Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. The sky is a landfill
2. Everybody here wants you
3. Opened once
4. Nightmares by the sea
5. Yard of blonde girls
6. Witches' rave
7. New Year's prayer
8. Morning Theft
9. Vancouver
10. You and I

Disc 2:

1. Nightmares by the sea
2. New Year's prayer
3. Haven't you heard
4. I know we could be so happy baby (If we wanted to be)
5. Murder Suicide meteor slave
6. Back in N.Y.C
7. Gunshot glitter
8. Demon John
9. Your flesh is so nice
10. Jewel Box
11. Satisfied mind

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28759 in Music
• Released on: 1998-05-11
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks

Amazon.co.uk Review
Perhaps the most talented "son act" in pop music, Jeff Buckley combined the often harrowing eclecticism of estranged papa Tim Buckley with the rock acrobatics of Robert Plant. This posthumously released collection of four-track demos and sessions helmed by Tom Verlaine indicates that Buckley's astonishing full-length debut, Grace, was no fluke. The young singer-songwriter puts his falsetto to good use on an extraordinary collection of original material, from the soulful "Everybody Wants You" to the psychedelic "Murder Suicide Meteor Slave". And while his bluesy take on Porter Wagoner's "Satisfied Mind" may not be as revelatory as his earlier version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", this album offers ample proof that Buckley was among his generation's most gifted voices. --Bill Forman

CD Description
We'll never know for sure what artistic heights Jeff Buckley might have gone on to reach, since he was taken from us soobscenely early, with only time enough to complete one album and begin work on a second. With the help of SKETCHES, though, we can make some educated guesses. This double-disc, lovingly assembled by Buckley's friends, colleagues and family, gathers together both his studio efforts and home 4-track demos for the album he was trying to complete up until his tragic drowning.
The studio sessions, produced by Tom Verlaine, find Buckley downplaying his phenomenal vocal abilities somewhat, in favour of focusing on the songs, from the Zeppelinisms of "The Sky Is A Landfill" to the undoubtedly Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan-influenced "New Year's Prayer" and the beautiful, ethereal "You & I". The home demos show Buckley's more experimental, playful side, an aspect of his music presumably encouraged by his pals/heroes The Grifters, whose lo-fimasterpieces inspired Buckley to work in the same studio inMemphis. The closing "Satisfied Mind", from an earlier liveradio broadcast, is a touching elegy to an artistic flame that was extinguished far too soon.

Customer Reviews

Scarred but achingly touching
There seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind Jeff Buckley's early demise. The music world was robbed of one of it's most unique and classic talents, and he leaves a great void which many other musicians struggle , yet fail, to fill. His stunning debut "Grace" was a landmark album and a fitting testament to his gifts. This album is not a follow up as such, but a posthumous love letter to Buckley. The first disc comprises new studio songs which would have appeared on the second album, whilst the second disc is a selection of demoes and four track recordings. These latter songs are a rough listen and the melodies struggle to rise up from beneath the murky lack of production, but nevertheless, it is an interesting and special insight into the man at work. Disc 1 is where the real trophies are to be found - and the jewels are a plenty. The tracks have a surreal, other wordly feel to them - witness "Morning theft" and "Everybody Here Wants You" for sheer beauty. Elsewhere , Buckley takes us in other diverse directions- "Vancouver" is a soundtrack to a glorious summer road movie, and "The Sky Is A Landfill" contains perhaps his most intense lyrics and is a biting satire on American society. The song that really breaks the heart is called "Opened Once". It is worth the admission price alone. A shimmering fragility pervades the music and the lyrics "I am the railroad track abandoned..with the sunlight forgetting that I ever happened" haunt the listener long after the album has stopped playing.

The Demos
Some say the 4-track recordings on the 2nd CD let the whole down. Others point to the fact that JB would probably not have wanted us to hear his unfinished work. Although I would agree with the latter (the CD inlay shows excerpts from his journal; I don't just write songs for Sony), I would point out that when band members and Steve Berkowitch (executive producer), along with other top Sony chiefs, heard the demos, they all felt that here was something better than Grace. These demos give us a glimpse of what might have been. Sure, they aren't recorded well, but the beauty shines through (listen to Ben Folds 5 or Devandra Banhart for under-produced yet wonderful songs). We can't hear the true My Sweetheart The Drunk, and the songs on the first CD were to be destroyed as JB hated them. Make your own mind up about the other tracks, but these demos are the bones of what he wanted us to hear - these are the gems of this compiltation and I urge you to buy it for this alone.

Buckley's finest
I have read the other reviews and none of them credit this album as much as they should. I think it is because people find 'Grace' easier to listen to, but it does not completely show Buckley's best. However this a;bum does.'Everybody here wants you' is truly beautiful and his voice is amazing in it. But the album also has some of his more mysterious songs, like 'Yard of Blonde haired girls' and 'Nightmares by the sea'.This is my favourite ever album and is a must have by any Jeff fan. However if you have never heard his music before then buy 'Grace' and if you love that, then buy this.