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When Leonard Cohen astonished his fans by deigning to visit the UK for a brace of shows in the summer of 2008, at least in London the loudest cheer of a night almost idolatrous in its appreciation came with the delivery of two lines from Tower of Song. "I was born like this, I had no choice," sang the then 73-year-old Quebecer, "I was born with the gift of a golden voice." With the clock hands now pointing at a quarter to 80, if anything the old boy’s voice has become more gravely resonant than it ever did. At certain points during Old Ideas it’s not difficult to imagine whales and dolphins surging out to deeper waters in fear of an earthquake.
In modern music it is commonplace for ageing performers to attempt to prove that they have a lust for life capable of defying gravity’s pull. But one of the striking things about this always striking album is just how unvarnished is the sound of its creator’s relative fragility: "I love to speak with Leonard, he’s a sportsman and shepherd," sings the narrator on Going Home, before adding, "He’s a lazy bastard living in a suit." On the second line Cohen’s voice cracks with such emphasis as to suggest this suit might be one of the last he wears. For a man with a gleam in his eye of such impishness as to make Sir Les Patterson seem decorous, this is startling stuff indeed.
As with any album to which Leonard Cohen puts his name, Old Ideas is a work which displays great finesse. The music presented is gentle, even fragile, with backing vocals and instrumentation similar to that heard during his brace of UK concerts four years ago. But as ever, it is the author’s sense of poetic balance that renders this release as being a work of art. It is said that for every verse that makes it onto the lyric sheet, a further 10 make it to the floor. Such prudence bears dividend throughout this album. On the mysterious Banjo, he sings of an object of dread floating on "a dark infested sea": "It’s coming for me darling, no matter where I go / Its duty is to harm me, my duty is to know."
A quite brilliant release from an unmissable artist.
--Ian Winwood
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CD Description
Old Ideas, the lauded poet's first studio album in eight years, addresses some of the most profound quandaries of human existence--the relationship to a transcendent being, love, sexuality, loss and death. Arguably the most overtly spiritual of the revered artist's albums, Old Ideas inspires commitment to a greater sense of compassion and decency.
While the recording of Old Ideas began in earnest in January 2011, many of the new songs and their lyrics have been in the works for years. Early versions of two album tracks, "Amen" and "Lullaby" were originally recorded in 2007, while early versions of “Lullaby” and “The Darkness” were performed live during Cohen's recently concluded, sold-out world tour. Fans were given another hint of what to expect when Cohen made remarks as the recipient of the Principe de Asturias Prize for literature in Spain in October 2011. “As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were these...Never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty."
The album was produced with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. Complementing Cohen's signature baritone on Old Ideas are the exceptional vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes. The album's cover design and drawings are Cohen's own.
While the recording of Old Ideas began in earnest in January 2011, many of the new songs and their lyrics have been in the works for years. Early versions of two album tracks, "Amen" and "Lullaby" were originally recorded in 2007, while early versions of “Lullaby” and “The Darkness” were performed live during Cohen's recently concluded, sold-out world tour. Fans were given another hint of what to expect when Cohen made remarks as the recipient of the Principe de Asturias Prize for literature in Spain in October 2011. “As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were these...Never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty."
The album was produced with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. Complementing Cohen's signature baritone on Old Ideas are the exceptional vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes. The album's cover design and drawings are Cohen's own.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
158 of 162 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a truly great Leonard Cohen album in my view - something I've not been able to say for too many years. The music often sounds delicate but has a laid back robustness about it, too, with his trademark simple melodies and a very welcome varied sound and style, with elements of country, blues, gospel and rock. There are also the beautiful and familiar female backing vocals, and some simply magnificent work from a varied band - the trumpet on "Amen," for example, is unexpected and absolutely spellbinding.
Cohen's voice these days has passed through the Whisky & Cigarettes stage and is well on the way to a Chronic Bronchitis sound, but he still has that fabulous depth and resonance beneath the weariness and the creaks. He hovers between singing and speaking for much of this album even more than previously, but as a friend once said to me, "No one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Cohen himself can't." How true. He is miked very close so, particularly when listening on headphones, it really feels as though he is present and whispering into your ear.
