back in stock. 'new skin for the old ceremony' is a masterpiece, and one of leonard cohen's best albums. it's a truly great effort, and too often overlooked. although his first three albums - particularly the first and third - are all certified masterpieces, this one, his fourth, was his first attempt to move beyond them in scope. incorporating background vocalists and a wider array of instrumentation than he employed on those sparse first three efforts, cohen creates here an album broader, more epic in scope than its predecessors.