When the all-digital (that is, "DDD"; be sure to look for it) compact disc first came out many decades ago of Jennifer Warnes's FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT, everyone who initially heard it was spellbound by the rarest of phenomena in recorded music: an unmatched performance wedded flawlessly to unmatched sonic quality. It's impossible to overstate how important that is. Warnes's versions of the title song and the album-opening song "First, We Take Manhattan" are unsurpassed. Also, this is the ideal CD with which to test any audiophile stereo equipment.  If you can't hear the low, vibrating strings on the upright bass resonate with absolute clarity and depth in the title song, trade in your stereo equipment for something a lot better. FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT will make the cost worth it. But apart from equipment testing, which I concede is gearhead nerdy, just listen closely and quietly to this CD--and only this CD (not the later so-called anniversary CD, which has some frankly extraneous tracks that are distracting if not disappointing). You will be utterly transported. If Warnes had additionally covered Cohen's "Hallelujah" (I know it's been over-covered in recent years by too many mediocre singers) on this CD with the same impeccable grace and intensity, I feel certain I would have gone to heaven. (By the way, the second-best rendition I ever heard of Cohen's song "Famous Blue Raincoat" was done by Tori Amos. It appeared on a tribute album to Cohen that featured all guest vocalists covering his songs.)