Customer Reviews
Masterpiece - By: Pieter, 13 May 2007 
Much more varied than Ten New Songs, Dear Heather sounds patchy at first listen. But repeated spins reveal the beauty & the cohesive themes of the album.
Lord Byron's poem, Go No More A Roaming, sets the mood, with lovely backing by Sharon Robinson. The enigmatic Because Of, with its repeated refrain "Look at me Leonard/One last time" is a beautiful blend of eros & thanatos, spiced by wry humour & embellished with the beautiful voice of Anjani Thomas.
Simplicity rules on The Letters where Sharon Robinson & LC share the vocals, sometimes solo, sometimes together. With its sparse instrumentation, Undertow has a dreamy melody & evocative imagery with Thomas taking the female vocal.
Morning Glory is another oneiric soundscape with tinkling keyboards & spoken vocals framed by the divine female voice. The most poignant moment on the album is On That Day (They Wounded New York), an elegant, lilting song with hypnotic harp textures.
Villanelle For Our Time, written by Frank Scott, is a spoken poem with memorable lines like: "From bitter searching of the heart/We rise to play a greater part." The title track is a delightful love song with innovative arrangement including harp & trumpet, & playful vocals. One to whistle in the bath.
With its catchy tune & lovely harmonies, Nightingale is a little folk-pop gem with main vocal by Thomas, whilst To A Teacher is another recited poem. The sound of The Faith resembles that of the album Recent Songs, with Raffi Hakopian on violin & John Bilezikjian on the lute. This is very moving, like a graceful farewell.
The albums ends, surprisingly but fittingly, with a 1985 live version of Tennessee Waltz, raw & powerful in its rootsy country delivery. The song receives Leonard's addendum, a third verse in his own poetic style.
Some people are forever stuck on Cohen's 1960s style. They don't like Death Of A Ladies' Man & they dissed Ten New Songs, so they won't appreciate this one either. I consider it a masterpiece with his genius expressed in a refreshing variety of styles & timeless songs. Dear Heather might well be the last proper Leonard Cohen studio album. If so, what a moving farewell.
Persevere! - By: Paul Dalheim, 21 Dec 2005 
Like some of the other reviewers my initial reaction to "Dear Heather" was surprise & disappointment: having also recently bought "Ten new songs" I had expected something similar. I listened once & then put my reactions on hold. The next day I tried again, this time knowing I had something different in store. I played the disc through twice & my initial disappointment began to change. Now (a week after purchase) I have got to know, like & enjoy alll of the tracks. Some I still find a bit mystifying (e.g. the title track), but alll are worth listening to. The range is in my opinion greater than in many other Cohen discs & it is different in tone - but it certainly rewards perseverence. Currently I would give it 4* but this continues to rise!
An old master returns - By: Stuart, 19 Aug 2005 As with other reviewers, I concur that one first experiences bafflement, then dawning realization that this is yet another example of a genius at work. Those who characterise LC's work as: "Music to commit suicide by" just do not get the irony & subtle humour of a man who is simply irrepressible. My star track is: "To a Teacher" with phrases like: "Where the shadows live in the rafters like day-weary bats" and: "I have entered under this dark roof as fearlessly as an honoured son enters his father's house" - almost orgasmic, which is how music & poetry should be. If you are getting less then you are missing out. My main complaint about LC is that he has spoilt my life by making other lyricists seem pale by comparison; nobody else comes close and, even if one cannot grasp the full intricacies of his musings (like me!), it is still a combination of mood & phraseology, along with innovative use of delightfully obscure instrumentation & high quality arrangement, that stuns the soul & uplifts the spirit. This is a must for your collection - how can so many people miss the point?
Cohen manages another masterpiece - By: , 24 May 2005 I thought I'd leave some time between buying this CD & reviewing it, as Leonard Cohen is never an artist who does the obvious.
I bought this as soon as it was advertised & it was in my CD layer within a minute of being delivered. I listened & was baffled. How could a man who had produced the finest music for a generation come out with (as some early reviewers described it) a collection of half-finished outtakes.
I forced myself to listen to it again. Then I listened to it again, & again, ...and again. And I realised that with the exception of 'On That Day' (which is still a beautiful & evocative song about 9/11) these are not just songs thrown together, but a long-thought collection of poems.
Leonard alll but strips away the music. There are no guitar riffs, piano rolls or clever base lines. The lyrics are alll that reallly matter & they are astounding.
And as for the title track, 'Dear Heather'. The first time I heard it I thought it was a joke. I now find it is my alll-time favorite from Cohen & this CD is never out of my car.
Listen, listen & listen again. This is not just music, it's art.
Majestic - By: John-HP, 08 Apr 2005 I only own a few Leonard Cohen albums, ` I`m Your Man - The Future - Cohen Live `, I prefer his later work to most of his earlier albums, although some of his earlier songs are absolute jems. Cohen`s latest album ` Dear Heather ` is quirky, mesmerising & I would even say innovative. On some tracks Cohen is singing ( sort of ) on some he`s talking & in parts almost whispering, but this combined with the superb vocals of Sharon Robinson & Anjani Thomas is just entrancing.Other reviewers have detailed the tracks, so I`ll just say this. The first time you listen to this album you may be tempted to turn it off, but if you don`t, & you play it another 3 or 4 times, you may tune in to one of the most beautiful & majestic albums you will ever hear. The only negative comment I would make is the odd inclusion of an apparently 20 year old live track at the end of the album, a rendition of Tennesse Waltz, which in itself is not bad, but seems totallly out of place. Anyway you can always just play the first 12 tracks like I do. If you want an album to unwind to late in the evening, you will not find a better album than ` Dear Heather `.
