The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen (2011)

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bridger15
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by bridger15 »

I still haven't decided if I will buy this set because I already own all the CD's. Although the review overall is laudatory, there are some flaws mentioned which support my not buying this box set.

... each CD comes in a small cardboard case meant to mimic an album cover. They look great but are so small that it’s often impossible to read what’s on them. I challenge anyone to make out the lyrics printed on the back of Various Positions, I’m Your Man and The Future, or the liner notes to Isle of Wight, without a magnifying glass. You’d think they’d be printed on an insert somewhere, but you’d be wrong. And while Pico Iyer’s essay offers a nice overview of who Cohen is and why he’s important, it would be nice to have more testimonials and photos in the main booklet, including reminiscences from Cohen and his band members.

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2011/ ... ollection/
Leonard Cohen: The Complete Albums Collection
By Hal Bienstock November 15th, 2011

Leonard Cohen is one of the most unlikely and most beloved musicians of all time. Following a world tour from 2008-2010 that marked a return to the stage after 15 years away and served as a much-deserved victory lap comes The Complete Albums Collection, a 16-CD set of all of Cohen’s studio and live albums that should solidify his reputation as one of the greatest songwriters of all time – one of the few who can stand alongside giants like Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

The thing that jumps out most after listening to this collection is Cohen’s incredible consistency. He simply has never made a bad album. Yes, Cohen only has 11 studio albums, compared with 34 for Dylan. Still, it’s remarkable that over a four decade career, there’s not a Self-Portrait in the bunch.

By the time Cohen released his first album in 1967, he was already well into his 30s with several acclaimed novels and books of poetry under his belt. Perhaps because of that Cohen didn’t experience any of the learning curve that Dylan and Young went through. He emerged into the music world fully formed.

His debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, is a masterpiece that contains many of his most enduring songs (“Suzanne”, “Sisters of Mercy”) sung over tasteful, yet spare arrangements that keep the focus on Cohen’s voice and lyrics – exactly where it belongs. His next two albums, Songs from a Room and Songs of Love and Hate, followed the same formula with similarly strong results.

It was on 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony that Cohen started to expand his sound a bit, pushing his vocal range further and adding more elements of both R&B and country to his music. His most experimental – and most controversial – album, Death of a Ladies Man, followed in 1977. Produced by Phil Spector, Ladies Man added studio effects and disco to Cohen’s repertoire. Cohen would later deride the album as a failed experiment, but it actually holds up quite well in retrospect.

The real lesson of that album may be that no amount of studio trickery can disguise the core of what makes Cohen special – great lyrics, a uniquely intimate delivery and simple yet sturdy melodies. We’d see this again when Cohen added synths and electronic beats to albums like I’m Your Man and The Future. While he generally fares best when he goes back to basics (1984’s Various Positions is a great example of this), I get the feeling that Justice could remix these songs they’d still sound like Leonard Cohen.

As great as his studio recordings are, the three discs I find myself returning to the most in this set are live albums: Live from the Isle of Wight 1970, Field Commander Cohen Live 1979 and Live from London, which was recorded in 2008. While Cohen is known for his intimacy, his songs expand in the live setting, and these discs capture him at key points in his career.

These discs are completely different from one another and taken as a whole they prove once and for all that Cohen isn’t just a poet who happens to sing; he’s a true musician. Take Isle of Wight, in which Cohen is given one of the most daunting tasks any musician ever received – perform in the middle of the night at a festival for 600,000 people right after they’ve experienced an explosive live set from Jimi Hendrix. Yet he has the crowd in the palm of his hand from minute one, offering them moments of hushed folk (“The Stranger Song” “Bird on the Wire”), celebratory country-influenced hoedowns (“Tonight Will Be Fine”) and between-song banter that ranges from humorous to surreal to profound – and sometimes all three.

