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. Blowin in the Wind 2. Don t Think Twice, It s All Right 3. Times They Are A-Changin 4. It Ain t Me Babe 5. Maggie s Farm 6. It s All over Now, Baby Blue 7. Mr. Tambourine Man 8. Subterranean Homesick Blues 9. Like a Rolling Stone 10. Positively 4th Street 11. Just Like a Woman 12. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 13. All Along the Watchtower 14. Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) 15. I ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Two discs of music don t exactly provide for a thorough overview of four decades of recording, particularly if the subject of the retrospective is one of the most important and prolific performers of his time. So The Essential Bob Dylan definitely skates over the leagues-deep oeuvre of Dylan, summarizing his monumental first half-dozen years in disc one and skirting over the following 34 years in disc two. Delving into Columbia s three Dylan greatest-hits packages (though curiously purging I Want You, a genuine hit single in its day), Essential offers only a few surprises, opting for The Basement Tapes version of Quinn the Eskimo over the Self Portrait remake that made it onto Greatest Hits Volume II and tossing in Things Have Changed from the Wonder Boys soundtrack for completists. But this 30-track overview is designed with newcomers, not Dylanologists, in mind. --Steven Stolder

#An essential cd... (2007-01-08) I was introduced to Bob Dylan not long ago, when I bought one of his cds on a whim. Truth to be told, I liked it so much that I wanted to buy another one, if possible a cd that would allow me to listen to some of his best songs without having to buy too many cds at the same time. I am happy to say that with this cd, Essential Bob Dylan, I managed to do just that. Among the wonderful songs included in this cd you will find jewels such as Like a rolling stone, Blowin in the wind, Subterranean homesick blues, Positively 4th Street and The times they re a-...

#bob dylan is great (2004-07-18) this is one of the most beatiful box sets of one of the most talented singers of all times and most of his gems find a place here like times there are a changing,mr tambourine man and blowin in the wind. this is highly recommended for the first time listener who wants an overview into dylan

#Aw for chrissake people!! (2004-06-28) Aw for chrissake people!! Just spent 10 or 11 bucks a pop on the newly released and remastered original albums. ITS BOB DYLAN!! There are plenty of superior album tracks on the original albums that these cuts are culled from. For example, you can t have appreciated Bob without ever having heard ",Visions of Johana. ",

#Essential (2004-04-25) The key word is essential in many ways. It was a smart move no to call it The best of or any of those hokey catch phrases for someone s idea of sample mix. There is enough Dylan to satisfy just about anyone. The first hand full of songs were also made famous by other singers and you have to get over trying to compare, unless like me it has always been Dylan first. Later you get to the good songs, He may not have personally thought so, but many of the songs struck a cord with me such as Subterranean Homesick Blues. To understand most of theses songs it would be...

#",Essential", Is Right (2004-04-23) I m very pleased with this album because I much prefer Dylan s early folksy songs to the later blues stuff, and this album has much of the older stuff of his that I love. Songs like Blowin In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin etc etc--songs like that are Dylan to me. Bob Dylan was this gloomy guy who looked like a classical composer with the big messy hair, who then wrote some of the classics of modern folk rock. A real legend. His lyrics are very good too. David Rehakauthor of ",A Young Girl s Crimes",

1. Time Has Told Me 2. River Man 3. Three Hours 4. Way to Blue 5. Day Is Done 6. Cello Song 7. Thoughts of Mary Jane 8. Man in a Shed 9. Fruit Tree 10. Saturday Sun

There s not a single dud in the trilogy of albums that singer/songwriter Nick Drake released during his all-too-short career. And 1968 s Five Leaves Left--his first album--is certainly no exception. Drake s sensitive guitar work and sensitive vocals are backed by the baroque sounds of a chamber string group and the platter s lyrics show maturity well beyond the age of their 20-year-old creator. More sparse than its follow-up, the jazzy Bryter Later , but less tortured than Drake s dark final chapter, Pink Moon, Five Leaves Left is a classic folk disc. Songs like River Man, The Thoughts of Mary Jane and Day Is Done are among Drake s finest moments. Newcomers be forewarned: this music is as infectious as it is bleak. --Jason Verlinde

#Subtle Beauty (2005-11-10) I bought this CD, ",Five Leaves Left",, a few days ago, and it is indeed ",a rare, rare find. ", I have not been able to stop listening to it!Nick Drake s unique, whispery voice, simple yet poetic lyrics, and impressive guitar work all blend together to create songs that are beautiful and poignant. My two favourites overall are ",Thoughts of Mary Jane",, and the stunning, wistful ballad ",Time Has Told Me",, which instantly became one of my favourite songs. If you enjoy quiet music with a message, this is the album for you. I...

