Leonard Cohen

Songs of Love and Hate

"Between the moonlight and the lane..."

Review Score:

(10/10)
Stepping into Leonard`s world is like diving in an ocean; It's cold and it's hot; It's getting deeper, oh yea, and you become addicted. Eventually, your soul becomes much richer.

"Songs Of Love And Hate", his third album, is a monumental lyric creation. Winding through various human feelings, situations, prophetic statements, combining it all to the personal, emotional level. The holly solitude of the human spirit seems to be the best muse, if it brings a man to write these amazing lines: "...And you climbed the twilight mountains and you sang about the view, and everywhere that you wandered love seemed to go along with you. That's a hard one to remember, yes it makes you clench your fist. And then the veins stand out like highways, all along your wrist..." ("Dress rehearsal rag").

"Avalanche" puts you under a magical spell with it's strings arrangement and cruel passionate lyrics; "Love calls you by your name" and "Sing another song, boys" are love and longing hymns; "Diamonds in the mine", performed in a very suitable stressed voice, is musically different then the other songs, but like most of them, it is hard and bitter; "Dress rehearsal rag" will probably not make you feel better - it's melancholic and depressive - but yet brilliant, and everyone who had ever woken up in a really bad mood or had a bad trip, can see through those lines; "Famous blue raincoat" is simply one of the greatest songs ever.

This album may not be recommended as an introduction to Cohen's music - "songs Of L.C." ('67), "I'm Your Man" ('88) or one of the collections will be friendlier to the objective ear - but "Songs Of Love And Hate" is a hell of an album to have. For fans, it's a must. Hear the music, sing the words and float with the deep voice...

You will never regret after buying it.

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