Product Description

This full-length debut was released to critical acclaim in 1994, and hailed as the missing link between Led Zeppelin and the cult folk of his father Tim, who died when he was onlynine years old. Before he had completed the sessions for his follow up to 'Grace', Jeff Buckley's life was also cut short when he drowned in the Mississippi River. On this releasehe managed to fuse folk, rock and jazz - and the material sweeps from mournful ballads to uplifting rockers.

Track Listing

1. Mojo Pin
2. Grace
3. Last Goodbye
4. Lilac Wine
5. So Real
6. Hallelujah
7. Lover, You should've come over
8. Corpus Christi Carol
9. Eternal Life
10. Dream Brother

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4865 in Music
• Released on: 1999-01-04
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Here's what they say about Jeff Buckley: "He died too young". Here's why they say it: Grace is simply one of the most amazing things you can do with your ears and a little digitally-encoded disc. He inherited the voice of his father, the legendary Tim Buckley--seven octaves, each of them only just enough to cram his big feverish dreams into--but his music was all his own. Think Van Morrison's Astral Weeks on drugs--but then drugs could give some kind of comfort, and there's no comfort in Grace; just constant flux between crippling despair and an almost violent joy. When "Last Goodbye" unfolds it's third different middle-eight of Bollywood strings and Buckley's ecstatic scatting, it's hard to believe an ordinary human could have had a hand in something so extraordinary. --Caitlin Moran

Customer Reviews

Breathtaking.
When I first listened to this album about 5 years ago, I completely disliked it apart from the title track, even though I was pretty open to a vast range of music. I think the hardest thing to get used to is the high voice on some of the songs.

After a while I began listening to the other tracks and became ashamed for having avoided them so long. Not long after I warmed to the voice and now believe he is probably the best male singer to have graced my ears.

At a glance the album can seem so normal, and too soft.. But is all part of the delicacy of the music, the subtlety of slides in dynamics and timbres send shivers down my spine. It helps to have a very realistic sounding Hi Fi to get the full effect of it all!

The album was constructed over many years of Buckley finding his voice and battling expectations left by his father's legacy... The same sort of patience should therefore be required by the listener to parallel with his musical vision.

If I had to name my favourite album, this would be it!

A lifetime top ten album....
From opener to closer this record is a work of undiluted Genius. It depths are many and its influence far reaching. The album has a feel and atmosphere that was ground breaking at the time and to my ears clearly influencing Radiohead's 'The Bends' and other albums to the present day. If you are new to the unique legend that is Jeff Buckley the sound of the album and some of the song arrangements are not instant, but after a few listens the quality grows and becomes apparent. His vocal range and diverse influences are demonstrated in full and his band sound tight and crisp. The tracks contain the moods of reflection, melancholy, anger, questions unanswered and a hopeless plea to a past lover, so if you want an honest and bare musical journey you have come to the right place. The tragedy of his untimely departure does emphasize the haunting nature of this album, possibly something that is unavoidable now (I will leave you to decide if that is a good thing or not), but thankfully the numerous posthumous releases of demos and live performances (some of which I am sure he wouldn't want to be released into the public domain) have not tarnished what will always remain Jeff Buckley's one and only studio album completed during his lifetime.

The pivotal point of this album is the cover version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. The first time I heard this I was traveling in the car, and had to pull to over to listen until it had finished I was so moved by it. Even the heavy use of this track in various US dramas has not diminished the beauty of this song. Not all of us need associated slow mo TV images to feel moved. Listen to the song and find what it means to you. I have not met anybody yet who has not been touched by the performance of this song.

Anything less than five stars for this fantastic quality body of music is an injustice. Some oddly resent the legend that Jeff Buckley has become, but music fans will not care. This album is a desert island disc, a life time top ten album list resident. Over a decade since its original release, Grace remains a reference album in my collection and I cannot see that changing any time soon. If you have yet to purchase Grace do so now, give it a few listens, and then wonder why you hadn't bought it before.

Timeless Grace and Beauty
If it has not already done so, history will surely assign Jeff Buckley's `Grace' with the status of being one of the most remarkable debut albums of all time. Seizing the opportunity to show off his talents under his own name, and also no doubt keen to emerge from the shadow of his famous father, Buckley delivers an album of amazing range and variety.

Full-on rockers like `Eternal Life' sit alongside more delicately performed pop-oriented tracks such as `Lilac Wine', `Grace' and the truly beautiful and moving `Last Goodbye', the lyrics for which gain added poignancy with the knowledge of Buckley's tragically early death.

Astonishingly diverse cover versions such as Benjamin Britten's `Corpus Christi Carol' and Leonard Cohen's `Hallelujah' are performed with precocious confidence but Buckley also shows that his own material is the equal of any other.

What gives Jeff Buckley the ability to cover such ground, of course, is his voice which leaves the humble listener struggling for superlatives. His vocal range and depth of passion and emotion is truly extraordinary. I must have heard his version of `Hallelujah' a hundred times but it still gives me shivers down the spine. He sounds like a rock god one minute and a choirboy the next - incredible.

This album is consistently melodic, passionate and enjoyable. The music world was robbed of a great talent when Buckley drowned in the Mississippi. If you do not already own this album buy it now- you will not be disappointed.