1. Suzanne 2. Sisters of Mercy 3. The Stranger Song 4. Hey, That s No Way to Say Goodbye 5. Master Song 6. Bird on a Wire 7. The Partisan 8. Famous Blue Raincoat 9. Chelsea Hotel No. 2 10. Take This Longing 11. Who by Fire 12. The Guests 13. Hallelujah 14. If It Be Your Will 15. Night Comes On 16. I m Your Man 17. Everybody Knows 18. Tower of Song

This two-disc retrospective traces the Canadian bard s musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence through the 1960s songcraft of Suzanne and Bird on a Wire, the folksinger tag never really fit. Later highlights ranging from the deadpan drollery of Tower of Song and Everybody Knows to the apocalyptic anthemry of First We Take Manhattan and Democracy suggest that other labels might be more appropriate: cabaret surrealist, spiritual gadfly, sensual prophet, agent provocateur. Cohen chose the selections, drawing more than half of the 31 tracks from three landmark albums--his 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen, 1988 s I m Your Man, and 1992 s The Future--along with four from 2001 s Ten New Songs. The collection justifies its title as deep as it goes, though it s a shame that Cohen s commercial profile couldn t justify ...

#The Essential Leonard Cohen [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECO (2004-06-29) The Essential Leonard Cohen [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]~ Leonard Cohen is an amazing collection of cohens awesome tallent for lyric writing and his scrappy but loveable vocals. He is a serious man: yet it is never pretentious or boring. Which often happens with other vocalists of his God given tallent.

#cheatin and stuff (2004-05-08) Leonard Cohen is the one man I would cheat on my husband with. Yes, ma am.

#Potrait of An Artist As Both A Sage and Sinner (2004-05-03) The beauty of Leonard Cohen is he has always followed his own eccentric path and I see no duality between Cohen, the young romantic rake who ages into the embittered sensualist. It was always clear that Field Commander L. Cohen was going to dance us to the end of love, regardless of the consequences. Wheter it s the young revolutionary partisan, or the world weary cynic railing against the excesses of democracy, Cohen has never been satisfied with the political or moral status quo. His career is based on dissatisfaction wi...

#A Suitable Primer (2004-03-29) The name Leonard Cohen first came to my attention way back in the day when Suzanne was released. It was a fairly popular and much-covered song, but it never occurred to me to actually buy the album. I was into much musically heavier things at the time and so my awareness of Cohen gradually receded into distant memory. Nowadays, my musical interests are much wider and my pockets deeper, so I took a chance on Cohen s CD Ten New Songs when it was released several years ago. It took a while to get into, but I liked some of the songs immediately. My rule w...

#Thank God for Leonard Cohen (2004-01-04) This is a must for any Leonard Cohen complete-ist s collection! I have every CD he s ever put out and yet I find myself frequently choosing this set in order to conveniently listen to favorites from a variety of Leonard s previous CDs. A fabulous collection from an amazing artist!

1. Down By The River 2. Cowgirl in the Sand 3. Cinnamon Girl 4. Helpless 5. After the Gold Rush 6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart 7. Southern Man 8. Ohio 9. The Needle And The Damage Done 10. Old Man 11. Heart of Gold 12. Like A Hurricane 13. Comes A Time 14. Hey Hey 15. My My 16. Rockin in The Free World 17. Harvest Moon

One question would be: What took him so long? After all, a contemporary like Van Morrison has sold boatloads of his single-disc best-of set to buyers wary of diving into that deep catalog without a primer to get them started. So three and a half decades into his solo career, Neil Young finally delivers his version of that most modest of albums--the pre-holiday hits overview. What s surprising, coming from such a proud maverick, is its conventionality. Granted, the original master mixes are a boon for fans, but otherwise, there s not much here for loyalists who quite likely already possess the original Like a Hurricane on a couple of albums, as well as a handful of live interpretations scanning the years. Since Young cracked the Top 10 only once (1972 s Heart of Gold), this set is built around concert staples as Cinnamon Girl, Rockin in the Free World, and Hey, Hey, My My rather than chart favorites. Despite Young s honorable standing as a still-vital graybeard, the disc is skewed heav...