Field Commander Cohen shows more of the jazz and gospel in his music. Live in London includes all of the above while adding a prominent R&B element. What’s most appealing about the latter is how inspired and passionate Cohen sounds as he looks back at his career in front of arena-sized crowds. This despite the fact that Cohen hadn’t toured for ages and was very upfront about the fact that he only launched this one to make some money after learning that most of his life savings had been stolen.

The sound on all the newly remastered CDs is terrific and it comes in a nice package, but there are flaws that show Columbia didn’t take the care it should have in putting this together. For example, each CD comes in a small cardboard case meant to mimic an album cover. They look great but are so small that it’s often impossible to read what’s on them. I challenge anyone to make out the lyrics printed on the back of Various Positions, I’m Your Man and The Future, or the liner notes to Isle of Wight, without a magnifying glass. You’d think they’d be printed on an insert somewhere, but you’d be wrong. And while Pico Iyer’s essay offers a nice overview of who Cohen is and why he’s important, it would be nice to have more testimonials and photos in the main booklet, including reminiscences from Cohen and his band members.

Like any box set of this size, The Complete Albums Collection is not cheap, and the people who want it most likely have a lot of these albums. My advice: If you own less than half of Cohen’s catalog, it’s worth completing the collection. Cohen is the kind of artist that rewards time spent, and there’s not a disc here that isn’t chock full of worthwhile material. Whether or not Cohen ever releases the new album he’s been teasing fans with, this collection is a great summation of a one-of-a-kind career.
---Arlene
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dick
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

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At $125 it isn't a casual decision.... but in spite of the very real drawbacks noted re text size and readability, I find the sound quite good, and the small cube of all Cohen to date very convenient. As I think I mentioned, I am going from beginning to end, and was quite surprised by the remarkable increase in musicality beginning with New Skin.

I am very happy I that I bought this set.
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by Goldin »

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Leonard Cohen, “The Complete Columbia Albums Collection”
by Joe Marchese
Welcome to our Second Disc Holiday Gift Guide, in which we review some titles we might have missed over the past few weeks! The titles we’re spotlighting in this occasional series just might be candidates on your own holiday shopping list!

It’s hard to believe that Leonard Cohen was once tarred with the infamous “New Dylan” brush, even though he was in rather rarefied company alongside other “New Dylans” like Loudon Wainwright III and even Bruce Springsteen. Sure, both Mr. Cohen and the former Mr. Zimmerman shared non-traditional voices and a gift for truly literate lyrics. Both made their recording debuts on Columbia Records, and even shared a producer, Bob Johnston. But the similarities largely end there. When Songs of Leonard Cohen was issued in late 1967, Dylan himself was still the new Dylan! Currently about to enter his 50th year as a recording artist, Bob Dylan barely had five years under his belt in 1967. Thanks to the herculean efforts of Columbia Records and Legacy, Leonard Cohen’s own 44-year career can now be assessed in one remarkable collection sure to inspire a breed of “new Cohens.”

Leonard Cohen: The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (Columbia/Legacy 88697 87184 2) is a 17-album, 18-disc set offering the complete live and studio albums of one of Canada’s favorite sons. From 1967’s Songs of Leonard Cohen to 2010’s Songs from the Road, the box set contains the arc of the uncompromising career of one of the few men in rock who can truly be called a poet. As with the most of Legacy’s Complete Albums Collection box sets, the emphasis is on the music. The sturdy if no-frills cardboard box contains mini-LP replica jackets for each disc (every one adorned with the red Columbia label) and a 36-page booklet containing a brief essay by novelist Pico Iyer as well as credits for every album.

The one thing missing that would immeasurably enhance a set such as this would be a lyric booklet; while Cohen’s melodies deserve due credit, the man is one of rock’s purest poets, and his words are paramount. By the 1967 release of the simply-titled Songs of Leonard Cohen, he was already an established author, but his early efforts included here make it clear that he didn’t enter music as a dilettante.

