Album Review

To be a Jeff Buckley fan, you pretty much have to be a completest. After all, the man with the unearthly voice left us far too soon and really had completed just one full-length album at the time of his death in 1995. Ever since, all kinds of vault exhumation has commenced in an effort to beef up his catalog and satisfy the demand of a rabid fan base that has gone well beyond cult status to full-fledged legion.

The newest release is an interesting concept. Following the release of that one glorious LP, 1994’s Grace, Buckley and his band hit the road to far-flung locales making all kinds of appearances to promote the record. Grace Around The World presumably comprises the best of this tour, and it comes in a CD/DVD package that also includes a deluxe edition with a documentary on Buckley.

For the Buckley fanatic, this is obviously a must-have. There is such a small sample size of his artistry that any opportunity to catch up with his talent is welcome. But what about the casual Buckley fan, the one with the well-worn copy of Grace and nothing else from the man? Is there enough new and different to compel them to plunk down their dough?

Well, considering that the album is roughly based on the Grace track list, you pretty much know what you’re going to get song-wise. One nice addition is the brooding, slow-burner, “What Will You Say,” a compelling dissection of the generational divide that never made it onto an official Buckley release. The rest of the versions vary slightly in faithfulness to their original album versions, usually depending upon the vocal acrobatics in which the singer chooses to indulge on that particular track.

And indulge is the key word at times. Maybe the true believers will achieve great catharsis during a full 12 minutes of “Mojo Pin,” but I suspect that there will be many who’ll be twiddling their thumbs waiting for it to end. And, though it’s almost sacrilegious to say, his take on Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” included here meanders a bit and can’t really hold a candle to the chill-inducing magical take on Grace.

Overall though, even though he can’t quite transform some of the more pedestrian numbers from the album and the sound quality is less than sharp at times, you really can’t go wrong spending significant time in the thrall of that transporting voice. He seemed to be able to get away with just about anything in a song, like the falsetto scatting he does in “Grace” or his imitation of a fragile French chanteuse in “Lilac Wine.”

Grace Around The World also serves the purpose of showing off Buckley’s vastly underrated songwriting skills and makes us realize even more what a true talent we were deprived of with his passing. The shimmering beauty of “Last Goodbye” and “Dream Brother” would shine no matter how they were delivered. Best yet is the staggering version of “Lover, You Should Have Come Over,” a song that comes on like one of Dylan’s mid-60’s ballads with a melody of a Van Morrison song. Buckley’s performance here brings spontaneous applause and almost justifies the purchase by itself.

When sizing up this release, the bottom line is that it doesn’t matter much whether you’re a latecomer to the Buckley phenomenon or a diehard, because the irresistible teardrop in his voice is on display for everyone to hear. And, for the most part, that’s more than enough.

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