Search - Leonard Cohen :: Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979

Leonard Cohen recorded his last studio album--The Future--in 1992, so Columbia Records can perhaps be forgiven for continuing to mine the master tapes of his old live performances. The songs here are collected from two 1979 concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon and Brighton's Dome Theatre. At that time, Cohen was touring in the wake of his Phil Spector-produced Death of a Ladies' Man album and was, to judge by the performances collected here, in fine form. His voice had not quite plummeted to the crockery-rattling depths captured on I'm Your Man (indeed, on "Memories", he positively yelps), and the backing band, including Jennifer Warnes on backing vocals, is terrific throughout. The songs, of course, are impeccable, including "Lover Lover Lover," "Bird on the Wire," "So Long, Marianne," and "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye." --Andrew Mueller