The Future (Leonard Cohen album)

The Future is a studio album from 1992 by Leonard Cohen. It has come to be recognized as his "film-score" album as nearly every one of the songs on the album has appeared in some notable form in a Hollywood film.

Widely recognized as one of Cohen's more accessible albums, The Future contains everything from gospel-choir choruses (title track) to synthesizer ballads ("Waiting for the Miracle"), to pop-country ("Closing Time"), to marching band, staccato-like rhythms ("Democracy").

While not his most commercially successful album internationally, The Future is definitely one of his most musically diverse outings. The album was, however, one of Cohen's biggest chart successes in his native Canada, where "Closing Time" and "The Future" were both significant Top 40 hits . Cohen, whose singing voice is famously an acquired taste, won the 1992 Juno Award for Best Male Vocalist. In his acceptance speech, he quipped that "Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win Vocalist of the Year".^[1]

The Future was the last Cohen album to be recorded and produced entirely in analog and then digitised after mixdown. Its working titles were Busted (after the line from "Closing Time") and Be for Real.

Cohen's then-girlfriend, actress Rebecca De Mornay, co-produced the song "Anthem".

"Tacoma Trailer" is one of two instrumentals in the Cohen catalogue. The other is "Improvisation" from Live Songs.

The album is silver in the UK and double-platinum in Canada.

The Future was Cohen's longest album to date, at nearly sixty minutes.

Film soundtracks

Most recognizable is the use of three songs ("Waiting for the Miracle", "Anthem", and the title track) in Oliver Stone's 1994 film Natural Born Killers. Songs from this album have also appeared in the films Wonder Boys starring Michael Douglas and The Life of David Gale starring Kevin Spacey.

Track listing

All tracks written by Leonard Cohen, except where noted.^[2][3]

1. "The Future" – 6:41

   Arranged by [Strings, Backing Vocals], Conductor [Strings, Backing Vocals] - David Campbell

   Drums - Steve Meador

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Guitar - Bob Metzger

   Producer, Arranged by - Leonard Cohen

   Programmed by, Performer - Leonard Cohen, Yoav Goren

   Tambourine - Lenny Castro

2. "Waiting for the Miracle" (Cohen, Sharon Robinson) – 7:42

   Arranged by - Leonard Cohen, Rebecca De Mornay, Yoav Goren

   Arranged by [Additional Strings Arrangements] - David Campbell

   Backing Vocals - Anjani Thomas

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Mandolin - Dean Parks

   Percussion - Lenny Castro

   Producer [Additional] - Steve Lindsey

   Producer, Programmed by, Performer - Leonard Cohen, Yoav Goren

   Violin - Bob Furgo

3. "Be for Real" (Frederick Knight) – 4:32

   Arranged by [Strings] - David Campbell

   Backing Vocals - Jacquelyn Gouche-Farris, Tony Warren, Valerie Pinkston-Mayo

   Drums - James Gadson

   Engineer [Additional] - Eric Anest

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Guitar [Pedal Steel] - Bob Metzger

   Organ, Keyboards [Wurlitzer, Mellotron] - Steve Lindsey

   Percussion - Lenny Castro

   Piano - Greg Phillinganes

   Producer, Arranged by - Steve Lindsey

4. "Closing Time"– 6:00

   Arranged by, Programmed by, Performer - Leonard Cohen, Yoav Goren

   Backing Vocals - Julie Christensen, Perla Batalla

   Bass [Intro] - Bob Glaub

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Guitar - Bob Metzger

   Producer - Leanne Ungar, Leonard Cohen

   Violin - Bob Furgo

5. "Anthem" – 6:09

   Arranged by - Leonard Cohen, Rebecca De Mornay, Yoav Goren

   Arranged by [Strings, Backing Vocals], Conductor [Strings, Backing Vocals] - David Campbell

   Bass, Guitar [Electric] - Bob Metzger

   Choir - LA Mass Choir

   Conductor [Choir] - Donald Taylor

   Drums - Steve Meador

   Engineer - Leanne Ungar, Richard Cottrell

   Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Percussion - Lenny Castro

   Producer - Leonard Cohen, Rebecca De Mornay

6. "Democracy" – 7:13

   Arranged by, Programmed by, Performer, Keyboards - Jeff Fisher

   Backing Vocals - David Morgan, Jennifer Warnes, Julie Christensen

   Drums - Vinnie Colaiuta

   Engineer - David Shober, Ian Terry, Leanne Ungar, Richard Cottrell

   Guitar, Mandolin - Dean Parks

   Keyboards [Additional] - Randy Kerber, Steve Lindsey

   Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Producer [Additional], Arranged by [Additional] - Steve Lindsey

   Producer, Arranged by [Additional] - Leonard Cohen

   Synthesizer [Bass] - John Barnes

7. "Light as the Breeze" – 7:17

   Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Electric] - Bob Metzger

   Arranged by [Backing Vocals], Backing Vocals - Jennifer Warnes

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Producer - Bill Ginn, Leonard Cohen

   Programmed by [Synclavier] - Bill Ginn, Steve Croes

   Programmed by, Performer - Bill Ginn

   Violin, Saxophone - Bob Furgo, Leonard Cohen

8. "Always" (Irving Berlin) – 8:04

   Acoustic Guitar, Guitar [Weissenborn] - Dean Parks

   Arranged by [Horns], Trumpet, Trombone - Lee R. Thornburg

   Backing Vocals - Edna Wright, Jean Johnson, Peggy Blue

   Bass - Lee Sklar

   Drums - Ed Greene

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Guitar [Electric] - Dennis Herring

   Organ [Ice Rink] - Steve Lindsey

   Organ [Pad] - Michael Finnigan

   Piano - Jim Cox

   Producer - Steve Lindsey

   Saxophone [Baritone] - Greg Smith

   Saxophone [Tenor] - Brandon Fields, Lon Price

   Tambourine - Lenny Castro

9. "Tacoma Trailer" – 5:57

   Arranged by - Leonard Cohen

   Engineer, Mixed by - Leanne Ungar

   Producer, Programmed by, Performer - Bill Ginn

   Synthesizer [Synclavier] - Steve Croes

References