Jeff Buckley

What is this 'new wave' taste that you're talking about? I'm afraid I have no idea who you are and so I can't remeraber discussing my taste in music with you.

Music very rarely grows on me. If a song is amazing I will love it straight away.
 
well i finally got arround to checking him out, downloaded grace, pretty fucking good if i may say so myself....reminRAB me of antony and the johnsons ( voice ) ..on some songs anyway....
 
Jeff is the biggest casualty in modern music history, even bigger then Kurt Cobain was. He was just genius.
I saw the video for Everybody Here Wants You last month for the first time and it became from that moment my favourite song.
 
fair enough, different music in/for different generations.

he did some great covers cuz it was early in his very brief career.

i'll stick with jimmy page's, elton john's, and patti smith's opinions of him, seems a bit more reputable.



no, but show some goddamn respect
 
jeff buckley is amazing, his music was in a league of its own. it sucks that he died when he had so much left to give to music. i would of loved to see him live
 
I think this thread could use some reviving, especially since I have a great interest in his music and vocal ability - writing included.
Pointing out what WolfAtTheDoor stated, his covers are excellent. I tend to enjoy them just as much or more than the originals. And I mean, I can see why he covered songs because from how I see it was he was doing gigs in his early years and at least needed to show off his ability and whatever creativity he could add to a song.

Starting with: When The Levee Breaks. Led Zeppelin's version because I understand it's a cover of a cover, but the band had an influence on him and I believe the way he sung the song was most like Robert Plant's take.

When The Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
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When The Levee Breaks - Jeff Buckley
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Admittedly I don't like the original like I do the cover, so what he did to Genesis' song Back in N.Y.C was great. He made the song slightly faster, of course, and added the same gritty, harsh voice as Peter Gabriel but made sure to add his own element of singing.

Back in N.Y.C - Genesis
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Back in N.Y.C - Jeff Buckley
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Ha, I'll go ahead and say I added this one because I just loved the song before I realized it was a cover. Anyway he took a pretty good song, Yard of Blonde Girls, and made it into his own, raunchy and as the song says, sexy. This would be the first time I've heard the original.

Yard of Blonde Girls - The Nymphs
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Yard of Blonde Girls - Jeff Buckley
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Ultimately I do hope I brought good conversation and maybe he'll be a topic of discussion again. His music, whether original or not, was always great and admirable.
 
That's a good point. I like when there's a balance. Like when Jann Wenner Asked Dylan asked Dylan if he'd ever thought of making a record "very arranged, very orchestrated album with chicks" on it. That kind of casual vernacular and free-flowing enthusiam is appropriate for pop music, especially because it's still a pretty good question. I also liked recently in Rolling Stone when a writer said to Fall Out Boy (And I'm paraphrasing because I couldn't find the article), I saw you guys live last year and you sucked. Do you still suck?
 
I wont argue with those who use the fact that he frequently covered others material as a criticism of the man. There is logic there. Personally though, I feel he brought enough to the table with those covers, they dont sound cheap, they appear to be carefully selected, they suit him and I dont think they take away from an overall quality, whether that be of Grace or his overall output including demos and rarities. I think his skill as a guitarist is often overlooked too. I remeraber seeing an interview with Jimmy Page where he commented on what a clever, intelligent guitarist he was. Jeff Buckley was also very nearly never a singer. His plan was always to be a lead guitarist and never open his mouth when he was starting out, playing in various different banRAB. His voice has always overshadowed his skill as a musician though.
 
I think that if you can make a cover of a song sound like it's your own or in a way add something new to the original it is alright. I love the covers Jeff Buckley did. Hallelujah and Lilac Wine are just two stunning tracks. And his original songs on Grace are just as stunning. That album has saved my day several times over. It is one of my absolute favourite albums of all time. Such a shame he died so young.
 
I agree, I think his covers were carefully selected and don't take away from the album either. I've always thought his beautiful covers were one of the things that grabbed me. There is nothing wrong with covers if you go about it artistically and emotively, which Jeff Buckley does. I've always loved the idea of taking someone else's work and turning it into your own, making it special for you and your music. A lot of artists don't achieve this when they attempt covers but Jeff Buckley does IMO.
 
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