New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Leonard Cohen's last studio album (2016)
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Mistygris
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by Mistygris »

My favorite (apart from ALL of them ) ???? On the Level 8)
London, 1976. Monaco, 2009.
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

Bennyboy wrote:I can't get over how well Leonard's singing across the whole album.. Sublime.
Yes, mate, I totally agree. Sublime is the word.
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Reptile
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by Reptile »

Cohen's the best Canadian artist of all time....

CAn't wait to hear the album in its entirety.

the other guys I love , Can-Content "The Box" ! rock band 8)
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

Does anyone else hear the Jedi Theme from Star Wars in the recurring violin melody on "It Seemed the Better Way?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWe0xbi0euY
JudasPriest
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by JudasPriest »

Treaty is the one most critics will reach for as the big standout (and it is of course superb notwithstanding a part of the melody sounding to my ear near identical to Anthem) but at the moment, I'm finding Leaving the Table just as powerful. On the Level is delightful; Travelling Light is wonderful in a New Skin kind of way; Seemed the Better Way is nearly as dark as the title track and Steer Your Way is nigh on perfect as a closer (not including the stately and moving Treaty reprise).

My gut feeling is his best album since The Future.
JudasPriest
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by JudasPriest »

I should have added I was t hugely keen on If I Didn't Have Your Love initially - if felt a little too sweet and perhaps not totally in keeping with the tone of the album but I'm coming round to it a bit more with each play.
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

If I Didn't Have Your Love was one of the tracks that initially grabbed me the strongest. It's simplicity is deceiving and whether it be addresssed to an earthly or celestial lover, this song goes straight to the heart. And it will be the track on this album that will be most covered and has the best chance to make its way into the popular cultural landscape. Not quite to the level of Hallelujah. But more like Dylan's To Make You Feel My Love.
Bennyboy
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by Bennyboy »

yopietro wrote:If I Didn't Have Your Love was one of the tracks that initially grabbed me the strongest. It's simplicity is deceiving and whether it be addresssed to an earthly or celestial lover, this song goes straight to the heart. And it will be the track on this album that will be most covered and has the best chance to make its way into the popular cultural landscape. Not quite to the level of Hallelujah. But more like Dylan's To Make You Feel My Love.
It's this album's "My Oh My" - a sweet gulp of breath between dives, but that's not to damn it with faint praise. Try writing a better statement of loving need than this. It can't realistically be done.
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

Bennyboy wrote: It's this album's "My Oh My" - a sweet gulp of breath between dives, but that's not to damn it with faint praise. Try writing a better statement of loving need than this. It can't realistically be done.
So well said. It can't realistically be done.

(And for the record, I like it a lot more than To Make You Feel My Love. This one's in another league).
Bennyboy
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by Bennyboy »

yopietro wrote:
Bennyboy wrote: It's this album's "My Oh My" - a sweet gulp of breath between dives, but that's not to damn it with faint praise. Try writing a better statement of loving need than this. It can't realistically be done.
So well said. It can't realistically be done.

(And for the record, I like it a lot more than To Make You Feel My Love. This one's in another league).
I was just making a return visit here to say exactly that - glad we are on the same frequency. Bob's song fails to transcend it's platitudes, while Leonard's mines it's long and latitudes.
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

yopietro wrote:
Bennyboy wrote: I was just making a return visit here to say exactly that - glad we are on the same frequency. Bob's song fails to transcend it's platitudes, while Leonard's mines it's long and latitudes.
Exactly. Beautifully put. This one is deep and wide and does transcend any platitudes.
When I mentioned To Make You Feel My Love in relation to this song, I wasn't implying they were of the same caliber. I was saying that I could see this one becoming popular through other artists' covers to the same extent that TMYFML did via Adele and others.
Last edited by yopietro on Sun Oct 16, 2016 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Bennyboy
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by Bennyboy »

Yeah, I find Leonard's genius lies not only in his originality but in the way his lyrics operate on multiple levels, with little condescension. His intellect is embracing rather than alienating.

For example, that section in 'Treaty' where uses the television and aerial metaphor works perfectly on that level, but gains an extra dimension when considering this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(angel)
Last edited by Bennyboy on Sun Oct 16, 2016 10:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
yopietro
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by yopietro »

Bennyboy wrote:For example, that section in 'Treaty' where uses the television and aerial metaphor works perfectly on that level, but gains an extra dimension when considering getting this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_(angel)
Nice catch! It works perfectly both ways.
nynke
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by nynke »

For me, it’s not worth trying to come to any quick conclusions about the album – I know how my views about the rest of Leonard’s output have changed over the last twenty, thirty, forty years, and what particular tracks will mean to me in a fortnight, six months, or ten years is something I couldn’t really guess. It sounds flawless; it’s beautifully performed and recorded; along with ‘The future’ it could be the best structured of all his albums. There is a wonderful directness and simplicity about much of the writing – ‘I'm angry and I'm tired all the time’ seems an especially candid moment; but will simplicity, however sublime, make it resonate less in future years? The musical content is often sparse – will that diminish the impact of these songs in the long term? All too early to tell at this stage.

For what it’s worth, at the moment I’m hearing it as more like a song cycle than a collection of individual songs, and the most striking thing for me is the incredible density of correspondences – individual words, phrases, metres, ideas, themes, music – to other songs in the Cohen oeuvre. ‘You want it darker’ might not be a record facing the artist’s mortality in the immediate sense of Warren Zevon’s or David Bowie’s last albums, but it would be pointless to deny that it does give a sense of provisional summary...and the numerous references to earlier songs at once give the impression of tying up loose ends, and allowing half a century of great song-writing to resonate through this album. Thanks to all the commentators so far – I look forward to hearing more insights about what I think (current best guess) may be one of the great Cohen albums.
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peter danielsen
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Re: New Album announced: 'You Want It Darker'

Post by peter danielsen »

I feel like getting drunk to this record
and I am
getting there
is easy
leaving is a problem


Peter
...I ..... .... ....... made . ..... ...... by ....... music .. ..... .. ......
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