★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
The sage of carnal Zen's fourth album. At this point his voice hadn't quite become the skirt-droppingly golden raspy timbre of later years, but it was no longer the Arlo Guthrie-like piping of his earlier stuff. His voice is gruff and assured and, in places, a little more forceful and even aggressive than in other recordings. With strings added to the typical sparse instrumentation, this batch of songs has a sort of arch dignity. Cohen himself said of this album that it's no masterpiece, but it's a little gem. Cohen contains it all, from the sanctified to the profane. He says to an old lover, "You were Jesus Christ my lord / I was the money lender." But also, "You were KY Jelly / I was Vaseline." Make of that what you will... I try. Favorite tracks: "Chelsea Hotel #2," "Leaving Green Sleeves," "Lover Lover Lover," "There Is a War."
