny (Jazz police)

Tough listen. Every 80’s cliche immaculately produced with a monotone voice. Not for me. One memorable tune.

I think this guy believes his voice is nicer than it really is.

Borderline unlistenable because of such shit production. terrible synth and awful drum machines. the lyrics make the album better, but can't distract enough from the cheap music, terrible sax solos, cheez ball backing vocals, etc... It’s like someone with terrible breath telling you a secret too close to your face.

“Take This Waltz” was a pretty song I wish the rest of the album resembled that.

Dude has an interesting voice, but idk just a little weird

I just don't want to deal with this fucker anymore.

Way too 80s

I'm not a fan of this album. It's well produced, and that's about the only thing I enjoyed about it. I'm not a fan of how Cohen sings, or really of his voice itself at least on this album. It's neither exciting nor relaxing; I'm experiencing psychological arousal that I would call abrasive or uncomfortable. There's not really any message being sent with this album either, and many of the themes are just awkward to me. Hearing Cohen, at age 50-something, sing straight up about how he wants to see a woman naked was not cute, for example. 5/10. Favorite Song: Take This Waltz Least Favorite Songs: Ain't No Cure For Love, Jazz Police, Tower of Song

Meh

I can’t help but wonder if this is music for people who prefer poetry. Fascinating lyrics let down by late 80’s production and sub par musicality

His voice is awesome but I was falling asleep with the melodies

While I can get into his lyrics, I can’t take a whole album of spoken word singing. The late-80s synth and e-dryms don’t help either

Yeahhhhhh not for me, elevator music ass shit sorry Leonard

Was not a vibe for me.

Therapist: Leonard "synth" Cohen can't hurt you, he's not real

Aqquired Taste

I was kind of looking forward to some Leonard Cohen, as I had heard a lot about him but never got round to actually listening to anything by him. I hope this isn't representative of his other work, as it was pretty awful. The backing music is probably the worst, like something I would expect to hear coming out of a kids synthesiser, a bontempi or casio keyboard. I suppose it's an 80s sound, but it left me cold as it was just so jarringly bad. The lyrics seemed interesting, so 2 stars, but the delivery was just horrid.

What an uneventful hour. 2/5

My rule is: if I don’t finish an album I can’t give it a 1. That was pretty laughable musically, it jumped from new order to sting and the police in the first two songs. The weird lyrics stuck out. I’ve never listened to Cohen before and that wasn’t what I expected.

Not my thing. 2/5

Hates this one. Sort of cool instrumentation that was drowned out by cohens deep ass unenthusiastic voice. Next!

omigod its so 80s slow and kind of could all blend in together mid but i see the appeal

As someone else on here reviewed: as a music first listener, it's hard to get into Cohen's work. This album is no exception.

Tämän artistin kiinnostus melodiaa kohtaan näyttää liikuttavasti kasvaneen sitä mukaa, mitä vaikeammaksi melodioiden esittäminen hänelle tuli. Ongelman kiertämiseen tarkoitetut kikat (joista ykkösenä gospel-stemmaajat) toimivat muutaman biisin ajan, mutta käyvät loppua kohti raskaiksi. Mikä on valitettavaa, koska sävellyksissä on puolensa.

This site has a serious crush on this guy. Maybe you had to be there?

Even as a lover of the spoken word genre i can't get around this at all

to me, Leonard Cohen sounds like a nap. and naps dont jive with synthesizers.

Eh. Good lyrics. Cheesy sound.

This sounded like a Halloween album. My distaste for Leonard Cohen grows.

Not a fan of the late 80s Leonard Cohen

Lyrically it's great, but I don't care because musically it's nothing.

Best

Not as good as I had hoped, to repetitive

I appreciate the music and lyrics but I've never been a fan of his vocals which makes it difficult for me to enjoy.

Almost a one, some comedy 80s backing

Pretty boring to me. The half sung/ spoken lyrics are not it

Cohen is a genius is a poet. Of that, there is no debate. This album is a time capsule from the late 80s in both lyrical content and production. The real stand out here is “Everybody Knows” for me. Overall, this album did not connect with me.

meh

This Album is funny as fuck, there's something about the confidence in which he says "First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin." That had me laughing so hard. I mean I was never bored listening to this, it's just a really weird Album and I can't say it's unironically good but that First song was a time to be sure.

