Montreal poet Leonard Cohen, a member of the Juno Hall of Fame, has maintained an amazingly durable and long career as a recording artist. Like Bob Dylan, Cohen is a cult figure and cultural icon. His early poetry and songs are indelibly linked to the 1960's folk revival where his "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy," and "Bird on the Wire" became staples of the folk repertoire. Although Cohen defies easy classification, his early albums feature songs delivered in a folk style that relies on simple acoustic guitar, augmented at times with orchestral strings. Cohen is an original. His épater les bourgeois pose and seeming disregard for how he sounds is part of his attraction to his followers. In the main, however, it's Cohen's poetry that has made him so enduring. Cohen's early albums represent his freshest and most listenable work. His 1968 debut album, Songs Of Leonard Cohen, is a classic that should be on the shelf of every collection of Canadian folk music. It includes one excellent song after another, including "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy," "So Long, Marianne," and "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye." The 1969 Songs From a Room contains material such as "Bird on the Wire," "Story Of Isaac," and "The Partisan." Songs of Love and Hate, 1970, features "Dress Rehearsal Rag," "Famous Blue Raincoat," and "Joan Of Arc."

New Skin for Old Ceremonies, released in 1974, marks a turn in Cohen's writing. He begins to rely on repetitious choruses, à la rock music, rather than the tight phrasing of his earlier work. He also begins to play on his public image rather than listening to the inner muse that made his earlier albums so special. The Best Of Leonard Cohen, a 1975 collection of many of the best songs, from his early albums is an excellent purchase. The 1977 Death of A Ladies' Man continues the slide into indulgence that surfaced on New Skin. The 1979 release of Recent Songs shows a return to the kind of writing Cohen was doing on his early albums. With the exception of the bizarre "Lost Canadian," the album features Cohen back in strength. "The Guests," "Came So Far for Beauty," and "Ballad of the Absent Mare" are among the album's highlights. The addition of Jennifer Warnes on backup vocals is another bonus. Various Positions, released in 1984, continues the successful merger of good lyrics and Jennifer Warnes backup vocals.

I'm Your Man, released in 1988, includes the well-known Cohen songs "First We Take Manhattan" and "Ain't No Cure for Love." The pop-music production suits the songs. This is Cohen gone into a rock-video phase. The Futures, 1992, continues in the same vein, but the songs are less interesting, with Cohen sounding like a parody of himself. It's his singing on this album that the Royal Canadian Air Farce (a popular Canadian comic troupe) loves to mimic. Cohen Live: Leonard Cohen in Concert is an album put together from live recordings from 1988 and 1993. The songs in these concerts represent his older work. His voice on the 1993 sections is the gravelly, uninflected intonation heard on his recent recordings. His 1988 voice sounds more like the Leonard Cohen most of us hear in our memories.

Songs of Leonard Cohen *
1968 Columbia (WCK 9533)

Suzanne; Master Song; Winter Lady; The Stranger Song; Sisters of Mercy; So Long, Marianne; Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye; Stories of the Street; Teachers; One of Us Cannot Be Wrong 41:08

Songs from a Room
1969 Columbia (WCK 9767)

Bird on the Wire; Story of Isaac; A Bunch of Lonesome Heros; The Partisan; Seems So Long Ago, Nancy; The Old Revolution; The Butcher; You Know Who I Am; Lady Midnight; Tonight Will Be Fine 35:36

Songs of Love and Hate
1970 Columbia (WCK 30103)

Avalanche; Last Year's Man; Dress Rehearsal Rag; Diamonds in the Mine; Love Calls You by Your Name; Famous Blue Raincoat; Sing Another Song, Boys; Joan of Arc 45:05

New Skin for the Old Ceremony
1974 Columbia (CD 32660)

Is This What You Wanted; Chelsea Hotel #2; Lover Lover Lover; Field Commander Cohen; Why Don't You Try; There Is a War; A Singer Must Die; I Tried to Leave You; Who by Fire; Take This Longing; Leaving Green Sleeves 37:11

The Best of Leonard Cohen *
1975 Columbia (WCK-34077)

Suzanne; Sisters of Mercy; So Long, Marianne; Bird on the Wire; Lady Midnight; The Partisan; Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye; Famous Blue Raincoat; Last Year's Man; Chelsea Hotel #2; Who by Fire; Take This Longing 46:51

Death of a Ladies' Man
1977 Columbia (CK 44286)

True Love Leaves No Traces; Iodine; Paper Thin Hotel; Memories; I Left a Woman Waiting; Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On; Fingerprints; Death of a Ladies' Man 42:34

Recent Songs
1979 Columbia (WCK 36264)

The Guests; Humbled in Love; The Window; Came So Far for Beauty; The Lost Canadian (Un Canadien Errant); The Traitor; Our Lady of Solitude; The Gypsy's Wife; The Smokey Life; Ballad of the Absent Mare 53:06

Various Positions
1984 Columbia (WCK 90728)

Dance Me to the End of Love; Coming Back to You; The Law; Night Comes On; Hallelujah; The Captain; Hunter's Lullaby; Heart with No Companion; If It Be Your Will 35:30

I'm Your Man
1988 Columbia (CK-44191)

First We Take Manhattan; Ain't No Cure for Love; Everybody Knows; I'm Your Man; Take This Waltz; Jazz Police; I Can't Forget; Tower of Song 40:58

The Future
1992 Columbia (CK 53226)

The Future; Waiting for the Miracle; Be for Real; Closing Time; Anthem; Democracy; Light As the Breeze; Always; Tacoma Trailer 59:40

Cohen Live: Leonard Cohen in Concert
1994 Columbia (CK 80188)

Dance Me to the End of Love; Bird on the Wire; Everybody Knows; Joan of Arc; There Is a War; Sisters of Mercy; Hallelujah; I'm Your Man; Who by Fire; One of Us Cannot Be Wrong; If It Be Your Will; Heart with No Companion; Suzanne 71:56