The Rare Genius of a Maestro

Review Score: (10/10)
The Rare Genius of a Maestro

The unmistakable talent of Leonard Cohen was apparent from his early days, but when one looks at his work in chronological order (see below), then his need to break from his almost folksy style occurred after "New Skin for the Old Ceremony" (1974). His first experiment with a different form of expression was Death of a Ladies' Man in 1977, arguably his worst performance, and one that he himself denotes as a "catastrophe". That was also the last time that Cohen had allowed someone else (in this case, Phil Spector) to influence his work.

Recent Songs appeared in 1979, and although not always widely acclaimed, contains some of his best work as an artist. The old Cohen is still there, but the power of his poetry blends extremely well with his beautiful but haunting delivery.

Here is the watershed that is the hallmark of true art - allowing the author to break free entirely from the bonds of method and style, culminating in an exceptional and unique piece of work. In contemporary music there really is no equivalent.

On this record Cohen covers the gamut - from his cynical and outright scary "The Guests" - where he deals with his struggle to understand God - to the "Ballad of the Absent Mare" - which is an absolute testament to the power of the artist. All his work on this album is outright marvelous, but especially the cuts "The Window", "The Traitor" and "Ballard of the Absent Mare" deserves further mentioning. Here Cohen combines reason, rhyme and beauty in an apparent effortless fashion, and proves beyond any doubt why he should be considered as possibly the most outstanding English balladeer of modern time.

The record is a must for the truly discerning mind.

.

Releases in sequential order:

1997 - More Best Of Leonard Cohen

1994 - Cohen Live

1992 - The Future

1988 - I'm Your Man

1984 - Various Positions

1979 - Recent Songs

1977 - Death of a Ladies' Man

1975 - The Best of Leonard Cohen

1974 -New Skin for the Old Ceremony

1973 -Live Songs

1971 - Songs Of Love And Hate

1969 - Songs From A Room

1968 - Songs Of Leonard Cohen

More Reviews:

• Not to be missed!
• A great one
• OH MOTHER OF GOD....
• For fans only
• Poetry In Motion
• POETIC CHAMPION EXCELS!
• "But the rumors of my virtue, they moved her not at all ..."
• My top Cohen album
• The most underrated of Cohen's works . . .
• Not at his best
• EXCELENT, A WORK OF ART BY LEONARD COHEN
• Not divine, but very great
• Leonard Cohen does it again!