#boy this guy could write a song (2004-07-07) A lot has been said about Nick Drake. I recall a Rolling Stone quote calling him The saddest songwriter ever or something to that effect. I think the fact that he died so young, possibly by suicide, tends to make people comment on how sad he was and how dark his music is. Well, some of his music may be dark, like Three Hours or Black Eyed Dog, but much of it is light. So don t expect this to be a depressing album. With that said, this is an incredible album, although I feel it pales slightly in comparison to Pink Moon. While some people...

#The words perfect, beauty, and sadness weaved into song. (2004-07-01) This is one of three albums by the best musician, in my opinion, to ever step within this world of confusion, rushing, and absence of relaxation. Nick Drake may have made this album in the 1960 s but the sounds have not aged at all, and will remain forever in my mind as the most beautiful songs ever recorded. This would go perfect for sitting alone at night, relaxing in light afternoon sun, or watching the hazy colors of a sunset replaced by the black calm of night. Get this CD, my friend, you will not regret i...

#First of too few leaves... (2004-06-25) . . . in the book of Nick Drake, Five Leaves Left is one of two fairly lush (by folk standards) records he committed to the listening public - such as it was, for him, at the time - before (as legend has it) mounting depression over his lack of commercial success played its role in the creation of the bare-bones guitar beauty Pink Moon, his final record before dying of an overdose of antidepressants in 1974 at age 26. My first Drake record was Pink Moon. Within a few days, and about 35 listens, I d rushed back to the store to liberate this reco...

#A sad and beautiful bunch of music. (2004-05-27) Yes, I confess, like a lot of people I came to Nick Drake s music because of that car commercial. And, despite my aversion to greatest hits packages, the first disk I bought was Way to Blue. I don t have any excuse for buying a best of, aside from monetary restrictions, but I don t feel bad for being sold an album because of a Volkswagon ad -- Carlos Santana once said it doesn t matter how you get the music as long as you *get* it, and he s a guy who openly admits to first really hearing John Coltrane s music in a Jeep commercial. I...

1. Pink Moon 2. Place to Be 3. Road 4. Which Will 5. Horn 6. Things Behind the Sun 7. Know 8. Parasite 9. Free Ride 10. Harvest Breed 11. From the Morning

A stark, solo 28-minute adieu, Pink Moon was the last album Nick Drake lived to complete. That it proved to be his last album lends a suicidal urgency, and much has since been read into its staccato bleakness. But even before his previous album, Bryter Layter, was released, Nick had decided that the next one would be just him and a guitar--no frills he insisted. There is little comfort to be found in songs like Know or Parasite but, in an irony Nick would have appreciated, an American car commercial featuring the haunting title track recently alerted a huge new audience to his music. Digital remastering has enhanced the sound of all Nick s albums, but perhaps Pink Moon has benefited most: its aural environment, now all-enveloping, lending a pristine clarity to that matchless singing and playing. Sombre it may be, but it is a mistake to view Pink Moon as a tombstone--or, indeed, Nick Drake as a victim. Enjoy his music. He did. --Patrick Humphries

#My favorite CD by my favorite musician. (2004-07-01) This has to be the most beautiful album ever created. I have probably listened to this CD 75 times, in full, since I got it, and every time I am almost put in a trance by the beauty that is Nick Drake s music. Nick Drake uses differen t tunings for his guitar that sometimes make it sound as if a mini-orchestra is playing on his albums, but is just the sweet, melancholy tunes of a hushed voice singing out lyrics and the strings of a lone guitar slowely winding an environment of peace and serenity around your life, letting you full...

#Let s get one thing straight about this record. (2004-06-23) Its average -- heh, virtually unanimous -- rating of five here probably has something to do with this: Nick Drake died, not certainly but quite likely a suicide, about two years after its release, and in retrospect this sounds like his suicide note, whether it was or not. It also has something to do with a car commercial that came out about 26 years too late to help Nick. And none of us should be ashamed of this. The facts of an artist s life are an inextricable part of his work. We ve known this, cherished it in fact,...

