Greatest Hits re-released & re-packed (July 2009)

[JJR]

I don't know if this has been previously posted, but eil.com in the U.K. is listing a new Leonard Cohen Greatest Hits CD for release on July 6th. Their website has a tracklisting as follows:

1. Hallelujah
2. So Long Marianne
3. Suzanne
4. Sisters Of Mercy
5. Famous Blue Raincoat
6. Everybody Knows
7. Waiting For The Miracle
8. Who By Fire
9. Chelsea Hotel No 2
10. Hey Thats No Way To Say Goodbye
11. Bird On The Wire
12. A Thousand Kisses Deep
13. The Future
14. Closing Time
15. Dance Me To The End Of Love
16. First We Take Manhattan
17. I'm Your Man

The artwork shown is surely wrong! Of course something similar was announced last year and never materialized. But this does look genuine and the CD is listed on Amazon.co.uk too.

jjr

[tomsakic]

Well, it was announced last year, the same tracks and title, as you said - for the same date!
It's probably a mistake.

[jarkko]

http://www.albumvote.co.uk/news/more-le ... s-553.aspx

Leonard Cohen's famous 'Greatest Hits' album, which was originally released back in 1975 and has been re-released numerous times since, is set to be released again on July 13 with extra tracks.

Post 1975 tracks 'Everybody Knows' , 'Waiting For the Miracle', '11', 'The Future', 'Closing Time', 'Dance Me To The End Of Love', 'First We Take Manhattan', 'I'm Your Man' and 'Hallelujah' have been added to the original track list but at the expense of 'Lady Midnight', 'The Partisan', 'Last Year's Man' and 'Take This Longing'.

[tomsakic]

What a mess.

[jarkko]

I agree, and cannot see any reason why such a compilation should be released by Sony Music right now. I'd think the accent should be put on promoting Live in London!

[Hartmut]

'Waiting For the Miracle', '11', 'The Future', 'Closing Time'

'11'?

[tomsakic]

'Waiting For the Miracle', '11', 'The Future', 'Closing Time'

'11'?

Ditto, 11! No more or less - track 11 is titled 11!

Jarkko, the *same* CD was announced also in July 2008, during Summer tour in Europe, by HMV and Amazon UK, but it never appeared.


This news was posted also here in the News section last week by JJR: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15417

I don't know if this has been previously posted, but eil.com in the U.K. is listing a new Leonard Cohen Greatest Hits CD for release on July 6th. Their website has a tracklisting as follows:

1. Hallelujah
2. So Long Marianne
3. Suzanne
4. Sisters Of Mercy
5. Famous Blue Raincoat
6. Everybody Knows
7. Waiting For The Miracle
8. Who By Fire
9. Chelsea Hotel No 2
10. Hey Thats No Way To Say Goodbye
11. Bird On The Wire
12. A Thousand Kisses Deep
13. The Future
14. Closing Time
15. Dance Me To The End Of Love
16. First We Take Manhattan
17. I'm Your Man

The artwork shown is surely wrong! Of course something similar was announced last year and never materialized. But this does look genuine and the CD is listed on Amazon.co.uk too.

jjr

So it is a mess - the order of old and newer songs is quite ridiculous.

[John Etherington]

The idea here is obviously to have a career spanning single CD of Leonard's most popular songs. As it happens, it's a pretty good selection, but I would personally keep it in chronological order. If given the option, I would have substituted "Anthem" for "Waiting for the Miracle" (but that's a worthy choice, too).

All good things, John E

[yaniv297]

Take This Longing is too awesome to drop.

Also, why did they leave Tower of Song out? I always thought it's his career-summarizing song. Should be there.

[Phantom Stranger]

I agree, and cannot see any reason why such a compilation should be released by Sony Music right now. I'd think the accent should be put on promoting Live in London!

It has become a very tough retail market for cds because of the decline in consumer spending on them. Sadly, greatest hits cds are still the most viable and safest type of release for a company like Sony concerned about the bottom line. Repackaging the greatest hits, no matter how poor the track selection is, is probably a sales winner.

I agree with some of the comments about the odd track selection. I do think a one-disc compilation spanning his whole career was needed for newer fans, but often these decisions are made by record company executives with little familiarity with the artist's catalog beyond the obvious hits.

[John Etherington]

Hi yaniv297,

I agree that "Tower of Song" is a glaring omission on the compilation, though I can understand why they left "Take This Longing" out, on a "Greatest Hits" selection (even though Leonard has never had a greatest hit, as such!). It's a pity, because I feel that they almost got this selection right, if it had been in chronological order. I always feel that a mixture of styles from different eras doesn't work.

All the best, John E

[tomsakic]

I always feel that a mixture of styles from different eras doesn't work.

I agree, and I also have some compilations (Polish CD, and couple of maxi promo CDs) made in this way and it quite sucks. This selection - if it would be in chronological order - would be quite OK for a starter (and for those thinking that The Essential - which is for me almost perfect best of CD - is too long).

[MaryB]

Apparently Sony is releasing this compilation just to capitalize on the current resurgent popularity of LC in light of this tour. And this from a company who would not release 'Various Positions' in the US because of perceived weak potential sales. I know they have to look at the bottom line in order to stay in business, especially with the current problems all the record companies are having since there are so many other ways to get the artists' materials, but they should also keep in mind that these same artists were their livelihood for decades and these record companies should do right by them. Jarkko got it right when he said - they already have a product that will make money for them - push 'Live in London' instead of putting out what they consider 'greatest hits'. If they want to put a greatest hits product out on the market, perhaps they should come to this ultimate (thank you Jarkko and company) LC website and ask the opinion of the members here.

Kindest regards,
Mary

[Bhasi]

Hmmm .... not sure we can really blame the company that is Sony Music in 2009 for Columbia's refusal to release an album 25 years ago! And if multinational corporations had consciences which compelled them to 'do right by' anyone but themselves, ..... we'd be living in a very different world! (Sorry, mustn't listen to Everybody Knows so often.)

Seriously, though, and to state the obvious, these compilations aren't principally intended for Cohen-obsessives like us, are they? If I were just discovering The Great Man now through the tour or TV edits of Live in London I'd be more likely to download or pick up a 1-CD compilation than anything else. OK, the cover photos of Songs of or Death of a Ladies' Man might tempt me more, but Pino's Milan mirror shot on the original Greatest Hits/Best of is pretty good too - though that depends on your politics, as Leonard remarks on the back cover!

Few career-length compilations work as start-to-finish listening experiences, anyway, after you've found out what's on them and what you like or are in the mood for.

Lastly, if Sony can sell some product I assume that's good news for Leonard and his 'retirement fund'!

[tomsakic]

Bhasi, LC doesn't own the back catalogue anymore, but Sony - that's why they're trying to release stuff from the back catalogues so eagerly.