Songs Of Love & Hate - LEONARD COHEN***

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

Folk songwriter Leonard Cohen’s album Songs Of Love & Hate is considered to be his darkest, as he explores the feelings that accompany deep emotions with poignant lyrics and original imagery. (US:145 UK:4)

“My problem was the impenetrable nature of Cohen's words, in which they form a shield between him and the listener. Intriguing and enchanting as the album is, it's difficult to form any real attachment to it.”

“Songs Of Love And Hate is a truly dark and upsetting album. Cohen has never played cheerful music but nowhere is it near as deep and sad as this LP. Avalanche is my favourite contemporary folk track with its threatening and majestic atmosphere. It's an intense and lyrically very strong folk album with some flaws but incredible atmosphere.”

“This record is similar in sound, mood and compositions to his debut, but the arrangements are fortunately stripped down and the overall atmosphere is even more desolate. Although Cohen never was big on diversity, the tracks here show a surprising emotional versatility. Avalanche and the suicidal Dress Rehearsal Rag are pure distilled depression on vinyl following Cohen’s deep voice into the darkness. Last Year’s Man and Famous Blue Raincoat are melancholic, but incredibly gentle in their performance. My favourites Sing Another Song Boys and Joan Of Arc sport a calm and collected resignation.”

“The tone is darker, both musically and lyrically than anything he has done before. From the brilliant opening track Avalanche right through to the closing track, Joan Of Arc, which tells the tale from the point of view of the fire engulfing her, the tone never lets up and is all the more interesting and rewarding as a result.”

“As you can deduce from the album’s title, the two themes that Cohen ceaselessly explores are love and hate. Through each song, he also explores the feelings that invariably accompany these broader emotions by writing poignant lyrics and crafting some of the most original imagery I’ve ever listened to.”

“A devastating, cynical, bitter, spiteful, and very occasionally hopeful album from Leonard Cohen, who applies his razor barbed wit to these grim, stripped-down compositions. Some tracks are quite oppressive in their bleakness.”