Jeff Buckley only released one studio album during his lifetime but it was enough to elevate him to the pantheon of rock legends. His untimely death at the age of 30 has deprived the world of a rare talent but ensured he'll always be remembered as the romantic tragic hero. One of the lesser known facts I discovered about him while researching his background for this review is that he was 1/4 Greek (on his maternal mother's side). Glad as I was to find out we had that in common, there's no doubt his considerable vocal talent was inherited from his father Tim, who managed in his short life span (dead at 28 - creepy coincidence or what?) to revolutionise the art of singing. With such a large shadow hanging over him, it's not strange that Jeff was a late bloomer. Although he tried to shake off comparisons to a father whom he barely knew, the similarities (from his looks to his impressive vocal range) are uncanny. Arguably, though, he was more influenced by artists like Robert Plant, Van Morrison, Pakistani religious singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and...Nina Simone. Strange as it sounds, the high drama of his delivery has more in common with jazz divas like Simone or Billie Holiday than with any male singer I can think of. After Buckley, other singers like Antony Hegarty and Rufus Wainwright treaded that road but, being gay, they added a camp dimension to it. Incidentally, the father/son (non) relationship between Tim and Jeff is the main theme of the film Greetings from Tim Buckley, which focuses on Jeff's "public unveiling" as a singer during an all-star concert tribute to his father. Up to then he had played guitar with some grunge/punk groups but barely ever sang. 3 years later his debut album "Grace" initially alienated and confused listeners by refusing to fit in any category: It's not Alternative, Experimental, Hard Rock, Folk or Jazz, but has elements of all those genres. Musically reminiscent at times of Led Zeppelin (sans the monster riffs), Bowie and The Smiths, what really defines it is Jeff's passionate, soaring vocal spanning the whole range from tenor to a soprano-like falsetto. Despite the initial low sales, it continues to rise in popularity and has become a staple of "all-time-best" lists.
The album opens with a couple of songs written with early collaborator and experimental guitarist Gary Lucas, "Mojo Pin" and "Grace". They're followed by the heart-breaking "Last Goodbye": "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". It's a mid-tempo song with lush strings and the one with the biggest commercial potential, so a videoclip was promptly made and ensured the band some exposure through MTV. "Lilac Wine" is a jazz ballad made famous by Nina Simone and "So Real" (the 3rd single) a folk rocker whose chorus and distorted guitar could nevertheless easily belong to Radiohead. The greatest of the record's many highlights is, undoubtedly, his transcendental reading of the Leonard Cohen ballad "Hallelujah". It's followed by "Lover, You Should've Come Over", a breakup ballad that equals The Smiths at their self-pitying best. Then we get the two extremes of the album posed side by side, as the medieval serenity of "Corpus Christi Carol" gives way to the Pearl Jam-ish grunge of "Eternal Life". The album closes with "Dream Brother", a more experimental track sounding like The Velvet Underground would if fronted by a theatrical singer like Scott Walker. I can hardly think of a more promising debut than "Grace". Jeff Buckley died in a swimming accident before completing his 2nd album, so there's no telling where he would go from here. Some artists never manage to surpass their initial burst of energy. His father, on the other hand, progressed in leaps with each release. If Jeff was anything like his old man in this respect, his demise was a loss of incalculable proportions for popular music.
***** for Grace, Last Goodbye, Lilac Wine, So Real, Hallelujah
**** for Mojo Pin, Lover You Should've Come Over, Corpus Christi Carol, Eternal Life, Dream Brother
