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List Price: $7.99 | | Label: Sony Legacy
Salesrank: 2928
Released: April 24, 2007 |
| Our Price: $4.40 |
| Used Price: $4.26 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Songs of Love and Hate Track Listing:
1. Avalanche
2. Last Year's Man
3. Dress Rehearsal Rag
4. Diamonds in the Mine
5. Love Calls You by Your Name
6. Famous Blue Raincoat
7. Sing Another Song, Boys
8. Joan of Arc
9. Dress Rehearsal Rag [Early Version][#][*]
Songs of Love and Hate Reviews:
Very awesome, very deep. 
2009-05-09 - Everything on this album is very deep and summed up in the title. Another amazing ablum by the master Leonard Cohen.
Songs of Love and Hate
2009-01-22 - Songs of Love and Hate being Cohen's 1971 and his 3rd studio album is a very emotional record and songs that standout on this release are Avalanche, Dress Rehearsal Rag and Famous Blue Raincoat. The booklet is very spartan, with no lyrics and a black and white photo of Cohen smiling and only contains the listing of songs. This is an album not to be missed and I was very impressed. 5/5.
Bitter and harsh even before the ladies' man died
2008-11-15 - Like all Cohen's early albums, Songs of Love & Hate has grown in stature down the years. Other singers seem to like the songs more than Cohen does; for the collection that he compiled, Essential Leonard Cohen, he selected only one track from this album, Famous Blue Raincoat. Among those who highly esteem Songs of Love and Hate is Jennifer Warnes who covers Famous Blue Raincoat on her album of the same name which also contains a duet with Cohen on a longer version of Joan of Arc.
The Handsome Family interprets the same song on the soundtrack album Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man whilst Tori Amos performs it on Tower of Song:The Songs of Leonard Cohen. Famous Blue Raincoat is a great favorite, as Judy Collins included it on her Cohen tribute album along with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Joan of Arc. And on the appealing 1991 tribute I'm Your Fan, there is a French version of Avalanche by Jean-Louis Murat.
Sing Another Song Boys is Cohen at his bitter best, its harsh chorus atypical of the image of the poetic folkie but pointing to later songs like Lover Lover Lover on 1974's New Skin for the Old Ceremony. The fierce and uptempo Diamonds in the Mine is in the same vein, where the celestial female vocals are particularly effective in balancing Cohen's raw voice on this tale with its striking imagery. In tone, theme and delivery Diamonds in the Mine and Sing Another Song Boys are not too far removed from tracks like Iodine, Paper-Thin Hotel or Don't Go Home with your Hardhat on his much-criticized Death of a Ladies' Man (1978) that was produced by Phil Spector.
Besides the second more vibrant version of Dress Rehearsal Rag with full instrumentation & a denser sound, the original tracks are typical early Cohen. With astonishing elegance and simplicity, the haunting melodies, melancholy lyrics and ragged voice have a way of establishing themselves in the consciousness of the listener. Few other musicians touch the strings of the soul in the way that Cohen does. Dylan can do it; Nick Cave does, as do Nick Drake, Lou Reed, Richard Thompson and definitely Swans on their more gentle songs. Songs of Love and Hate is another jewel in Cohen's crown of ageless music.
Bitter, harsher Leonard
2008-08-22 - Like all Cohen's early albums, Songs of Love & Hate has grown in stature down the years. Other singers seem to like the songs more than Cohen does; for the collection that he compiled, Essential Leonard Cohen, he selected only one track from this album, Famous Blue Raincoat. Among those who highly esteem Songs of Love and Hate is Jennifer Warnes who covers Famous Blue Raincoat on her album of the same name which also contains a duet with Cohen on a longer version of Joan of Arc.
The Handsome Family interprets the same song on the soundtrack album Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man whilst Tori Amos performs it on Tower of Song:The Songs of Leonard Cohen. Famous Blue Raincoat is a great favorite, as Judy Collins included it on her Cohen tribute album along with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Joan of Arc. And on the appealing 1991 tribute I'm Your Fan, there is a French version of Avalanche by Jean-Louis Murat.
