Leonard Cohen's debut studio album Songs of Leonard Cohen was released in 1967. Born in Canada, Cohen had been in small bands during his youth but discontinued his musical activities when he became a poet as a young adult. After a mildly successful career as a poet, Cohen transitioned to a music career at the age of 33. He wanted his debut to only feature him alone on guitar but producer John Simon added strings, drums, and horns onto a number of songs. When released, the album was generally well-received although some commented it was overproduced. Now, it is often considered one of Cohen's best albums and is perhaps his most well-known.
Having already been a professional poet for ten years, Cohen has no problem writing ten lyrical masterpieces--the least of which is better than anything Pete Townshend, a good lyricist mind you, has ever put to paper. Cohen is very meticulous in his words, with "Suzanne" and "Master Song"--perhaps the two best lyrics--being carefully constructed and having vivid and intriguing imagery. Although he's essentially perfected his lyrics and well on his way to becoming my second favorite lyricist, he can still make improvements on the music side of things. I don't have too much of a problem with the production but I do wish a few of the songs were a bit more lively. With this being a relatively easy fix, I'm fairly certain this won't be his best work--songwriters' debuts never are. A-
