Famous Blue Raincoat

This is one of the best albums ever made, certainly the best of Cohen's songs. If you haven't heard "The Singer Must Die", done a capella with some of the greatest singers in LA at the time (including David Lasley, who can sing anything for anyone and still be a lovely man without a hint of arrogance to his bones), using no synthesizer... well, you've missed a bit of heaven on earth. The entire track makes me think of William Blake. That should tell you something.Try to get the original vinyl, or failing that, a high end CD. But regardless, get it.

I like Leonard Cohen and bought this based on stellar reviews, but I found nothing special here. The performances are solid but uninspired. Warnes has a nice voice and a couple of the songs are artistically compelling but others just fall flat for me.The recording is just meh. It's not bad, but not great either. It is not dynamically compressed which is a nice surprise. Some people complain about having to turn up the volume, but that's a good thing - they're probably used to listening to overly compressed recordings. The sound quality varies from song to song but has an unnatural edge to it, generally just a touch harsh in the upper mids / lower treble. The lower bass on most tracks sounds a bit hollow and spectrum analysis shows everything below 40 Hz is attenuated to near zero. Sounds like it was engineered or remastered to sound good on car radios or cheap stereos.

Jennifer Warnes is a singer's singer, and Leonard Cohen is a songwriter's songwriter. They are each at the front of their game and are brilliant in unique, almost tangible ways. I am not certain whose idea the original album was, but what a wondrous pairing! Warnes adds new levels to each of the excellent Cohen songs she interprets here and does a remarkable job on her songwriting collaboration with Cohen, "Song of Bernadette."Americans barely noticed this superb collection during its initial release; it was overshadowed by Warnes' #1 song "The Time Of My Life" of the same year. However, I don't believe anyone can say he or she has heard Jennifer Warnes at her best without hearing this recording! Warnes' immaculate interepretation of "Famous Blue Raincoat" blows Tori Amos' well-known version out of the water! Just as exquisite are "Bird On A Wire," "First We Take Manhattan" and "Ain't No Cure For Love." Warnes and her co-producer, C. Roscoe Beck, handpicked a batch of amazing musicians for this 1987 CD, including a Stevie Ray Vaughan guitar performance that is mind-blowing! Snatch this anniversary-edition CD up and listen to it like there is no tomorrow ... it's brilliant!This edition's remastering is spectacular, and it suits the legendary engineering of this album perfectly. And the bonus tracks are anything but "B" material. Oh, and just wait until you hear Warnes' live solo version of "Joan of Arc"! Chances are, you'll be left speechless.This CD is a must for any audiophile or fan of solid, intelligent, vibrant music. I'd give this CD 100 stars if I could! Buy this CD for yourself and an extra one for someone you love.

I like Leonard Cohen, I like Jennifer Warnes...I even like the CD, but it's definitely got problems.This particular CD was manufactured in Germany, and its poor quality really surprised me. I like playing music a little loud, but to get just a middle line volume (like 50% on most CD's) I had to turn the volume on the player to 100% just to get the mid range on this CD. That was not good.I was familar with the material on the CD because I had a cassette version from when "Raincoat" was first released in the late 80's. I remember it got lukewarm reviews at the time. "An artistic success, but commercial failure" was the general tone. Being a dedicated Cohen fan from way back, I thought the reviewers must be crazy.Having matured a bit since then, I now understand what they were talking about. Leonard Cohen is an interesting, extraordinary artist (it's recently been said that Phil Spectre held a loaded gun to his head during a studio session saying, "I love you, man" to which Cohen replied, "I hope so.") Anyway, Cohen is the most successful "sensitive" male singer (I'm using "sensitive" interchangeably with "spiritual" these days) & writer in the contemporary cut throat commercial scene. He is uncompromising & often swims against the social current.On one recent song he states "I'm neither left or right," but there is certainly a conservative element in his work that I personally have found just a little bit irksome--but on the other hand, Cohen's sexually propelled religious imagery really touch a chord of beauty in the heart. Another element I can relate to is that LC's lyrics don't shy away from brutal self-revelation. Cohen never tries to gloss over the many inequalites & unfairness of life. His themes are always adult in nature & delivery.However, there is a downside too.Cohen has a tendency to go overboard with social critique & ego-centric bitterness. These are not qualities particulary useful in the pop scene, particularly not in today's resurging political conformity. Despite these observations, Leonard Cohen has consistently worked to forge his success & his songs regularly play on the air. If not exactly a "super star," he is just a breath away.Judy Collins brought both herself and Cohen into the pop mainstream with her beautiful rendition of "Suzanne." From then on Collins' star rose & she often performed her friend's work. In contrast to Collin's light & delicate voice, Cohen has a deep & mournful sounding voice that only accentuates the darkness of his own material. Although Cohen's LP's weren't consistently popular, his music was popularized many other artists, such as Jennifer Warnes.This CD contains some of Cohen's most lovely songs: "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Song of Bernadette," and "Joan of Arc." Unfortunately these great tunes are sandwiched between more self-pitying sounding songs such as "Came So Far for Beauty" and "The Singer Must die."Jennifer Warnes has a great voice, but it doesn't convey the light, airy quality of Judy Collins. Collins can sing morose material without it sounding...well, morose. Warnes' deeper voice & delivery does not overcome the self-involved bitterness that characterizes some of the songs. However, the three songs mentioned are great enough to purchase the CD, particularly if you are a Leonard Cohen and/or Jennifer warnes fan. Essential Leonard Cohen Love Lifts Us Up: A Collection 1968-1983 Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy

Every so often I hunt down a cd to replace a much loved and lost vinyl album. This was one such. The great arrangements of the delightful voice of Jennifer Warnes and the star studded line up of musicians that accompanied her is still as good as I remember it being. ( Mr Cohen must have thought so too as he was using some of these arrangements 27 years later in his live gigs.)Not only is this a great album of Cohen songs but it was a startling act of generosity and friendship when it was made. Jenny's own career was sky rocketing and Lenny was being faced with a record company who didn't even want to release his latest album. I'm pretty sure Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Lindley, Van Dyke Parks and Bobby King didn't contribute to it for the money too. This comes across in the sound and atmosphere. This was really worth hunting down, hasn't dated and I recommend it highly.

Fabulous c.d. From Jennifer Warnes, such a wonderful voice and songs and backing, I can listen to it over and over. Beautiful.

Bought as an update to my vinyl version that I've had for nearly 30 years since it's release in '87. I just love this album - Warnes' voice is sublime and transports me away. The album is a tribute to Leonard Cohen - she worked as a backing singer for him and here sings some of his best songs. The music is timeless and, oh, that smoky voice!

A must have album for all Cohen fans. Nobody interprets his songs better than Ms Warnes

Bought it for Bird on a wire. Love the poetry of songs but find him a bit depressing to listen to when he performs his own stuff. Jennifer Warnes does a good job of covering but there is a definite 80's feel to the album. Wish it was less dateable.