Jeff Buckley – Grace – 30th Anniversary Retrospective
The only studio album from now iconic Jeff Buckley, Grace turns 30 and we take a look back at how it has grown from being an astonishing debut release to regularly being hailed as one of the best albums of all time.
When released in August 1994 the debut album from Jeff Buckley, Grace, garnered positive critical reviews but commercially got off to a slower start, perhaps because it seemed out of step with much of what was going on around it. It made end of year lists in the States, UK and Australia but sales didn’t necessarily reflect the level of praise.
It is certainly a hard album to pin – and hindsight allows us to see this as part of its charm. It isn’t the folk or jazz Buckley’s estranged father Tim was known for, nor is it grunge, or rock, and certainly not the guitar-led indie starting to blossom in the UK around that time. It has moments which almost align with these genres and others, but far from being messy there’s a subtle magic in how all these touchstones come together. That range under confident musicianship, an astounding four-octave vocal which could go from rock growl to staggering falsetto, and elevating it the heartbreaking romanticism in the original songwriting all make this an incredible album.
Lover, You Should Have Come Over has some of the most evocative imagery in the lyric, and phrasing which encapsulates the immensity of love and loss, the passage of time upon us, that so many of us experience but are unable to communicate. From the harmonium drone at the beginning of the track, through the maudlin opening choruses, to the exquisite and soul-searing lyrics of the bridge this track builds into an epic, that once heard can never be forgotten.
‘It’s never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder / It’s never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her / It’s never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter / It’s never over, she’s the tear that hangs inside my soul forever’ – Lover, You Should Have Come Over by Jeff Buckley
Even those who know only of this album in passing will of course know the cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, played here in the fingerpicking style and a perfect showcase for his vocal. As this song has been covered and released by others it has provided a stepping stone back to Buckley’s version and the album on which it sits.
In an interview Buckley was once asked how he wanted to be remembered. He said, “As a good friend. I don’t really need to be remembered – I hope the music’s remembered.” With Grace that legacy is assured. Even 30 years on it continues to enthrall and find new fans in each generation.
Jeff Buckley – Grace – 25th Anniversary Reissue pack (Columbia / Legacy Recordings)
Written by Sarah Lay, originally published in Louder Than War Magazine issue 24 (2019)
As legacies go, Jeff Buckley‘s is astonishing, evergreen and immense despite only recording one studio album before his death. Grace, his stunning debut of 1994, sounds technically effortless while being wrought with laid-bare emotion, and has over the last 25 years rightly secured the songwriter’s place in rock ‘n’ roll history.
These are songs coloured with sadness and light; an intimately drawn opening statement made poignantly singular through circumstance – Buckley died in 1997 while working on recordings for his second album. Whether you’re listening to Grace for the first time or are on your thousandth play the songs get under your skin with their honesty. The distinctive vocals and intoxicating swell and drop melodies of now classics like Lover, You Should Have Come Over and his iconic cover of Leonard Cohen‘s Hallelujah are played in warm but wavering tones to become both comforting and devastating in their insight and sound. With this timeless quality and enduring appeal it is unsurprising, yet welcome, to find it dusted off again for this key anniversary.
Alongside the debut we are given a selection of live albums, with plenty of previously unreleased material to go at – ‘Live At Wetlands‘, ‘New York, NY 8/16/94‘, ‘Live From Seattle, WA, May 7 1995‘, ‘Caberet Metro, Chicago, IL, May 13 1995‘, ‘Mystery White Boy‘ and ‘Live At Columbia Records Radio Hour‘. The latter has become legendary and is released in full for the first time. Buckley is relaxed throughout and alongside deliciously full-sounding versions of songs from Grace – again sounding effortless musically and with some astounding vocal moments – there are also covers of MC5 and The Smiths.
Sky Blue Skin, one of the last demos recorded by Buckley, also gets a proper first release; a track which deserves to be discovered and loved beyond collectors. From the deep and echoing opening notes the song has an undertow, irresistible and laden with vulnerabilities as the distinct vocal murmurs around the lyric. The heaviness of the atmosphere is lifted by the brightness of the simple melody, but there is a bittersweetness for the listener who can at once imagine what this song could have become with time while coming to accept it is forever trapped in this embryonic form.
We can once again get a further taste of what might have been delving back into the double album of demos recorded in sessions toward what would have been his second album, Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk. An album cast in gloaming light, melody smooths the edges off as melancholy and joy sit companionably side-by-side as the emotion of these songs coalesces.
Completists will welcome the new pressing of the immortal Grace while the digital expansion of the catalogue gives an opportunity for new listeners to discover the talents of Jeff Buckley and explore beyond his best-known tracks.
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Find Grace by Jeff Buckley on Spotify.
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You can read other pieces by Sarah Lay originally published in Louder Than War magazine on Popoptica now such as this interview with Louise Wener of Sleeper.
Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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