What Are You Listening To?

[cremetangerine82]

Grace is an album that seems both pop culture ubiquitous (Katy Perry mentioned she lost her virginity to it at 16) and obscure (again, outside of "Hallelujah"). The estate gets a lot of criticism of flooding the market, but I'd loved to have a full version of Jeff's solo performance at the 1994 Sony New Music Seminar in Scotland (he was followed by Oasis!). When did you discover the album?

[Marie De Salle]

Jul 17, 2024 17:53:16 GMT -4 cremetangerine82 said:

Grace is an album that seems both pop culture ubiquitous (Katy Perry mentioned she lost her virginity to it at 16) and obscure (again, outside of "Hallelujah"). The estate gets a lot of criticism of flooding the market, but I'd loved to have a full version of Jeff's solo performance at the 1994 Sony New Music Seminar in Scotland (he was followed by Oasis!). When did you discover the album?

It was around 1998! My best friend and I befriended some indie rock boys that introduced us to Jeff Buckley along with Elliott Smith and I will forever be grateful to them for that!

[cremetangerine82]

I first noticed Jeff Buckley through my mom's Entertainment Weekly, in which they gave this album a “A+” rating in the late August 1994 issue. That struck me as highly unusual, but I didn’t buy the album right away, even after the album was on the “Best of 1994” list.
Then I heard “Last Goodbye” on alternative radio, and fell in love with Jeff’s voice. I taped on VHS the music video for “Last Goodbye” around the summer of 1995, and I was happy he was getting major airplay on MTV.
Then I didn’t hear much from him, and this media attention (along with catching him hosting “120 Minutes” on MTV) felt fleeting in the United States. Then, in May 1997, TIME magazine had a small article that he was missing and presumed to be drowned. Unfortunately, he did not resurface alive, and I was devastated. I still hadn’t purchased the album, and his tragic death kept me from listening to it, still trying to process my grief. Finally, I asked my mom to purchase this album for Christmas 1999. “Is this a Christian album?” she asked me when she looked at the title and some of the song titles. “Not really”, I replied, but honestly, after listening to it a few times in a row, it felt like a religious experience. His voice was so emotionally intense and seductive, it was like what a male siren would sound like to me, deeply otherworldly.
Throughout the years, I’ve introduced some to this album, with most not emotionally connecting to it right away. “I know, it took me a while to get into this album”, I would tell then, but I don’t think they ever gave it a second listen. Music’s highly subjective, so maybe not everyone will love it, I rationalized, but the reactions were either “meh” or “WTF is this?!?” Jeff’s memory and music became like a patchy rumor that some only heard bits of information about, sometimes filled with misinformation and unfair assumptions based on romanticizing his death.

[Marie De Salle]

His voice was so emotionally intense and seductive, it was like what a male siren would sound like to me, deeply overworldly.

YES! Perfect description of his voice! And I should amend what I said earlier: I too first heard "Last Goodbye" in 1994 and remember being shocked at his death but it wasn't until college that I finally consumed the entire Grace album and it was seriously awe inspiring.

[cremetangerine82]

Thanks, Marie De Salle, but I just realized I meant to say "otherworldly". I know he often get compared to an angel (hard to compare THAT voice to something human!), but his timbre had a sense of danger that's not 100% benevolent. I hope I'm casting no asperations on Jeff, but I couldn't help imagine those who heard his voice would lose their reason and need to be tied to a mast with wax in their ears! Question: are you familiar with his father, Tim?

[Marie De Salle]

Oh I didn't even catch the word choice, I knew you meant otherworldly . And no, I think I hear a song by Tim years ago but I haven't really done a deep dive into his work. I know it certainly didn't grab me the way Jeff did. But now that you've mentioned it, maybe I should give it another listen!

[cremetangerine82]

I'm OK on Tim Buckley; there's more music so there's more to explore. I find my similar criticism of Jeff (sometimes less is more when it comes to vocal performances) also applies to Tim. As much as I love 1960s and 1970s music, some of his material feels like the embodiment of the worst qualities of the zeitgeist (indulgent improvisation and hippy-dippy lyrics chief among them).

If you're on YouTube a lot, the user MojoPin1983 is uploading newly discovered media like this 1994 in-store appearance at the HMV Superstore in Toronto.