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).