In an earlier post,  Hey That’s Some Way to Say Goodbye , I wrote:

Leonard Cohen Live in London boasts 26 tracks and I truly wish there were more. Gone is the rebel poet of the early sixties. The Cohen of today is warmer, more forgiving and it shines in his voice. Though 73 when the album was recorded, in my mind this is truly his greatest work.

So someone obviously read my post and stopped counting the dollars for a moment. The result is Cohen’s new album Songs for the Road. Songs is basically twelve takes from different venues during the tour and is targeted at those like me who can’t get enough of the previous album and cried for more.  The album boasts 12 tracks recorded across the globe from Israel to Scotland, Canada and the U.S. If Live in London had a very polished feel to it, all the tracks fitting together like a glove having been recorded at one time, Songs for the Road is varied. There are 8 songs that failed to appear on the earlier album supplemented  by different  versions of Bird  on the Wire, Suzanne Hallelujah and Closing Time. If this album had come out first, there is no doubt that t would be considered a masterpiece. As it is, it remains a faithful companion to the father disks and DVD’s. The songs not previously released are interesting additions. Among the other four Hallelujah shows Cohen battling with the right pronunciation of the word, Suzanne and Bird on the Wire  seem   slower than the previous recordings and a bit padded out and Closing Time is as witty and playful as s called for.

Should you buy or download the album? If you have Live in London and it never leaves your Ipod, then I should definitely recommend you   get this one too. If not, read my post  on Live in London and get it already, it is superb and you owe yourself a great present.

Track List

  • Lover, Lover, Lover (Ramat Gan Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel, September 24, 2009) -
  • Bird On the Wire (Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Scotland, November 6, 2008)
  • Chelsea Hotel (Royal Albert Hall, London, England, November 17, 2008)
  • Heart With No Companion (Oberhausen King Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Germany, November 2, 2008)
  • That Don’t Make it Junk (O2 Arena, London, England, November 13, 2008)
  • Waiting for the Miracle (HP Pavilion, San Jose, California, November 13, 2009)
  • Avalanche (Gothenburg Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden, October 12, 2008)
  • Suzanne (MENA Arena, Manchester, England, November 30, 2008)
  • The Partisan (Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland, October 10, 2008)
  • Famous Blue Raincoat (O2 Arena, London, England, November 13, 2008)
  • Hallelujah (Coachella Music Festival, Indio, California, April 17, 2009)
  • Closing Time (John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario, May 24, 2009)
    • © 2010 Steve Taite. All rights reserved.
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