Grace
As this is a post- humus review, I’ll start by giving a little eulogy to Mr B. He was, from most reported sources, not your normal soulful songwriter. Not an addict, not an alcoholic – he apparently just wanted to keep writing good songs. He despised early rock deaths, which made his own all the more tragic. Competitions with Chris Cornell over who could write the best song led to Cornell helping the compilation of Buckley’s second ‘album’ Sketches, and their style seems to have rubbed off on each other (ignoring Audioslave). Not a particularly valid point, I just wanted to show off my wealth of pointless music trivia. Wicked guy though, from all accounts. Its a damn shame.
Grace is becoming one of those albums that trendy people who like to think they appreciate good music will buy to put on their espresso tables and show off (see Vanilla Sky). As much as I hate this mentality, this album is, to say the least, good enough to have me continue listening to it, perhaps in spite of this. I actually picked it up trying to impress a girl (I think it worked, too!), so I really can’t complain, either.
It is Buckley’s First (and last) album proper and it boasts several covers - which seems to be a trend in first-time pop acts, so its nice to see a real artist unashamed of his appreciation and influence of other artists. Plus, he brings such an absolutely phenomenal amount of passion to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, that, in my humble opinion, he tops it.
The man’s voice is incredible, and he has a beautifully dynamic style that perfectly reflects the guitars on the record, vaulting octaves like, erm, a pole-vaulter. The band are a sort of mirror-image of this, and play through the tracks competently, but quite held back (or, 'boring'). Even though I have to admit to preferring the covers to some of his own writings, Last Goodbye’s finale always sends a shiver down my spine, where the aforementioned ‘restrained dynamism’ of the band really stands out. Mojo Pin rocks and Lover, You Should Have Come Over is a really tasty track, too.
One of those albums you should own – but only if you intend to listen to it, rather than have it perch on your coffee table. And if you’re into metal or whatever, and anyone calls you a pansy for buying it, just hit them.
9.4
LT 12:36 26/01/2003