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List Price: $10.49 | | Label: Columbia
Salesrank: 648391
Released: January 1, 1969 |
| Our Price: $16.73 |
| Used Price: $10.50 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Songs from a Room Track Listing:
1. Bird on a Wire
2. The Story of Isaac
3. A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes
4. Partisan - Leonard Cohen, Marly, Anna
5. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy
6. The Old Revolution
7. The Butcher
8. You Know Who I Am
9. Lady Midnight
10. Tonight Will Be Fine
Editorial Review:
"I choose the rooms that I live in with care / The windows are small and the walls almost bare," Leonard Cohen sings in a particularly telling couplet in "Tonight Will Be Fine," one of the highlights in this aptly titled album from 1969. The Canadian poet-performer's sophomore release has the sub rosa feel of an attic hideaway, thanks in part to Bob Johnston's restrained production. Cohen's near-monotone vocals are suitable for conveying his finely honed, meditative musings but--at this stage in his development--not much else. Johnston's soundscapes aren't as beguiling as the ones John Simon created for Cohen's superior debut, Songs of Leonard Cohen, though lovely orchestral shadings flatter such Cohen classics as the oft-covered "Bird on the Wire" and "Story of Isaac." Songs from a Room is only a secondary effort when it's stacked up against its consummate predecessor, But by any other measurement, it's an exceptionally literate and enigmatic recording by a true original. --Steven Stolder
Songs from a Room Reviews:
Folk songs for the revolution 
2007-02-06 - This classic album was a favorite of mine through the 70's, and it's a favorite today. Cohen sings my revolutionary soul.
Stark, but Effective
2007-02-05 - The stark arrangements work well with these songs from Cohen. On many songs, Cohen is only accompanied by his guitar, a jew's harp and a bass. But it works. These songs are varied and interesting. A CD worth buying for Cohen fans.
Vintage Leonard
2007-01-03 - I bought this on vinyl when it came out and felt I needed the CD. Leonard Cohen is a great artist and cratsman of lyrics. His work remains moving after all these years.
it feels hard for me to say this.. 
2006-11-08 - but i dont get this album,the songs are not as good as his first and "songs of love and hate", 3 stars from me because,it's an uneven record,and that makes it hard to listen to,it sound's like some songs are 10 years older then others. best songs: Story of issac,lady midnight and tonight will be fine.
Leonard's solid 2nd album--an intriguing set of songs and effectively stark production 
2005-10-22 - Leonard Cohen's 1969 album "Songs From a Room" kind of picks up where his debut "Songs of Leonard Cohen" left off, offering another dose of Cohen's mysteriously poetic lyrics, his precise and carefully considered acoustic guitar parts, & his and warm and earnestly expressive vocals. Oh, and the album-closing whistling.
What's different about it? Well, John Simon, producer and musical director of the debut, is gone, and the producer this time is Bob Johnston, legendary for having previously produced Bob Dylan. Although "Songs of..." is overall quite spare, "...Room" is even more so. When that fuzzy electric guitar on "A Bunch of Lonsome Heroes" makes its first appearance, the effect is jolting, as if its been beamed in from another planet; it's also the only track on the album to prominently feature drums. Other embellishments include the string arrangement on "Bird on the Wire" and the female vocals on "The Partisan", the latter of which is partly sung in English and partly in French and is also the only song here that Cohen didn't write. A Jew's harp, of all things, adds its boing-y sound which runs pratically non-stop throughout nearly every song on the album. It generally manages to not be too prominent or distracting, and somehow it even works well when it IS mixed prominently on "The Old Revolution", but it comes across as an eyeroll-inducing gimmick on "Tonight Will Be Fine". There's also excellent atmospheric organ work lingering in the background on "Story of Isaac" and "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy".
Ironically, the weakest song here is the relatively famous "Bird on the Wire" where Cohen actually sounds like he's dumbing things down a bit in attempt to get a hit song--it's rather dull, and it's weighed down by the syrupy string arrangement and Cohen's strained melodramatic vocals.
But overall, his songwriting is strong, with his sorely underrated talent for melody being very much in evidence. "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" is something of a eulogy--it's a terrific song that's supremely haunting, yet calmly reflective and strangely uplifting. Also terrific are the creepy "Story of Isaac", which draws parallels between the Vietnam War and religion; and "Lady Midnight", an upbeat-yet-mysterious tune along the lines of the first album's "So Long, Marianne". The weirdly upbeat album closer "Tonight Will Be Fine" has an irresistibly fun sing-songy melody, and it's also quite amusing, especially Cohen's little laugh just before and leading into the 3rd verse.
So, there are some gripes with "Songs From a Room", but it's a must-have for any Cohen fan--it's an effective mood piece and an engaging collection of songs from this incredibly unique artist.
