Reviews (page 8 of 9)
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"
It’s really hard to sound this goofy and still not even be a little bit enjoyable. Awful listen, super cheap sounding.
Um, no... you are definitely NOT my man.
I'm learning via this album generator that I am not a Leonard Cohen fan. It feels like I'm at a coffee shop poetry slam, not listening to music.
This came across as horrible as Pat Boone covering metal albums. Leonard Cohen trying to sound modern and hip is the exact opposite to what I want to listen to him do.
Overall, this was disappointing. Not a lot of good vocal work, which was the expectation. Left no impression. Wouldn't listen again.
I've always considered Leonard Cohen one of the greatest wirdsmiths if our time. Apparently I was wrong
Safe to say this list has proven that I'm not a Leonard Cohen fan.
No the hell you're not.
This was rough. I don't always know what he's talking about, but in these songs I don't even believe he's talking about anything. I was actually skipping tracks.
Okay, he wrote some great lyrics, I give you that. But he can not sing! To me it sounds like drunk Uncle Bob doing Karaoke in a hotel bar - but without the fun. Awful!
Unlike the other reviews here I do not think his singing is bad. His singing is just really jarring with these synth beats, and the music itself is pretty boring too.
I feel like I’m on Candid Camera. How does this guy have so many albums on this list?? How are any of these albums rated highly by the critics?? It’s just a joke. Really bad music and singing.
No disrespect to the fella, but this is poor. My third album of his thank god there’s only two more. Couldn’t even finish it
the jazz police are coming to arrest leonard cohen. 1/5.
This is now the 3rd Leonard Cohen album I've had on this list, and so far I've given them 2/5. This is mostly because I don't hate them and I understand that there is a lot of respect for the man. But honestly I'm not really sure why, I get that his lyrics are clever, but they don't make up for his voice and the music which in this case is some of the worse of the 80's sins all on one album which what seems to be little to no production value. This is my 264th album on this list and I feel as if they need to introduce the "Ed Sheeran rule" from the UK charts, which is where an artist can only have 3 songs in the charts at one time. It seems crazy the Leonard gets 5 albums, David Bowie gets 9, The Beatles 7, and Bruce Springsteen gets 5 as well. But then Artic Monkeys and Dr Dre only get 1 each how is 2001 not on this list? I'm sure there are other artist that deserve better as well. And I get that the ones I listed are considered some of the best we have but really it should be "here are 3 of their albums that best represent various parts of them, if you like it go listen to the rest." Rather than it all being on the list and preventing some lesser know artist getting some love.
The music has a lot of 80s style with the synths but the vocals are very bland and one note. It sounds like he isn't putting much effort into the singing and is expecting his voice and the lyrics to carry the songs. The mixing is also very lopsided with the music super quiet and vocals too loud for my liking.
This gives me the ick
no me gusto
Blind album and artist. I cannot stand this at all. I was so glad the album ended. He's a talented musician with a beautiful low vocal range, but i would've rather had an album with just the background singers. Its like his voice and theirs created an uncanny valley too wide for me and it was offputting. For example, I love pizza. Its got everything that you like, but this dudes voice is the anchovies on the pizza and I do not want god damn fish on my pizza. Ruined. 1.
Somebody should have been honest with Leonard. This ain’t it.
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
Enttäuschend
Lame.
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
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.
- 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 do not understand the appeal of this guy at all. This was awful.
Like a bad Bowie on some kind of drug trip. I could barely stand it. 1/5
Oh ffs please put something decent up here
Imagine a Pet Shop Boys album but instead of Neil Tennant singing, it's Neil's gravel-voiced grandad on vocals, talk-singing his way through the numbers while struggling to keep pace with the rhythm. Also, instead of Chris Lowe's snappy synthesizer hooks, it's just a series of bland chords strung together. Toss in a trio of backing vocalists to try to prop up grandad and voilà, you've got Leonard Cohen's does-not-work-on-any-level *I'm Your Man*. (You can also tell this album is self-produced because Cohen's voice is *way* out in front in the mix, and apparently no one at the label had the guts to tell him "no".)
me niego rotundamente
Shite
Yo creo que Leonard Cohen ha tenido un estilo distinto al de este álbum en otras épocas y creo que esos otros estilos me pueden llegar a atraer más que este.
This is Leonard Cohen?! I always hear his name talked about in such reverence so it was a surprise to hear him casually drawling over some corny 80s backing tracks. This was terrible.
Absolutely awful. I assumed he was a singer but he just talks to music. Weird.
