Old Ideas/Just My Opinion

[jerry]

This is only my opinion. I like Old Ideas. Maybe because I keep comparing it to Leonard's last album Dear Heather. I think that anything would sound good when compred to DH. I played Old ideas non stop last week when I got it. But this week I don't have much of a desire to hear it. I'll play it this week once or twice but unlike other past LC albums that don't usually leave my cd player for months the initial excitement of Old Ideas is fading fast.

[Jonnie Falafel]

Isn't that just the normal pattern? You play it a lot... then you play it less.... and then you don't play it for months and then you rediscover it.... and discover something you didn't hear there before... and then you play it less.. or maybe put on Dear Heather?

[jerry]

Isn't that just the normal pattern? You play it a lot... then you play it less.... and then you don't play it for months and then you rediscover it.... and discover something you didn't hear there before... and then you play it less.. or maybe put on Dear Heather?

That's the normal pattern for me after a couple of months. Not after 1 week.

[JudasPriest]

I like it a lot but forensically comparing it to many of its predecessors does put things in perspective. Even just since I'm Your Man, how many albums is it clearly superior to? Just one I'd have to suggest (DH). It can't hold a candle to IYM. TF may be uneven but its highs are patently superior to the best OI has to offer. And can anything on OI really match the complexity and beauty of Alexandra Leaving from TNS? That's where it falls down ultimately- in the song writing department. Just not quite in the same league as the albums I've mentioned. But please let me be clear- I still like the album very much. I suspect it will be one of the albums of the year. And it does flow rather well. And I welcome the shift towards an emphasis on real instruments and real musicians. And I love Amen and Crazy To Love You. And Darkness is sexy and cool. It is more than the sum of its parts. But is it a great Leonard Cohen album?

Probably not.

[John Etherington]

I think playing anything non-stop would kill it! Since this may be one of the last two Leonard albums we ever hear, I'm savouring it. I've played it seven times over ten days so far, and as always have listened to it start to finish without any interruptions. Different tracks resonate through me peridically, every day. I always look forward to the next playing, and yes it is a great album!

All good things, John E

[MaryB]

In the past, there have been a number of LC products that have been my favorites because of 1 or 2 or 3 or... songs. This piece of product immediately appealed to me because, among many other factors, his voice is the dominant force. While there were maybe one or two songs that did not wow me initially, with every subsequent listening, I find that there is not a song on this that I don't enjoy/connect with.

If given the choice of one CD to take with me if I was stranded on an island, it would be Leonard Cohen's 'Old Ideas' - hands down!

Kindest regards,
Mary

[Cheshire gal]

I second that Mary. As much as I love his earlier albums, I think the music distracted me from his voice. ( Not that I don't think his music was not fantastic too.) But this album would definitely be my choice, if I had to chose only one to keep.

[Jonnie Falafel]

Maybe I'm strange, but I like it when artists I admire step out of the routine. I mean "the mouse ate the crumb...." I never heard anything like it on LC records before. But then as always with LC you realise there are many more continuities than differences. I hope LC had enjoyed making this record as much as I love listening to it. All the others are still there to listen to... nothing was removed from that great body of work by this album.

[Unspoken Words]

This is only my opinion. I like Old Ideas. Maybe because I keep comparing it to Leonard's last album Dear Heather. I think that anything would sound good when compared to DH. I played Old ideas non stop last week when I got it. But this week I don't have much of a desire to hear it. I'll play it this week once or twice but unlike other past LC albums that don't usually leave my cd player for months the initial excitement of Old Ideas is fading fast.

After several listens, although I like Old Ideas, I also have less desire to listen to it. I find it enjoyable but also predictable. Although it satisfies a certain side of me in terms of a soothing background sound at other levels it does not quench my thirst or interest. This I think stems from it being dominated by spoken word with accompanying music rather than clear songs / tunes. It is also at parts pared back with a cold electronic programmed underlying sound when I had expected the full warmth of the touring band and its fine human instrumentation and voices (and perhaps the Debussy orchestration LC had desired when working with Phil Spector.) I also feel that it is now perhaps moving too far in the direction of a collective production, a trend ongoing for years, where the LC input is unclear apart from the words and spoken lyrics. It also feels short in length and I wonder is this to do with keeping some recorded songs for the next album which LC has referred to in recent interviews. In saying all this I do nevertheless like it and still rate it very highly!

I remember a few years ago when Dear Heather was released TV in the UK had a programme with LC fans sitting around listening to it for the first time. They all gave the impression that they were ecstatic but their body language and facial feature indicated otherwise. I wonder are we all like this with LC now, blindly following and unquestioning?

[lizzytysh]

I'm with you on your comment two posts above, Jonnie. I love it, yet, it won't displace any for me, either... nothing to come ever could, either. That's just how it is for me. For me, it is wonderful variation that I deeply appreciate.

" ...where the LC input is unclear apart from the words and spoken lyrics." I had a hearty, good-hearted laugh when I read this, Unspoken Words. Since others are quite involved musically on this album, I should think that Leonard might consider this the most supreme compliment, he who considers himself a poet and a writer first... and for we who have begging Leonard to do a spoken word album for years.

[RainDog1980]

I remember a few years ago when Dear Heather was released TV in the UK had a programme with LC fans sitting around listening to it for the first time. They all gave the impression that they were ecstatic but their body language and facial feature indicated otherwise. I wonder are we all like this with LC now, blindly following and unquestioning?

I definitely wouldn't say "blindly" following. Dear Heather is definitely NOT on most fans' high list. If I remember, it was fairly widely panned.

My favorite is "The Future", mostly because there's so much meat behind it all. Anthem is pure beauty. I was hoping for something more like that. I think we just have to keep expectations in mind; after seeing the band and how great LC sounded all tour, the album is a bet of a let down from those heights, but still worthy nonetheless.

[dreamermusic]

What I think you agree with me it's sure that although all of them are great songs, we are not getting anymore songs like Suzanne, Marianne, Hey, that's no way..., Famous blue raincoat and many others. Don't you think so?

[Jonnie Falafel]

What I think you agree with me it's sure that although all of them are great songs, we are not getting anymore songs like Suzanne, Marianne, Hey, that's no way..., Famous blue raincoat and many others.

All these songs are already written and they are not going to go away. All that water under the bridge..... artistic integrity continues though. He did that then he's doing something else now....

[david birkett]

Astonishing; deeply moving; innovative; irresistible. At least four words or phrases I feared, after Dear Heather, that I would not honestly be able to use again about a Leonard Cohen album, but which scarcely do justice to the sheer brilliance and impact of this work. Each time I play it (which is about twice a day at present) I am uplifted and feel saner and better able to cope with (and spell) life's vicissitudes. Thanks, Mr. Cohen, and your estimable and very well suited collaborators, and 'Amen'. I cannot remember ever being so delighted with a new musical work.

[annmarie]

What I think you agree with me it's sure that although all of them are great songs, we are not getting anymore songs like Suzanne, Marianne, Hey, that's no way..., Famous blue raincoat and many others.

All these songs are already written and they are not going to go away. All that water under the bridge..... artistic integrity continues though. He did that then he's doing something else now....

As a fan for over 40 years, I agree. I'll always love the Marianne, Suzanne etc etc etc. But I LOVE Old Ideas too
I hope that means I'm maturing as gracefully as Mr Cohen
Anne