All this is perfect for the songs here, whose lyrics are Cohen at his best: thoughtful, allusive, melancholy, witty and sometimes provoking. The religious imagery he has always used so brilliantly is well in evidence, and it is striking how much of it is now specifically Christian. Broken relationships, suffering and death have always been in the corner of Cohen's eye whatever he is writing about. They are often in plain sight here and are treated with insight, resignation, compassion and beauty. The old witty twinkle and his self-deprecatory streak are still there, though, and shine through what is often a very elegiac atmosphere. He still has that fantastic ability somehow to get to the heart of things both when he's speaking straightforwardly and even when direct meaning is elusive. These are songs to take into your heart, nurture and allow to grow there.
I think that several of these songs, including Amen, Show Me The Place and Different Sides are likely to become Cohen classics, but there is nothing to be sanitized and exploited by talent-show winners here and if you don't like Leonard Cohen this album certainly won't convert you. However, those legions of us who know that he was born like this, he had no choice, he was born with the gift of a golden voice will be delighted and deeply satisfied that that voice, both in what he writes and how he performs it, has lost none of its magnificent lustre.
I recommend this album wholeheartedly. I suspect that it may be a masterpiece.
Cohen's voice these days has passed through the Whisky & Cigarettes stage and is well on the way to a Chronic Bronchitis sound, but he still has that fabulous depth and resonance beneath the weariness and the creaks. He hovers between singing and speaking for much of this album even more than previously, but as a friend once said to me, "No one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Cohen himself can't." How true. He is miked very close so, particularly when listening on headphones, it really feels as though he is present and whispering into your ear.
All this is perfect for the songs here, whose lyrics are Cohen at his best: thoughtful, allusive, melancholy, witty and sometimes provoking. The religious imagery he has always used so brilliantly is well in evidence, and it is striking how much of it is now specifically Christian. Broken relationships, suffering and death have always been in the corner of Cohen's eye whatever he is writing about. They are often in plain sight here and are treated with insight, resignation, compassion and beauty. The old witty twinkle and his self-deprecatory streak are still there, though, and shine through what is often a very elegiac atmosphere. He still has that fantastic ability somehow to get to the heart of things both when he's speaking straightforwardly and even when direct meaning is elusive. These are songs to take into your heart, nurture and allow to grow there.
I think that several of these songs, including Amen, Show Me The Place and Different Sides are likely to become Cohen classics, but there is nothing to be sanitized and exploited by talent-show winners here and if you don't like Leonard Cohen this album certainly won't convert you. However, those legions of us who know that he was born like this, he had no choice, he was born with the gift of a golden voice will be delighted and deeply satisfied that that voice, both in what he writes and how he performs it, has lost none of its magnificent lustre.
I recommend this album wholeheartedly. I suspect that it may be a masterpiece.
55 of 58 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The voice so deep, "a thousand kisses deep", to say it with the words of one of his songs. After listening to the album three times in a row, you realize there is no standout track, no future evergreen (the word evergreen should be banned anyway: too much nostalgia even takes the good part of darkness away). The longest track, "Amen", is a hymn, a prayer that agnostics and atheists might fall in love with while enjoying the feel of ancient banjo, sepia-coloured violin and simple cornet. On "Old Ideas" the man with the golden voice (good old joke!) doesn't act like a preacher at all, and every verse that could seem to send a message carved in stone and song is quickly counterbalanced by dark humour, self-irony and stoicism.
There are bluesy moments, slow-motion-gospel - and jazz-vibes. The gravity comes from the voice, and how it nearly creates new definitions of close miking and sub-bass, with the result of warm intimacy. And then there are all the female voices of older and newer times (from Jennifer Warnes to the Webb Sisters) doing the jobs of a second voice, a background, and a choir. An old Cohen tradition: but remember, on the first studio album of his demon-chasing life, the producer added these kind of angelic colours against the will of the singer to soften the scenery. An old trick that still works.
It is the sincerity of the artist that allows him to stick totally to old ideas without any suspect he might have lost it. He's just slowing down, down, down - with a clear eye for exit signs and open places: "Sometimes I'd head for the highway/ I'm old and the mirrors don't lie/ But crazy has places to hide in/ Deeper than saying goodbye," he sings/speaks on "Crazy To Love You", accompanied by an acoustic guitar only. So, finally, closing time, silence, a last dying tone? No, that would be too pretentious. It's better to leave the scene with a beat, a rhythmic soul groove - and asking for a kiss. Amen.
