Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

This section is dedicated to the new studio album and the Dublin concert video
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yentek
Posts: 100
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:41 am

Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

Post by yentek »

As a fan since the start - 1967 - I think Leonard has never received more publicity than has been the case over the past couple of weeks, what with the new album, the wonderful birthday and, also, the witty smoking pledge that drew a lot of attention. This was certainly the case here in the USA, and, it seems, in other countries too.

Remarkably, the publicity has been 99.99% positive - Leonard will need to change the lyrics to "Almost Like the Blues" - there are no more bad reviews. There may have been more criticism of the album on this site than anywhere else = which is probably how it should be. Even the New York Times columnist who took Leonard to task over the smoking pledge, did so very gently and seemed to be in on the joke.

The veterans among you here will recall that it was once rare to read a review of or article about Leonard without finding references to ignorant comments like "laughing Lenny" and "music to slit your wrists to". Now there is nothing but reverence and admiration for Leonard and his work - any mention by critics of those so-called jokes about elements of melancholy in the songs is now for the purpose of apologizing for the short-sightedness of their elder brethren.

It has been wonderful to witness all of this.
HelenOE
Posts: 1008
Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:06 am

Re: Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

Post by HelenOE »

And just today I found three tweets that said his voice sounded like Cookie Monster. :lol:

I think Leonard, grandfather that he is, might find that pretty funny.
Maulwurf

Re: Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

Post by Maulwurf »

yentek,

being someone who started listening to him more than 30 years later than you (which is more than my life, so far),
i can tell you that my latest reviews were really bad! ;-)

helen,

the cookie monster is a quite funny approach. i hope, one day, he will take over the blue cutie's grammar too! :-)
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panjandrum
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:56 pm

Re: Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

Post by panjandrum »

What's most amazing is that he's finally becoming reasonably widely know in the United States. Despite my life-long love of literature-quality song lyrics, I never heard of Leonard until I was luckily introduced to "Dance me to the end of love" by a violin-player with the Grand Rapids symphony. He's been very much an underground figure here until recently. Or, maybe more accurately, he's been underground here except for interest at the beginning of his career.
yentek
Posts: 100
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:41 am

Re: Leonard Gets No More "Bad Reviews"

Post by yentek »

Panjandrum - I think that is an accurate analysis - I would just add some additional recognition as
'the guy who wrote Hallelujah'. When you see a reference to the song now, more often than not it is referred to as Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
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