This album is a bit of an interesting one, it's definitely lyrics first music second. It sounds a bit like old mate Leonard is just talking whilst there's someone banging out the tunes behind him. Doesn't really do anything for me but I cannot deny I know people who this really clicks with. It's like Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen), I think it has a good message but it just doesn't do anything for me as a song, but each to their own!

Wasn’t the best Leonard cohen album as I found the upbeat/disco background did not suit his voice at all

Everybody Knows Take This Waltz (backup vocalist Jennifer Warnes). Otherwise, synthesizer based album would sound better with real instruments.

I was very surprised by how lukewarm I was to this. Obviously some well known songs on the album. But, they just didn’t sound special. Surprised I’m giving it a 2

Bit of a hard listen this. Starkly brutally 80’s. The production really grinds against Cohens voice. I enjoyed parts and especially ‘Everybody Knows’ but I can’t say I was sad when the album finished and thankfully it was rather short.

Call it good. Call it bad. Call it anything you want to, baby.

Finally! A Leonard Cohen album with a real title. unfortunately its probably his worst that I've heard. It has great moments but overall it sounds like edgy David Bowie.

It's just different than a tradition pop/rock album. Cohen just talks/sings through the whole album. Some of the musicians are good (nice piano solo on Jazz Police), but other than that, this album is just not my kind of music.

Leonard Cohen songs are meant to be covered, not listened to by the original artist.

Starts of with some weird disco, 80's sound with a poorly, amaturistic arranged synth which is not a good fit with Cohens voice. The last part is what I expect from Cohen, but musically very boring. Not a fan

Ok album but not my thing

This particular album of his is too 80s.

I'm a fan of Cohen but this album was so disappointing. Hated the music and the backup singers. Lyrics are his edge but not strong enough to save this.

Oh my, no

Not a huge fan of the "I'm not singing but just talking over some music" genre. Man has a nice voice, but doesn't seem to do anything with it. Just annoying to listen to in the long run.

Man the 80s must have been rough

This album is fucking goofy. It leans very heavily into stereotypical 80's sounds (silly synths, farty bass lines, etc). Like, I can tell that Leonard was going for a silly, almost slapstick sound and it's very intentional, but that doesn't mean it sounds good. I could help but laugh at a few moments. It wasn't necessarily a bad record because the vision is strongly executed, but I don't know if I'd ever want to hear this again.

I do not like his voice, still.

Well it's that he tried new things.

Disappointing. 1 star for Everybody Knows, the rest gets a star. First album from Leonard that I haven’t loved.

I don't know, this was pretty bad, imo. The only song of interest was Everybody Knows, but Concrete Blonde did that better. Tower of Song ain't bad, either.

Hij is ontzettend goed in teksten schrijven en de muziek zit erg goed in elkaar, maar ik vind dit gewoon helemaal niet leuk om naar te luisteren.

I can't get over the 80s soundtrack here.

Man, I super wish I liked this album, but I did not. I feel left out. There's clearly a joke here I'm not getting. Or rather... I might be getting the joke, but the poor execution is keeping me back from enjoying this album in any way other than to say "fine, I get it." Put another way: there are other albums that do this kind of thing. But they do it better. Tom Waits comes to mind... someone who captures that misanthropic, guttural, antagonistic character. Comedic, yet deadly serious. The cartoon villain is the facade, he draws you in. Slowly, you understand his inner logic. In that way, this version of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits' characters share more than a little family resemblance. But unlike any Tom Waits album– whose music is equally compelling– this album falls almost totally flat musically. It feels like either a) the production was put together in a lazy, half-assed way, or b) the production was put together in a lazy, half-assed way, AND Leonard Cohen intended it to sound lazy and half-assed. Either way: that's what I mean when I say I don't get it. I'm not going to lie that I loved "First We Take Manhattan" in a deadpan, ridiculous, laugh out loud kind of way. Same with "Everybody Knows." But the songs overstay their welcome, and the production gets lazier and more karaoke-like. There are some seriously bad, bad background singers. It just doesn't work. It would only work if I had no ear whatsoever for music, and only cared about lyrics. Even then! Great concept, just poorly (or lazily ? ?) executed. 2/5

Boring. Had potential with first song, but same monotonic voice throughout deters from enthusiasm. 3.5/10.