#Straightforward Collection of Neil Young Classics (2007-04-06) It s not necessarily his 16 best songs, but these are arguably his 16 best-known ones. A casual Neil Young listener myself, I found this collection to be a decent, no-frills sampler of his career, similar in scope to the Bachman-Cummings Songbook cd by touching on various solo & group work. It does focus on his prime 70 s period, so don t expect any 80 s electronica experiments or 90 s Pearl Jam collaborations here (although the 80 s & 90 s are represented by one song each), just the great standards heard every day on cla...

#Very few surprises to be found... (2005-12-31) First off, I reckon Neil Young was pressured into finally coming out wit a single disc anthology. After all, ",Decade", only goes to 1977 and Young has done some amazing work since then, such as ",Rust Never Sleeps",, ",Freedom", and ",Sleeps With Angels. ", So here we finally have it: Neil Young s ",Greatest Hits",. Needless to say, it contains most of what you d expect: ",Cinnamon Girl",, ",Southern Man",, ",Heart Of Gold",, ",Like A Hurricane",, ",Into The B...

#Young Young fan (2005-11-07) Let me start by saying neil young s my hero a true canadian legend now i m only 17 so what do I know right well I am one of the few people my age that can understands there is more to classic rock then led zeppelin and ac/dc and neil is one of them his lyrics are the focal point forsure he s a poet but he has great guitar playing and songs that are both catchey and emotional the only reason I give 4 stars rust never sleeps is my favorite album and i can t believe powder finger and pocohontas didn t make it I love those songs also no alabama but still well ...

#Wonderful..... (2005-10-21) I am a 15 year old kid growing up in a time where music is bad. . . . so I dont t listen to the stuff on TV or nor did i listen to anything early then the 80 s. Myself. . I m into music with amazing lyrics a huge fan of Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan, and now Neil Young. This cd has made me discover so much more about everything! I m so glad I found this cd and I promise you ll be just as happy to have found this as I am.

#This CD is fantastic (2005-05-31) This is a perfect compilation for people who want the condensed version of Youngs musical catalogue. If you buy one Neil Young CD, this should be it!

1. Early Morning Rain 2. For Lovin Me 3. Go-Go Round 4. Canadian Railroad Trilogy 5. Pussywillows, Cat-Tails 6. Bitter Green 7. If You Could Read My Mind 8. Summer Side of Life 9. Cotton Jenny 10. Beautiful 11. Sundown 12. Carefree Highway 13. Rainy Day People 14. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald 15. Race Among the Ruins 16. Daylight Katy 17. The Circle is Small 18. Baby Step Back 19. Stay Loose 20. Restless

Although he rose from the ranks of journeyman 60s folksingers to become a potent and consistent 70s hit-maker, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot s stock-in-trade was as much hard-eyed, dispassionate observation as it was romance or poetic whimsy. Perhaps that s why his songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis (this sets Early Morning Rain) to Dylan. If there s such a thing as an alpha-male folkie, Lightfoot certainly fits the bill. Spanning the tongue-in-cheek chauvinism of 1965 s For Lovin Me and the cheatin ways of Sundown, to more introspective fare like If You Could Read My Mind and Beautiful, this 20-track collection presents a concise primer on Lightfoot s career and craft. While his career peaked with one of the most unlikely Top Five hits ever, the gloom-laden 1976 narrative The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Lightfoot s production tailed off sharply thereafter, though this anthology s Stay Loose (86) and Restless (93) are testament to his enduring skills as...

#I can t get enough of Gordon and his incredible talent (2005-07-01) This is a wonderful compilation of some of his best-loved songs, and I find it common for me to just play it over and over again,ad nauseum. I was a teenager in the 60 s and didn t really pay much attention to him during those early years, but somehow the truth, magic and wonder of this man s incredible talent grew on me and its clear to see that it just shines through the plethora of artists who have come and gone over the years. His songs such as Stay Loose and Ribbon of Darkness (not on this album) are so power...

#Sad song selection (2004-04-21) I was so diasappointed by the selection of early UA trax on this CD, it now sits in the used CD section of my favorite CD store. What could have been an awesome CD, is only mediocre at best. . . Sorry Thane. Where are his best UA songs, Did She Mention My Name?, I m Not Sayin or Ribbon of Darkness??? Several songs on here are below Lightfoot average -- why Go-Go Round (very amateurish) & Pussywillows (peraps the most boring song ever written). A great opportunity -- lost. . .

