Jeff Buckley
Grace Around the World DVD/CD
(Legacy/Columbia/Sony)
release: June 2, 2009
Blossoming into the limelight a couple years after Nirvana broken big, Jeff Buckley tragically disappeared from this world before most of us had email. The latter fact suggests one of the reasons as to why, according to the liner notes, it wasn't easy to collect a live recording of every song from the Grace album, as technology has changed. Buckley had an unmistakable, haunting vocal and guitar style that few, if any, have replicated. His songs never seemed to follow the conventional verse-chorus-verse, and when/if they did, his extended, spiritual cooing could throw you for a loop anyway. 15 years later after its initial release, given the example of Around the World, the compositions off Grace are naturally timeless, and there is no reason for them to ever become dated. Performances--let's not forget about his band, as it may as well been called the Jeff Buckley Band--were recorded in London, Frankfurt, Japan, New Orleans and New York. The DVD is interspersed with short interviews original aired on MuchMusic, in which he says he looks like crap all the time and offers deep philosophical insight on life and music. At the end of the extra features, however, he does make defensive remarks aimed at some French journalists. Included is every song from Grace except "Corpus Christi Carol," with the additions of an instrumental titled "Vancouver" and "What Will You Say." In whatever manner he was expressing himself, Buckley always appeared to be true to himself and his fans. In 1994 he said, "I only go out and play solo to make money to pay the phone bill and the rent." You could sorta tell that by his limited wardrobe, which only points to the fact that he cared more about substance than the latest fashion trends. -Kenyon