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Jeff Burger | 624 pages | 14 Jul 2014 | OMNIBUS PRESS | 9781783055678 | English | London, United Kingdom Leonard Cohen and : the love affair of a lifetime | Film | The Guardian

This post was researched and written by Guy Minnebach, 1 a 54 year old former newspaper editor from Antwerp, Belgium, who has swapped journalism for tourism. Guy is a passionate collector of Andy Warhol cover art, a coffee addict and a proud member of the Leonard Cohen Club Hungary. Several blogs offer collections of censored or banned LP cover art. A precis of those three iterations follows:. The white-label promos in Canada and the U. Back Cover photograph: Sam Tata. In the United Kingdom, an unbelievably large and Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen more unbelievably silly third wing was added to one of the angels to enshroud possible intimations of hanky panky. Like his counterpart in the UK, an unknown Israeli artist altered the original drawing, but he did the job with a tad more subtlety. At first glance, in fact, one may not even notice the change. As a result, the hand more thoroughly and securely covers the genital area of the figure. In the original drawing the hand covers the area between male and female genitals, leaving room for interpretation. No such ambiguity, however, is tolerated on the Israeli cover where it is certain that no sexual act is taking place. The back cover of this Israeli issue is identical to the censored US cover, featuring the iconic black Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen white Leonard Cohen portrait by Sam Tata. Close examination of a copy of the camouflaged Israeli cover purchased on eBay from a seller in Karmiel, Israel discloses that it is a standard CBS factory printed cover, not a one-off produced ad hoc, for example, by an overzealous, self-appointed defender of local mores. Finally, Israel did begin to allow distribution of the original cover in the s. Given the number and variety of album covers discovered so far, one cannot consider this a closed case. Who knows what other versions might turn up? As The Man might have said. Cover cover cover, come back to me. Roman January 10, at pm Best artwork ever, and apparently perfect album. Eva January 10, at pm Wow, Guy, such a great article! I am republishing selected posts from my former Leonard Cohen site, Cohencentric, here on Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Guest Author: Guy Minnebach This post was researched and written by Guy Minnebach, 1 a 54 year old former newspaper editor Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Antwerp, Belgium, who has swapped journalism for tourism. A Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen of those three iterations follows: 1. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Leonard Cohen and Marianne Ihlen: How an early love affair influenced the songwriter |

His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death and romantic relationships. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of Canadathe nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen pursued a career as a poet and novelist during the s and early s, and did not begin a music career until at the age of His record Death of a Ladies' Man Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen, co-written and produced by Phil Spectorwas a move away from Cohen's previous minimalist sound. InCohen returned with the more traditional Recent Songswhich blended his acoustic style with , East Asian, and Mediterranean influences. Perhaps Cohen's most famous , " Hallelujah ", was first released on his studio album in I'm Your Man in marked Cohen's turn to synthesized productions. InCohen released its follow-up, The Futurewhich had dark lyrics and references to political and social unrest. Cohen returned to music in with the release of Ten New Songswhich was a major hit in Canada and . His 11th album, Dear Heatherfollowed in Following a successful Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen of tours between andCohen released three in the last five years of his life: Old IdeasPopular Problems and You Want It Darkerthe last of which was released three weeks before his death. A posthumous album titled was released in Novemberhis fifteenth studio album. His parents gave him the Jewish name Eliezer, which means 'God is help'. The family observed Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Judaismand Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen to Congregation Shaar Hashomayimto which Cohen retained connections for the rest of his life. I was told I was a descendant of Aaronthe high priest. Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School and completed grades seven through nine at Herzliah High Schoolwhere his literary mentor Irving Layton taught, [11] then transferred in to Westmount High Schoolwhere he studied music and poetry. During Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen time, Cohen taught himself to play the acoustic guitar, and formed a country — folk group that he called the Buckskin Boys. After a young Spanish guitar player taught him "a few chords and some flamenco ", Cohen switched to a classical guitar. She would sing with us Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen I took my guitar to a restaurant with some friends; my mother would come, and we'd often sing all night. He would read his poetry at assorted nearby clubs. In that period and that place, Cohen wrote the lyrics to some of his most famous . The issue also included poems by Cohen's poet—professors who were also on the editorial board Irving Layton and Louis Dudek. The book contained poems written largely when Cohen was between the ages of 15 and 20, and Cohen dedicated the book to his late father. Cohen described his graduate school experience as "passion without