Jaime leonard cohen, et je n’avais pas ecoute beaucoup d’album avanf de commence cette loste. Mais vraiment cette album, dans sa musicalite est vraiment bof. Et les paroles. Correct sur cette et tres bine sur d’autres. C’est pas un album qui ma marque et probablement pas un des grands de cohen. 2 pour la musique t 3.25 les paroles. 2.75

Bockt mir iwie auch nicht, Stimmlage, synth Zeug alles net so meins.

I have the same feelings towards this album as I did about Tom Waits and most of Nick Cave's work: I appreciate the artistry but I am not into the music very much. I can see why someone else might like it I like Cohen's early work

this sounded like an amateur heard a disney song and a Johnny Cash album and decided to emulate those two together

Leonard Cohen is incredibly divisive, but at least we can all agree that the 80s were a mistake.

So I'm at a bar and I hear what sounds like my creepy uncle, doing karaoke, after getting on the whisky at 5pm. This is before I realise I'm wrong and they've just put on I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen on the sound system.

J'avais déjà écouté un peu de Leonard Cohen. Je m'attendais à des chansons acoustiques sombres mais au final j'ai eu un style très années 80. Etonnamment il y a un bon nombre de chansons up-beat voire humoristiques comme "Jazz Police" qui cassent avec l'ambiance sombre qu'on peut trouver dans beaucoup de chansons de Cohen. Au final, je pense que c'est pas mon style du musique. Pour moi, la voix du chanteur ne passe pas vraiment avec les synthés. Je préfère ses morceaux des années 70 que j'ai pu écouter précédemment. Malgré tout il y a quelques jolies chansons sur cet album comme "Take This Waltz", mais rien qui me fasse sauter de ma chaise. Je trouve que le style ne colle pas du tout au chanteur. Les instrus sont souvent assez minimaliste. Si je devais décrire un album en un seul mot ce serait: "dommage". On sent qu'il y avait de bonnes idées, mais la production finale est très moyenne.

drum machine ruins this for me sorry

Not a fan

Scale: 1: Dissapointing 2: Didn't enjoy 3: Decent 4: Enjoyed 5: Would listen again (My first impression if not mentioned otherwise in a comment) First We Take Manhattan: 2/5, not my cup of tea Ain’t No Cure for Love: 2.5/5, fine Everybody Knows: 2.5/5, idk I’m Your Man: 1/5, worst one so far Take This Waltz: 3/5, cool Jazz Police: 2/5, idk I Can’t Forget:1.5/5,nah Tower of Song:2/5, idk Overall: 2.1/5, pretty monotous and too simple

All the cool kids seem to like Cohen, but hard as I try, I just can't get into him. Guess I'm not cool.

What the fuck is this

Not a fan. Lyrics were kinda strange and the vocals were not my favorite.

Ok, so no problem, I can knock this album out in a day, I got lyrics out the butthole, you know? Just get me some of that sweet drum machine and casio space-age shit that's all the rage, and I'll do my thing over it. It's gonna be timeless.

I've never really cared for his music

поняла почему мне так противен Коэн: он поёт как великие русские шансонье, очень расхлябанно и панибратски

Very mellow, reminds me of something that would play during the credits during The Sopranos. Definitely an acquired taste. Relaxing. Very strange vocals, but I guess that’s what he’s known for.

