As a big fan of his earliest 2 albums - 'Songs of' (1967) and 'Songs From a Room' (1969) for some time now I decided it was long overdue to sample a bit more.

So I got hold of 'Various Positions' (1984?) purely because I wanted to hear the original version of Hallelujah. It seemed to be pretty formulaic with both lyrics and melodies being disappointingly predictable. The 80s percussion turned me off massively too.

Was this a foolish move? Should Cohen records be investigated in a purely chronological order? Is there specific periods that should be avoided?