flesh, love without climax". His father's will provided him with a modest trust income sufficient to allow him to pursue his literary ambitions for the time, and The Spice-Box of Earth was successful in helping to expand the audience for Cohen's poetry, helping him reach out to the poetry scene in Canada, outside the confines of McGill University. The book also helped Cohen gain critical recognition as an important new voice in Canadian poetry. One of Cohen's biographers, Ira Nadelstated that "reaction to the finished book was enthusiastic and admiring Cohen continued to write poetry and fiction throughout much of the s and preferred to live in Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen circumstances after he bought a Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen on Hydraa Greek island in the Saronic Gulf. His novel was an autobiographical bildungsroman about a young man who discovers his identity through writing. received a good deal of attention from the Canadian press and stirred up controversy because of a number of sexually graphic passages. He is living in Montreal under the name of Cohen. Both Beautiful Losers and Parasites of Heaven received mixed reviews and sold few copies. I want to write songs," Simon recalled Cohen telling him. Subsequently, Cohen published less, with major gaps, concentrating more on recording songs. In he published his first book of poetry in many years, Death of a Lady's Man not to be confused with the album he released the previous year, the similarly titled Death Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen a Ladies' Man. The book contains 50 prose-poems, influenced by the Hebrew Bible and Zen writings. Cohen himself referred to the pieces as "prayers". The is dedicated to the poet Irving Layton. Also, during the late s and s, many of Cohen's new poems and lyrics were first published on the fan website The Leonard Cohen Files, including the original version of the Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen "A Thousand Kisses Deep" which Cohen later adapted for a song. Cohen's writing process, as he told an interviewer inwas "like a bear stumbling into a beehive or a honey cache: I'm stumbling right into it and getting stuck, and it's delicious and it's horrible and I'm in it and it's not very graceful and it's very awkward and it's very painful and yet there's something inevitable about it. InCohen was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for literature. His books have been translated into multiple languages, including Spanish. Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohendisappointed with his lack of success as a writer, Cohen moved to the United States to pursue a career as a singer—songwriter. During the s, he was a fringe figure in Andy Warhol 's "Factory" crowd. Warhol speculated that Cohen had spent time listening to Nico in clubs and that this had influenced his musical style. His Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen " Suzanne " became a hit for Judy Collins who subsequently covered a number of Cohen's other songs as welland was for many years his most-covered song. Collins recalls that when she first met him, he said he couldn't sing or play the guitar, nor did he think "Suzanne" was even a song:. And then he Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen me "Suzanne" I said, "Leonard, you must come with me to this big fundraiser I'm doing" was on it. He'd never sung [in front of a large audience] before then. He got out on stage and started singing. Everybody was going crazy—they loved it. And he stopped about halfway through and walked off the stage. Everybody went nuts. They demanded that he come back. And I demanded; Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen said, "I'll go out with you. And of course, that was the beginning. She first introduced him to television audiences during one of her shows in[31] where they performed duets of his songs. Collins told Bill Moyersduring a television interview, that she felt Cohen's Jewish background was an important influence on his words and music. After performing at a few folk festivals, he Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen to the attention of producer John Hammondwho signed Cohen to a record deal. The film is now considered a masterpiece by some critics who also note that the songs are integral to the film. Scott Tobias wrote in that "The film is unimaginable to me without the Cohen songs, which function as these mournful interstitials that unify the entire movie. The movie is inextricably connected to Cohen's songs. It's impossible Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen imagine Altman's masterpiece without them. He then heard the Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen clamoring for his reappearance by singing to him in Hebrew, and under the influence of the psychedelic, he returned to finish the show. Then beginning aroundCohen's collaboration Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen pianist and arranger John Lissauer created a live Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen praised by the critics. The tour included new songs from an album in progress, co-written by Cohen and Lissauer and entitled Songs for Rebecca. None of the recordings from these live tours with Lissauer were ever officially released, and the album was abandoned in InCohen embarked on a new major European tour with a new band and changes in his sound and arrangements, again, in support of his The Best of Leonard Cohen release in Europe retitled as Greatest Hits. Laura Branigan was one of his backup singers during the tour. After the European tour ofCohen again attempted a new change in his style and arrangements: his new record, Death of a Ladies' Man was co-written and produced by . InCohen returned with the more traditional [54] which blended his acoustic style with