Did not like this. Very weird and sultry. 4/10

best song is take your waltz and background vocals are the thing that is holding up this album up, leonard vocals are very monotone, his singing sucks, the record is very mediocre, it’s horribly produced there are weird places in songs that are so unessesary it’s so underwhelming and it feels like they should be more grand and the producing feels like they half assed it and just left it there thinking it was decent only thing holding it up as I said were background vocals and the underwhelming strings and some of the songs are uncomfortable to me and in such weird places 1.5/5 it sucked (i think i’m too nice)

eh, not bad not good. 5/10 generic 80s

Undoubtedly a total mensch but I don't love the music (see Jazz Police). Love the story behind the suit / banana photo though.

You're boring, mate.

There’s no “You Want It Darker” to bump it up this time, still would rate 2.5 if I could

2.5

Makes me think of Natural Born Killers. Get rid of that first song and it’s not a terrible record

Crap

Leonard Cohen what the fuck were you thinking? 3/10

Is he eating a banana? wtf

Mira, no estuvo tan mal, pero los sintetizadores no han envejecido nada bien.

Kinda weird to me. I welcome the updated sound for Leonard, but he has such an old man voice that it makes a funky contrast. The backing vocals relieve this a bit though. A few songs just lack any sort of interesting elements to them unfortunately. 4/10

Not for me

Vocals are kinda flat & unemotional, and the backing music sounds like those campy demo songs that come preloaded on a Casio keyboard. I don't think Leonard Cohen is for me. Kinda funny reading about how critically successful this was

Meh pretty dull

It’s way too long and I don’t care for his half awake half drunk singing style.

Is this a joke album?

Well the first track set the tone as being 80s AF. Is Leonard Cohen meant to sound like a dodgy pickup artist? I mean, I'm literally never going to listen to this again. It's like being subject to the boring guy in the pub, except he's crooning at you instead of just talking. The lyrics are a bit "yeah, rightoh mate".

Had about enough 80s. No disrespect to Cohen it's a fine production.

Hupa.

Is not my jam

I realize that I'm in the minority on this, but I absolutely despise the quality/tone of Leonard Cohen's voice and this album did nothing to sway me on that fact. I just put this album and it had that 80s sort of synth vibe and I was like, "Oh this is pretty cool." And then the frog croak of "They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom..." came jarring in like Fran Drescher in an otherwise quiet room... and I remembered. A few times a song started and I was like, "Oh, I might like this one, it sounds pret...nope, there he is again." I realize he is a legend, and the lyrics are interesting, but this is 100% not for me.

Leonard Cohen is a better songwriter than performer. I’ve owned this album since the 1980s but really only listen to “Everybody Knows” on a regular basis (shout out to the movie “Pump up the Volume” that introduced me to the song. Note that that the Leonard C version is in the movie, but didn’t make the soundtrack!). “First We Take Manhattan” seems like it could be so much better. I’ll have to see if there is a cover version out there. Rest of this album is mostly depressing.

Voice was super low, first 2 songs sounded like they were ripped off later by Lion King and the Police. Overall not my cup of tea, but it did have interesting sounds which is why I gave it 2 stars

The songwriting here is next level. It's clear that he's a poet. It is also clear that you have to either love or overlook his voice to really love the album--each with its own ceiling. I did my best to ignore the Shatner-esque nature of his voice and spoken lyrics. In the end, I just wished that a bunch of different bands covered these songs to elevate them.

Ouf, je connaissais l'existence et l'importance de cet album, mais je ne m'attendais pas à ce qu'il soit si marqué dans les années 80. Contrairement à d'autres artistes, ça ne lui va pas du tout et ça a vraiment mal vieilli. Ça en est déconcentrant. Everybody Knows est limite, mais tolérable. J'arrive à reconnaître que c'est une de ses grandes chansons. Même chose pour I'm Your Man. Jazz Police en revanche est vraiment insupportable. Je crois qu'il y a que Tower of Song qui ne pousse pas la note trop loin dans son désir d'embrasser les technologies des années 80. C'est subtil et ça aurait passé beaucoup mieux si l'ensemble avait été dans ce genre. Si ce n'était de la production (et de cette terrible chanson qu'est Jazz Police), j'aurais probablement donné une meilleure note. Est-ce qu'on doit écouter cet album? Pour tout amateur de musique, d'histoire de la musique et de culture Montréalaise, oui. Est-ce que je vais y revenir? Nope.