There are bluesy moments, slow-motion-gospel - and jazz-vibes. The gravity comes from the voice, and how it nearly creates new definitions of close miking and sub-bass, with the result of warm intimacy. And then there are all the female voices of older and newer times (from Jennifer Warnes to the Webb Sisters) doing the jobs of a second voice, a background, and a choir. An old Cohen tradition: but remember, on the first studio album of his demon-chasing life, the producer added these kind of angelic colours against the will of the singer to soften the scenery. An old trick that still works.
It is the sincerity of the artist that allows him to stick totally to old ideas without any suspect he might have lost it. He's just slowing down, down, down - with a clear eye for exit signs and open places: "Sometimes I'd head for the highway/ I'm old and the mirrors don't lie/ But crazy has places to hide in/ Deeper than saying goodbye," he sings/speaks on "Crazy To Love You", accompanied by an acoustic guitar only. So, finally, closing time, silence, a last dying tone? No, that would be too pretentious. It's better to leave the scene with a beat, a rhythmic soul groove - and asking for a kiss. Amen.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In his 12th studio album Leonard Cohen returns to his familiar theme of being human with all the frailties and challenges that attend the condition. Employing a simplicity of musical texture Cohen performs ten deeply personal songs delivered mainly as spoken word poetry to moving effect.
With exquisite backing vocals by long time associates Jennifer Warnes, Anjani Thomas, Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters the songs have an ethereal and hymnal quality that is often nurtured by a slow and elegiac violin. But that is not to say that it is just a monochromatic sound because there are strains of gypsy jazz strings, country and even shades of Dylanesque blues.
This is not the sound of an old man contemplating the end and he wryly observes "I love to speak with Leonard/He's A sportsman and a shepherd/He's a lazy bastard living in a suit". But it would be pointless to write a review that dwells too much on the lyrics of this almost flawless production. The important facts are that this is a masterpiece of poetry combining with a sublime musical tapestry that can relax, inspire and enthral in equal measure. It is simply beautiful and another classic Cohen album to cherish. I regret to say that his is a lost art and one that we will never see the like of again.
With exquisite backing vocals by long time associates Jennifer Warnes, Anjani Thomas, Sharon Robinson and the Webb Sisters the songs have an ethereal and hymnal quality that is often nurtured by a slow and elegiac violin. But that is not to say that it is just a monochromatic sound because there are strains of gypsy jazz strings, country and even shades of Dylanesque blues.
This is not the sound of an old man contemplating the end and he wryly observes "I love to speak with Leonard/He's A sportsman and a shepherd/He's a lazy bastard living in a suit". But it would be pointless to write a review that dwells too much on the lyrics of this almost flawless production. The important facts are that this is a masterpiece of poetry combining with a sublime musical tapestry that can relax, inspire and enthral in equal measure. It is simply beautiful and another classic Cohen album to cherish. I regret to say that his is a lost art and one that we will never see the like of again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Still life in the old suit
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Published 1 day ago by Ants' Thoughts
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Published 1 month ago by Mr. M. A. Reed
Love it!
This is soooo good. I loved Leonard when he (and I!) were younger but I think this is fab. His voice is even more gravelly than ever and the lyrics are great.
Published 1 month ago by bookclub
old ideas
Have been a fan of Leonard Cohen since I first heard 'Songs of Leonard Cohen' in the early 70s and have collected his albums ever since. Old Ideas doesn't disappoint. Read more
Published 1 month ago by sunnyonekatherine
really enjoyed
this album was a download on the the internet it was easy to do the content is excellent and very good value would purchase from this provider again really pleased with value and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. D. Collins
Leanard Cohen CD
Lenard Cohen has no equal as far as I'm concerned. Any one who purchases this CD or any of his other will not be disappointed. Tom Watkins
Published 1 month ago by David Humphreys
Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen
This is an excellent CD, Leonard at his best. Love the harmonies and the mix of tracks you can keep playing again and again.
Published 1 month ago by Inchal
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