Leonard Cohen's 7th studio album was released on 11 December 1984 (but not in the US).
Cohen had not released new music since Recent Songs in 1979, and sought out producer John Lissauer, who had produced New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974) and had worked as Cohen's musical director on tour (Lissauer had also produced the Songs For Rebecca sessions, but the album was never released due to Cohen's manager persuading Cohen to work with Phil Spector instead).
Instead of playing Lissauer his songs on acoustic guitar, Cohen had composed using a Casio keyboard, and Lissauer was confident that the new material would produce a successful album and maybe even a hit for Cohen.
When Columbia Records president Walter Yetnikoff heard the album, however, he didn't think it would be a success and didn't release it in the US.
Various Positions contains two of Cohen's best known songs: "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "Hallelujah" (Bob Dylan began performing the song live in 1988, and it became popularized by John Cale's 1991 recording, and Jeff Buckley's 2004 version).
