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: Disc 2 is just AMAZING!
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD is one of my favourite CD's of all time. You people saying that the disc 2 is not worth listening to, you haven't got it, have you..? When disc 2 really starts with "haven't you heard" (the first two songs are remixes from disc one), it takes you to a totally unique experience all the way to the last chord is played.
I feel dragged into a spiritual world in a way I've never been before when listening to this record. It's so raw and naked that it took me a long time to like it, but when I first did, it just got better and better for each time I listened to it, and it still does. Jeff Buckley is truly one of the most gifted and talented musicians of all times, if not THE most gifted. My favourites on the disc 2 are perhaps "we could be so happy baby (if we wanted to be)", "murder suicide meteor slave", "demon john", and "Jewel Box", but all of the songs, except "your flesh is so nice" perhaps, are just unbelievable.
I do not dare to think about what this could have become if he got to finish it.. Jeff Buckley has, with all of his music, added new aspects into my life, and I am forever grateful.
But it surely takes time to like the second disc, you will probably think it's just weird and far too raw if you don't give it a real try, but if you are a Buckley fan (which you all should be), listen to it until you like it, and trust me, you won't regret it. I can't get it out of my cd-player, not even to play Grace!!
By the way, the first disc also rocks!!("Vancouver" is just soo cool!!)
Free Music Review: A Groundbreaking Odyssey Into Music
Hit: 5 Stars
Sketches is one of the best albums I own. It is also one of the most anguishing. This duality exists because the music was never finished, they are but "sketches" of the work that was to become "My Sweetheart the Drunk". Some are studio takes, others rough and barely realized 4-track demos. Had they been finished, they would be astonishing. As they are, they are still incredible, and we should be so lucky to have even these. The music is groundbreaking, particularly the second disc of mostly 4-track recordings, and the lyrics are denser, more evocative and evolved. They are also heartbreaking, as you can almost feel the creative energy in each note. Some are put off by the rough quality of the demos, but they have their own charm in Jeff's exuberance. The one flaw is that this album doesn't contain more of the actual demos. Two tracks are a rather pointless alternate mix, and both discs are on the short side. There was a wealth of extra material that could have been drawn from however, such as two tracks placed on b-sides, and foreign releases, as well as bootlegged tracks of demos that are only available illicitly. These are all oustanding and original tracks, and should have been included on the official release. If Jeff had lived to record "My Sweetheart the Drunk" as he had intended, it would have been phenomenal record. Instead we have these gorgeous blueprints of what might have been, and at least that is something. I urge you to explore this album.Free Music Review: Better Than Grace... Yep, I said it
Hit: 5 Stars
THIS is the Buckley CD that really makes me sad that his life was ended so early. "Grace" was a wonderful album, but with all the great originals on that CD, it was negatively counterbalanced by schmaltzy remakes like "Lilac Wine" and "Hallelujah" that bordered on Star Search-esque karaoke...
"Sketches" on the other hand is almost all original Buckley penned material, and almost every track shows the listener just what could've been. The music is more upbeat, there's less emphasis on vocal gymnastics and more attention paid to guitar sounds and just plain ol' singing. It's more Thom Yorke than Whitney Houston this time around.
The second disc is filled with interesting four-track outtakes and sketches, the most interesting of which is "Back in NYC" - a cover of uber-prog band Genesis' excellent song off of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I would've liked to hear a more finished version of this, but as it stands it's a pretty cool little homage by Jeff to the old 70's music he loved.
The songs and vocals will remind you of so many different artists - Radiohead, Roxy Music, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, King Crimson... the list goes on. Heck, on the fantastic R&B track "Everybody Here Wants You" he even invokes a little Prince-style groove. This guy is versatile!
On "Sketches", Jeff Buckley manages to take all these influences and combine them with his unique talent for what I believe is THE MUST HAVE album in the Buckley collection.
Free Music Review: A Two Disc Masterpiece : It just might be better than "Grace"...
Hit: 5 Stars
I cannot believe the negative and unfortunate reviews here for this album. Do so many people really feel cheated by this CD, calling it a bunch of rough demos? That is just insane!
Heres the thing - this is a very superior collection of songs that in no way can be called demos. Just because they aren't of the highly polished variety such as the ones on 'Grace' in no way makes these recordings inferior.
Take for instance the second track - 'Everybody here wants you' - is there a single more touching torch song in the entire Jeff Buckley catalog? I don't think so. What a song. What a melody. What a voice! That song alone is the worth the $15 asking price for this CD.
Needless to say, I am a huge Jeff Buckley fan, and consider 'Grace' to be the greatest male album ever recorded. However, repeated listening to this double disc might make you wonder if THIS isn't Jeff's best. It is much more musically versatile when compared to 'Grace', and its also very diverse in his vocal stylings. Theres rock (very Led Zep), alternative (very cold play), soul (very Maxwell), love-pop (very Barbra Streisand), and blues (very Nina Simone). Tell me of another album that does all these genres this well.
People, this is a masterpiece and a necessary addition to your collection. Get it today. Don't let this one slip you by.
Five Stars - A timeless classic.
Free Music Review: An amazing album, both lyrically and musically.
Hit: 5 Stars
Jeff Buckley was not only an extroadinary singer, but also an extrodinary writer and guitarist, aspects of his musical persona that this album showcases brilliantly. Though I am myself a writer, the first time I heard "Grace," Jeff Buckley's first album, his vocals and music caught my attention before his lyrics did. On the thousand and one times I have heard the album since then, the words, and their poetry and lyricism, have become equally, if not more, important. "Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk," especially the second disc of unfinished, self-recorded pieces, allows the songwriter to shine, and after him, the musician. Although the album is amazing musically, from the fluid, Quawalli-inspired "New Year's Prayer," to the rising, heartwrenching string arrangement of "Everybody Here Wants You" to the pure acoustic sound of "Jewel Box," it is the lyrics and the voice that caught my attention when I first listen to this album. Songs like "Opened Once," "Jewel Box," "Morning Theft," "I Know We Could Be So Happy Baby (If We Wanted To Be)" and "Vancouver," are a pleasure to read as well as to hear. Though this album is unpolished and unfinished in many places, these qualities only serve to make Buckley's genius more apparent, and his death more tragic.