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Did anyone here have reservations about Jeff Buckley when he was alive?

FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
edited February 2008 in Other Music
Did anyone here think there was too much pouting, posturing and caterwauling? Did anyone here think the lyrics were below par? The going for the high notes all the time a bit gratuitous? The cover of Hallelujah a bit contrived?

I'm not stating my opinions on the subject, for or against. I might even be playing devil's advocate here. I just thought this might be an interesting topic for discussion.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Can You Say Octopus?Can You Say Octopus? Posts: 105
    No. He was a genius.

    Grace is one of my favorites of all time.

    Live at Sine (Legacy Edition) makes me wish i lived in NYC and coffee so i could have seen him perform in such an intimate venue.

    He is awesome!
    "Music is the glue that holds everything together. Without it, everything would fall apart." --Eddie (From the movie EMPIRE RECORDS)
  • BenzorBenzor Posts: 886
    ^^Exactly what he said
  • Matty BoyMatty Boy Posts: 421
    Death was the best career move he made.
  • PJGARDENPJGARDEN Posts: 1,484
    Can You Say Octopus? wrote:
    No. He was a genius.

    Grace is one of my favorites of all time.

    Live at Sine (Legacy Edition) makes me wish i lived in NYC and coffee so i could have seen him perform in such an intimate venue.

    He is awesome!

    What he said!!!

    From what I have read on this board about Buckley I don't think you will find many people here that don't like him.
  • jamie ukjamie uk Posts: 3,812
    I'll be honest, when Jeff was around I was busy with babies, so I didn't hear about him 'til after he was gone. I got that live album they put out......I don't like it at all :o sorry. I do though love his version of Hallelujah. His dad was better, someone on here recommended his work to me .
    I came, I saw, I concurred.....
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    i watched the Grace video way beack when MTV actually had a channel that played music and not some fucking crap about Scoot Biao needing a hysterectomy or whatever it is nowadays... and from then on i thought the guy was magnificent.. i like the vocal range stuff.. he can be lousy on guitar but his voice is ethereal
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    dunkman wrote:
    i watched the Grace video way beack when MTV actually had a channel that played music and not some fucking crap about Scoot Biao needing a hysterectomy or whatever it is nowadays... and from then on i thought the guy was magnificent.. i like the vocal range stuff.. he can be lousy on guitar but his voice is ethereal
    What are you on about?! Jeff was a very good, underrated guitarist. listen to his compositions. He used really unusual chord voicings and was a capable lead player too. Listen to the intro to his version of Strange Fruit on the Sin-E album. Lousy on guitar indeed :rolleye:

    Incredible singer obviously.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • PaukPauk Posts: 1,084
    The guy was technically very good, but his music did nothing for me. Thought he was over the top and all over the place really. Grace has so many key changes it's ridiculous. He didn't have the chance to release enough material to warrant genius status.
    Can't remember if I first heard him before or after his death to be perfectly honest.

    I can understand the love people have for him (being a massive Elliott Smith fan I can see where they're coming from), but for me it was all show and no depth.
    Paul
    '06 - London, Dublin, Reading
    '07 - Katowice, Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    '09 - London, Manchester, London
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  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    What are you on about?! Jeff was a very good, underrated guitarist. listen to his compositions. He used really unusual chord voicings and was a capable lead player too. Listen to the intro to his version of Strange Fruit on the Sin-E album. Lousy on guitar indeed :rolleye:

    Incredible singer obviously.

    I'm on about what i'm on about... i think his guitar work is sloppy.. imo.. i have live at Sin-E and some of his guitar noodling is cringeworthy... also
    i said he CAN be lousy on guitar...

    but he sings like an angel thats had 4 portion of Angel Delight and watched Angel on Sky One.

    its opinion baby... no need to do rollyfuckingeyes at me ya doss cunt ;):D
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    dunkman wrote:
    I'm on about what i'm on about... i think his guitar work is sloppy.. imo.. i have live at Sin-E and some of his guitar noodling is cringeworthy... also
    i said he CAN be lousy on guitar...

    but he sings like an angel thats had 4 portion of Angel Delight and watched Angel on Sky One.

