Popular Problems - First Impressions
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:47 pm
I just finished listening to Popular Problems for the very first time. I don't want to really spoil anything for anyone. I know the complete lyrics are available and posted in this forum. So some of you may already be familiar with the subject matter of some of these songs. Anyway, I just wanted to throw some thoughts down on digital paper and perhaps as more of you get your copies of Popular Problems we can start discussing the individual tracks in more depth.
This album has a great opener in "Slow" and I think that really helped grab my attention compared to my first listen of Old Ideas. Slow is a nice blues tune, not exactly what one might expect if you were only familiar with his oldest albums (anything up to I'm Your Man, actually).
We've probably all heard "It's Almost Like The Blues" and I don't think I could say enough about the fantastic lyrics in this song. This is what I love about Leonard's songs - thought provoking lyrics that have your mind running in various directions as you fiddle with multiple interpretations. The backup girls are just wonderful.
Things really slow down for the start of "Samson In New Orleans". A sad, haunting hymn that features Leonard growling in places. The emotion runs deep in this song, from the gorgeous stringed instruments (violin?) to the harmonies Leonard sings with his backup girls. It's impossible not to have your mind fill with images of the tragedy that struck the city of New Orleans just a few years ago.
"A Street" is more reminiscent of Leonard's more recent work. Wordy and direct, yet it carries a wonderful backing beat. It's hard not to think that A Street was actually a poem before Leonard decided to set it to music, though I have no proof to justify such a claim.
"Did I Ever Love You" surprised me in many ways. First, it starts so slow with Leonard singing loud, like a man pouring his heart onto magnetic tape for a moody contemplative song and then without warning the song switches to a very quick tempo where the backing girls take over. We have this back and forth tennis match of words and it really blends into a song with several perspectives. Without giving away too much, I'll just say I liked it a lot.
Once again Leonard sings about a past love in "My Oh My". Lenny sure knows how to write heart touching lyrics without trying to be too fancy and then drop those words on top of complex rhythms just perfectly. My Oh My will never be considered Leonard's most mature lyrical work. In fact, the words are quite amateurish in some ways, but I think that's the point - he says what he says and he hammers it home. Quite clever if you ask me.
"Nevermind" is full of metaphors and religious chants and it's clear to see what Leonard is singing about in this song. From this one song I can see how he came up with the title of this album. He kept the music very simple on this track, in stark contrast to the complex verses he sings.
I have to admit I've never been the biggest fan of "Born In Chains". I don't know why. But I think you've all heard this song many times. I will admit that I do like this studio version more than the live versions I listened to on YouTube.
The album concludes with "You Got Me Singing" and it is a lovely song. A perfect closer for a Leonard Cohen album - especially considering Leonard's advanced age. It's hard not to become reflective over Leonard's entire career - the great body of work that he has bestowed upon us. He has gotten all of us singing and I pray that Leonard keeps singing for a long time.
Overall, I have to say that on just my first listen I think this album is a little more accessible than Old Ideas for a few different reasons. I didn't make this an in-depth review of any of the songs for the sole fact that most people in this forum will probably have to wait a few more days to hear the album and I don't want to spoil anything - but I thought some vague descriptions might be enough to get people excited with the release being right around the corner. While I don't think Old Ideas or Popular Problems will ever be ranked next to the truly great Leonard Cohen albums -- if you took the best pieces of each album and created a single piece, I think you most certainly could have a classic record that could go toe to toe with any previous work he has done.
This album has a great opener in "Slow" and I think that really helped grab my attention compared to my first listen of Old Ideas. Slow is a nice blues tune, not exactly what one might expect if you were only familiar with his oldest albums (anything up to I'm Your Man, actually).
We've probably all heard "It's Almost Like The Blues" and I don't think I could say enough about the fantastic lyrics in this song. This is what I love about Leonard's songs - thought provoking lyrics that have your mind running in various directions as you fiddle with multiple interpretations. The backup girls are just wonderful.
Things really slow down for the start of "Samson In New Orleans". A sad, haunting hymn that features Leonard growling in places. The emotion runs deep in this song, from the gorgeous stringed instruments (violin?) to the harmonies Leonard sings with his backup girls. It's impossible not to have your mind fill with images of the tragedy that struck the city of New Orleans just a few years ago.
"A Street" is more reminiscent of Leonard's more recent work. Wordy and direct, yet it carries a wonderful backing beat. It's hard not to think that A Street was actually a poem before Leonard decided to set it to music, though I have no proof to justify such a claim.
"Did I Ever Love You" surprised me in many ways. First, it starts so slow with Leonard singing loud, like a man pouring his heart onto magnetic tape for a moody contemplative song and then without warning the song switches to a very quick tempo where the backing girls take over. We have this back and forth tennis match of words and it really blends into a song with several perspectives. Without giving away too much, I'll just say I liked it a lot.
Once again Leonard sings about a past love in "My Oh My". Lenny sure knows how to write heart touching lyrics without trying to be too fancy and then drop those words on top of complex rhythms just perfectly. My Oh My will never be considered Leonard's most mature lyrical work. In fact, the words are quite amateurish in some ways, but I think that's the point - he says what he says and he hammers it home. Quite clever if you ask me.
"Nevermind" is full of metaphors and religious chants and it's clear to see what Leonard is singing about in this song. From this one song I can see how he came up with the title of this album. He kept the music very simple on this track, in stark contrast to the complex verses he sings.
I have to admit I've never been the biggest fan of "Born In Chains". I don't know why. But I think you've all heard this song many times. I will admit that I do like this studio version more than the live versions I listened to on YouTube.
The album concludes with "You Got Me Singing" and it is a lovely song. A perfect closer for a Leonard Cohen album - especially considering Leonard's advanced age. It's hard not to become reflective over Leonard's entire career - the great body of work that he has bestowed upon us. He has gotten all of us singing and I pray that Leonard keeps singing for a long time.
Overall, I have to say that on just my first listen I think this album is a little more accessible than Old Ideas for a few different reasons. I didn't make this an in-depth review of any of the songs for the sole fact that most people in this forum will probably have to wait a few more days to hear the album and I don't want to spoil anything - but I thought some vague descriptions might be enough to get people excited with the release being right around the corner. While I don't think Old Ideas or Popular Problems will ever be ranked next to the truly great Leonard Cohen albums -- if you took the best pieces of each album and created a single piece, I think you most certainly could have a classic record that could go toe to toe with any previous work he has done.