#Complete Canadian Class - Terrific (2004-04-03) One of my favourote singers of all time. The is a marvellous collection of classic Lightfoot tracks. All the hits that this very underrated singer-songwriter had, either himself or by others interpretations, are here from ",Early Morning Rain", through ",If You Could Read My Mind", and ",Sundown", on to ",Restless",. OK, there are some obvious omissions which other reviewers have, quite rightly, pointed out. Lightfoot was one of those who had the tag of ",the second Bob Dylan",, which is like ha...

#Complete Canadian Class - Terrific (2004-04-03) One of my favourote singers of all time. The is a marvellous collection of classic Lightfoot tracks. All the hits that this very underrated singer-songwriter had, either himself or by others interpretations, are here from ",Early Morning Rain", through ",If You Could Read My Mind", and ",Sundown", on to ",Restless",. OK, there are some obvious omissions which other reviewers have, quite rightly, pointed out. Lightfoot was one of those who had the tag of ",the second Bob Dylan",, which is like ha...

#I could play this from sunrise to ",Sundown",. (2004-03-02) Seems like it would be hard to better ",Gord s Gold",, but this did. This collection is perfect for the average fan. 20 tracks including ",Carefree Highway",, ",If You Could Read My Mind",, ",Beautiful",, and the excellent ",Sundown",. Also here is ",The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald",, which other collections miss. Something about ",Gordon Lightfoot", stood out among the other 70 s singer/songwriters. Be it his looks or voice, he was gentle, yet more mascu...

1. On The Way Home 2. Tell Me Why 3. Old Man 4. Journey Through The Past 5. Helpless 6. Love In Mind 7. A Man Needs A Maid/Heart of Gold Suite 8. Cowgirl In The Sand 9. Don t Let It Bring You Down 10. There s a World 11. Bad Fog Of Loneliness 12. The Needle And The Damage Done 13. Ohio 14. See The Sky About To Rain 15. Down By The River 16. Dance Dance Dance 17. I Am A Child

I m gonna sing mostly new songs tonight, Neil Young tells the rapt Massey Hall audience, ...I ve written so many new ones that I can t think of anything else to with them other than sing em. He steps to the mic unadorned, distant from CSNY s rippled harmonies or Crazy Horse s yowl, hypnotically nailing 17 tracks on this unreleased 1971 solo set. You hear him tower at vocal heights on the chorus for Old Man (then a debuted, brand-new song) and name-check Canada on Journey to the Past and North Ontario on Helpless, much to the Toronto crowd s delight. The sound is impeccable, and the closeness to Young in this spare setting exhilarates--especially his vocal quavering in the high registers, his intricate guitar work, and an overall vibe that exceeds description. And the DVD: Here you catch Young in tightly framed, starkly-lit shots, flourishing in the early years of an unparalleled rock career. Not only that, you get commentary from 1997, a rare window on how Young thinks, how he speaks,...

#Wow! (2007-10-23) To think that someone sat on these tapes all this time. This set made the hair on the back of my head stand up and misted my eyes too. In the era that this concert occurred there were some pretty bad concerts with terrible sound. This set should have been available years ago. It is one of the finest live recordings by any performer, that I have ever seen or heard.

#Forever Young (2007-08-12) This is the album that should have come out between After The Gold Rush and Harvest, (Neil Young). Harvest was my first NY album, then I discovered the gem ATGR. I prefer his classic albums up to the release of Comes a Time. This is a beautiful set with lovely personable commentary in between songs. It s brilliant to hear such Neil Young classics as Old Man being introduced as new songs. The music sounds as fresh as yesterday and Neil s mastery of the guitar and piano is pure quality. Few can make the instruments sound so perfectly complementary to the ...

#Excellent (2007-05-28) This is a remarkable recording. It is Neil Young at his best. A couple of the songs are from the Buffalo Springfield era. It is emotional and actually very tender at certain points. It is composed of simple guitar/vocal/piano renditions with some commentary. My favorites here are Old Man and Don t Let It Bring You Down. I found the performances of Helpless and Down By The River to be of lower callibre than usual, but they are an exception, the music on this recording is superb.

