Songs of Love and Hate is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on March 19, 1971, through Columbia Records. Cohen reunited with producer Bob Johnston, who was at the helm for the singer's previous album Songs From a Room, and also brought back guitarist Ron Cornelius, who acted as leader of Cohen's new crew of backing musicians.

It doesn't get darker than this. Though Leonard Cohen had already established himself as the doyen of doom with his first two albums, his third, SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE, finds him kicking off the 1970s with the sharpest repudiation of the '60s peace-and-love/flower-power ethic the world had yet seen from the "sensitive troubadour" corner of the music map. Though it's not really a "concept album," SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE feels like a guided tour through one man's battle-scarred love life. The utter emotional degradation of "Avalanche," the suicidal frenzy of "Dress Rehearsal Rag," and the bitter regret of "Last Year's Man" all sound like stops on the same ill-fated journey. The arrangements are wisely based around Cohen's world-weary voice and hypnotic acoustic-guitar patterns, with occasional orchestrations rising like dark clouds in the background. Possibly Cohen's finest album, LOVE AND HATE would stand as a monument to explorers of the musical Dark Side for decades to come--such as Nick Cave, who memorably covered "Avalanche"--and to anyone nursing a bitter, broken heart.

Tracklist

A1        Avalanche
A2        Last Year's Man
A3        Dress Rehearsal Rag
A4        Diamonds In The Mine
B1        Love Calls You By Your Name
B2        Famous Blue Raincoat
B3        Sing Another Song, Boys
B4        Joan Of Arc

*Audio and/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.

Label: IMT
Rel. Date: 06/03/2016
UPC: 888751955110

• Format Detail: LP
• Genre: Singer/Songwriter
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 06/03/2016