Songs From A Room – LEONARD COHEN***

Bird On A Wire/Story Of Isaac/A Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes/The Partisan/Seems So Long Ago Nancy/The Old Revolution/The Butcher/You Know Who I Am/Lady Midnight/Tonight Will Be Fine

Songs From A Room was the follow up album from Leonard Cohen, with a collection of similar sounding songs sung in a monotonous drone to a sparse backing. (US:63 UK:2)

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. Some of these songs probably look better on page than they sound to the ear. The arrangements lack the creativity to support the grandiose depth of the lyrics."

"I found this album a bit boring and sometimes even annoying. At one point I couldn't stand it anymore and turned it off. I don't know exactly what triggers this. Maybe I will give it another try in a year or so."

"This is dark even by his standards, a remarkable look at Vietnam and the 1960s generation gap from the enigmatic Canadian. While there is nothing overtly topical about the then current issues at hand, youth alienation and war are addressed metaphorically throughout the set."

"This is my first exposure to Leonard Cohen, and I'm pretty impressed. Songs From A Room can best be described as a haunting, quiet atmosphere combined with a sad style of softly sung folk-rock including acoustic guitars and other pleasant arrangements. It's pretty good, though I have to be in a certain mood in order to really appreciate it."

"With Songs From A Room Cohen writes with conviction and his vocals are impeccable. What I love about him is that he believes what he sings about. Story Of Isaac is a great track which harkens back to the Old Testament in a very subtle and well done way. The Partisan is a great track that talks about World War Two. This song is not written by Cohen but he does a great rendition of it."

"Leonard has always been late night listening and never more than here. The vocals are mostly quiet, low-key and, for Leonard, more on key than not. The arrangements are equally simple. And the mood, despite five songs of revolution and other violence, is consistently introspective."