Popular Problems
by Leonard Cohen

Popular Problems by Leonard Cohen
Year: 2014
Release date: 2014-09-23
Overall rank: 6,013th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 113 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 2014 (104th)
Award Top albums of the 2010s (1,144th)
Award Best albums of all time (6,013th)

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Leonard Cohen bestography

Popular Problems is ranked 13th best out of 27 albums by Leonard Cohen on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Leonard Cohen is Songs Of Leonard Cohen which is ranked number 161 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,562.

Leonard Cohen album bestography « Higher ranked (5,712th)
Live In London
This album (6,013th)
Popular Problems
Lower ranked (7,346th) »
Thanks For The Dance

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Popular Problems rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 6,013th | 2010s rank: 1,144th | 2014 rank: 104th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026 TamthebamTop 89 Music Albums of 201456/892
2026joathomeTop 94 Music Albums of 201476/941
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of 201426/1004
2026gregthealienTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s15/100 -
2026 ExTeaSeaTop 89 Music Albums of 201446/892
2026 covecoveTop 100 Music Albums of 201458/1002
2026 WasinskiTop 80 Music Albums of 201449/802
2026lanadeleswiftTop 84 Music Albums of 201449/842
2026gregthealienTop 101-200 Greatest Music Albums45/100 -
2026 RockyRaccoon2014 Honorable Mentions21/100 -
2026pjerskeTop 100 Music Albums of the 2010s15/100 -
2025juanr1096Top 100 Music Albums of 201489/1001
2025 NightprowlerTop 91 Music Albums of the 2010s85/91 -
2025Marswolf68Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s97/100 -
2025 LiedzeitTop 29 Music Albums of the 2010s24/29 -
2025JohnnyoTop albums of the 10’s (201 - 300)61/100 -
2025 HelsinkiSnorkelTop 58 Music Albums of 201423/583
2025MaxStorm98Top 55 Music Albums of 201448/551
2025 Norman BatesTop 100 Music Albums of 201492/1000
2025 DaydreamerTop 30 Music Albums of 20144/305
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 89
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 149
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Popular Problems collection

Popular Problems ratings

Average Rating: 
71/100 (from 113 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 113 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
95/100
 
04/13/2026 09:44 craola  Ratings distribution  4,42578/100
 
75/100
 
11/16/2025 20:49 ExTeaSea  Ratings distribution  5,19683/100
 
80/100
 
12/17/2024 23:10 PapaShiz86  Ratings distribution  11,29579/100
 
65/100
 
12/06/2024 23:26 EyeKanFly  Ratings distribution  8,63865/100
 
60/100
 
12/02/2024 08:19 Olli  Ratings distribution  7,17063/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 71.0/100, a mean average of 70.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 70.9/100. The standard deviation for this album is 12.7.

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Popular Problems favourites

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Popular Problems comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 03/11/2017 17:37 | #187283
Interesting and fresh which is great coming from an 80 year old artist. Unfortunately this is very overlooked but it's easily on par with You Want It Darker which received more attention because of Cohen's passing.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/30/2016 13:13 | #181321
Unfortunately, I had neglected to give this album enough attention until I heard the sad news of Leonard's passing, that is when I immersed myself in his back catalogue. I had been a fan for 15 years or so prior to this I might add.

Until then I had incorrectly presumed this album may be little more than outtakes from the Old Ideas album.

For me this album has now gradually grown in stature and I would now place it above Old Ideas in quality. As is the norm, it doesn't have the best cover art and the album title is not great but the songs therein are what matters!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/06/2016 16:55 | #168044
One of Leonard Cohen's best albums for years. It's great to hear him still using new sounds. Some dance textures here. Cohen's voice is pretty much gone but the songs are still there. Slow, almost like the blues, did I ever love you, and, nevermind, all excellent. Good contemporary sounding album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/11/2014 10:45 | #123997
It's time to retire Cohen...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (2 helpful | 4 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 09/16/2014 10:50 | #122035
Cohen is about to turn 80, and I can only say Wow, how can he still be able to write, compose and perform so nice songs at this age. I mean, of course his albums from his 60-70's are probably better, but you can listen to this and just relax while you enjoy the music and his broken voice.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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