jazz and East Asian and Mediterranean influences. Beginning with this record, Cohen began to co-produce his albums. helped Cohen create a new sound by featuring instruments like the oudthe Gypsy violin, and the mandolin. The album was supported by Cohen's major tour with the new band, and and Sharon Robinson on the backing vocals, in Europe in lateand again in Australia, Israel, and Europe in InColumbia released an album of live recordings of songs from the tour, entitled Field Commander Cohen: Tour of During the s, Cohen toured twice with Jennifer Warnes as a backup singer and Warnes would become a fixture on Cohen's future albums, receiving full co-vocals credit on Cohen's album Various Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen although the record was released under Cohen's name, the inside credits say "Vocals by Leonard Cohen and Jennifer Warnes". In she recorded an album of Cohen songs, . They also gave a series of highly emotional and politically controversial concerts in Poland, which had been under martial law just two years before, and performed the song " ", regarded as the hymn of the Polish Solidarity movement. The following year he released I'm Your Man. Cale's version formed the basis for a later cover by Jeff Buckley. In a New York Times review Janet Maslin praised the book and the song, noting that "Cohen spent years struggling with his song "Hallelujah", which eventually became one of the most "oft-performed songs in American musical history. He first introduced the song during his world tour in InCohen released The FutureLeonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen urges often in terms of biblical prophecy perseverance, reformation, and hope in the face of grim prospects. Three tracks from the album — " Waiting for Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Miracle ", "The Future" and "Anthem" — were featured in the movie Natural Born Killerswhich also promoted Cohen's work to a new generation of US listeners. As with I'm Your Manthe lyrics on The Future were dark, and made references to political and social unrest. The title track is reportedly a response to the Los Angeles riots. Cohen promoted the album with two music videos, for "Closing Time" and "The Future", and supported the release with the major tour through Europe, United States and Canada, with the same band as in his tour, including a second appearance on PBS 's Austin City Limits. Some of the Scandinavian shows were broadcast live on the radio. The selection of performances, mostly recorded on the Canadian leg of the tour, was released on the album. InCohen also published his book of selected poems and songs, Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songson which he had worked since It includes a number of new poems from the late s and early s and major revision of his book Death of a Lady's Man. InCohen retreated to the Mt. Baldy Zen Center near Los Angeles, beginning what became five years of seclusion at the center. He served as personal assistant to Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi. The first was left over from Cohen's unfinished mids album, which was announced to include songs like "In My Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Life" already recited as a song-in-progress in and "A Thousand Kisses Deep", [72] both later re-worked with Sharon Robinson for the album . Although there was a public impression that Cohen would not resume recording or publishing, he returned to Los Angeles in May Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah, Songs & Poems - Biography

Second only to Bob Dylan and perhaps Paul Simonhe commanded the attention of critics and younger musicians more firmly than any other musical figure from the Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen who continued to work in the 21st century, which is all the more remarkable an achievement for someone who didn't even aspire to a musical career until he was in his thirties. Cohen was born ina year before Elvis Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohenand his background -- personal, social, and intellectual -- couldn't have been more different from those of the rock or folk stars of any generation. Though he knew some country music and played it a bit as a boy, he didn't start performing on even a semi-regular basis, much less recording, until after he had already written several books -- and as an established novelist and poet, his literary accomplishments far exceeded those of Bob Dylan or most anyone else who one cares to mention in music. His father, a clothing merchant who also held a degree in engineeringdied inwhen Cohen was nine years old. It was his mother who encouraged Cohen as a writer, especially of poetry, during his childhood. This fit in with the progressive intellectual environment in which he was raised, which allowed him free inquiry into a vast range of pursuits. His relationship to music was more tentative. At 17, he enrolled in McGill University as an English major. By this time, he was writing poetry in earnest and became part of the university's tiny underground "bohemian" community. Cohen only earned average grades, but was good enough as a writer to earn the McNaughton Prize in creative writing by the time he graduated in A year later, the ink barely dry on his degree, he published his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologieswhich got great reviews but didn't sell especially well. Bob Dylanby contrast, was Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Robert Zimmermanstill in his teens, and young enough to become a devotee of Buddy Holly when the latter emerged. InCohen published his second book of poetry, The Spice Box of Earth, which became an international success critically and commercially, and established Cohen as a major new literary figure. Meanwhile, he tried to join the family business