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Book of Longing
by: Philip Glass, Leonard Cohen

List Price: £19.99

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Used Price: £15.70
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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0801837004328
Label: Orange Mountain
Manufacturer: Orange Mountain
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Orange Mountain
Release Date: November 26, 2007
Running Time: 88 minutes
Studio: Orange Mountain
Sales Rank: 2044
MPN: 43

Disc 1:

Disc 2:

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Leonard's Songs Belong In The Gutter
I wholeheartedly disagree with some of the reviewers who claim that Glass has provided the perfect setting for Cohen's later poetry. For one, Cohen on paper is not as great a poet as he is in song. In fact, his later poetry harks back a good deal to the poetry of the beats (Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, etc) and is comparable to a great degree to the late, great Charles Bukowski, but not as good, in my opinion. The difference being that Bukowski had no choice but to immerse himself in a squalid existence, and write, as it were, inside the belly of the whale. Cohen, on the other hand, has always exuded real class, and he has a much higher-minded side to his character, so that i.e. in 'The Energy Of Slaves' when he writes of Valentina, that ... Read More:

Rating:

- look away now
Yes, the lyrics are interesting and some of the settings are nicely done...but the singing? Good grief, it really is terrible stuff. The voices are those of sub-standard musical theatre, formal, careful and well-articulated, and with all the character and feel of cardboard. If you're a Cohen fan, I guess you'll find it simply cringe-making.

Rating:

- Glass back at his best
Glass's finest work for many years, this setting of Leonard Cohen's poetry is reminscent in style and scope to 'Hydrogen Jukebox' (Glass's setting of Allen Ginsberg's poetry), but is even better. Dark, haunting and deeply evocative this the perfect meeeting of two masters, and again underscores Glass's position as the greatest living composer.

Minimalism at its finest.

Rating:

- Two masters bring out the best in each other....
In some ways these are the settings that Cohen's later poems have been waiting for. Warm, rich but sparing music, excellent singers and Leonard's deep tones to set it all off...
Leonard seemed to have lost the plot with the awkward and unconvincing Dear Heather, but his poetry collection from which most of the words here are drawn turned out to be one of the most rewarding works of his career.
As if a candid admission of Dear Heather's failure, A Sip of Wine is a resetting of Boogie Street, and the setting here is a much more rewarding experience than the flatness that has marked LCs recent recorded work.
So Cohen fans are served well here, how about Philip Glass fans?
They are also served well. PG fans have, since the ... Read More:

Rating:

- A Natural Collaboration
Ok I'm reviewing this before hearing the CD itself, but that's because I saw them perform this song cycle live at the barbican recently, so I know what I'm talking about!

This is a very natural, easy collaboration, and follows on neatly from Glass' earlier settings of the work of beat poet Allen Ginsberg to music (Hydrogen Jukebox). The occasional appearance of Cohen himself reading some of the shorter pieces complements the four singers nicely, and there's a wonderful counterpoint between the lighter pieces and the darker works like Puppet Time.

Highly recommended.

Music : Book of Longing