Album Review: Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
Leonard Cohen is an american folk singer who has had a career spanning for more than 5 decades with many of his songs being used in popular culture like films, television shows, advertisements. His most recent album Old Ideas is a beautiful masterpiece containing 10 heart-felt tracks. The album begins with the magnificent “Going Home” and you can tell straight away that Leonard’s vocals are still as amazing as they were on his last release Dear Heather, which was also an folk album with cleverly constructed songs.The album ends with the lovely “Different Sides” which is an organ driven song and a perfect track to end the album on because the only instrument that is mostly played throughout the song is the electric organ, this sets a mellow mood for the song which helps relax the listener and end the album with them wanting more. Every song on this album is superbly written and sung by Leonard Cohen with his deep soulful voice, the genre of the album is Folk and has many different instruments playing in each track like the organ and the piano.
When I first listened to this album, it took me to a place i had not been for quite some time, a place where I could just sit back, relax and let the soothing lyrics and Cohen’s vocals send me to a far away land where my problems didn’t matter for the whole 10 tracks. Leonard Cohen is an amazing lyricist and uses depths of emotion in his songs that mention problems we deal with each day like sorrow, love and health. His album also really shows off his talents as a word-smith and vocalist.
My favourite track on the album would have to be “Going Home”, originally intended to be a poem in the New York Times, this song really reaches out to the listener and makes them think about life in general and how they can develop as a person. He allows us to consider how we can leave as one person and return transformed as a better person.
If you’re looking for a new album to listen to and take away your worries and stresses, i highly recommend this stunning creation from Leonard Cohen to be in your music collection. My rating for this album is 4.5 out of 5, so close to a 5 out of 5 but i gave it 4.5 purely because i think Leonard Cohen could have put a bit more creativity into his songs on the album.