Jeff Buckley - Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)
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Free Music Notes for Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)
Free Music Review: My thoughts on "Sketches"
Hit: 5 Stars
Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)I purchased the 2 disc edition of Sketches. The first disc: Sky is a Landfill,Everybody Here Wants You, Opened Once, Nightmare by the Sea, New Year's Prayer, You & I, is easy and makes for very enjoyable listening. These recordings were done with Tom Verlaine as producer. Listening to the first disc, naturally causes one to speculate on which direction Jeff was musically growing in his astonishing professional development. Most of the songs strike me as less musical, not as instrumentally active, as those in Grace. Some have noted that his vocals are less elastic than in his previous album. However, one must always remember that what is found in Sketches are unfinished, rejected products. Jeff was dissatisfied with the Verlaine recordings, and did not want these songs released. He decided to start over with Andy Wallace as producer, but alas, that was not to be. Because Jeff rejected these songs, no judgement can legitimately be drawn, based on what one hears, as to whether Jeff was musically moving to a more "metallic", less vocal genre or not. We will never know just what Jeff disliked about the Verlaine recordings and what he eventually would have created in their place.
The lyrics of Buckley's music have always impressed me as at first difficult to understand, and therefore, slow to evoke emotion. However, with repeated listening, they become easier to decipher and take hold in one's heart and soul. So it is with these lyrics.
The second disc featuring, Haven't You Heard, I know We Could be so Happy, Murder Suicide Meteor, etc., is very difficult to listen to, and should not have been published. The recordings are nothing more than raw, very raw, demos. For percussion effects, for example, Jeff would tap on the microphone. There is no backup instrumentation. Jeff would simply, and justifiably, have been mortified to have these rudimentary works released to the public.
I have rated "Sketches" very highly, based on the first disc. Though, as I have indicated, I am ambivalent despite the more developed, polished state of this disc. It is natural for any listener, any fan of Jeff's, to inevitably draw inferences based on what one hears in Sketches, about what would have been, could have been, in Buckley's future, had he lived. Yet, hopefully the listener will remember that these songs, being rejected versions, do not really represent Jeff Buckley music. Moreover, Jeff was a perfectionist, and would have been opposed to any release of unfinished works. As for the second disc, I recommend that it be ignored: it is nothing less than an insult to Jeff Buckley's memory. In my humble opinion, his mother, the executor of Jeff Buckley's estate, has acted quite unwisely, and has done her son, my favorite musician, a great disservice in allowing release of this disc.
Despite my stated reservations, however, I recommend the first disc. Jeff was a singular artist of enormous potential. The likes of him come all too infrequently. Therefore, enjoy whatever scraps he has left behind. As musician and Jeff Buckley fan, Duncan Sheik, has quipped, even his failures (in Jeff's own eyes), are my favorite songs.
Love you, Jeff.
Free Music Review: The masterpiece even Buckley missed?
Hit: 5 Stars
I'll add a few thoughts for the person considering this CD, particularly who only knows the album Grace: The first disc of this set is a relatively finished product produced for Buckley by Tom Verlaine (with some subsequent minor clean-up). The second disc consists mainly of rough drafts for unrecorded songs, and should be considered as such. The second CD is not easy listening, and is really for the most devoted fans only (as is fully disclosed in the liner notes).
It is said that Buckley was dissatisfied with the Verlaine sessions. I recall that Buckley's biographer reported that Verlaine told Buckley, essentially: "If you don't like the tapes, destroy them, or they'll find their way into the public eye eventually." Buckley didn't destroy them. He and Verlaine worked on them in Memphis, then Buckley set them aside.
Buckley chose Verlaine to produce the sessions. Verlaine produced Buckley's music with a far more stripped-down sound then you find on Grace. Buckley and his band (save for the drummers on the tapes) had been touring for quite some time, and were deeply attuned to one another's playing. They had a wonderful sound, simple, centered on electric guitars (played with relatively few effects), bass, and drums, supporting Buckley's vocals. This is the sound that Verlaine, and perhaps Buckley, wanted to capture. And they did, very well.