Cohen has a very interesting voice but I felt the lyrics/music on this album didn't match, which were often ridiculous.

I don't think I liked this album but I also didn't dislike it? Vocally it was very flat, with not much variation between songs. There were some interesting lyrics but I don't think I'll ever listen to any of these songs again. 2 stars

This album creeped me out and I don’t really love all of the sing-talking. Some cool lyrics though.

Plodding and not my style.

Enjoyed forst we take manhatten. After that it went downhill faster than loic bruni. Genuine casio keyboard demo music.

Quite odd. Was not really expecting.

Doesn’t really work. I like the instrumental of the opener and ”Take This Waltz”, but otherwise it’s mostly different flavors of dated with Cohen reciting his lyrics over it all. It has comical value, though

Hij had zich beter stil kunnen houden in dit decennium!

Nooit veel gehad met de man. Dit kon me ook niet echt bekoren.

Dit was eigenlijk niet te harden. Ik hou echt wel van Cohen's stem, maar die enorm gedateerde 80's pop-synth saus die eroverheen is gegoten is werkelijk abominabel!

i don't seem to get Leonard Cohen. he's supposed to be some sort of songwriting genius but the only one we all know is hallelujah and that's only cos of jeff buckley. on the basis of this album he's a muppet - he came up with the song title Jazz Police and instead of a tune of equal excellence as the title he creates that monstrosity. i mean, Jazz Police has the potential to be one of the best songs ever written. it has such power yet such elegance. its the man, but also a cool daddio and most importantly its close to jizz police which is funny because, well, jizz.

Was ok, didn’t do much for me though.

Never been a Leonard Cohen fan and this album didn't change that. Although some of these songs were more upbeat than I expected, I just don't care for his vocal style. I really don't get what people see in him. Still, not the worst record I've ever heard.

Lots of the songs talk about girls objectively :///

A deep voice eighties Keyboards with falsetto girls An artist’s artist

Too much creepy cheese.

Te zwoel en niet mijn ding

Can’t get past the voice.

Dunno. It didn't really do it for me. I just found it a bit odd.

extremely corny but i still found myself dancing a little!

… c’mon

Listened to on 2/24/22 2/5 Favorite song: Take this Waltz I found his voice/tone kinda creepy

Leonard Cohen is a poet, not a musician. This really needs to be a spoken word album and strip out all that shitty 80's broken synthesizer crap. Love his voice, and 'hate' is not strong enough a word to describe how I fell about the music that's underneath.

The atonal vocals were painful. Extra star for that “Fuck-the-Man” jazz police song.

Leonard’s voice is simultaneously intriguing and awful at the same time, which makes it more intriguing. His deep talking voice is sublime. Unfortunately he tries to sing which is not pleasant. I’m convinced from listening that he is the spoken word source in Michael Jackson’s Thriller. …searches Wikipedia … No! Alas it was Vincent Price not Leonard Cohen.

I previously complained that the earlier Cohen material sounded so bloody gloomy. He must have heard me so he tried to update his sound and make it more upbeat. Unfortunately this sounds like what middle-aged suburban housewives would listen to. So campy that I was cringing. Some of my esteemed friends love Leonard Cohen but I, for the life of me cannot understand the appeal.

02/11/22

Still don't like him very much. This one felt a little more interesting than the other one.

I think everyone has a gap in their musical knowledge, someone big/famous/influential that they don't really know that well, if at all. I think Mess+Noise might have had a thread on this back in the day. Leonard Cohen is one of those blindspots for me (as is Tom Waits (don't hate me!). I have heard songs by both so could probably identify the performer by their voices without knowing the song or whether it was a big song for them. I think I remember 'First We Take Manhattan' from when we got satellite tv and MTV in the family home in the late 1990s (Recommended read: 'I Want My MTV' by Marks/Tannenbaum, which brought back so many memories of those times). But thing about the song at the time was just how weirdly campy, Euro Pop it sounded. And in the late 80s, I wasn't in a campy, Euro Pop space. The album is the same. It might be lyrically rich and you can't deny the voice but it sounds almost dated by the time it was released in 1988. There's something about it that reminds me of Roger Water's 'Radio Kaos', not sure why. Possibly just how stuck in the 80s it sounds.

not very interesting

Music and lyrics are ok, not a fan of the vocals

I tried reading up on why this man is such a big deal, and it's explained. Kind of. But I don't like how the songs sound and I kind of stopped listening after the third track. This doesn't appeal to me. Sorry.

