Leonard Cohen was a poet long before he decided to pick up a guitar. Despite singing in a dry baritone over spare arrangements, Cohen is a gifted lyricist who captivates the listener. New Skin for the Old Ceremony may be Leonard Cohen's most musical album, as he is accompanied by violas, mandolins, banjos, and percussion that give his music more texture than usual…
A limited guitar player at best, and with a voice that hardly spans a couple of octaves, Leonard Cohen has nonetheless fashioned a legacy of gorgeously realized songs that reach deep into the heart of lust, ill- and well-fated romance, hope, and redemption, and if he doesn't sing like an angel, he could certainly mesmerize one with the melody, lilt, and power of his songs…
The majority of the music featured on this CD was broadcast from Leonard Cohen's most recent 'hometown', Los Angeles, at the Complex on 18th April 1993. As Leonard remarked: 'Los Angeles is a terrific place to live; because uh, well it's, it's right on the edge of destruction. The ground itself is trembling…
Recorded with vocalist Jennifer Warnes (who later cut the album Famous Blue Raincoat, a collection of Leonard Cohen compositions), Various Positions is a stunning return to form – Cohen's strongest work since New Skin for the Old Ceremony…