A seriousness of purpose, and a somber atmosphere, marks Cohen’s early album efforts. Songs of Leonard Cohen employed subtle orchestrations to flesh out the composer’s stark melodies, while producer John Simon brought out the baroque and folk-rock flourishes here and there. One could even imagine the Mamas and the Papas on the backing vocals to “So Long, Marianne.” Cohen explores the foibles of love and lust in this dark collection of songs, with frequently spiritual overtones; the first song on the first album of the box set, “Suzanne,” was likely Cohen’s most famous song until “Hallejulah” came along, and it remains a perfectly crafted character study about a mysterious woman who still spellbinds. Religious references abound (“Suzanne,” “Sisters of Mercy,” “The Stranger Song”) as does a percolating anger; the darker moments could be offset by Cohen’s dry, infrequently emotive vocals, but his disaffected vocal actually demands concentration and enhances the haunting nature of the songs, even in their gentler moments (“Travelin’ Lady”).

Cohen’s first three albums are often considered of a piece, although each of these albums has its strengths and unique character. Bob Johnston encouraged a less-intricately arranged approach to Cohen’s 1969 follow-up, Songs from a Room, which is highlighted by the stunning “Bird on the Wire.” The presence of Nashville session musicians including Charlie Daniels (yes, that Charlie Daniels!) lends a unique air to these albums, as well. Cohen’s on-the-nose album names continued with his third, 1970’s Songs of Love and Hate. And yes, you’ll find those, but throughout the albums here, you’ll also note songs of suicide, of despair, of pain, of death, of addiction. (Love and Hate’s “Famous Blue Raincoat” later gave its title to Jennifer Warnes’ acclaimed album of Cohen compositions, while “Dress Rehearsal Rag” is a fascinating, twisting song that is far weightier than its title would indicate: “But you’ve used up all your coupons /except the one that seems to be written on your wrist along with several thousand dreams/Now Santa Claus comes forward, that’s a razor in his mitt; and he puts on his dark glasses and he shows you where to hit.”) Cohen’s favorite recurring themes come sharply into focus on The Complete Collection. It’s a great luxury to travel with the artist through this chronological set, illuminating those previously overlooked avenues.

After that initial three-year burst of creativity, Cohen’s studio albums arrived with less frequency. Only eight more such albums have followed in the ensuing 40+ years. Over these subsequent collections, you’ll hear Cohen aging gracefully into his voice, which sounded old and wizened before its time. With producer and arranger John Lissauer (who added greater instrumental textures including strings, woodwinds, banjo, mandolin, trombone, trumpets and more), he returned for 1974’s New Skin for the Old Ceremony. One of Cohen’s best albums, New Skin challenged listeners with more oblique lyrics about, well, love and hate, but even when the lyrics are oblique, the master craftsman gets the message across with his use of big, bold imagery. Sexual, religious and cultural references all abound in songs like “Is This What You Wanted” (“You were the promise at dawn, I was the morning after/You were Jesus Christ my Lord, I was the money lender. You were the sensitive woman, I was the very reverend Freud/You were the manual orgasm, I was the dirty little boy”) and “Chelsea Hotel No. 2,” which frankly draws on Cohen’s relationship with Janis Joplin: “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, you were talking so brave and so sweet, giving me head on the unmade bed, while the limousines wait in the street.” Cohen’s honesty is disarming, with the song’s final line the equivalent of a punch in the stomach: “I don’t mean to suggest that I loved you the best, I can’t keep track of each fallen robin. I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, that’s all, I don’t even think of you that often.” Janis Ian joins Cohen to provide backing vocals on this most purely musical of Cohen’s albums.

After the jump, Cohen meets Phil Spector, embraces the eighties, and emerges as an elder statesman of music!