and spent some time at Columbia University in New York, writing all the time. Between the modest royalties from sales of his second book, literary grants from the Canadian government, and a family legacy, he was able to live comfortably and travel around the world, partaking of much of what it had to offer -- including some use of LSD when it was still legal -- and ultimately settling for an extended period in Greece, on the isle of Hydra in the Aegean Sea. He continued to publish, issuing a pair of novels, The Favorite Game and Beautiful Loserswith a pair of poetry collections, and Parasites of Heaven The Favorite Game was a very personal work about his early life in Montreal, but it was Beautiful Losers that proved another breakthrough, earning the kind of reviews that authors dare not even hope for. Cohen found himself compared to James Joyce in the pages of The Boston Globe, and across the Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen, the book has enjoyed sales totaling well Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen six figures. It was around this time that he also started writing music again, songs being a natural extension of his poetry. His relative isolation on Hydra, coupled with his highly mobile Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen when he left the island, his own natural iconoclastic nature, and the fact that he'd avoided being overwhelmed or even touched too seriously by the currents running through popular music since the '40s, combined to give Cohen a unique voice as a . Though he did settle in Nashville for a short time in the mid-'60s, he didn't write quite like anyone else in the country music mecca or anywhere else. This might have been an impediment, but for the intervention of Judy Collinsa folksinger who had just moved to the front rank of that field. Collins had a voice just special enough to move her beyond the relatively emaciated ranks of remaining popular folk performers after Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen shifted to electric music; she was still getting heard, and not just by the purists left behind in Dylan 's wake. She added Cohen 's "Suzanne" to her repertoire and put it on her album In My Lifea record that was controversial enough in folk circles because of her cover of the Beatles song that gave the LP its title to pull in a lot of listeners and get a wide airing. The LP's "Suzanne" received a considerable amount of radio airplay, and Cohen was also represented on the album by "Dress Rehearsal Rag. It was Collins who persuaded Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen to return to performing for the first time since his teens. He made his Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen during the summer of at the Newport Folk Festival, followed by a pair of sold-out concerts in and an appearance singing his songs and reciting his poems on the CBS network television show Camera Three, in a show entitled "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen. Producer John Simon was able to find a restrained yet appealing approach to recording Cohen 's voice, which might have been described as an appealingly sensitive near-monotone; yet that voice was perfectly suited to the material at hand, all of which, written in a very personal language, seemed drenched in downbeat images and a spirit of discovery as a path to unsettling revelation. College Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen by the thousands bought it; in its second year of release, the record sold overcopies. The was as close as Cohen ever got to mass audience success. Amid all of this sudden musical activity, he hardly neglected his other writing -- inhe released a new volume, Selected Poems:which included both old and newly published work, and earned him the Governor General's Award, Canada's highest literary honor, which he proceeded to decline. By this time, he was actually almost more a part of the rock scene, residing for a time in New York's Chelsea Hotel, where his neighbors included Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Joplin and other performing luminaries, some of whom influenced his songs very directly. His next album, Songs from a Roomwas Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen by an even greater spirit of melancholy -- even the relatively spirited "A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes" was steeped in such depressing sensibilities, and the one song not written by Cohen"The Partisan," was a grim narrative about the reasons for and consequences of resistance to tyranny that included lines like "She died without a whisper" and included images of wind blowing past graves. subsequently recorded the song, and in her hands it was a bit more upbeat and inspiring to the listener; Cohen 's rendition made it much more difficult to get past the costs presented by the singer's persona. On the other hand, "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy," although as downbeat as anything else here, did present Cohen in his most expressive and commercial voice, a nasal but affecting and finely nuanced performance. In all, however, was less well-received commercially and critically. 