Leonard Cohen - X2

Last September, Leonard Cohen turned 76. At the time, he was well into the third year of his World Tour, performing three-hour concerts that consistently drew standing ovations and had critics gushing with superlatives. In all, Cohen performed an extraordinary 246 shows on the tour, with the last taking place on Dec. 11 in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Sun praised his “songs of love, loss and longing” and likened his final concert to a “spiritual celebration.”

The iconic Montreal native has routinely drawn such lofty accolades throughout his five-decade career. His poetry and novels such as The Favourite Game and Beautiful Losers are considered masterpieces of Canadian literature. His songs are among the most revered in popular music, with more than 2,000 cover versions recorded by other artists. Cohen has been inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour.

With X2, some of Cohen’s most beloved songs from two of his earliest albums are available in one affordable package. Songs of Leonard Cohen features the classics “Suzanne” and “So Long, Marianne,” about the former wives of a Quebec sculptor and a Norwegian novelist respectively. Songs of Love and Hate includes the memorable “Joan of Arc,” inspired by Cohen’s love of German model Nico, and “Famous Blue Raincoat,” about a love triangle. Together, they offer a formidable portrait of an incomparable artist.