I can’t wrap my head around Leonard cohen. I want to like him, but can’t seem to.

the 80s were not good for leonard. a couple of simply painful pop overlays. and his voice still has too much clarity. where's the gravel?

boring and slow. Leonard Cohen is a mood.

I wasn't a fan of the sound or his voice.

I'm honestly not a fan of Cohen's 80s material. Seems too cheesy to me

I think, I might actually get it... well a bit more than I used to anyhow. What I'm connecting with on this listening is that Cohen's work is great, for being a phenominal template. Interestingly enough, I was listening to some of the backup vocalists on tracks such as "Ain't No Cure for Love", "Everybody Knows" and "Take This Waltz" when it dawned on me. I still don't care much for Cohen's vocals or his drone delivery, but I can think of plenty of other artists that I would love to hear perform these songs. And that's ok, right? This is the 1001 best _albums_, not 1001 best performers. BTW - What is the world was going on with "Jazz Police"?!

Not a huge fan of this sound. First time I have listened to Leonard Cohen in earnest. It is interesting but nothing I would choose to listen to again. 2/5

Grating. Not added.

I wish I could be a fan of Leonard Cohen, but it just doesn't work for me. This is better than the previous, more folk based Cohen album that I got before, but just not my cup of tea. After about halfway through, I thought I'd give it a 3, but then I listened to the cringey "I'm Your Man". 2.

Not heard before. I do like LC, but this is absolutely drowned in awful plastic 80s production.

I'm not really in the mood for Leonard Cohen today, but this lil' project really doesn't discriminate there... or rather, it ALWAYS discriminates haha. I never really feel like whatever is presented, today's no different. Maybe this will be a nice surprise, being 1988 and all. Maybe it sounds like Guns n Roses. Fingers crossed eh? Ok it's not gunners... but I wasn't expecting this. It's like synthy, dark kinda pop? it sounds like the soundtrack to a leisure suit larry game. I can see what he was going for, but it doesn't really work imo. The music is a bit too muzak-ey, a bit too upbeat even in its kinda hushed way, for his vocals. No comment on the lyrics. And Jazz Police.... what in the fuck? hahah. this is just shit. complete, utter shit. I think my biggest gripe though is that Cohen honestly can't sing. He struggles to stay in tune even within the limited kinda baritone range he has. Most of the time it sounds like he's too insecure to even try singing, just opts to kinda half-speak, half-sing instead. Kinda like Mark Knopfler did, but nowhere near as well. Soon as Cohen goes for it the bum notes hit you like a ton of bricks. 2/5.

Didn't think the music worked with his presentation style. Lyrically rich with many opportunities for others to cover.

Con questo album ho capito una cosa: Leonard Cohen non fa per me. E' innegabile che il suo stile è molto personale, che c'è una certa cura e raffinatezza nei pezzi e nei testi, ma artisticamente l'insieme mi arriva molto narcisista e auto-celebrativo. Il suo modo di cantare mi stanca molto rapidamente e lo trovo parecchio monocorde e qui non aveva scuse. La produzione è molto '80 coi gli slap bass alla Seinfeld. Non m'ha convinto. Direi un 2.5 che non merita il 3.

This soft rock album from the late 80's is Leonard Cohen's 8th album, and it represents his evolution into "modern sound". The album went on to be his best-selling. Cohen had his singing voice spot-on for this album and he brought in a lot more instruments to modernize the music. This album - like his others - is moody; it can be dark or sad at one point, and funny or upbeat at another. Not my go-to music choice, but I'm glad I got a chance to listen to this album!

