The Essential Leonard Cohen

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 Essential Leonard Cohen
Greatest hits album by Leonard Cohen
Released	October 22, 2002
Recorded	1967–2001
Genre	Folk rock
Length	2:34:10
Label	Columbia, Sony, Legacy
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 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. All songs on the compilation were chosen by Cohen himself.

The album was re-released in August 2008 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 track list) – 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

Notes

• Tracks 1–5 are from Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
• 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" – 5:59
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

Notes

• 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

Weekly 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 (Album Top 100)[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 Chart (2016) Peak position UK Albums (OCC)[17] 26 Chart (2018) Peak position Polish Albums (ZPAV)[18] 2 Chart (2019) Peak position Polish Albums (ZPAV)[19] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2002) Position Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 51 Chart (2008) Position Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 96 Chart (2019) Position Polish Albums (ZPAV)[22] 33

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[23]	2× Platinum	140,000^^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[24]	Gold	17,896[24]
Italy (FIMI)[25]	Gold	25,000^*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[26]	Platinum	15,000^^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[27]	Platinum	40,000^*
Poland (ZPAV)[28]	Platinum	20,000
Sweden (GLF)[29]	Gold	30,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[30]	Gold	235,749[31]
United States (RIAA)[32]	Gold	500,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming 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.nz – Leonard Cohen – The Essential 3.0". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
18. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
19. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
20. "Årslista Album – År 2002" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
21. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2008". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
22. "Najpopularniejsze albumy i single 2019 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
23. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
24. "Leonard Cohen" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
25. "Italian album certifications – Leonard Cohen – The Essential" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 10 December 2018. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "The Essential" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
26. "Latest Gold / Platinum Albums". Radioscope. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
27. "Gold & Platinum Certifications". IFPI Norway (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
28. "Polish album certifications – Leonard Cohen – The Essential" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
29. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2002" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
30. "British album certifications – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 15, 2013. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type The Essential in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
31. Jones, Alan (November 18, 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Olly Murs fifth album debuts at No.1". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
32. "American album certifications – Leonard Cohen – The Essential". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 15, 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.