's restrained, almost minimalist production made it less overtly appealing than the subtly commercial trappings of his debut, though the album did have a pair of tracks, "" and "The Story of Isaac," that became standards rivaling "Suzanne. He appeared at the Isle of Wight festival in England, a post-Woodstock gathering of stars and superstars, including late appearances by such soon-to-die-or-disband legends as Jimi Hendrix and the Doors. Cohen 's performance of "Suzanne" was one of the highlights of Murray Lerner 's long-delayed documentary Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival, and Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen full set was reissued inboth on audio and video formats. Already, he had carved out a unique place for himself in music, as much author as performer and recording artist, letting his songs develop and evolve across years -- his distinctly non-commercial voice became part of his appeal to the audience he found, giving him a unique corner of the music audience comprising listeners descended from the same people who had embraced Bob Dylan 's early work before he'd become a mass- media phenomenon in Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen In a sense, Cohen embodied a phenomenon vaguely similar to what Dylan enjoyed before his early-'70s tour with the Band -- people bought his albums by the tens and, occasionally, hundreds of thousands, but seemed to hear him in Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen personal terms. He earned his audience seemingly one listener at a time, by word of mouth more than by the radio, which, in any case especially on the AM dialwas mostly friendly to covers of Cohen 's songs by other artists. Cohen 's third album, Songs of Love and Hatewas one of his most powerful works, brimming with piercing lyrics and music as poignantly affecting as it was minimalist in its approach -- arranger Paul Buckmaster 's work on strings was peculiarly muted, and the children's chorus that showed up on "Last Year's Man" was spare in its presence. Balancing them was Cohen 's most effective vocalizing to date, brilliantly expressive around such acclaimed songs as "Joan of Arc," "Dress Rehearsal Rag" which had been recorded by Judy Collins five Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen beforeand "Famous Blue Raincoat. He also found himself in demand in the world of commercial filmmaking, as director Robert Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen used his music in his feature film McCabe and Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christiea revisionist period film set at the turn of the 19th century that was savaged by the critics and, by some Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen, sabotaged by its own studio but went on to become one of the director's best-loved movies. The following year, he also published a new poetry collection, The Energy of Slaves. As was his wont, Cohen spent Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen between albums, and Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen he seemed to take stock of himself as a performer by issuing Leonard Cohen: . Not a conventional live album, it was a compendium of performances from various venues across several years and focused on highlights of his output from onward. It showcased his writing as much as his performing, but also gave a good account Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen his appeal to his most serious fans -- those still uncertain of where they stood in relation to his music who could get past the epic-length "Please Don't Pass Me By" knew for certain they were ready to "join" the inner circle of his legion of devotees after that, while others who only appreciated "Bird on the Wire" or "The Story of Isaac" could stay comfortably in an outer ring. Meanwhile, inhis music became the basis for a theatrical production called Sisters of Mercy, conceived by Gene Lesser and loosely based on Cohen 's life, or at least a fantasy version of his life. A three-year lag ensued between Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen of Love and Hate and Cohen 's next album, and most critics and fans just assumed he'd hit a dry spell, with the live album covering the gap. He was busy performing, however, in the United States and Europe in andand extended his appearances into Israel during the Yom Kippur War. It was during this period that he also began working with pianist and arranger John Lissauerwhom he engaged as producer of his next album, New Skin for the Old Ceremony That album seemed to justify his fans' continued faith in his work, presenting Cohen in a more lavish musical environment. He proved capable of holding his own in a pop environment, even if the songs were mostly still depressing and bleak. The following year, Columbia Records released The Best of Leonard Cohenfeaturing a dozen of his best-known songs -- principally hits in the hands of other performers -- from his previous four LPs though it left out "Dress Rehearsal Rag". It was also during the mid-'70s that Cohen first crossed paths professionally with Jennifer Warnesappearing on the same bill with the singer at numerous shows, which would lead to a series of key collaborations in the ensuing decade. By this time, he was a somewhat less mysterious persona, having toured extensively and gotten considerable exposure -- among many other attributes, Cohen became known for his uncanny attractiveness to women, which seemed to go hand in glove with the romantic subjects of most of his songs. InCohen reappeared with Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen ironically titled Death of a Ladies' Manthe Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen controversial album of his career, produced by Phil Spector. The notion of pairing Spector -- known variously as a Svengali-like presence to his female singers and artists and the most unrepentant and often justified over-producer in Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen field of pop music -- with Cohen must have seemed like a good one to someone at some point, but apparently Cohen himself had misgivings about many of the resulting tracks that Spector never addressed, having mixed the record completely on his own. The resulting LP suffered from the worst attributes of Cohen 's and Spector 's work, overly dense and self-consciously imposing in its sound, and virtually bathing the listener in Cohen 's depressive persona, but showing his limited vocal abilities to