A great loss (Mystery White Boy - Jeff Buckley)

Member Name: Lakerfanster

Product:	Mystery White Boy - Jeff Buckley
Date:	03/06/08 (147 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Voice, sounds, lyrics,

Disadvantages: Some tracks sound a little ropey

*Introduction*

Jeff Buckley's mother Mary Guibert put this album of live recordings together from various concerts Jeff had performed supporting his album Grace which was released in 1994. The album is made up of DAT recordings of these peformances. The album was released in May 2000 three years after his tragic drowning death aged just 30 years old.


*Album Review*

1.) Dream Brother
This is a very intimate version of this well known Buckley song. The spell binding guitar melody and the soft drum beat draws you in and the vocals and lyrics keep you pinned to the song. A beautifully written and sung track that oozes with emotion. With lyrics like The love you lost with her skin so fair Is free with the wind in her butterscotch hair, Her green eyes bloom goodbyes
With her head in her hands and your kiss on the lips another, Dream Brother with your tears scattered round the world

2.) I woke up in a strange place

One of the lesser known Jeff Buckley tracks here and this track Starts with a gentle guitar intro and then becomes heavier with the drums and the change in the tone of the electric guitar. This is a very interesting track which is very raw and gives off a great attitude. One of the best of his more uptempo tracks on the album. A very good live version with his voice sounding very good.

3.) Mojo Pin

This is one of the most well known songs from his 1994 debut album Grace and is one his finest slow tracks. This is a fantastic song with Jeff's soaring falsetto sounding superb. His voice had such an emotive quality to it. This is one of his most loved tracks
and I can understand why as it is so beautiful.

4.) Lilac Wine

This is a superb track which has a great intimate quality about it. Jeff's voice is accompanied by his gentle guitar strokes and then very soft drumming. This really is a beautiful song. This was originally performed by Elkie Brooks but this is by far the best version in my opinion.

5.) What will you say

This opens with a nice guitar intro from Jeff and then develops with the help of some nice drums which have a nice quality to them. This track is questioning his father with lyrics like Father do you hear me?, Do you know me?, Do you even care?
What will you say When they take my place? A brilliant track that is another lesser known track like I woke up in a strange place.

6.) Last Goodbye

This is one of my favourite Jeff Buckley songs and this version does the song justice. It's a fantastic live performance of one of his greatest songs. The best lyrics on the track are in my opinion "Must I dream and always see your face? Why can't we overcome this and more? Baby, maybe its 'cause you didn't know me at all Kiss me, please kiss me".

7.) Eternal Life

This is a real rock out song and some people may not like the harshness of the electric guitar intro. It is without a doubt his heaviest track and is a superb track that shows the diversity in his musical tastes. This is Buckley at his angriest and most political with lyrics like "Racist everyman, what have you done? Man, you've made a killer of your unborn son, Crown my fear your king at the point of a gun All I want to do is love everyone". There is also an outstanding guitar solo in the middle of this track.

8.) Grace

This is a superb version of his great track. I love this track for it's guitar melody alongside the beat of the drum. This is also one of his best songs lyrically with lyrics like My fading voice sings of love, but she cries to the clicking of time,
Oh, time. Wait in the fire, And she weeps on my arm Walking to the bright lights in sorrow.

9.) Moodswing Whiskey

This is a very dark track which starts off with lyrics Mood swing whiskey
Drank it all in the Trailer Waiting for the dark to move in Sitting in my step-sister's kitchen Horseflies on the window sill Eyes trained on the lemon king And wishing it were a gun which lead into "I think of mankind in quotation marks Ever since i took a drink from you This is for all the headless acrobats Faces crushed in the circus dust
All in the name of gravity And the price of admission" One of the darkest tracks he ever wrote.

10.) The man that got away

This track was first performed by Judy Garland and is a very gentle track with just Jeff and soft guitar tones. Jeff performed it live at Botanique, Brussels, on February 26 1995 and Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, on May 4 1995. Lyrics to this song include
The man that won you Has gone off and undone you. That great beginning
Has seen the final inning. Don't know what happened. It's all a crazy game! No more that all time thrill For you've been through the mill And never a new love will
be the same.

11.) Kanga-Roo

This track opens with a nice guitar intro and then Jeff starts singing in a beautifully laid back voice. This track is one of his slowest tracks and has a great relaxed feel to it which works so well. A very good track indeed.

12.) Halleljujah/I know it's over

This is a stupendous version of one of the greatest songs he ever recorded. Leonard Cohen's Halleljujah is one of those songs that is so much better when someone else records it. Jeff's version is the best I've ever heard and there have been so many versions of this great song. I heard there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you? Well it goes like this, The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift The baffled king composing HallelujahThese lyrics make me flabbergasted as how can anyone not really care for music. What is wrong with them??

The track then blends into I know it's over which is a cover of The Smiths track written by Morrisey and Jonny Marr. I hate almost everything about Morrissey but that didnt put me off luckily this is a fantastic version of the track and opens with a high pitched gentle guitar melody and then gets going with Jeff's lovely vocals. His voice sounds so passionate and he has an amazing ability to make any song sound like an incredible track.

*Overall*
This is a fabulous collection of some of Jeff's greatest songs along with a few superb cover versions to boot. The only downside is some of the recordings are a little ropey in terms of sound quality but that is a minor gripe as they don't affect the quality of the tracks too much. An outstanding album from a sadly missed genius who had an incredible three fold ability in music, lyrics and vocals which is very rare to be incredible in all three areas. He will go down as one of the greatest musicians of all-time which is staggering considering how little his body of work is due to his untimely death in 1997.

Summary: An awesome talent