ALBUM REVIEW

VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen�

A&M;

* * 1/2

Unlike most folk or pop compositions, the songs in the Cohen canon ask the singer to submit. They aren’t vehicles for a personality or smooth seals awaiting a stamp, and they reveal their many layers most fully when touched most gently.

On this uneven tribute album, Trisha Yearwood’s solid, mainstream-country “Comin’ Back to You,� Suzanne Vega’s direct “Story of Isaac� and Willie Nelson’s courtly “Bird on a Wire� best exemplify the virtues of modesty.

That doesn’t mean the songs can’t be wrestled into some kind of distinctive shape. Bono’s “Hallelujah� challenges the original’s hymn-like form with a minimalist, ambient-techno track and deadpan spoken lyrics, yet remains fascinatingly faithful to its spirit.

Then there are the selections that merely call attention to the arrangement or to the vocals: Don Jovi’s, er, Henley’s histrionic “Everybody Knows,� Sting and the Chieftains’ rushed “Sisters of Mercy,� Tori Amos’ tremulous “Famous Blue Raincoat.�

About the time Elton John is thumping “I’m Your Man� into dance-floor submission, you might start to wonder what the point is. From Collins to Cocker to Concrete Blonde, there’s never been a shortage of Cohen coverage, so “Tower� doesn’t really fill a void.

And after all, there are always his own albums. Cohen is often dismissed as a non-singer, but if it does anything, “Tower of Song� should create new appreciation for the Master’s monotone.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).