disadvantage, owing Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Spector 's use of "scratch" i. For the first and only time in Cohen 's career, his near-monotone delivery of this period wasn't a positive attribute. Cohen 's unhappiness with the album was widely known among fans, who mostly bought it with that caveat in mind, so it didn't harm his reputation. A year after its release, Cohen also published a new literary collection using the slightly different title Death of a Lady's Man. Cohen 's next album, Recent Songsreturned him to the spare settings of his early-'70s work and showed his singing to some of its best advantage. Working with veteran producer best known for his work with Joni Mitchellthe album showed Cohen 's singing as attractive and expressive in its quiet way, and songs such as "The Guests" seeming downright pretty. He still wrote about life and love, and especially relationships, in stark terms, but he seemed to be moving into a pop mode on numbers such as "Humbled in Love. The latter, recorded with Jennifer Warnesis arguably the most accessible album of his entire career up to that time -- Cohen 's voice, now a peculiarly expressive baritone instrument, found a beautiful pairing with Warnesand the songs were as fine as ever, steeped in spirituality and sexuality, with "Dance Me to the End of Love" a killer opener: a wry, doom-laden yet impassioned pop-style ballad that is impossible to forget. Sad to say, Various Positions went relatively unnoticed, and was followed by another extended sabbatical from recording, which ended with I'm Your Man But during his hiatus, Warnes had released her album of Cohen -authored material, entitled Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Blue Raincoatwhich had sold extremely well and introduced Cohen to a new generation of listeners. So when I'm Your Man did appear, with its electronic production albeit still rather spare and songs that added humor albeit dark humor to his mix of pessimistic and poetic conceits, the result was his best-selling record in more than a decade. He rose to the occasion, releasing The Futurean album that dwelt on the many threats facing mankind in the coming years and decades, a year later. Not the stuff of pop Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen or MTV heavy rotation, it attracted Cohen 's usual coterie of fans, and enough press interest as well as sufficient sales, to justify the release in of his second concert album, Cohen Livederived from his two most recent tours. A year later came another tribute album, Tower of Songfeaturing Cohen 's songs as interpreted by Billy JoelWillie Nelsonet al. In the midst of all of this new activity surrounding his writing and compositions, Cohen embarked on a new phase of his life. Religious concerns Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen never too far from his thinking and work, even when he was making a name for himself writing songs about love, and he had focused even more on this side of life since Various Positions. He spent time at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center, a Buddhist retreat in California, and eventually became a full-time resident, and a Buddhist monk in the late '90s. When he re-emerged inCohen had many dozens of new compositions in hand, songs and poems alike. Inthe year he turned 70, Cohen released one of the most controversial albums of his career, . It revealed his voice anew, in this phase of his Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen, as a deep baritone more limited in range than on any previous recording, but it overcame this change in vocal timbre by facing it head-on, just as Cohen had done with his singing throughout his career. It also contained a number of songs for which Cohen wrote music but not lyrics, a decided change of pace for a man who'd started out as a poet. And it was as personal a record as Cohen had ever issued. His return to recording was one of the more positive aspects of Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen 's resumption of his music activities. On another note, inhe filed suit against his longtime business manager and his financial advisor over the alleged theft of more than five million dollars, at least some of which took place during his years at the Buddhist retreat. Five decades after he emerged as a public literary figure and then a performer, Cohen remained one of the most compelling and enigmatic musical figures of his era, and one of the very few of that era who commanded as much respect and attention, and probably as large an audience, in the 21st century as he did in the '60s. As much as any survivor of that decade, Cohen held onto his original audience and Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen it grow across generations, in keeping with a truly timeless and ageless body of music. A performance set, Live in Londonwas released in Inthe combined video and audio package Songs from the Road was issued, documenting his world tour which actually lasted until laterevisiting songs from each part of his career. The tour covered 84 dates and sold overtickets worldwide. Cohen didn't rest long, however: in early he began to craft what would become Old Ideashis first album of new material in seven years. The sessions took place with producers Ed Sanders renowned poet and leader of the FugsPatrick LeonardCohen 's saxophonist Dino Soldoand his partner, singer and songwriter Thomas. contained ten new songs dealing with spirituality, mortality, sexuality, loss, and acceptance, similar in sound and texture to Dear Heather. The tracks "Lullaby" and "Darkness" were staples of the world tour, while the cut "Show Me the Place" was pre-released in late Old Ideas was released at the end of January It was a tremendous success, debuting inside the Top Five in the U. Cohen 's success in Europe was more impressive; Old Ideas reached number one in almost ten countries.