The Complete Collection will also allow you to revisit (and finally in sparkling remastered sound!) the most bizarre album ever recorded by Cohen. 1978’s Death of a Ladies’ Man teamed Cohen with Phil Spector, who marshaled the forces of Nino Tempo and the remnants of the L.A. Wrecking Crew for this incredibly offbeat effort. Entirely co-written by the pair (who reportedly wrote 15 tracks from which the final album’s eight songs were culled), it’s a hedonistic affair, or an exercise in darkly-tinted nostalgia. Over a Wall of Sound that’s less polished and more sludgy than you might remember, Steve Douglas still contributes big, honking sax solos, while Cohen croons bluntly over the backing provided by Hal Blaine, Don Randi and Ray Pohlman. “I said look, you don’t know me now/But very soon you will/So won’t you let me see your naked body?,” he asks on “Memories” in a sea of thick echo, prominent choirs and brass bleats. In “Paper Thin Hotel,” Cohen dryly intones, “You are the naked angel in my heart/You are the woman with her legs apart.” Despite the in-your-face debauchery, the songs are not without merit, and frequently offer evocative imagery on par with Cohen’s best. “Frankie Laine was singing ‘Jezebel’/I pinned an iron cross to my lapel” tells you everything you need to know about the song’s narrator in one opening line. Then there’s the rock and roll party of “Don’t Go Home with Your Hard-On,” in which Cohen and Spector are joined by a chorus including Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg! Over a cacophonous arrangement, the singers sound unhinged: “You can’t shake it, or break it with your Motown!/You can’t melt it down in the rain!” The near-parody of the country-and-western “Fingerprints” is another freewheeling track (“I touched you once too often, now I don’t know who I am/My fingerprints were missing, when I wiped away the jam”) on this album that’s unlike any other.

Recent Songs (1979) and Various Positions (1984) might be the most overlooked titles in Cohen’s catalogue. The former returns Cohen to a folk setting after the Hollywood glam of Death of a Ladies Man, while the latter sees him embracing glossy, synthesizer-laden 1980s production styles. Jennifer Warnes provides guest vocals on both albums, but is most prominent on Various Positions. Columbia initially rejected the album for U.S. distribution when Cohen presented it to the label, but it was absorbed into his Columbia catalogue for its 1990 CD release. Its “Dance Me to the End of Love” has become a minor standard, but it’s been eclipsed by another song off the album, “Hallejulah.” Like so many of Cohen’s other songs, the sober, solemn “Hallejulah” featured many biblical allusions in its original version. It was greeted with little fanfare on the album, but when John Cale recorded a cover version in 1991, people started to pay attention. Cale’s version, in turn, inspired Jeff Buckley in 1994 to record what might be the most famous rendition. Buckley’s version has been the starting point for countless recordings and performances on mainstream television programs as diverse as American Idol, ER, The O.C. and The West Wing! With the late-blooming “Hallejulah,” Cohen made arguably his most well-known contribution to the standard songbook, and also earned himself a healthy annuity.

1988’s I’m Your Man could be said to have ushered in a golden age for Cohen that continues to this day. Awash with synth-pop stylings, the album is surprisingly accessible. Among its standouts are the exciting title track and the menacingly-intoned (but danceable!) “First We Take Manhattan,” which could have emerged from the score of a dark musical: “They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/For trying to change the system from within/I’m coming now, I’m coming to reward them/First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin!” Hollywood latched onto many of the songs from 1992’s The Future, with three of the album’s tracks featured on the soundtrack to Oliver Stone’s controversial Natural Born Killers. In an unusual move, Cohen even provided his own spin on Irving Berlin’s “Always,” turning the familiar 1925 love song into a deep-voiced blues with a hint of gospel. Cohen sat out the rest of the 1990s, returning for a set entirely co-written with Sharon Robinson and simply called Ten New Songs (2001). 2004’s Dear Heather placed even more emphasis on female vocals, long a part of Cohen’s musical DNA and epitomized by Jennifer Warnes’ contributions to his catalogue. On Dear Heather, Cohen played more with the idea of reciting poetry over musical backgrounds, and reworked “The Tennessee Waltz” much as he had “Always.” Dear Heather remains the artist’s last studio album as of this writing, but another one is on the way. Old Ideas (a title Cohen has kicked around for years) is currently scheduled for release by Columbia at the end of January, 2012.

