Ah, Tower of Song. One of my favourites. I’ve never bought any of his music either, actually…advantages of living with one’s parents include the ability to raid one’s father’s CD collection. 
Might buy Ten New Songs, though.
First impressions of the Ten New Songs album have not been very good. At least this is what they were saying over in the Leonard Cohen newsgroup (alt.music.leonard-cohen). I’ve heard snippets of the songs and they sound, I dunno, bland.
I was a man the last I looked and Leonard Cohen is and has always been one of my favorite singer/poets, I must put him in my mind with artists like Nick Cave, Tom Waits.
I think I own most of his Lp’s and my favorite by far is “Songs from a room (1969)”
And favorite songs would be “if it be your will” and “Suzanne”
With respect
The Unbeliever
I was introduced to Leonard Cohen by a male (I am female), but my appreciation for LC quickly surpassed his. I would rate him as one of my all time favorite artists.
I’ve never thought of him as appealing more to one gender than another, and from my own experience I would be obliged to disagree. I will agree, however, that his perspective is very masculine… which makes him all the more likeable.
My favorites are Hey, That Ain’t No Way To Say Goodbye and Who By Fire.
[sub]Umm, where’d I get that “ain’t” from…?[/sub] In answer to your question gallows fodder: I have a collection of his poetry and I like it, though it doesn’t have quite the same appeal minus the sultry vocalization.
Umm … yup ! Totally male … and also a Leonard Cohen fan … I even like Mark Cohn which sound the same … oh … sorry … odd tangent. My bad.