#/5 - Did not listen

Yeah Leonard, your poetry is great and all, but can you make it more 80's? - Say no more. Opens very synthy, followed by a few less memorable rambly tracks. "Take This Waltz" sounds very Roger Waters-esque and is probably the highlight of the album for me. Can't say I'm convinced by the backup singers. Overall an unoffensive album, decent enough background noise.

Tja, prachtige teksten, heel moeilijk luisteren. Ik kom er niet doorheen.

Some instrumentation is really unique, but when the singing starts it seems like the songs just drag on and on. His voice is not really interesting and accompaniment is way too bare, especially contrasted with the introductions of each song. Lyrics are just rudimentary.

Not a huge fan of the dragging intonation in his voice. His voice is rich and smooth which is nice, but that's about the only thing going for this album for me.

I tried to see the beauty in it but the Leonard's baritone voice was an eerie.

I’ve heard great things about Leonard Cohen so I was curious going into this album. Another album I had to shuffle so that maybe made a difference but damn it felt slow. Some of the songs were nice musically but I feel like Leonard Cohen’s singing and lyrics kinda put me off. Couldn’t stop thinking I bet this guy wears a fedora describes things as “groovy” and calls people he likes a “cool cat”. Also it felt weirdly jarring every time he started talking about wanting to see someone naked like you were hearing your grandad say it. I wasn’t having an awful time listening to this but it wasn’t great. That all changed when “Jazz Police” came on. I couldn’t believe my ears, this music it’s… it’s… HYSTERICAL. Dunno if it was meant to be but damn it was a good time. Apparently this “Jazz Police” are “Wild as any freedom loving racist”. Are they racists? Or are they arresting racists? Are they after Cohen because he’s racist or something else? Regardless Cohen says “Jazz police I think I'm falling, I'm falling for you” he’s falling in love with a WHOLE POLICE FORCE?? WHO MIGHT BE RACIST?? The plot thickens when we find out “Jazz police are working for my mother (😱), Blood is thicker margarine than grease” (🤷‍♂️) Whether you think Cohen is guilty or not (of…uh… jazzing?) at this point should not matter as he condemns himself with the following lines “Stick another turtle on the fire, Guys like me are mad for turtle meat” What a sick bastard. 10/10 song. ((Side note: after this album finished his song “Hallelujah” came on which I believe he originally wrote and god damn he ruined his OWN song, I can think of 4 versions of this song better than the original and that’s rare))

Well... I tried... I still don't get the appeal of Leonard Cohen.

My familiarity with Cohen only gets a little further than Hallelujah. I was surprised by the first track, with the synthesizer sound that feels very much like the 80s. The first track sounded familiar too, but everthing else was a new listen. "Jazz Police" is the track that is holding this album down just below 3 stars. The rest of the album is okay, including some tracks that are barely in the "okay" range. It was my first listen, but "Jazz Police" feels like I would want to skip the track every time. The backing vocals... yeesh.

I'm 4 songs in now, and I'm not really enjoying it. Honestly it makes me a little uncomfortable, like he's trying to hit on me and I've told him no 5 times already. I'll listen to the rest but I'm probably gonna give it a 2 cuz I don't like it. I would give it a 1, but the recording is well done.

Heavy synth and spoken voice, not fitting well Leonard Cohen. I prefer much more the original classic Leonard Cohen style.

Very gruff and at times dark - reminds me a bit of jeremy irons. Not sure what I think, songwriting is pretty cool but I wouldn't return to this. Saved: First We Take Manhattan

This didn't do a whole lot for me, I like Leonard Cohen but felt his lyricism was neutered here and the production fairly weak and trying to cash in on some sophisti-pop phase in the 90s.

I mean its not terrible but I just cannot be bothered with it. Its silly.

Cohen is apparently a very talented musician. But it's just not something that I fully understand.

More 80s sound but he doesn't do a great deal of singing. It's more like speaking into the mic. 3/10.

I appreciate his lyrics, but not my kind of record.

