If there is a God and if he released an album, you wouldn’t review it; you’d just enjoy it. It’d be like, giving that amazing sunset last night a Pitchfork rating. It’s just, not right. So, what if Leonard Cohen releases his 12th studio album with Columbia Records aged 77? Well Pitchfork gives it 7.4, obviously. And it’s just, not right.
There’s an eerie yet calming feeling that overcomes me every time I listen to Old Ideas that I am truly listening to his parting words – like he’s making peace with himself and sharing it with us. He’s wry, sage, weathered, and wise. When I am 77 I hope to be half the man that Leonard Cohen is.
Wonderfully, Cohen manages to balance the gravity of a thousand suns in the depth of his spoken/song baritone with the levity of perspective that it’s the simplest of things that actually really matter. If, listening to this record one can gain just an ounce of his apparent wisdom than that’s enough to make it totally and utterly worthwhile.
Old Ideas will make you simultaneously sorrowful and joyous. It’s a sunset of a record and you just don’t give that a rating out of ten. - review by Andrew Tidball
Cheese on Toast is giving away three copies of this album – click here
Alan
February 10, 2012
I think that’s the best review I’ve ever read. It got me all a bit misty eyed even.