Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man : Various Artists : Review : Rolling Stone

In the mid-Nineties, after a twenty-five-year reign as one of the premier songwriters of his generation, Leonard Cohen retired to L.A.'s Mount Baldy to live as a monk. During his absence his reputation grew considerably as a new generation of songwriters began covering his work, even as his retirement savings sunk to nearly nothing while his manager blew his fortune.

Now, forced back into the spotlight at age seventy-two, Cohen is back with the soundtrack to the movie I'm Your Man, which is mostly drawn from two recent tribute concerts held in Australia. High points include Beth Orton's faithful rendition of "Sisters of Mercy" and Antony's beautiful, quivering take on "If It Be Your Will." It's Rufus and Martha Wainwright, however, who steal the show: Rufus delivers "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" as if he had been the one getting blown by Janis Joplin on the unmade bed, and sister Martha's tender version of "The Traitor" rivals the original. (That said, whoever made the decision to not include their gorgeous duet on "Hallelujah" deserves to be drawn and quartered.) The set wraps up with a new version of "Tower Of Song" that finally features Cohen on vocals, backed by U2 -- who make it sound like it was cut for Zooropa.