How this reached #1 on any chart I'll never know. God what a bad album.
Just boring drivel and Jazz Police. Maybe some of the lyrics are good, I don't know. Maybe "guys like me are mad for turtle meat" has poetic depths I can't comprehend.
1/5
Ach Du Scheiße. Das ist ja noch schlimmer als das Songs of Love and Hate Album das ich im Juni hören musste. Da fällt es mir schwer einen Stern vergeben zu müssen.
Cohen's voice has so much potential for some high quality music but his singing style feels so uninspired and there's not much going on if you take the vocals out.
Fucking awful.
This low, slow talk-singing is very grating. I know he has many fans but I don’t know how.
A trudge of melancholy awfulness
This guy confuses me so much. Sometimes he's brilliant, but other times he's (seemingly) intentionally bad. There's a couple of decent songs on here (Manhattan and Everybody), but apart from that, terrible. Also creepy
I don't know what's more surprising: that this was apparently a number 1 record in multiple countries, or that someone thought that anyone who had thus far blissfully missed this abortion *needed* to hear it before they died. I can practically smell the pink neon tube lights, hair gel, and suit jackets with massive shoulder pads oozing out of my headphones. This is bad.
Listened to this album years ago because a girl-friend of mine liked it. It was OK then and it's OK now. But nothing special.
"No you are not." This would have been my concise review, but it was already taken :( Well, more words, then: this album sucks, mightily. I could write it off as "I don't like it", maybe mention the odd laugh I got out of it, but recently the generator happened to show me two albums from the same era by that other North-American singer/songwriter/wordsmith with a gravelly, raspy and dark voice who inhibits a not dissimilar spot in music and hey! I've just, mid-sentence - no lie! - discovered Cohen had written a poem about him! Whaddayaknow! Here's an excerpt: "[...] his music begin—it is so beautiful and original and sophisticated—so much better than mine—[...] You see, Leonard, it's because you made stuff like this, duh (No offense, R.I.P.). But seriously, borrowing the Every Breath You Take guitar? The Shine on You Crazy Diamond synth? And then the most generic brass preset played by some keyboard's automatic accompaniment feature? Compared to what - you may have guessed it - Tom Waits was up to during that time, it's all so trivially and dime-store corny, including some of the lyrics, I can't believe it's supposed to be a sincere expression. The fucking CASIO™ Eurostile font on the album's cover being the icing on this lazy 80s shitcake. What a package. After the great "Songs of Love and Hate", the boring "You Want it Darker", "I'm Your Man" makes Leonard Cohen the new entry to my profile's *Controversial Artists*.
Why is this even on the list? Who decided this?
didn’t rlly like his voice or the music lyrics were ok
I don’t even need to listen to this to know I’m going to hate this. 40ish minutes later: yep that was ass. Please, no more Leonard Cohen.
Not for me. 1/5
Dirge city. The song Ain't No Love was a horny dirge. Made me antisexual.
I’m Your Man - Leonard Cohen Jesus H Tap Dancing Christ I absolutely HATED this. Honestly it might be my least enjoyable album so far. Two Cohen albums so far and I am not a fan.
Meh
sorry but no - just sounds like the worst of the 80s
Turns out he’s not the man for me.
Jesus this is terrible. I don’t mind Cohen’s monotone drawl but I mind how cheap and disinterested everything else sounds.
Liked the music part of it but the vocals were not it
There are unbelievably five — five! — Leonard Cohen albums on this list, and this one is my third unpleasant listening experience because of his annoying music. I can’t understand why some artists get so much prestige, like Elvis Costello and Brian Eno, just to name a few examples. For these and other reasons, this list has completely lost its credibility! Once again: unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable, and unbelievable!
Not a fan of Cohen's singing-speaking, and adding 80s backing vocal/synths isn't helping. Even if you want to be like, his lyrics are good, some of the lyrics were creepy/cringy af. Did not enjoy this one at all, 1*
Not my cup of tea. Like Cohen as songwriter but this album is just not good for my ear.
Not for me.
boring
How tf is this on the list??!??
I feel like I’m supposed to like this. I appreciate that he’s an excellent lyricist. But this album was all the bad 80s things with terrible singing.
Wtf
MIDI instruments have a lot to answer for
Cheer up, mate. The 80s electronics don't help, dating the sound somewhat.
So weird. Very 80s, he doesn't really sing. ugh
Dude was talking in tune. Did not enjoy this one. Instrumentation and backgrounds were decent, but man the thing I focus on is an artist's voice, and I did not like this.
