Maybe chalk it up to a difference in the listening experience but this one just did not gel for me as much as its predecessor (which was one of the first albums I got on this list). It has a similar issue where the instrumentals prepared for each track feel like an afterthought to Cohen's writing (I know at least The Partisan is a cover, not sure about the rest). While his vocal performance still gives the impression that he only wants to put about as much effort into it to be considered singing rather than a poetry reading, I think it still matches the tone that it is going for. Which in the case of this album is a bit bleaker than I remember from Songs of Leonard Cohen, perhaps that too bummed me out on my first impressions.