All six of Cohen’s live albums are here, too, covering a wide swath of his career, between 1970 (Live at the Isle of Wight, issued in 2009) and 2009 (Songs from the Road, issued in 2010). The most definitive of these concert documents is Live in London, a 2-CD set recorded in 2008 and included in full. Even if Cohen has taken to the road partially as the result of well-publicized financial troubles, these live performances make clear that he is enjoying his current role as an elder statesman of folk and rock. He inhabits these songs even more fully in their varied live settings.

The Complete Columbia Albums Collection is also available in a truncated edition containing only the studio albums. It’s titled, simply enough, The Complete Studio Albums Collection! The full Albums Collection, however, is the way to go, painting the definitive portrait of the artist both on stage and in the studio. Mark Wilder and Bruce Dickinson are the primary mastering engineers for the box set, and they’ve worked wonders on the albums receiving their first-ever upgrades.

The most serious drawback to the set is that bonus tracks issued on the Dickinson-produced remasters of Cohen’s first three albums have been dropped from this collection. (Some of the Complete Albums box sets have followed this practice, while other sets have indeed retained previously-issued bonus material. The lack of consistency from title to title can be maddedning!) That means that those buying this hefty box still need to hold onto the remasters of Songs of Leonard Cohen, Songs from a Room and Songs of Love and Hate.

As a monumental tower of song and retrospective of an uncompromising artist and writer, Leonard Cohen’s The Complete Columbia Albums Collection simply cannot be beat.
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by MaryB »

This review just may be the reason I am seriously considering purchasing this box set - thanks Roman.
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by tomsakic »

I have bought the complete studio albums collection after I heard it in FLAC (which I took from TPB I admit, to check is it remastered). The mixing and sound are PERFECT and I can only blame music industry for selling us cheap CDs for years. Couldn't every CD sound like this? I hear the completely new soundscapes in albums like I'm Your Man (which has amazing beat), or Recent Songs, or The Future (with has beat but also the drive). And I have all original CDs (mostly from Sony Austria factory) and later re-editions, remasters etc. Ten New Songs sounds much better, it has the groove and great beat structure, it is really something to listen to it in this release.

It's a shame that each of these remasters is not available as separate release. I wouldn't suggest to anybody to buy the original separate CDs after I heard the remastered box-set.
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by dick »

Thanks for the rave Tom

I too am supremely pleased with the quality of this box set. Haven't done them all yet, but really enjoying I'm Your Man at the moment.

Go for it Mary!

Dick
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by MaryB »

dick wrote:Go for it Mary!Dick
Which one? Complete Columbia Albums Collection or Complete Studio Albums Collection :?
1993 Detroit 2008 Kitchener June 2-Hamilton June 3 & 4-Vienna Sept 24 & 25-London RAH Nov 17 2009 NYC Feb 19-Grand Prairie Apr 3-Phoenix Apr 5-Columbia May 11-Red Rocks Jun 4-Barcelona Sept 21-Columbus Oct 27-Las Vegas Nov 12-San Jose Nov 13 2010 Sligo Jul 31 & Aug 1-LV Dec 10 & 11 2012 Paris Sept 30-London Dec 11-Boston Dec 16 2013 Louisville Mar 30-Amsterdam Sept 20
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dick
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by dick »

Gotta be the whole shebang ---

Too much great live material to settle for the studio-only collection!

Obviously it is totally your decision to buy either or neither Mary. I am stepping on a limb to speculate there is no way you will regret The Complete collection. I really don't think you will, but I of course could be wrong.

