The Essential Leonard Cohen

The Essential Leonard Cohen
Greatest hits album by Leonard Cohen
Released	October 22, 2002
Recorded	1967–2001
Genre	Folk
Length	157:00
Label	Columbia
Producer	Digitally remastered by Leonard Cohen and Bob Ludwig
Leonard Cohen chronology
Ten New Songs (2001) The Essential Leonard Cohen (2002) Dear Heather (2004)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	A[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

The Essential Leonard Cohen is a career-spanning collection of Leonard Cohen songs released in 2002. It is part of Sony BMG's The Essential series.

The songs are arranged in chronological order; all studio albums released before 2002 are represented, except the 1977 album Death of a Ladies' Man. All tracks were digitally remastered by Leonard Cohen and Bob Ludwig.

The album was re-released in August 2008, as part of The Essential 3.0 series, with an extra disc of previously not included tracks (presented as the selection of "fans' favorite" songs).

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Suzanne" – 3:48
2. "The Stranger Song" – 5:00
3. "Sisters of Mercy" – 3:34
4. "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" – 2:54
5. "So Long, Marianne" – 5:39
6. "Bird on the Wire" (misspelled as "Bird on a Wire" on tracklist) – 3:25
7. "The Partisan" – 3:25
8. "Famous Blue Raincoat" – 5:09
9. "Chelsea Hotel #2" – 3:06
10. "Take This Longing" – 4:06
11. "Who by Fire" – 2:34
12. "The Guests" – 6:40
13. "Hallelujah" – 4:38
14. "If It Be Your Will" – 3:42
15. "Night Comes On" – 4:40
16. "I'm Your Man" – 4:25
17. "Everybody Knows" – 5:37
18. "Tower of Song" – 5:37

Tracks 1–5 are from Songs of Leonard Cohen (1968).
Tracks 6–7 are from Songs from a Room (1969).
Track 8 is from Songs of Love and Hate (1971).
Tracks 9–11 are from New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974).
Track 12 is from Recent Songs (1979).
Tracks 13–15 are from Various Positions (1984).
Tracks 16–18 are from I'm Your Man (1988).

Disc two

1. "Ain't No Cure for Love" – 4:49
2. "Take This Waltz" – 5:58
3. "First We Take Manhattan" – 5:50
4. "Dance Me to the End of Love" (live) – 6:04
5. "The Future" – 6:40
6. "Democracy" – 7:03
7. "Waiting for the Miracle" – 7:42
8. "Closing Time" – 5:57
9. "Anthem" – 5:59
10. "In My Secret Life" – 4:53
11. "Alexandra Leaving" – 5:22
12. "A Thousand Kisses Deep" – 6:26
13. "Love Itself" – 5:21

Tracks 1–3 are from I'm Your Man (1988).
Track 4 is from Cohen Live (1994).
Tracks 5–9 are from The Future (1992).
Tracks 10–13 are from Ten New Songs (2001).

Disc three (The Essential 3.0 re-release)

1. "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy" from Songs from a Room (1969)
2. "Love Calls You by Your Name" from Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
3. "A Singer Must Die" from New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974)
4. "Death of a Ladies' Man" from Death of a Ladies' Man (1977)
5. "The Traitor" from Recent Songs (1979)
6. "By the Rivers Dark" from Ten New Songs (2001)
7. "The Letters" from Dear Heather (2004)

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[4]	6
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[5]	76
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[6]	3
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[7]	8
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8]	8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[9]	98

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[10]	23
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[11]	10
UK Albums (OCC)[12]	57

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[13]	9
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[14]	10
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[15]	51

Chart (2010)	Peak position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[16]	17

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[17]	Platinum	70,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[18]	Gold	17,896[18]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[19]	Platinum	15,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[20]	Platinum	40,000^*
Poland (ZPAV)[21]	Gold	35,000^*
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. The Essential Leonard Cohen at AllMusic
2. link
3. link
4. "Leonard Cohen: The Essential" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
5. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
6. "Norwegiancharts.com – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
7. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLIS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
8. "Swedishcharts.com – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
9. "Swisscharts.com – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
10. "Austriancharts.at – Leonard Cohen – The Essential" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Leonard Cohen – The Essential" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
12. "Leonard Cohen | Artist | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
13. "Australiancharts.com – Leonard Cohen – The Essential 3.0". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
14. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 200936 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
15. "Spanishcharts.com – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
16. "Charts.org.nz – Leonard Cohen – The Essential 3.0". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
17. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
18. "Leonard Cohen" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
19. "Latest Gold / Platinum Albums". Radioscope. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
20. "Gold & Platinum Certifications". IFPI Norway (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
21. "Polish album certifications – Leonard Cohen – The Essential" (in Polish). Polish Producers of Audio and Video (ZPAV). Retrieved August 15, 2013.