I describe the sound as "simple"--what I mean is that the ingredients were as straight-forward as your basic bar band. What they did with those ingredients was 10 levels beyond your basic bar band. Buckley had developed into a first-rate writer of deceptively complex songs. A song, like "The Sky is a Landfill," might start out rather like a basic rock 'n roll song, but pretty soon you're in another place...the verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure generally vanishes; the 2 guitars (sometimes more) and bass play off of one another (with considerable panache and skill) into different layers and blends, and Buckley sings his serpentine melodies, unflinchingly exploring his uniquely wide range and timbres. It still rocks, and often pretty hard, too, but it requires, and greatly rewards, attention. (There are several ballads as well--not surprising for Buckley, who was a master of the form.)
None of this is utterly different from Grace, but Grace was more heavily worked in the studio, with considerable multi-tracking of vocal parts, multiple and various-sounding electric and acoustic guitars (some "treated"), some keyboards, strings, etc. And Grace is terrific. But so is Sketches...even though Sketches is thought to be something of a rough draft. In terms of the way it sounds to this listener, it's not that rough--certainly no "first draft." Maybe more of a "works in progress," by a band that, like any really active, working band, is always somewhat "in progress."
But what about Buckley's dissatisfaction? Is it possible that we're dealing with an end result that, though excellent otherwise, just didn't match his vision for it, and thus simply disappointed him at the time? Is it possible that he would have turned to it later and been pleasantly surprised? We'll never know. But he didn't destroy it. And now we have it, and can be grateful for it.
Free Music Review: A Beautiful Work in Progress......
Hit: 5 Stars
Simply stated, this is a very very cool collection of songs, of sincere, heartfelt creativity, interwoven with some beautiful, angry, intense, wistful, eerie and reflective moments. Having said that, I feel a special connection to this album (all his albums really)because I've made the effort to try and understand who Jeff was, and when you personalize music, what anyone else says is a totally irrelevant. Okay, enough with the platitudes....to be critical, disc one is a bit uneven, but circumstances being what they are, what can be done about that? This isn't a John Mayer album of nice pop ditties carefully crafted to "flow well". This is the real deal, a mastermind going through the heartwrenching struggle of identification that is being an artist. It shows Jeff searching, perhaps setting aside the Zeppelin influence of "Grace" and trying to acheive a musical breakthrough of sorts. More on that in a moment. "Everybody here Wants You", "Morning Theft", "Opened Once" and the alluringly haunting "You & I" are certifiable beauties, especially the latter. Turn this one up loud, dim the lights, and stare at the back cover photo while playing this. You will be deeply moved as a result. "Sky is a Landfill" and "Vancouver" are excellent, well crafted songs, and they draw you in like no other. "Yard of Blonde Girls" is a little weaker than the other nine tracks here, but the trancelike, Arabian feel of "New Year's Prayer" more than suffices and makes up for it. "Witches Rave" is just a fun little number, kind of serving to clear the palette as it were, coming just past midway throught the first half of this...Disc 2 offers us two alternate versions of songs from Disc 1, and another bonafide cool moment in "Haven't You Heard".....dark song, but worth the price of admission. The rest of this disc gives us that breakthrough I mentioned earlier, and for some this is where the rough going may occur. It shows Jeff exploring some of his experimental side, both in recording approach and songwriting. My recommendation here would be to go about listening to this as though Jeff is a great friend of yours (through his music, he certainly means this to me), who has just worked on his little four track machine in his rented house in Memphis, and he comes to you and says, "Hey man, check out this awesome stuff I've been creating"......these are rough "sketches" that went down not that long before Jeff left us, and the results, while certainly disjointed in parts, are pretty phenomenal. "I Know we Could be so Happy" is sheer musical mystique. "Murder Suicide...." is scary, even by my standards, but I LIKE it!! "Jewel Box" is a very coherent song, would have been suited nicely when Jeff played "Sin-e".......whether all of the 4-Track demos would have been released will always be speculative at best, but thank God we have this important musical document.....I could go on, but see for yourself....hear for yourself, and allow yourself to be taken in by this music.....then go out and explore Tim Buckley......you will not be disappointed....both were truly blessed!
