For a talent that left us all too soon and gifted us only one album during his lifetime, a huge amount has been (deservedly) written and expounded upon the life and music of Jeff Buckley.

Whether it’s about the relationship he didn’t have with his estranged father – Jeff was eight yers old when Tim Buckley died – the power of his voice and music or his own tragic departure. There’s enough information out there that I don’t need to add to anything here. There’s even a new documentary “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” as interest in the musician – who has been gone for nearly 30 years – continues to grow as more discovery his legacy. So let’s tackle it a bit more from a personal level.

I bought Grace out of pure curiosity in after reading a review for Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk – the posthumous release of material that Jeff had been excitedly working on for his second album, to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk. This being ’98 there was no way to preview albums on Spotify first so it was a gamble, one that paid off massively as Grace remains one of my favourite albums. Having recently been absorbed again in the Live at Sin-e box, I thought it a good opportunity to throw down Five of my favourite songs from Mr Buckley’s catalogue but, rather than those I’ve already posted and would normally be played wherever good music graces airwaves and screens, I thought I’d take us a bit beyond the obvious….

Lover, You Should Have Come Over

With a vocal spanning two octaves in one song… ‘Lover..’ is a fantastic example of everything that make Buckley great. Perhaps I’m cheating a bit here on my first selection as a lyric from this song gave the new documentary its title but it still feels like one of the tracks on Grace that doesn’t get as much attention as, say, the title track, ‘Mojo Pin,’ ‘Last Goodbye’ or, of course, ‘Hallelujah.’

Forget Her

Initially left off Grace upon release. Later stapled on as a bonus track. Buckley didn’t want it on the album, used in promo ahead of time, included on a label-baiting sampler of earlier recordings and threatened to pull Grace if it happened as it was too personal. As such some copies – including my initial purchase – don’t feature this absolute gem.

Nightmares By The Sea

It’s clear from Sketches for.. that My Sweetheart the Drunk was to be a very different album for Jeff. The first disc of the album is made up of recordings Buckley made – and later rejected – with producer Tom Verlaine. That choice alone shows he was moving into an alternative direction as does the vibe of ‘Nightmares By The Sea’ and…

Everybody Here Wants You

… which continues with ‘Everybody Here Wants You’ which is a straight-up R&B number. Oddly, Buckley wasn’t a fan of it apparently. But that he could seemingly knock-out such a convincing slice of genre tourism at will is impressive… especially given how many Prince-inspired alt bands would tread a similar path in years to come. I still enjoy it though.

Morning Theft

Buckley was signed to Columbia Records. Grace had stirred a huge amount of attention and the label would have been throwing hit-making, radio-friendly names like Brendan O’Brien, Steve Lillywhite or Butch Vig and him as producers for his next album. It was Buckley who chose Television’s Verlaine. While the songs on Sketches… show a determined effort to strip-down some of the production of Grace and give an edgier take on his blend of sweeping, jazz-inspried alt-fock-rock. A perfectionist who also loved to be spontaneous, it’s odd that he decided to bin the material from the Verlaine sessions as, on songs like ‘Morning Theft’ they hit real gold and the resulting album could’ve been another ’90s masterpiece.