Bad karaoke to a musical no one wanted. The only upside to Leonard Cohen's "singing talent" is, how easy it is to tell how terrible his lyrics are.
1.5 - Bad
Ugh, this shit's dumb
I will actively avoid listening to this again. Sounds like an aging artist trying to stay relevant with synths, and missing the mark
I listened to this with Jordan, he poisoned me against it. I just spent the whole time laughing. More like 1.5 stars.
Shit
Couple of decent songs but good god is it a slog
Haha Leonard Cohen goes 80s pop. Even weirder than I thought possible. I remain beyond baffled how Leonard Cohen has like 8 albums on this list. I hate him with every fiber. 1/10 (0.5/5)
Just as boring as usual
no
This is terrible. Old man whispersinging. I really feel like there is nothing redeeming about this album. Why is this here?
I hated every second of this record’s truly sinister vibes. It’s intimate to the point where it makes my skin crawl. Step away from the mic, Leonard.
Leonard Nohen
This is extremely bad 1/5
I had to check that I was listening to the right album and not some 1980s Synth-Pop album, but then he started singing. Horrible up-beat 1980s Synth-Pop music with Leonard Cohen's depressing vocals - the worst of both worlds.
well this was surely interesting 😅 i’m learning throughout this project i am absolutely not a fan of leonard cohen. “take this waltz” was the only song i even remotely liked. couldn’t even finish listening to the title track as lyrics were … not something i enjoyed 😅 “jazz police” was a song that gave me many laughs 😆 on a second listen…. “first we take manhattan” actually slaps 😆 it’s stanky and i am finding myself head bopping haha 1.7/5
good voice but 1
I have no idea what people were thinking in the 80s. The music has aged so badly that I can't hear anything else besides a Casio running into a million dollar soundboard.
Only ever aware of Suzanne by this man, but he has been the but for many a comedians comic quip. It started off OK, he has a good voice, but it just got more and more depressing as it went on.
After hearing the other Cohen album on this list, I wasn’t expecting that opener! Knew the song, but hadn’t expected such a camp disco vibe. The rest returned to the form I expected and was morosely dull.
I love J&MC's cover of 'Tower of Song', it's a bit of a wall of noise, like a lot of their songs. So I was hoping for great things from Leonard's alleged return to form. I didn't get them, it wasn't very good, the cheesy synths made it worse. I don't like poetry either, so he was on a hiding to nothing.
Not for me
Yo...Dimery! Bruh! I already made it perfectly clear that I do NOT enjoy the music of Leonard Cohen. You seem to think that forcing his entire catalog upon my ears will change my mind. It won't. In fact, each successive album makes me dislike it even more and makes me kinda angry. I'll give this album .0001 stars only because Concrete Blonde's cover of "Everybody Knows" was pretty OK. Otherwise, zero stars.
Forgettable late 80s synthpop, and Cohen's voice is hilarously bad. It is not completely unlistenable as some other albums, but I don't want to give it a 2 which is only 2 stars away from albums that are great and many times are almost 5 star albums. So yeah, I'm giving this 1 star.
This was horrible. Like he was trying to sound modern with synthesizers and electric drums. I feel like he tried to write a rap song on “jazz police”……ugh!
Uhhh okay.
Ugh. Out of key talking accompanied by simplistic electronic music.
I know that Leonard Cohen is a Canadian treasure...but for poetry. I find this so difficult to listen to. The music, mostly electronic, is absolutely terrible. That voice. Let's just say Cohen's talk-singing baritone is not my favourite. First We Take Manhattan is a great song...as long as Cohen isn't singing it. Same goes for Everybody Knows.
Offensive to music and humanity
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
Great songs with very poor singing. Even worse than Dylan.
Thanks I hate it
Did not age that well in my opinion but it kinda grows on you. You have to have an appreciation for Cohen's "singing". I only know some of his later songs and the songs on this album are kind of forgettable with a few exceptions. Favorite Song: Everybody knows
It's nuts hearing this after listening to the milquetoast Songs of Leonard Cohen. 80s synth music is shockingly bad. Sorry not sorry!!
I never got into Leonard Cohen's music. Like in Bob Dylan's case, I always thought the covers were way better. He creeps me out
What the fuck was that!? I'm clearly not the target market for whatever this is. Creepy weirdo talk-singing about nonsense while cheesy 80s synth-pop plays in background is not my cup of tea.
😴
I need to call electrician for this unnecessary electro
Whats the obsession on this list with singers who can't sing???? who enjoys this? honestly this was awful. WHY IS THIS ON THIS LIST????
