Leonard Cohen – Death Of A Ladies' Man

This is a misunderstood album and it definitely needs to revisited by Columbia. A remix would be good to sort out the clutter of the original but then again the original probably has a sound that makes it the album it is. It's unlikely that the masters can be altered but I could be wrong. It would be nice to hear the tracks in better clarity but as an option not a definition. I love the lyrics on this album and the great songs. It was recorded in chaotic times and that makes it all the more interesting. Tarrantino could make a great move about the making of this album!

It seems most Cohen purists lament this record as the 'Dylan goes electric' counterpoint in what they consider to be a hitherto 'perfect' discography. Vocally declared enjoyment of this record is often met with ridicule - nay, distaste - by fans of "Songs from a Room" or "Songs of Love and Hate," and Phil Spector especially gets the lion's share of the hate here. Even contemporarily, "Death of a Ladies' Man" was a record under seige; in 1975, Rolling Stone declared it a 'doo-wop nightmare' and described the LP as '[the sound of] the world's most flamboyant extrovert producing and arranging the world's most fatalist introvert.'

As someone who personally finds Cohen more enjoyable to read than listen to, I suppose I'm contrarian in giving Spector praise for his work on this album. Whilst I don't consider this to be a sound that had any milage in it, there's definitely an argument for this record's wry blend of Cohen's morose lyrics with Spector's fat, bright wall-of-sound production technique.

In the case of a song like "Memories", the collaboration soars. Spector conjures an exquisite '50s atmosphere, while the glassy-eyed lyrics recall some car-crash romantic endeavour of Cohen's back from his schooldays. The saccharine sound is devilishly combined with anachronistic images of Imperial German military decoration and Aryan ideology, with a side of lascivious, voyeuristic intrigue - none of which fit the bill at a high-school barn-dance, and all of which contribute to a sinister tone that makes this a doo-wop pop song like no other.

Cohen and Spector spin similar tricks on tracks like "Iodine", which float a damning, acerbic lyric ('Your saintly kisses reeked of iodine') on a luscious, big band composition full of jubilant horns, marching drums and chiming, jazzy pianos. There's also a hint of Cohen-to-come in the sugary female backing vocals, which foreshadow the hovering presence of Jennifer Warnes on '80s Cohen classics such as "First We Take Manhattan" and "Take This Waltz".

"Death of a Ladies' Man" closes with its title-track, which looms large at an epic 9:22. For almost its whole final third, the track is instrumental and orchestral, giving aural consideration to Cohen's final mention of 'our visit to the moon.' It's a beautiful sound - one that has aged, almost immediately, leaving the final mix (as with the rest of the album) sounding flat, compressed and indubitably of-its-time. Those Cohen purists who damn this record should take some comfort in the fact that there are several records capturing the melancholic acoustic troubadour made famous by "Marianne." For we few fans of this Frankenstein's monster, this cosmic exit is a reminder of what precious little fruit Cohen and Spector's brief collaboration bore.

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1. "True Love Leaves No Traces" - ★★★★☆
2. "Iodine" - ★★★★★
3. "Paper Thin hotel" - ★★★★☆
4. "Memories" - ★★★★★
5. "I Left a Woman Waiting" - ★★★★☆
6. "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On" - ★★★★☆
7. "Fingerprints" - ★★★☆☆
8. "Death of a Ladies' Man" - ★★★★★