Sing Another Song Boys is Cohen at his bitter best, its harsh chorus atypical of the image of the poetic folkie but pointing to later songs like Lover Lover Lover on 1974's New Skin for the Old Ceremony. The fierce and uptempo Diamonds in the Mine is in the same vein, where the celestial female vocals are particularly effective in balancing Cohen's raw voice on this tale with its striking imagery. In tone, theme and delivery Diamonds in the Mine and Sing Another Song Boys are not too far removed from tracks like Iodine, Paper-Thin Hotel or Don't Go Home with your Hardhat on his much-criticized Death of a Ladies' Man (1978) that was produced by Phil Spector.
Besides the second more vibrant version of Dress Rehearsal Rag with full instrumentation & a denser sound, the original tracks are typical early Cohen. With astonishing elegance and simplicity, the haunting melodies, melancholy lyrics and ragged voice have a way of establishing themselves in the consciousness of the listener. Few other musicians touch the strings of the soul in the way that Cohen does. Dylan can do it; Nick Cave does, as do Nick Drake, Lou Reed, Richard Thompson and definitely Swans on their more gentle songs. Songs of Love and Hate is another jewel in Cohen's crown of ageless music.
No hate, only love for this album
2008-02-18 - All of Leonard Cohen's early albums are truly masterpieces unto themselves, and a few of his later releases are also contenders. I would unabashedly endorse "Songs of Leonard Cohen", "Songs from a Room", "New Skin for the Old Ceremony", and this album, quite possibly the finest of them all. Each of these albums features a perfect combination of rich and poetic lyrics, understated and masterful musical accompaniment, and excellent production values (now highlighted by an excellent remastering).
"Songs of Love and Hate" is definitely the darkest of the aforementioned albums, which means it is not to be played casually, and that one must be in the right mood to give it their whole-hearted attention. When these circumstances arise, this album can be totally devastating and have a hold on the listener like few others ever do.
The lyrics continue to reveal new levels of depth and detail with each listening, proving that there was good reason for Cohen to be a successful poet/author prior to his music career. One would be hard pressed to find such literate and affecting lyrics elsewhere within the lexicon of "popular music".
As mentioned before, the accompanying music ebbs and flows in all the right places: It is at times stark and spare, but also adds flourishes and character to the lyrics at all the right times. There is also a unique stylistic variety to the music, from the chamber strings of "Avalanche", to the reggae feel of "Diamonds in the Mine", to the Cabaret torch song style of "Sing Another Song Boys". Special mention must be made of female background singers: Cohen is not the most accomplished technical singer, but conveys his lyrics and the mood behind them very well. The background singers provide an exquisite contrast to his rough around the edges voice, with their almost angelic qualities.
The album works very well as a cohesive whole, which builds in intensity and attains a totally sublime feeling by the end. That said, personal favourite songs are "Love Calls You by Your Name", "Sing Another Song Boys", "Diamonds in the Mine", and "Joan of Arc".
A last word about this newly remastered/expanded version. The remastering does bring Cohen's voice to the front of the mix a little more, almost as if he's whispering in your ear on the quieter cuts. That said, many of the subtle nuances of the instrumental parts are now clearer as well. In all, the remastering definitely improves upon the original cd version, and the bonus track is a very interesting and much less sparse version of "Dress Rehearsal Rag" performed quite heavily with a full band.
This is a dark and somewhat depressing album, make no mistake. That said, it is also one of Cohen's strongest and most emotionally affecting albums. If you're interested in something by Cohen which is slightly less depressing, I would highly recommend his debut "Songs of Leonard Cohen". Even if you go that route though, you'll probably come back to this album once your interest is piqued. Highly recommended to the emotionally stable who need a little darkness once in a while.
