Jeff Buckley - So Real (Sony)
3/5
By: Michael Cragg
In May 1997 Jeff Buckley decided to embark on a late night swim in a Mississippi river, fully clothed and still wearing his steel-capped boots. This spontaneous act lead to his death at the tender age of 30, and a career on the ascendancy was stopped as unexpectedly as it had begun. The success of his debut album 'Grace' had surprised the shy, introverted Buckley and he was in the midst of recording its follow-up when the tragedy struck. Up until then his output had been limited to 1993's 'Live At Sin-e EP' and '94's 'Grace'. Since his death, however, there have been three live albums, a five-disc EP box set, an expanded version of 'Grace' and the unfinished and meandering two CD effort, 'Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk'. As with Elliott Smith or Nick Drake, it seems that any snippet of music found in a vault can hope to someday wind up on a compilation album.
'So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley' has been released to coincide with the ten year anniversary of his death, and gathers together mainly previously released songs with the added bonus of a previously unheard version of The Smiths 'I Know It's Over'. Unsurprisingly it veers heavily towards 'Grace', with six of its fourteen songs taken directly from it or the expanded version. 'Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk' was just that, a sketchbook of ideas and unfinished skeletons of songs that had the distinct sense of being abandoned part way through. Having said that, of the three selections that make it onto this collection, 'Everybody Here Wants You' is a definite highlight, it's recalling of old soul recordings a hint at what the planned sessions in Memphis could have thrown up.
In a way that sense of 'what if' or 'what next' hangs heavy over any posthumous release and it's a testament to Buckley's incredible voice that he is often able to take us above and beyond the here and now. I defy anyone that says they aren't moved by his version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' or his own beautifully maudlin, 'Lover You Should Have Come Over'. It's been said before that Buckley seemed to be able to show more of himself through the cover versions he chose, as if he was able to let himself go and that is certainly something you notice on the aforementioned 'Hallelujah' or 'Lilac Wine' from 'Grace' (oddly overlooked on this collection). Buckley performs the same trick here with 'I Know It's Over', Morrissey's desperate lyric of death and loss sounding more mournful being sung by a man who within two years of its recording would be dead himself. And yet that's me falling into the trap of reviewing the work of someone who died so young and in such tragic circumstances - it's very easy to add extra gravitas and weight to any note or lyric, when his intention can never be fully known or understood.
'So Real...' adds little new to the Buckley legacy, but for new converts it may be the only other album worth having other then 'Grace'. But for all its merits, 'Grace' wasn't quite the masterpiece it has been viewed as since and it's this sense of potential unfulfilled that shadows any of his posthumous releases. However this album is received you get the feeling it won't be the last we hear from Jeff Buckley, or the estate of Jeff Buckley, and in a way you wish they'd just leave us with what we have already.
Watch the video to 'Grace' HERE.
Artists in this article: Jeff Buckley
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