See you soon somewhere I hope. You guys visiting NYC in the near future?
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by MaryB »

Thanks Dick,

Complete Columbia Albums Collection it is! I am assuming this is the one with the extra tracks that were not on the original albums.

(P.S. Since I am purchasing this larger, more expensive set (even though I have all the individual albums :roll: ), there will now not be enough funds to travel to NYC :lol: )
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by mutti »

Thanks Dick and Mary B
You helped me make that final decision of to buy or not to buy!
Leslie 8)
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

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The remastered Live Songs sounds absolutely incredible, it quite literally took my breath away. It is incredibly clear, like moving from black and white into color. The color of course is Leonard's voice and it is shining brightly now in this record. Minute Prologue and Queen Victoria shine the most, as I found Leonard's voice to be quite monotone in those tracks, although it can really be said that every song benefits. It is an even better musical accompaniment to the Bird on the Wire dvd. I haven't listened to the rest of the records, as Live Songs is the only record I thought would really benefit from a remaster (not including the previously released remasters of the first three records.) I'll have to give I'm Your Man a listen now as I see it mentioned in the comments here. The booklet is very nice too with great pictures and of course the eloquent essay by Pico Iyer. A very sophisticated little treat for us fans new and old; should tie us over for the next 35 days ;-)
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by tomsakic »

"Taking breath away" is indeed good way to say it.

Astranger, the really complete box-set (with live CDs) is unfortunately not available in my country so I can only dream how Live Songs sound... That album, and Various Positions and Death of a Ladies' Man, needed the rescuing, and they have been rescued now:) But Live Songs is in my opinion the most troubled release and I really wanted it to be remastered for years.

I must say I was sure that I'm Your Man and Ten New Songs are in OK mix on existing CDs, but it seems I was wrong. I'm Your Man in this box-set was actually the first album to take my breath away (although I didn't listen toi the box-set in chronological order), it was like I never heard it so powerful. The first three CDs are I believe the same 2007 remastered versions but without bonus tracks (thanks God).
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by TipperaryAnn »

Thanks for all your posts here. I did n't intend to buy this, as I have most of the albums in one form or another, but having read the comments here I changed my mind. I am so glad I did - it did take 13 working days to wing its way from USA to Ireland, and pity about the 25 Euro added on here by Customs :( , but still it's worth every Euro! (The Irish state needs the money too...) It's such a handsome little box enclosing a lifetime's work. The sound is excellent - much better than on some of the cd s I have. The minor criticisms posted here don't bother me; I have the lyrics book mentioned, and anyway I know most of the lyrics off by heart by now! I'm glad they didn't include the bonus tracks, as I prefer to hear the album as it was originally was, and those little red Columbia discs look the part too. I treat myself to one album a day, starting with Various Positions, for which I have a soft spot as it was the first LC album I bought, after which I was hooked. For those of us lucky enough to be able to afford this it is indeed a treat ( there are people who spend as much on alcohol or cigarettes without a moment's thought) and whatever fraction of the cost finds its way into Leonard's coffers is well deserved.
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by joyezekiel »

Well I wasn't intending to purchase this as I already have all the albums, but after reading the comments here I'm changing my mind....... although it's difficult to imagine how Leonard could sound any better!

Joy
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Re: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Leonard Cohen

Post by notdarkyet »

does anyone know if there are any plans to release either a separate box set of the remastered live recordings or if they plan on releasing the remastered albums individually? i bought the Complete Studio Recordings and don't own any of the live albums, but i wanted to hold off in case they released any of the remastered live albums. the way i see it, the only live album where a remaster would even make a difference would be Live Songs. i think the later stuff (Live In London, etc.) was not even remastered or if anything was done, perhaps a slightly louder "mastering" like they did on Dear Heather.

i looked on Amazon and and most of his releases have only a few i stock, which sometimes indicates that those have stopped being pressed and new ones are on the way. does anyone have any insider information?

thanks in advance.

-justin
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