Cohen’s reputation as a singer/songwriter was firmly established by Songs of Leonard Cohen, and it is not difficult to hear why. Many of his most enduring songs stemmed from these sessions, and this first album remains in the pantheon of great folk-pop, up there with Blonde on Blonde, Astral Weeks and Tea for the Tillerman.

The love songs are never simple, yet “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” “So Long Marianne” and “Sister of Mercy,” all tinged with sadness and regret, touch a depth of romance and insight rarely found in pop music. Classics all, they sound as powerful today as they ever did. Cohen’s younger voice is still deep and resonant, but there is a sense of hopefulness in the way his conversational tone can caress the words around the melody.

Two of the major works here are almost surreal tales of love and betrayal: “Master Song” is a dense, seductive ballad and “Stranger Song,” laden in rich imagery and cloaked in regret, remains one of Cohen’s finest works.

Producer John Hammond fell ill partway through the recording sessions and staff producer John Simon (who incidentally produced – uncredited – Big Brother & the Holding Company’s debut Cheap Thrills) took over.

Nonetheless, it is a welcome revival from Columbia/Legacy for an album that not only has stood the test of time and become an essential part of any credible record collection, but whose influence has grown exponentially on generations of punks, Gen X’ers, garage poets and romantic brooders of all stripes.

Extra Features
The extra songs on all three albums are a little disappointing in their paucity, two tracks at the most per disc, and not including a number of early tracks and out-takes that avid Cohen fans have surely been anticipating on a re-release campaign for an artist of this magnitude. The two songs included here on the first album – “Store Room” and “Blessed is the Memory” – have survived from the original Hammond sessions, and have never before been released. Though not significant additions to the canon, they offer an intriguing taste of Cohen’s early days, but longtime Cohen fans may be wondering where the early recording of “Priests” (reworked also by Judy Collins, among others) has gone, along with other songs from that time. More of that material would certainly have been welcome.

Encased in a booklet-like package, never-before-seen photos plus new liner notes from journalist Anthony de Curtis are also a pleasant and somewhat informative addition, but without adding anything particularly new or revelatory to contextualize Cohen’s rich and lustrous history.

The magic here is in the original songs, and that is really more than enough.

Sound
The first three albums found Cohen still in the acoustic world of purist folk –
long before Phil Spector and the synthesizers of some of his later work – and John Simon’s simple, unadorned arrangements, mostly Cohen’s delicate and accomplished guitar work, remains duly sensitive and subordinate to the songs.

The considerable mystical energy found on these tracks reflects Cohen’s uncanny vocal presence, and the remastered recordings are true and unvarnished; in fact, his songs may not have been recorded this beautifully since.