There is plenty of criticism about this album saying that Phil Spector ruined the songs with reverb (listen to the snare hits on Iodine), the arrangements are nostalgic doo-wop crap, and the title track is nine minutes of tortuous mumblings. In reality, this sort of criticism ends up missing the point. This isn't an album to put up against a Beatles album. The delivery of the quasi-corny arrangements with beautiful poetry is what gives the songs power. Sometimes I swear I can hear the irony in his sneer, "I was booooorn in a beauty saaalon, my father was a dresser of hair". Sometimes it sounds dead-pan serious. The non-sequitur quality of it all keeps you in the dark as to whether Cohen is trying to be serious or not. And thats what makes the album indefinable and interesting as a whole. You are left with six pieces that beg to be interpreted. Why did Cohen ditch his old sparse acoustic arrangements? Why are there backup singers cluttering the songs with harmonized ahhing? I don't want to say that the music isn't important but that criticism shouldn't solely focus on the arrangements without the lyrical context. While the tunes might be reminiscent of old rock & roll, the lyrics play out like with complex themes rather than teenage angst or love. The stories are incredible. The way the revelation about love comes in Paper Thin Hotel still gives me the chills. I find it to be one of the most moving songs I've heard.
Tracklist:
| A1 | True Love Leaves No Traces | 4:23 |
| A2 | Iodine | 5:02 |
| A3 | Paper-Thin Hotel | 5:40 |
| A4 | Memories | 5:57 |
| B1 | I Left a Woman Waiting | 3:24 |
| B2 | Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On | 5:34 |
| B3 | Fingerprints | 2:58 |
| B4 | Death of a Ladies' Man | 9:20 |
