MOJO Presents an Introduction to Leonard Cohen

YankovicGretzky · Post by **YankovicGretzky** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 2:13 am

I just found this Leonard Cohen CD on Amazon.com. It came out in September of 2003. I think it's a European release. Do any of you own it yet?

Check it out:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000 ... ZZZZZZ.jpg

Post by **jarkko** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 7:03 pm

Here is more about this UK compilation:
http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/mojo.html
It's a nice selection!
Jarkko

Rhodes · Post by **Rhodes** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 5:29 pm

I have that one. It is rather good, and isn't as heavily slanted in the direction of the most recent stuff as "The Essential..." is. It is always interesting to see others' compilations.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 5:45 pm

Speaking of The Essential, I'm wondering if anyone feels about/perceives it in the way I do [or at least have to this point]. It seems to me that with the celebrated remastering, what has inadvertently occurred is a 'homogeneous' quality ~ the 'rough' elements on either end have been, somehow, remastered 'out' and the result is rather the middle range.

Remastering, I believe, may have given all productions, all instruments, all voices 'equal play' ~ and I'm open to being 'wrong' when I say this ~ but, somehow, some of the 'character' has been lost in the process. If I knew more about music production and proper terminology, I could describe it better. However, I think this is about the best I can do in trying. When I listen to the original albums, one song stands out ~ distinctively ~ from the next, and the one before. In The Essential, however, they flow from one to the next [rather seamlessly, yes, but lacking a certain character].

The bottom line is that I'm very happy to have all of these songs in one 'location' for playing accessibility [well, as soon as I replace the copy I gave to my former sister-in-law] ~ however, I feel the character and integrity, and enjoy the character and integrity in their original versions much more ~ the 'rougher' irregularities. 'Perfection' isn't where it's at for me.

This is something I've been meaning to ask about for a long time. Does even a single person out there feel as I do about this

? Or, as so often, anyway

, am I standing alone

?

~ Lizzy

Susanne · Post by **Susanne** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 8:19 pm

Lizzy, you're not alone

- that's exactly how I feel about it too!
On the original albums the first notes of each song always give me a little kick, a pounding of my heart, a feeling of surprise and excitement and the joy of recognition - a quality that is less perceptible for me in the remastered versions.
You're right, "they flow from one to the next".
I feel the new versions are lacking the depth and warmth of the original songs, and their polished sound is a little flat - less three-dimensional.
To me that's a disadvantage of the CD sound in general.

But I'd love to have "an introduction to Leonard Cohen"!

Wonder if it's available over here...
Thank you, Yankovic and Jarkko, for introducing it to us!

Love, Susanne

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 10:02 pm

EXACTLY, Susanne!!! I couldn't possibly have said it better myself, were I to have taken the time to really explain it! But, you said it all, exactly how I feel about it! At first, I thought it must be my imagination.....but after multiple replays, I realized that what I thought I was perceiving, I actually was perceiving! Thank you for expressing it so well

! The difference in the listening experience between the originals and the remastereds is exactly how you describe it, for me! WoW....I'm so pleased that my perceptions are not only mine.

~ Lizzy

margaret · Post by **margaret** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 10:51 pm

Susanne,
The Mojo presents "Introduction to L C " can be bought from http://www.play.com who deliver free to Germany and most of Europe. They have a few other albums, including "The Essential"

Sorry Lizzy they don't deliver to USA

I don't have these compilations myself or I would offer to send you a copy.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Thu Apr 22, 2004 11:21 pm

Thanks for the thought, anyway, Margaret

.

Epurcelly · Post by **Epurcelly** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 3:01 am

With "best of" comps you lose the time and place of the album, the original home, so to speak.

Rhodes · Post by **Rhodes** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 11:58 am

Epurcelly wrote:With "best of" comps you lose the time and place of the album, the original home, so to speak.

I agree with that. I prefer the 'proper' albums for that very reason. I still get the others, because they are by Leonard Cohen, but I suspect that they'll wear out (if CDs do wear out...?) a long time after, say, Songs From A Room.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:14 pm

I also prefer the original transitioning from one song to the next, the collection that came together at that time for its own reasons [the mood/mindset/'purpose' of the album], and the continuity of the songs between each other. As one song ends, my mind anticipates the next. I wonder if those who hear, for their 'first time,' the later reorganizations, prefer them for all the same reasons we're stating.

Can anyone here, who's experienced hearing Leonard in the reverse, with hearing a collection and then hearing the original albums later, speak on that?

Rhodes · Post by **Rhodes** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:24 pm

Actually, my first Leonard Cohen record was "Greatest Hits" (or "Best of") - the one with the yellow / brown monochromatic cover - which I bought in 19865 after a friend recommended it. It did at first seem a little odd when I listened to the original albums, but I soon got used to that, and soon began to prefer the originals. I don't find "Greatest Hits" album quite as difficult as some of the later compilations, which might be because it spanned a much shorter time frame, and it was still the great man with his guitar and not much else.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 12:30 pm

Thanks, Rhodes

! So, now I'm wondering if introducing Leonard to others through 'more efficient' compilations really is the best route to take? Longer and more expensive going the original way; but for internalizing him, via experiencing the Leonard 'mood,' perhaps still the best.

For me, the Essential seems 'one dimensional,' more of a variations-on-a-theme, with the 'theme' being the production sound. The lyrics don't come alive the same as they do in their original 'home,' as Epurcelly said. As a result, they don't feel as at home.

Rhodes · Post by **Rhodes** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 5:19 pm

The only reason I got the "Greatest Hits" first is that a friend had mentioned a couple of books she liked. I read them, and loved them, and it was some months later that I saw the record and recalled that Gerardine (said friend) had recommended him.

I sometimes wonder whether she stills listens to Mr Cohen.

Susanne · Post by **Susanne** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 7:15 pm

Lizzy, I'm glad you experience Leonard's original songs and feel about them in this way too!

Margaret, thank you for the Play.Com link!
That's a great tip!

Love, Susanne