Pros: His Music, His Lyrics, His Voice! The Whole Album! Not A Single Song To Hate!
Cons: He Died In 1997 And Has Been Silenced Forever.
The Bottom Line: I thoroughly enjoyed this album. I would recommend it to people who like rock/alternative/pop/folk music. Buckley is a little bit of all those genres.
Well, I'm not sure how to really start this off. I was never too good at music reviews, but I love music.
I guess the best way to kick off this review is by giving you some background on Jeff Buckley. This will help acquaint those of you who haven't heard of Jeff Buckley, and maybe even show some of you who know who he is something you didn't know before.
Jeff Buckley's Life-
Jeff Buckley was born November 17, 1966. He was the son of cult songwriter Tim Buckley. Because of this Jeff faced more expectations and pre-conceived notions than most singer/songwriters. Maybe it was not surprising that Jeff's music was related to his father's by only the thinnest of margins, or so people say.
Jeff began playing while he was in high school. He eventually moved to Los Angeles to study music. During his time spent in Los Angeles he performed with many jazz and funk bands, as well as playing with a band called Shinehead, a leader in the dancehall reggae movement. He moved to New York a few years later and formed Gods & Monsters with the experimental guitarist Gary Lucas. The band had a hip name, but the lifespan of the band was a short one. Jeff then embarked on a solo career. He played clubs and coffeehouses. He built up a considerable following. It wasn't long before he signed a record deal with Colombia Records. He released the Live at Sin-e EP in November 1993. It had received good reviews. The following year (1994) Jeff released his full-length debut GRACE, which surpassed the reviews of his EP from the year before.
The album was much different than the EP. The album was recorded with a full band. This gave the record textures that surprised some of his long-time New York fans. Even so, this album made several year-end lists, such as "Best of 1994" and earned him a belated alternative hit, my favorite, "Last Goodbye," in the spring of '95.
Jeff Buckley's Music
The best way to describe Buckley's music is moody. It brings about so many different tones. Everything from romantic to melancholy. His music is bittersweet, poignant, intimate, brooding, theatrical, and yet it seems very honest. From what I have heard though, the lyrics that make up this album were supposedly about Jeff's father. I don't know this as fact, but it's what I heard.
Buckley's voice is amazing! It can be so sweet and soft, or it can be rampant and raging. Sometimes you experience all of these emotions all in one song. There are a few songs that you have to be careful of. You'll find that the song just quietly drifts in the air and then all of a sudden a gale pushes your door open! His music is not predictable, and I kind of like that. His voice is the same way. Sometimes he sings like he's blasting out a rock song and then he'll change and sing like a classical singer. Even some of the things he does with his voice is unique. He can sing quite high, and yet he has these emotional/angelic whines and cries. The style that he sings is quite different as well. The notes he choses to carry out, the ones he decides to drop, and what he emphasizes. It's like he sings the song in a way you wouldn't have expected, but it works well. I'm tripping all over my words just trying to even explain this in a comprehensible way.
I find his lyrics to be deep, thought provoking, sometimes strange, sometimes conversational, and sometimes just beautiful. Like I had said before, Last Goodbye is my all time favorite song. That song deals with love. He sings in the song "This is our last goodbye, I hate to feel the love between us die, but it's over, just hear this and then I'll go, you gave me more to live for, more than you'll ever know" then he goes on to sing this with such emotion "Kiss Me, please kiss me, kiss me out of desire... baby no conciliation", and with those words he touches you and makes you feel something. To me, the song sounds like the soundtrack to a great love story of love lost. This song has left an imprint on my brain forever. I still remember the very first time I heard it. I was in my room, separate from my parents room, on vacation in Maui (before I moved here). There I was sitting in my room of the rented vacation condo watching MTV when this incredible song came on. It was stuck in my head and all I wanted to know is where I could get the album. Who was that guy? Would there be a concert in my area? It was just magical, and when I got home I bought the album. End of that story. That one song sold the album for me.
The tracks on the album are: (I rated each song with stars, 5 being the highest rating and 1 being the lowest)
1. Mojo Pin *****
2. Grace *****
3. Last Goodbye *****
4. Lilac Wine ****
5. So Real *****
6. Hallelujah ***
7. Lover, You Should've Come Over *****
8. Corpus Christi Carol ****
9. Eternal Life ***
10. Dream Brother *****
Jeff Buckley The End:
Jeff didn't have much time to enjoy his accomplishments. After GRACE a long hiatus followed as he worked on material for his follow-up effort. This album, provisionally titled My Sweetheart, the Drunk. And let me tell you, I personally have no idea what that album is like, but the title doesn't make it sound like a winner. This album was originally slated to be produced by Tom Verlaine. Tom later dropped out of the project. Jeff finally began work on the record in Memphis during the late spring of 1997. Little did he know that would be the last spring he ever saw.
On the night of May 29, 1997 Jeff and a friend traveled to the Local Mud Island Harbor, where Jeff spontaneously decided to go swimming. He leaped into the Mississippi River fully-clothed. It is said that a few minutes later he disappeared under the waves; the authorities were quickly contacted, but to no avail. His body was finally found on June 4, floating near the city's famed Beale Street area. Jeff was only 30 years old. Later in 1998 a collection of his unreleased recordings "Sketches, (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)" and two years later his live album "Mystery White Boy" arrived.
What would have Jeff created had he lived? The world will never know. It's always such a loss when someone gifted and talented dies way before their time. He will be missed, but luckily we do have the music he left behind to hold on to and enjoy!
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