Compared to Famous Blue Raincoat (much shorter but much, much more luminous), I'm Your Fan is middling. What's up with the two covers of Tower of Song? Why is the cover of Suzanne so freaking boring? But then there are the beautiful plusses -- A Singer Must Die, the funky cover of Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On (who wouldn't want to hear THAT at a wedding?) and the oft-mentioned version of Hallelujah. I really like the French version of Avalanche (I didn't get the original for many years after this and was very surprised as my hand translated version was very different).

Bottom line: if you want 1 LC tribute CD, get Jennifer Warnes's. If you want 2, get this one too.

I would be hard pressed to find a favorite track. I am a die hard R.E.M fan, but I don't think theirs is the best (near the top, maybe). But I would have to agree with most about The Pixies rendition of "I Can't Forget".

if anyone's looking to a good introduction to leonard cohen, i suggest "the best of" or just spending your money on any other leonard cohen cd, in this case i think, the sorce's still much superiour to the reflection, yes, the nick cave interpetation is great, but it doesn't justify getting the whole cd.

Like many tribute albums, this has its down moments (REM sounds like a self-parody here) and its mediocre moments (Lloyd Cole does a "nothing to write home about" version of "Chelsea Hotel"). But most of these tracks give us different, often intriguing interpretations of some superb music. The fact that they can withstand these differing perspectives certainly speaks to the integrity and overall excellence of these songs.

Interpretations of Cohen's material by other artists (especially nonfolk-poet artists) can be entertaining, moving and inspirational. I'm Your Fan offers such a variety. The Pixies `I Can't Forget' is a screaming guitar rocker with a group of ladies singing lovely harmony vocals. The romantic crooner Lloyd Cole gently rocks `Chelsea Hotel.' For luscious vocal harmonies, try `True Love Leaves No Traces' by Dead Famous People. R.E.M's powerful `First We Take Manhattan' sounds threatening and ominous. And moving from bands to folk balladeers, my favorite artists include Geoffrey Oryema's dreamy rendition of `Suzanne,' French artist Jean-Louis Murat with a very mysterious `Avalanche IV,' and the childlike `Who By Fire' by the House Of Love.' Finally, John Cale's `Hallelujah' is spiritually moving. Because of the wide variety of stylistic interpretations, I'm Your Fan lacks the continuity found on Cohen's own albums. However, if you favor the pure poetry of I'm Your Fan, you may find Leonard Cohen's original work worthwhile.