Songs Of Love And Hate

I'm writing this review on the day I learned with sadness that Leonard had departed for the great unknown. I am attaching this praise for Cohen to Songs of Love and Hate in appreciation of how much the songs on it helped me through a dark period. It consoled and wrapped its arms around me in the night time hours when I felt so lost and alone. The spare arrangements and deeply poetic language are profound on any given day, but as a whole piece the album became a friend that really understood and felt as I did at that time. It wasn't that the music dragged me down. It was that it helped keep me afloat. I love all of his 60s and 70s albums up to New Skin. I also strongly recommend the live album with several tracks not on the studio albums. It sometimes feels more like a holy rite than a musical trip. Only Leonard could write this stuff- often deceptively simple yet impossible to duplicate/match. There is fire in the belly of this album as well- Diamonds in the Mine is contagious. Most particularly, this spoke to me when I needed it to. His guitar driven work is far more to my taste than his later synthersizer stuff, a part fro I'm Your Man. He was an artist in all he did and until the very end. Rest in piece LC and thank you for poetry...long may it echo.

You can never go wrong with early Cohen. Lyrically the words are sculptured from pure gold, and floated on melodies from the mind of real genius. Leonard Cohen was part of my musical history, and this album is a treasure.

Cohen's third album after 'songs of...' and 'songs from a room' is decidedly bleak. I found it less rewarding and musically inferior to these although many millions disagree. It's still a four star album but better preceded and followed. Maybe it'll grow on me, i've had it since 1971.

If you love Leonard Cohen then all his work is incredible, this certainly is. It empathises with your pain and takes you though it and up and out the other side. I have loved his work for over 45 years.

always wanted an album, like most had the best of for decades.

Excellent 3rd album from Leonard Cohen, lyrically dazzling as you would expect, but it also has quite a rich sound despite the sparse instrumentation. Like this album, I think Cohen's voice is quite underrated.Only 8 tracks is its only downfall, but it does contain two of his best in Last Years Man and Famous Blue Raincoat, but I get the feeling that in years to come a song like Joan Of Arc will have grown in stature.

I had it on vinyl so nice to put these songs onto MP3

It is totally diferent type of music that I listen to , but I find it grabs you and you Liston. It can be a bit depressive if you are feeling low.