    its opinion baby... no need to do rollyfuckingeyes at me ya doss cunt ;):D
    The noodling is part of the intimate atmosphere ye wee gobshite. It serves the same purpose as the monologues. It's the most relaxed live album I've ever heard. But anyway, we agree on the voice :)

    and I fucking love rollfuckingeyes and will do it whenever the fuck I want.
    :rolleyes:
    :)
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Restless SoulRestless Soul Posts: 805
    I didn't even know about him when he was alive or when he died. I think I discovered him only about three years ago when someone posted some links on livejournal including the one for hallelujah, which I thought was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard. Anyway I like the grace album, but I can't listen to live at the sine too much as the monologues and stuff is all a bit too much for me. He sounds like he really knows how good he is. The bit where he does Nusrat is both amazing but also unlistenable to me, only because of the accent! lol He sounds like he's just copying the sounds without knowing what he's singing about, which is a bit wierd.
    "We have to change the concept of patriotism to one of “matriotism” — love of humanity that transcends war. A matriarch would never send her own children off to wars that kill other people’s children." Cindy Sheehan
    ---
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  • BenzorBenzor Posts: 886
    Matty Boy wrote:
    Death was the best career move he made.

    what a fucker
  • searchlightsoulsearchlightsoul Posts: 583
    Given that Buckley was only responsible for writing 3 of the tracks on Grace by himself I can't understand why he continually is ranked as one of the greatest song writers of all time. Can some one explain that one to me?

    BTW here is the tracklisting/writers from wiki:

    "Mojo Pin" (Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas) – 5:42
    "Grace" (Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas) – 5:22
    "Last Goodbye" (Jeff Buckley) – 4:35 [1]
    "Lilac Wine" (James Shelton) – 4:32
    "So Real" (Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe) – 4:43
    "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) – 6:53
    "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Jeff Buckley) – 6:43
    "Corpus Christi Carol" (Benjamin Britten) – 2:56
    "Eternal Life" (Jeff Buckley) – 4:52
    "Dream Brother" (Jeff Buckley, Mick Grondahl, Matt Johnson) – 5:26
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    searchlightsoul wrote:
    Given that Buckley was only responsible for writing 3 of the tracks on Grace by himself I can't understand why he continually is ranked as one of the greatest song writers of all time. Can some one explain that one to me?

    BTW here is the tracklisting/writers from wiki:

    "Mojo Pin" (Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas) – 5:42
    "Grace" (Jeff Buckley, Gary Lucas) – 5:22
    "Last Goodbye" (Jeff Buckley) – 4:35 [1]
    "Lilac Wine" (James Shelton) – 4:32
    "So Real" (Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe) – 4:43
    "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen) – 6:53
    "Lover, You Should've Come Over" (Jeff Buckley) – 6:43
    "Corpus Christi Carol" (Benjamin Britten) – 2:56
    "Eternal Life" (Jeff Buckley) – 4:52
    "Dream Brother" (Jeff Buckley, Mick Grondahl, Matt Johnson) – 5:26
    Don't know how you counted 3 from that. I make it 7.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Cropduster84Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    Don't know how you counted 3 from that. I make it 7.


    I think he meant Buckley only wrote 3 of them all by himself.



    I like Buckley, I think Grace is a solid album, but his music never really moved me in a major way, but I d think he was very talented.....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    Cropduster84 wrote:
    I think he meant Buckley only wrote 3 of them all by himself.



    I like Buckley, I think Grace is a solid album, but his music never really moved me in a major way, but I d think he was very talented.....
    I know he meant that but I am unsure as to why that brings his songwriting ability into dispute :) Plenty of people write with their band members.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • Cropduster84Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    I know he meant that but I am unsure as to why that brings his songwriting ability into dispute :) Plenty of people write with their band members.

    Yeah true.... I think because he's always championed as a great solo artist that maybe thats what was being brought into dispute.....


    It's strange I've always been quite indifferent too Buckley......

    I DO think he had an amazing voice, but I could truly relate to his music like i can so many others, never figured out why......
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • DanimalDanimal Posts: 2,000
    I saw him live. He was ok.
    "I don't believe in PJ fans but I believe there is something, not too sure what." - Thoughts_Arrive


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