Search - Jeff Buckley :: Live at Sin-E: Legacy Edition (Bonus Dvd)

The perfect venue for a near-perfect performance

Douglas Vanderweide | Maine, USA | 01/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"General Observations:



-- Sin-e is acoustically perfect. This is apparent from the opening number, an a capella performance. Seriously, the venue could not possibly have provided a better sound quality, which is amazing for a coffee shop.



-- There are unfortunate ground hums throughout the recording. The first becomes quite noticeable during "Grace", gets loud around "The Twelfth of Never" and lasts, at varying levels, throughout the first set. The second gets loud around "The Suckiest Water" and lasting through the second set.



No song is ruined by it, and it is mostly faint, but you will notice the ground hum on a high-end sound system.



-- If you dislike Jeff Buckley's tendency to wander off during a song, testing out unscripted, unexpected and sometimes un-listenable guitar or lyrics, you'll want to pass on this album.



He doesn't reinvent every song in this performance, but he does tinker quite a bit, especially during the second set and especially during longer songs.



For example, you won't recognize this album's "Hallelujah" as the studio version. I think it's far superior to the studio version, but you might not.



You'll recognize "Calling You," "Drown In My Own Tears" and "The Twelfth of Never" as fairly faithful renditions; you won't recognize "Just Like A Woman" as a Bob Dylan song; you'll barely recognize "Strange Fruit" as Billie Holiday's signature.



On the other hand, you'll love your introduction to Qawwali via Buckley's performance of "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai," but most believers in Sufi would probably consider the performance heresy.



Top Tracks:



-- "Sweet Thing" alone is worth the purchase price. Every fan knows Buckley's great gift is the ability to make a song his; it's especially true of this Van Morrison tune.



It has replaced "Forget Her" as my favorite Buckley tune, and for the same reason: A perfect mix of joy, sadness, and longing.



-- "Night Flight" was previously released on the EP version of this album, and it's no wonder. Passionate, aggressive.



-- "Calling You" is an incredible demonstration of Buckley's virtuosity; I would say the same of "Je N'En Connais Pas la Fin" but I believe that as angelic as Buckley's voice may be, that song should be sung by ladies only.



-- This recording concretely proves that "Mojo Pin" was meant to be played live and in the tone / tenor of the moment. It's a song that changes meaning depending on Buckley's mood, and his mood changes at least twice during this one take."

A tale of 2 CDs

Dr. G. B. Dennill | Azania | 08/31/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is obviously of historic import. However, one must not let retrospect cloud one's vision. The first CD is, quite frankly, horrible. The guitar is okay, but the singing abysmal. The voice is shrill, all in the throat, and with little or no resonance. If Jeff Buckley really was a fan of Nusrat, then his adoration comes through clearly here, as this is as off-putting as the worst kind of middle-eastern wailing can be. Disc 1 also includes early versions of his famous, later songs. These are also disappointing, sounding to me like little more than anthemic chord progressions. If one is new to Buckley and stopped after listening to this, you would abandon the quest forthwith, and wonder what all the fuss was about.



HOWEVER,...



for the patient and more forgiving, who will listen on through Disc 2, the reward is awesome (in the true sense of that word) and wondrous, and totally eclipses one's initial disappointment. Very little that is truly original has happened since about 1985. Mr Buckley, however, upends this view once and for all on this Disc 2. So what if he does almost exclusively covers; many of the greats did so too, especially during their early years, e.g. Jimi Hendrix, Fairport Convention & The Rolling Stones, whose early work included quite a number of versions.



On Disc 2, Buckley achieves something that is scriptural in its profundity, monumental in its stature, finer as the finest porcelain in its delicacy, something of rare, enigmatic and exquisite beauty that can move you to ecstasy or tears... This work has genuinely revived my confidence in mankind's creative spirit, which I truly thought had gone into hiding after its tremendous exertion during the 60s and 70s. Any music lover - not just the Buckley fan - will be sorely missing out if he or she does not have this album to listen to now and then for genuine inspiration. I'm sure glad that Mr Buckley's Grace has shone down on me!



Oh, and by the way, the 5 stars for CD2 plus the 1 star for CD1 yields and average of 3. However, the price is so reasonable that CD1 doesn't need come into the reckoning, so, Mr Buckley, you take 5 anyway."