Track Listing

1. Bird On The Wire
2. Story Of Isaac
3. Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes
4. Seems So Long Ago
5. Nancy
6. Old Revolution
7. Butcher
8. You Know Who I Am
9. Lady Midnight
10. Tonight Will Be Fine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69696 in Music
• Released on: 1998-01-22
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk 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

CD Description
Leonard Cohen's second album maintained the haunting strengths of its predecessor. His hypnotic, murmured voice retainsits compelling power and the content on Songs From A Room proves equally resonant. Where another pensive singer-songwriter might warp his craft with bathos, Cohen injects his workwith mature insight, using metaphor and poetic insight to enhance his craft. Superb acoustic guitarwork weaves a path throughout the bewitching melodies, enhancing the singer's spell, although Cohen's self-deprecating humour is equally prevalent, particularly on the singalong 'Tonight Will Be Fine'. Songs From A Room captures every facet of Cohen's inestimable talent.

Customer Reviews

LC at his earliest and best
One of my favourite LC albums, and the sound on the CD is very good (far better than the record I have). 'Bird on a wire' and 'Tonight will be fine' are startlingly good and probably the highlight on a very consistent album - compilations never recapture the flow of the original albums. The songs might seem dated to those who weren't around at the release, but it is Leonard Cohen in top form (his voice and content is more the 'younger man'). I do find 'The story of Isaac' and Abraham a bit too sad to listen to often ('God said to Abe go kill me a son' is far more jolly on Bob Dylan's superb 'Highway 61 revisited'). 'Songs from a room' contrasts well with LC's later 80s & 90's output such as the excellent 'Various Positions', 'I'm your man' and 'The Future'. Plus Amazon are often virtually giving away many Leonard Cohen CDs for around £3 to £4 each.

Don't slit your wrists just yet....
Personally, I much prefer this one to "Songs of Leonard Cohen". Despite Cohen's famous reputation for being depressing, I always find this album has the opposite effect on me, while his first is real suicide-music. There are 10 songs on this album and at least 8 are genuine classics - there's the spine-tingling "Story of Isaac", the wryly sardonic "The Butcher" and the sheer brilliance of "Tonight Will be Fine". All in all, it's 10 more reasons not to do yourself in just yet....

I have tried in my way to be free
Cohen followed up his debut album with another masterpiece, this collection of magnificent songs of solitude, despair and resignation. Besides The Partisan, a song about the French resistance with its beautiful French verses and female vocals, all compositions are by Cohen. The most popular number here is Bird On A Wire that has been covered by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Judy Collins, Rita Coolidge, Tim Hardin, The Neville Brothers and Jennifer Warnes. For some reason, the opening lines of Bunch Of Lonesome Heroes make me think of Frodo's journey to Mordor (in Lord Of The Rings): "A bunch of lonesome and very quarrelsome heroes/Were smoking out upon the open road." Other highlights include The Story Of Isaac and The Old Revolution, in both of which Cohen's characteristic Biblical imagery surfaces, and the somber Lady Midnight with its many levels of meaning. Seems So Long Ago is a wistful confessional dirge whilst You Know Who I Am is a delicate love poem with esoteric undertones: "I am the one who loves changing from nothing to one". The mood lightens up on the closing track Tonight Will Be Fine with its catchy melody, driving rhythm and erotic lyric to end the album on a more optimistic note, although even here the sadness is just a sigh away. Cohen's sublime music has a transcendent, spiritual quality. These haunting songs "from a room" have lost none of their poetic impact after 3 decades; their grace, elegance and beauty shine on.