A good friend of mine, David Anderson (of Brother Cane / Dragmatic fame), first turned me on to Jeff's music, but it wasn't until last Wednesday (11/17, Jeff's birthday) that I finally got around to picking up my first Buckley album [oddly enough, inspiried from seeing Duncan Sheik pick one of Jeff's tunes as one of the "Best Song of the 90s" on VH-1's The List)]. Now that I've heard it, I could kick myself for not having discovered Jeff's genius before his untimely death in 1997 when he drown while swimming in the Mississippi river near Memphis. Simply put: This man is what Chris Cornell (of Soundgarden fame) has been aspiring to sound like as of late. Not that Cornell is biting Jeff's style out of envy or anything like that, but the two were very close friends, and Cornell has been quoted as saying that Jeff was one of the few musicians that he was truly inspired by (and having heard Cornell's new solo album in full I can hear Jeff's influence on almost every tune).
Buckley's voice rings out like an angel through the majority of this brilliant album. Almost haunting at times, Jeff's strong command of his voice's control, range and falsetto can be likened to some of the world's best — literally! And the music is not your typical fare either, for there are many wonderful textures, odd meters and subtle elements / nuances woven throughout. The band as a whole delivers a top notch performance on all the tunes they accompany Jeff on, but one thing I love about this album is that some of the most powerful tunes on it feature Jeff just singing along with his guitar alone. Tunes like "Mojo Pin", "Grace" and "Eternal Life" will stir the rocker inside, but it's his soft tunes where his genius really shines. "Lover, You Should've Come Over" is literally one of the best songs I've ever heard from any band out of the 90s, and tunes like "Corpus Christi Carol" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" are downright soul-moving and spiritual — very Freddie Mercury-esque, which I personally love. These songs and the beauty therein must be heard to be believed.
I can honestly say that after only one week of listening to this album, I am convinced without a doubt that Jeff would have one day been regarded as one of the greatest singer / songwriters ever, period. Whether you want to hear what the future of envelope-pushing Alt Rock could have been, or if you just want a truly great album that will inspire and uplift, go buy this album!
