Search - Leonard Cohen :: Death of a Ladies Man

The only Cohen album I really enjoy

Robert Storm | Finland | 10/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've listened to most Leonard Cohen albums. He always has some great lyrics but apart from a few songs, the music has always sounded a little bland. This album is the one exception. The reason is that it is produced and co-composed by Phil Spector, one of the true geniuses of rock music. Spector's style has always been grandiose and angry, yet beautiful. That kind of style suits perfectly with Cohen's lyrics. Some have called those lyrics misogynist or misanthropic. Maybe but that doesn't make them any worse. The greatest song on the album is the epic title track. Paper Thin Hotel and I Left a Woman Waiting are some of my other favorites. The C&W style of Fingerprints may be a little too much for some but I like even that one. 1977 was a very good year in rock music and this is one of the best albums made that year."

This deserves a "0" not even a "1" or how about a "Y" for Y

The Wise Owl | The Desert | 09/10/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"A huge Leonard Cohen Fan I am..what moved me to purchase this CD? I don't know. I think it was the Red Wine I drank before arriving to Amoeba Records!!! Wine Goggles?

I only wish I had read these reviews first. This is a giant piece of poop! I should have guessed it when I saw who produced it. (I won't even mention the turds name, as he allegedly murdered his X Girlfriend)

But back to this work of do-do.

Skip it.

I still luv my Leonard tho. "swoon""

I missed this one when it was new: wish I had missed it agai

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 01/20/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Record label/artist problem: It's 1977, and Columbia's Leonard Cohen is ten years worth of famous in folk circles for singing his own lyrics, mostly with a minimum of adornment. The songs are poetic, novelistic, sometimes strange but compelling. His voice, imperfect for sure, is however quite believable. Even his songs which are obviously pure fiction sound like autobiography...not altogether a bad thing in a singer/songwriter. The perceived trouble is: How to expand his audience, and offer something fresh to the public in his next LP?



Solution arrived at: Get hot rock/R&B producer and arranger Phil Spector to bring his "Wall of Sound" style to Cohen songs.



Result: Total failure. The profuse instruments and background vocals overwhelm Leonard's distinctive voice and verse, making him a "background" on most of his own record.



Having been a Cohen fan since before his first release, I have heard a lot of his subsequent albums, but not all. I have loved some of his releases, but not all. Of those I have owned or heard over the decades, this one is the least satisfying. Even if one of the songs is pretty good, the production ruins the performance for me. I found this in a "bargain bin" (new) for four bucks recently, but it was no bargain.



Question: If one becomes famous as a songwriter/singer, does it not stand to reason that one's fans like the person's voice and lyrics, and want to hear both well on any record? And also that to win new fans, hurting the two things existing fans buy your products to experience is not a smart move?



Finally: Now, 33 years later, the world knows that Mr. Spector, in spite of having made a lot of cash for himself and various artists and labels in the '70's, is one really evil guy. How ironic that his collaboration with Leonard was titled (after one of the songs) "Death of a Ladies' Man" when Phil now is in prison for causing the death of a lady. And more irony: One of the songs is titled "Don't Leave With Your Hard On" when Mr. Spector apparently pulled the trigger on a woman who refused to STAY when HE had a hard-on. It makes one wonder if Phil ever got over making this record. Meanwhile, Leonard, even around the age of 70, is singing his heart out in concerts and selling records, but avoiding doing any of the songs on this turkey. Of course, he could not recreate the "wall of sound" on the concert stage even if he wanted to...but I trust he is smart enough to know that the lyrics he issued behind Phil's production really were not good enough to be resurrected with even the simple accompaniment that best suits his strongest work. Skip this one, at any price."