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Songs of Love and Hate | 
 enlarge | Artist: Leonard Cohen
Label: Sony
Category: Music
New (9) Used (22) Collectible (1) from $2.99
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 102039
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 074646695128
EAN: 0074646695128
ASIN: B000002AZY
Release Date: February 7, 1995
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| Tracks:
| • | Avalanche | | • | Last Year's Man | | • | Dress Rehearsal Rag | | • | Diamonds in the Mine | | • | Love Calls You by Your Name | | • | Famous Blue Raincoat | | • | Sing Another Song, Boys | | • | Joan of Arc |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Classic Cohen June 18, 2008
This is a definitive collection of Leonard Cohens early songs. Remastered in 1995, a few of the songs are recorded live, but most are studio recordings. The CD contains the beautiful & classic FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT and JOAN OF ARK. There is DRESS REHEARSAL RAG, a brutally frank portrait of a junkie at the end of the line. AVALANCHE and LAST YEAR'S are fantastic samples of the poet's unique style contrasting the spiritual and the physical, the daemonic & the divine. DIAMONDS IN THE MINE is a live song and it's a pity that the women's vocals aren't emphasized more because they sound very, very good. Sometimes on this particular song Cohen's singing becomes almost self-parody. It's the only song I didn't care much for--but 1 out of 8 isn't bad at all, particularly considering the value of the CD as a whole.
FYI: Since first writing this review I see that the CD is no longer available directly from Amazon. However, other sources are listed & you can usually trust this option, particularly from sellers with a 100% customer approval rating. While using this option does not qualify for an Amazon shipping discount, Amazon still guarantees that you will receive what you ordered--providing you order from this website. I have taken advantage of this option for 4 or 5 CDs & have been totally satisfied with the product, and actually received my order sooner than expected.
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The Rain Falls Down on Last Year's Man February 20, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The first song sets the tone for the album. Avalanche is just what it sounds like... a man's life caving in on top of him sung with bitterness, bile and sarcasm, his trademark guitar propelling the ballad forward, stark and primal. And it only gets better from there. Cohen's voice is raw and powerful on every track, often framed by the celestial chorus of women's voices that offer a sharp contract to his. Well know songs on the CD include Famous Blue Raincoat and Joan of Arc. But the lesser known songs are gems in their own right. Especially gloomy are the self-mocking Last Year's Man and suicidal fantasy Dress Rehearsal Rag, both with brilliant lyrics.
Deservedly the CD continues to grow in stature over the years. This music is sure to be a party killer, but perfect to listen to when you're alone, depressed, angry, smoldering with love and hate.... an anthem to the dark genius of Cohen.
One of Cohen's best, IMHO February 7, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Can't get this on iTunes since it is an import. This is Cohen at his peak. If you have no Leonard Cohen - give this one a try!
Dark and Brilliant January 28, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not the kind of album you want to put on when having a cocktail party. It's alone music. But it is a harrowing, brilliant album. Songs of Love and Hate begins with Cohen's trademark flamenco guitar and winds it's way through stark children's choruses and spine-tingling string accompaniments. But Cohen's startling lyrics take center stage. He is a poet on caliber with Bob Dylan. This album is so uncommercial, however, that it is out of print. I got my copy on eBay. The album hits a peak with track 4, "Diamonds In the Mine" a raucous, fun number where Cohen sounds dangerously unhinged. Just as it sounds like he's lost control, we return to his solo acoustic guitar on track 5, "Love Calls You By Your Name." The towering, depressing "Famous Blue Raincoat" is featured on every Cohen retrospective and tribute album (of which there are several). It starts out with the poet intoning, "It's four in the morning, the end of September, I'm writing you now, just to see if you're better..." There's something about being awake at four in the morning. It's not the night, and it's not really the morning either. Most people are not awake at this hour. Only tortured loners like Leonard Cohen. SOLAH concludes with the elegiac "Joan of Arc" which, if you haven't slit your wrists by then, will send you off with the feeling that you have just heard something raw and painfully honest from a great songwriter. The album has a very cohesive quality, as if it could have been recorded all in one night. The mood captured is consistently somber but it has the feeling of a stark, emotional moment in time that was as rare as it was brief.
His Ships Are On Fire November 19, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Because it was mostly unfamiliar, only one of the tracks appearing on Best Of LC or The Essential LC, I didn't listen to "Songs of Love and Hate" much at first. And none of it is what you'd call catchy sing-along music--maybe Diamonds in the Mine, if you can get a good scream going on by the end. But the more I listen the more I appreciate the raw emotional power than Cohen invests in these songs. "Avalanche" makes me feel a little guilty about being a liberal; "Last Year's Man" leads the listener directly to "Dress Rehearsal Rag", a state-of-mind I'd wish on no one; "Diamonds in the Mine"--a bouncy little piece of nihilism; "Love Calls You" even with its odd rhythmic structure, seems almost upbeat; after the painfully personal "Famous Blue Raincoat, Cohen invites us to "Sing Another Song, Boys" as his "ships are on fire" (I'm always right there on "she waves a Nazi dagger" for some reason). By the time the quite "Joan of Arc" comes along, we're ready for some peace, which only comes in the name of fire. All in all, an emotional juggernaut; emblematic of Cohen's genius.
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