Free Music Review: Words Cannot Describe Anything To Do With Jeff Buckley
Hit: 5 Stars
I became a Jeff Buckley fan on first hearing "Grace" - an album that inspired me, changed my life, and made me complete. I had also bought "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk" at the same time as "Grace", but his debut album just held me so much so that I didn't really give "Sketches..." a *real* listen until I had been truly filed by "Grace".When making this album Jeff did not want to make a "second Grace": He had to develop, and this album shows just what a talent this man really was. Every single song on this album is on the same level as "Grace", if not higher. The songs are mature, rock-y, passionate, brave - they are songs of *emotion*. Disk One shows the songs which Jeff had made good quality recordings of, hinting that these would have made the final cut had he lived to see it. "Vancouver", "The Sky is a Landfill", "Morning Theft", "Everybody Here Wants You", and "Nightmares by the Sea" are all among my top favourite songs of all time, but to be honest, there is no one *superior* song in this collection - they are all the most beautiful, poetic and astounding pieces, I feel that have been written in at least the last twenty years. Each song helps you with different emotions - you feel and think differently during each song - they are a snippet of genius.
Disk Two is the more "sketchier" area of the CD, but this does, in no way lessen the value of the songs. "Back in NYC" really hit home to me when watching a Jeff documentary when drummer Parker Kindred says "on a bad day, the city can take your soul": this song shows Jeff knew how that felt. "Jewel Box" is perhaps the prettiest song I have ever heard in my life - and shows how poetical and sensitive Jeff could be - in stark contrast to the humourous and hot "Your Flesh is So Nice"
Truth be told, I could go over each and every one of these songs and say why it is amazing, beautiful and the work of the most gifted singer/songwriter/performer of our time, but words can't describe what you get from "Sketches..". It's that feeling of raw emotion - sadness to know he'll never be here again; the emotion of lost love, of dreaming, and any other human feeling that ahs ever existed. "Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk" is a mature album, and shows Jeff Buckley in his best light - the songs have changed my world forever, and if you buy this album, they will change you, too.
Jeff Buckley, is, in my opinion the most gifted songwriter/performer/singer of *all time*. If you don't believe me, listen to this album!
Free Music Review: Grateful
Hit: 5 Stars
Sometimes when listening to Sketches I get a little frustrated - it's patchy in parts - some great songs, others (let's be honest) somewhat forgettable.And then I have to pull myself up, because we are lucky to have this album at all. It's a sign of Mary Guibert's (Jeff's mother's) sensitivity to the wishes of Jeff's fans that she agreed for some of this material to ever see the light of day. In a sense, she was in a no win situation - by releasing the Verlaine studio recordings which Jeff had basically rejected (at least in part), she risked upsetting fans who felt that Jeff would never have wanted those songs to be heard. And by releasing the four track demos, she risked upsetting those fans who felt that it was a betrayal to include these candid recordings which were clearly just blueprints from which Jeff planned to build his revised vision for My Sweetheart the Drunk.
At the end of the day, Mary has done the only thing she could do under the circumstances. She has basically put it all out there and asked Jeff's fans to accept it on its merits. So were are in the fortunate position of being able to decide for ourselves. There are the more polished studio recordings to be listened to with a grain of salt, and the rough-as-guts four tracks to give us an idea of what My Sweetheart the Drunk may have one day been. If only...
Personally, I don't listen to Disc Two all that much, with the exceptions of Jewel Box, Satisfied Mind and Haven't You Heard. And as for Disc One, there are probably only six songs that I listen to often. But oh what magic can be found in those gems - The Sky is a Landfill, Everybody Here Wants You (even if it is a bit 'New Romantics'), Opened Once, Witches' Rave, Morning Theft and Vancouver - an entirely subjective opinion, I am well aware.
Sketches is a work in progress. In needs to be listened to with that firmly in mind. In one way, I was hesitant to rate it 5 stars, because it is by no means a perfect album, far from it in fact. And yet, here's the thing about Jeff Buckley - you can take a few finished songs, a few studio rejects, and a bunch of ideas for possible future studio recordings, and for all it's faults, you are still left with an album that has peaks that far surpass the 'finished' work of many others.
And so, I'm still inclined to give it 5 stars, as much for what might have been as for what is. Worth the price of admission for Morning Theft and The Sky is a Landfill alone.