By the time Leonard Cohen began his recording career in 1967, the iconoclastic Canadian troubadour was already well established as a poet and author. He quickly emerged as one of the era's most original and influential sin... more »ger-songwriters, building a large and legendary body of work that continues to inspire artists and listeners alike. Much of Cohen's reputation and mystique was established by his early work for Columbia Records, particularly the five albums he recorded between 1967 and 1974. Now, these five classic albums, unavailable on vinyl for two decades, have been lovingly restored to their original LP format. For their new Sundazed editions, all five albums have been meticulously remastered and have been sourced from the original Columbia Records stereo masters in order to preserve the sound of the original albums. In keeping with the exacting standards for which Sundazed has become known, each album will be pressed on high-definition vinyl, with complete original cover art. Cohen's intimate, emotion-charged live performances yielded the 1973 release Live Songs, which mixes a handful of previously recorded favorites with several new songs, including "Passing Thru," "Tonight Will Be Fine" and the harrowing, rarely-performed 13-minute epic "Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)."« less
By the time Leonard Cohen began his recording career in 1967, the iconoclastic Canadian troubadour was already well established as a poet and author. He quickly emerged as one of the era's most original and influential singer-songwriters, building a large and legendary body of work that continues to inspire artists and listeners alike. Much of Cohen's reputation and mystique was established by his early work for Columbia Records, particularly the five albums he recorded between 1967 and 1974. Now, these five classic albums, unavailable on vinyl for two decades, have been lovingly restored to their original LP format. For their new Sundazed editions, all five albums have been meticulously remastered and have been sourced from the original Columbia Records stereo masters in order to preserve the sound of the original albums. In keeping with the exacting standards for which Sundazed has become known, each album will be pressed on high-definition vinyl, with complete original cover art. Cohen's intimate, emotion-charged live performances yielded the 1973 release Live Songs, which mixes a handful of previously recorded favorites with several new songs, including "Passing Thru," "Tonight Will Be Fine" and the harrowing, rarely-performed 13-minute epic "Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)."
M. Nichols | West Chester, OH United States | 03/30/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a fine record. Why it has never been released domestically (save for on vinyl) is beyond me. "Queen Victoria" alone is worth the purchase price. As noted by other reviewers "Don't Pass Me By" stands out as well.As with most Cohen this is best at "four in the morning, the end of December." Comparable in its power and its rawness to Neil Young's TIME FADES AWAY.Only the inclusion of a few tracks superior in their studio versions keep this from a 5-star rating - they tend to distract the listener from the finer previously unrecorded material."
Cohen at his sloppiest, bleakest, finest hour
M. Nichols | 01/09/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This Columbia import has a 'made in Australia' sticker on it, and was the '13.49' version offered in the Amazon catalogue. I have to wonder about the quality of the '17.99' version, because the cheaper one sounds awful compared to my somewhat distant memory of the vinyl issue. This Australian import sounds like it was recorded in a shoebox. I had to wonder if my receiver had suddenly pooped out. But, no. Thus the meagre three stars for an otherwise utterly unsettling masterpiece. Each live version of a previously recorded song improves upon the original. The percussionless band(s) manage to be spare and full at the same time. You catch snippets of Charlie Daniels and Jennifer Warnes before they were famous. And Cohen has never sounded more psychologically naked and unhinged. Try to imagine Dostoevski's anti-hero from Notes From Underground doing punk rock, and you'll get an idea of his vocals. At times, he sounds worn out and sonorous, as in Issac & Abraham. Elsewhere, like in Tonight We'll be Fine, he tears his voice to shreds. To better illustrate the poor technical quality of this CD, the vinyl version picked up nuances like going from the echoey sounds of the concert hall to the up front sound of the Tennessee motel room of his career defining Queen Victoria. Well, this is lost in the ubiquitous 'shoebox' quality of the CD. I do not blame Cohen; I blame whoever mixed this Australian import.I used to listen to this a lot late at night when I was single. Sometimes half asleep, Please Don't Pass Me By would get me weeping, it is so bleak and yearning at the same time. Now, some twenty-five years later, with a wife and two kids, I have listened to this whole album save that one track: 13 plus minutes of a magnificent, shimmering, wondrous descent into personal hell. More than a song, it's an ordeal. The finest moment in an artist's long career. Love it!"
His best, and that's saying a lot.
jrossa | Los Angeles, CA USA | 12/26/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To say that this is Leonard Cohen's best album is to say that it stands head and shoulders above most other albums out there. It's his most unrelenting, bleak record, and it sounds like he's standing naked in front of the audience, especially in the climactic "Please Don't Pass Me By", which walks the line between self-conscious embarrassment and cry from the heart. Maybe not the Cohen album to start with, but tailor-made for when it's four in the morning at the end of December."
Please don't pass me by
Pieter | Johannesburg | 08/28/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Live Songs, released in 1973, is a compilation of live performances in London & The Isle of Wight in 1970, and in Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris and a "room in Tennessee" in 1972. The stirring female backing vocals that characterize Cohen's best work are prominent throughout and come from Donna Washburn & Jennifer Warren on the 1972 tracks and from Aileen Fowler & Corlynn Hanney in 1970. The album is one of Cohen's early classics and should be part of every fan's collection.
The brief intro Minute Prologue & the songs Passing Thru, Please Don't Pass Me By & Queen Victoria are rare, if not unique to this album. It would be great if studio versions existed. The prologue expresses something quite meaningful for devoted fans, the yearning Passing Through ("glad that I ran into you") is tuneful and rhythmic, colored by scriptural imagery and a clever pun or two whilst the mystical masterpiece You Know Who I Am gets a delicate & reverential treatment.
Bird On A Wire has a brief spoken introduction in French, something about searching for freedom in the heart of the night, and the lyrics slightly stray from the original in a few places. The centerpiece of the album is the 14-minute long Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace) with its spoken sections and harrowing, almost unbearably painful message. Some very perturbing truths about the human condition are conveyed in this anguished performance. Phew! A more digestible song in the same vein is The Captain on Various Positions.
The sensual track Tonight Will Be Fine is performed up-tempo with appealing fiddle and banjo. I think this more rhythmic version has an additional verse not found on the original from Songs from a Room. In his classical acoustic style Story of Isaac and Seems So Long Ago Nancy are tenderly interpreted and there is also a gentle acoustic instrumental titled Improvisation. Live Songs concludes with Queen Victoria that appears as a poem in his poetry books Flowers for Hitler of 1964 and Selected Poems 1956 - 1968 published in 1969.
These performances have a quality, subtle or raw, that re-interprets the familiar songs in a different light; a side of early Cohen that fans will miss out on if they don't own this album. This rawness of e.g. Please Don't Pass Me By later manifested on the Phil Spector-produced Death of a Ladies' Man to the consternation of many of Cohen's fans, but it was always a part of his musical make-up, as demonstrate here. Live Songs is an exceptional album of great splendor and power, an essential recording in Leonard Cohen's work.
"
Definitive Lennie, snarf it if you can
Pieter | 07/31/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD from the early 70's brings through the early Cohen experience better than any other. It also includes "Please Don't Pass Me By," played, I hear, only three times ever. This one can be hard to find at times; if you like Cohen at all, you must have it, get it now while it's here."