Not for me

Ok, Leonard Cohen can write some really good songs, but my goodness are his performances of them bad…. There’s a reason it feels like no one’s heard the original “Hallelujah” and this album is the same way. I could see someone else taking anyone of these songs and making them significantly better. Favorite tracks: “First We Take Manhattan” and “Take This Waltz - Paris Version”

Man, you guys were mean to Rufus. Who are drag queens supposed to listen to when they’re sad, huh?? Leonard Cohen? Maybe. But not this one. I can’t handle the instrumentation. “Jazz police”? Oof. “Everybody Knows” is still cool, but give me the early stuff, please.

"Everybody Knows" says this album wants a 3+ rating. "Jazz Police" says it should be a 2.

This was too synthy for me

RIP

@@½. Wonderful voice, weird songs with almost electronic sound.

weird slow vibes . i dont think ill listen again

Blaaaah

Different than I thought it would be.

Awful

Leonard's writing is great in places but kind of bad in others (e.g. "Jazz Police" is ridiculous but "Tower of Song" gets humble-braggy really fast). The instrumentals and production sound dated in a way only the late 80s truly can. Not for me. Favorite tracks: "Jazz Police", "Everybody Knows"

Not a bad album. He is a very interesting musician.

🤮

Jazz Police gotta lock this guy up for this album

I fucking hate Leonard Cohen. I sure hope I don't get any more albums from him on here. SHIT!

Oh boy…this one stunk. Some of the tracks are so cheesy that I got second hand embarrassment just listening to it. There’s maybe 2 songs that are passable but not really anything special. But man most of the album is a boring old man reading out his lame “romantic” poetry over some half assed digitized bass/drums and cheese synths…

Leonard Cohen and Synthesizers is the equivalent of putting mayonaise on your icecream sunday. It just feels wrong. It just doesn't feel right. I get it, as an artist wanting to keep with the times, but this feels unnecessarily forced. Like some old guy trying to be young & fresh by using the word dope every few sentences. I'm sure the lyrics were deep and poetic, but I just could not get over how bad the instrumentation sounded, the backup singers just added to the cheese. Crazy how I loved his other albums so much, and this one just majorly flopped for me, huge let down. I am shocked that this did so well when it was released, something must have been in the water back in the 80's. Also the album art sucks... sorry not sorry Leonard, I know you can do wayyyyy better than this.

Leonard: “I’m Your Man” Me: “No, you most certainly are not after being forced to listen to five — that’s right, FIVE — of your albums.” Leonard: “Five? Yeah, that’s far too many.”

dnf

Not a fan of Leonard Cohen and this didn't change my mind

What the fuck am I missing with Leonard Cohen? I listened to I’m Your Man expecting to at least understand the appeal, and instead I got one of the most joyless, talentless, self-important piles of musical sludge I’ve ever heard. His “singing” sounds like a drunk funeral director mumbling into a broken answering machine, and the music underneath it is somehow even worse: cheap, limp, lifeless synth garbage that feels less like production and more like punishment. I can usually hear something in music I don’t personally like. I can respect the craft, the energy, the originality, the performance, something. But with Leonard Cohen, I hear absolutely nothing. No hooks, no beauty, no emotional power, no musical talent, no reason for this to exist except for people to pretend boredom is depth. The whole thing feels like bad poetry stapled to the most miserable karaoke backing tracks ever made. The fact that I’m Your Man ends up on “albums to hear before you die” lists is genuinely insulting. Before I die? I want the time I spent listening to this back. This album has all the charm of a wet ashtray, all the energy of a corpse in a suit, and all the musical value of someone whispering depressing pickup lines over a Casio demo track. I hated every second of it.

I can’t believe I have to suffer through Leonard Cohen five times on this damn album generator. His voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I was thinking of maybe giving this a 2 because I know it’s supposed to be more lyrics-based but the music behind him got worse as the album went on. It just made me more and more mad as I listened to more songs. Ugh. Terrible.

It's like Bela lugosi came back & put out an album. I never got the fascination with Leonard Cohen & it looks like I'll never get it.

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

Jesus, I fucking hate this

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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)

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

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.

Not for me.

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.

not my style

Quick someone call the Jazz police

“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”

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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