First line in the album sums up my thoughts about seeing another Leonard Cohen album appear: "They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom"
I am laughing and how hilariously bad Leonard Cohen is.
They sentenced me to 41 minutes of boredom.
wow. i mean good for him but it’s corny af
Awful. Just awful.
He's past his prime at this point. Pretty bad. Sounds exactly like somebody trying to hard to be good again.
fuck I can't listen to this shit. it's like very boring + very unpleasant voice which seems to be like in a some strange porno or smth
Oh dear. Great lyrics and songwriting drowned in 80s production. I really wish somebody did a reworking of this album. Jo Cocker did a cover of First we take Manhattan which isn't going easy on the adult contemporary production, but it still stands so tall above Cohen's original in that regard, it's not even funny. And the whole album is like that, and First we take Manhattan isn't even the worst offender (that title goes to Jazz Police). I thoroughly enjoy Cohen's last four albums, but this is such a hard pass for me... So... Dear estate of Leonard Cohen, can we have a more timeless rework, please? Because there are some good songs here, buried beneath all that shitty production.
Fucking bad. I see many reviews praising the lyricism, but I don’t get it. A lot of the lyrics are creepy. I don’t want to hear an old man growling lustfully about naked women over shitty 80s synth. The silver lining is: I’m only 6 months in, and I’ve already suffered through 3/4 Leonard Cohen albums on this list. I got them out of the way.
Wow, I like Cohen's Best Of from the late 70's, but this 80's stuff is crap.
No
Ugh, in comparison to some 1980s artists who produced timeless music, this is so dated. The tinny production brings back memories of big hair, neon colors...mass-produced aspects of the 1980s I'd soon forget.
The best piece of uncomfortable shit ever.
Not the Cohen album I wanted or needed
Awful. Casio music. Crude and lazy lyrics. Bad production.
UGHHH, another one!?! How many of this creep's albums are on this damn list? All are garbage. This one is just 80's tinted garbage amassing to the masterpiece of a dumpster fire that is the song "Jazz Police".
Creepy, would not be surprised if a sex offender.
I know Leonard Cohen is a Canadian legend but I think I like his songs better when they are covered by other people. It's a little too poetry heavy for my liking. The 80s synth instruments are very heavy handed on this album too...
I don't understand the appeal of this album. In any way. I would rather listen Leonard Cohen eat the banana that's featured on the cover for 41 minutes than listen to this ever again.
What in the actual fuck did I just listen to? This is beyond terrible. This sounds like the High School class-clown participating in the talent show as a goof. I wish I could give it 0 stars. Leonard is a great poet, but oh man should he stick to that and leave music alone if this is what he has to offer. I'm honestly at a complete loss to find a single redeemable aspect of this album. This doesn't even sound like a failed experiment. It simply sucks.
It’s too theater performative to for my taste.
Horrible
Didn’t actually listen but I’m just not into this guy
I know this is considered a masterpiece, but I thought it was cheesy in a very 80's way.
i love weird stuff but not this kind of weird
Negatives
What did I just listen to. While the lyrics were good, the 80s synths just killed my taste for this album
1.25/1.5 not for me. I like the harmonies and come aspects. Idk man he ain't that good
Is this guy actually singing or just talking cringely?
I am going to kill Leonard Cohen.
пидор без голоса поёт околошансон с продакшеном 80х срань ебаная
He may be good at poetry but I don’t give a fuuuuuuuuuck, this album stanks!
This is miles worse than listening to Dylan's endless harmonica. Was the budget only good enough for a children's Casio keyboard?? I give it a star solely because by the end I was laughing hysterically at how bad the music production of this album is.
I only liked Take This Waltz.
Leonard Cohen is one of those musicians that you expect to be floored by. I wouldn't listen to this album again. It was a difficult listen. Made me uncomfortable. Jazz police? Wanting to see someone naked? The production is so 1980s, cheesy backing vocals, lift-music style instrumentals, fade-outs, and his vocal delivery is.... idiosyncratic. He sounds like Tom Waits but it's earnest and sort of half-singing, half talking. Not my cup of tea.
I understand that Leonard has an iconic and great voice, but it's hard for me to get into his music.
Nope. Nope and nope. I'd rather listen to Bob Dylan on repeat.
Its like if Sadness from Inside Out were in charge of a slam poetry evening. I'm surprised I made it out without topping myself.
I really don’t get the appeal.
das klingt wie die musik von william shatner nur slightly besser