#Neil s voice & guitar are wonderful, the dvd is disappointing (2007-03-19) This cd/dvd has some of the best recordings of Neil s early songs. His voice is pure and moving, and his guitar playing subtle and perfectly in tune with his voice. He was at his best in this concert. The dvd is ok, but with blurry film and half of the performance shots of a reel to reel on a chair facing a mic, you re not much better off just listening to the cd. The moody feel of the video is great for a few songs, but wears thin. Buy this cd for Neil s voice and adept guitar sounds. . . you can t g...

#Indispensable for Neil Young s fans (2007-03-17) I didn t take very long for Neil to release another excellent archive on his Performance Series after the Filmore East concert. This time it s Neil on his own on piano or guitar. The amazing thing about this release is the sound. It s just great, great sound and feeling. The crowd aknowledges old songs and quickly silences to listen to the music and voice of Young. Neil s singing is at its best and the guitars sound very sharp. Most new songs are from the then forthcoming Harvest and Time Fades Away albums. It s quite a strange fe...

1. All I Want 2. My Old Man 3. Little Green 4. Carey 5. Blue 6. California 7. This Flight Tonight 8. River 9. Case of You 10. Last Time I Saw Richard

Joni Mitchell would go on from this `71 recording to make more popular, more ambitious, and more challenging albums, but she s never made a better one. Working with minimal accompaniment (Stephen Stills and James Taylor are two of the four sidemen), the Canadian thrush summoned an involving song cycle of romance found and lost. Though Blue is an uncommonly intimate representation, it s also astonishingly open and gracious. Songs such as All I Want, Carey, California, and A Case of You work equally well as poetry and pop music. --Steve Stolder

#Unbelievably sweet (2008-10-21) Although it s almost forty years old, this album sounds so fresh. Mitchell s guitar and piano is wonderfully fluid. And then there s her voice. An instrument so fine, the notes send shivers down the spine. Part of the mystique of this album is the honesty, even fragility of emotions. But there s just as much artistry in Joni Mitchell s Blue. A melancholy beauty. A well-worked gem of an album. The kind of music I remember hearing in kitchens with granola in the cupboard. Or at dawn just as the first birds start to sing. Frost on the grass.

#Probably the Greatest Album.. Ever. (2008-07-05) Joni Mitchell sings a lot of jazz and her songs are so often layered with whimsy and flutes and seem quite thick. While I am overall, a fan of Mitchell s repetoire, none of her albums have managed to penetrate my soul like her masterpiece, the omnipresent, beautiful, spectacularly sad, rich, and of course, appropriately titled, Blue . Blue is a staple for so many reasons. It captures a kind of nostalgia that someone who, like myself, is too young to experience the cultural movements in the 1960s such as the move to California and ...

#Blue ....The most overrated album of all time! (2008-05-01) It may very well be one of the most overrated albums of all time. Yes, Joni is a legend, yes she is a great lyricist and a great musician but after all the accolades, I have to ask myself does her music talk to me? Does her grating vocal style make me want to listen to 3 consecutive songs without being annoyed. I love Joni and I own all her albums so please don t hang me to dry on this. If you want poetic, sparse, personal folk music with the Joni style vocal meanderings, this is the baby you are looking for. She has...

#Desert island record (2007-10-20) On CBC radio there once a program on which people chose the 5 records or books they would take with them if the were lost on a desert island for the rest of their lives. This album is number 1 on my list of 5 I would take with me. I could listen to this album every day, no problem. Joni Mitchell is a genius, plain and simple.

#the most addicting album ever (2004-07-15) ",Just before our love got lost you said, I am as constant as a northern star, and I said, constant in the darkness, where is that at? If you want me I ll be in the bar. . . ", -Case of You, BlueIt takes alot for me to listen to an album over and over and over and over. . . and still not get sick of it. i ve had ",Blue", for about 3 years and Joni still makes it into my cd player more than once every few days. There are at least 2 songs that most passerbyers would recognize: ",California", and ",River",, but m...