Record basics
- Album name: Songs of Love and Hate
- Artist name: Leonard Cohen
- Year: 1971
- Number of discs: one
- Label: Columbia Records
- Collection: Brenner / Gessner
- Who owned it: I thought this would have been my mother’s, but my father was into Leonard Cohen too, so it could have belonged to either of them
- Buy it on Amazon: $43.99
My review
Level of familiarity before listening
I’ve only listened to one Leonard Cohen record before this, Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) in July, and I liked it!
What I expected
More mumbly, morose folk rock.
What it was actually like
This record was pretty boring, and I mostly didn’t like it.
The two songs I liked the best were the first tracks on each side, Avalanche on side one and Love Calls You by Your Name on side two. They both used a classical style guitar, and I especially liked how the former started the record with a dark tone and how the guitar built tension throughout the song.
Diamonds in the Mine was the weirdest son on the record, with a sort of reggae type beat, and terrible vocals that were half yelling, half growling.
Dress Rehearsal Rag was also an un-favorite since it sounded rather atonal, with vocals that were kind of proto-punk or proto-rap.
Joan of Arc made me think of The Smiths’ Bigmouth Strikes Again, but it didn’t sound like that at all.
Grade
2/5: weak, but I was able to listen to the whole thing
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