Old Ideas

It isn't easy being Leonard Cohen. Sure, a lifetime spent romancing talented ladies young enough to be his offspring is an admittedly pleasant perk, but the pressure of continuing to turn out material that stands at the topmost rung of singer/songwriterdom is no picnic, especially in one's late seventies. Does Old Ideas, Cohen's first release since the anomalously unappealing Dear Heather, achieve that goal? Yes. At least a few of the songs, particularly the tongue-in-cheek "Going Home" and the almost decadently devotional "Show Me The Place" are classic Cohen, i.e. of a quality untouchable by anyone this side of Dylan. Does that make it a classic Cohen album? No. That level isn't consistently maintained throughout the album, and while even the least of the tunes would be career highlights for anyone else, Cohen is his own most intimidating competitor; you can't equal the likes of Songs of Love and Hate or I'm Your Man unless you hit it out of the park with almost every track, even though the actual sound of Old Ideas is most closely related to the latter album. Fortunately for the rest of us, Cohen's B game is still in an entirely different league from the work of mere mortals, and Old Ideas remains a particular pleasure.