#Buy two copies (2004-06-22) It is a damn good thing that this man is not alive today. His purity and ethics would have left him in an even deeper state of depression if he were to suffer the fandom his music has earned him as well as the use of his music for commerical purposes. People this sensitive are gifts to the world, but they usually implode and lack the coping mechanisms to survive in modern society. Nick was a walking open wound, a raw exposed nerve and one listen to his art will reveal this. What an amazing thing that he was open enough and talented enough to bear his so...

#Fantastic folk with a dark edge - quiet and beautiful (2004-05-22) You know, Nick Drake was the very best of all. This quote, from Television s Tom Verlaine, is a bit flawed in my opinion. Nick Drake was just 26 when he passed away due to an overdose of antidepressants - some say it was suicide but most disagree with this assumption. Anyway, I believe Drake COULD have been the very best (so much lost potential it is a shame) because this album kept up the high standards of his first two albums Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, while adding more of the sinister edge that makes ...

#sadness, and depression at its absolute best (2004-04-09) the music of nick drake is like a dark look inside someones soul. and this album is the darkest part of it. after making 2 brilliant albums, that got little or no commercial acclaim, nick drake became very depressed, and made this in 2 nights at his home, brought the tapes to the record company unnanounced, then checked himself into a psychiatric ward. this is the music of someone about to lose their life. the title track was used in a volkswagen commercial a few years ago, but it is a classic song, and is great. the songs ...

1. Pendulums 2. Almost 3. Greeting Card Aisle 4. New Enemy 5. Silver Road 6. Dandelions in Bullet Holes 7. Things to Forget 8. Came on Lion 9. Took It All 10. Tether 11. Go to Sleep

Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer s 2000 debut, You Were Here, was justifiably lauded and it made her a star in her homeland, racking up platinum sales. Four years later she s brought forth an equally engaging set of 11 finely honed songs. After the friendly mid-tempo opener and its tale of roaming the countryside in winter, she fearlessly kicks up the decibel meter with the smartly propulsive Almost, presenting a lustful crush with appropriate passion and the wallop of a rocker. Throughout it all, Harmer has a gifted eye for the small details that give human scale and resilience to the lyrics. The sense of place evoked is unmistakably linked to her home in Ontario s Quaker Valley, and perhaps not surprisingly, All of Our Names was recorded primarily at her rural abode. The album has all the breadth and depth of a work created in a big-city studio, but it also exudes a warmth and intimacy that can be attributed to the care and comfort afforded by the setting. --David Greenberger

#Discovered wonderful music (2005-01-29) Gets some time getting used to her style, but afterwards, you ll wonder how you ever listened to something else - everything else sounds like noise to me now

#A Staple in Anyone s Music Collection (2004-07-01) ",All of Our Names", is a bit slower overall than the last record, but still packs Harmer s tight, creative songwriting. Each song is its own world, filled with Harmer s great use of lyrical metaphors. ",Pendulums", is one of my favorite songs, along with ",Silver Road. ",I was not disappointed with this album at all. I think loyal fans will definitely like this one, and newer fans will be intrigued by Harmer s voice and wonder at how such a goregous album can be made in one s own laundry room.

#loverly (2004-06-26) First two songs are especially great. Several others send me away as well. Well worth obtaining, if only to pick your favorites and move on. Some reviews claim that this cd isn t as good as her first, but really, what they aren t seeing is that she has refined her art, and made it something more. It s certainly more mainstream, and that s not supposed to be a bad thing, necessarily, and it s certainly not here. I like her sophomore effort so much mored than her debut. With the first, you tend to think ",diamond in the rough",. With the second, you s...

#Sarah fans rejoice! (2004-06-18) This is an amazing album!!! I first caught wind of it on cbc in session and just fell in love with the peotic lyrics. Support our Canadian artists! Don t download this album, just buy it!

#An intimate ride (2004-06-06) This is some really beautiful stuff and priceless. Worth far more than the fifteen bucks you will fork over at the record store. You Were Here had these really unique melodies over some very tasteful instrumentation and I thought that I wanted more of the same, but like any good artist, Harmer s work is progressing further and becoming better and I feel that her best is yet to come.