Jeff Buckley Grace Around the World(DVD/CD)

I myself find it a bit odd that I'm still mesmerized by an artist that only released one full record during his lifetime. I can point to several albums that I played over and over (and over) many times around the time of its release, then it's just something I go back to every once in a while. Grace is far different from those.

I can still remember how blown away I was the very first time I heard Jeff Buckley's voice. And no matter many versions of his songs I hear, I will always be interested in hearing anything that might be new to me. Other fans tell me about other demos and other recordings and certain bootleg live shows that I must hear. And I hope I do. But this collection of mostly television performances of nine of Grace's ten songs is quite stunning on its own. And being a fan of hearing music in a live setting when hearing any artist for the first time, it's a nice, interesting place for people not that familiar with Buckley to start with his music.

He may look uneasy on camera at times, but there's always Buckley's talent for almost reinventing each song each time he played it, as if it was the song's first airing ever. Some songs get multiple versions from different tapings and the DVD inserts some interview footage with Buckley between most of the songs. It gives you yet another look at where this band Buckley had assembled were capable of and makes you, once again, lament what could've been if the second record was ever completed.

This comes in two versions: one has the DVD with 17 tracks in total and a CD containing audio from 10 of the cuts from the DVD. Which has a nice, lower price tag for a combo release. For a little more money, it's worth it to get the deluxe version with the added DVD of Amazing Grace, an independently made hour-long documentary about Buckley's life, music and musical legacy. I could list off some of the remarkable things this film shows, but it might dull what you see. There are early performances and a good portion of background about his days playing at Sin-E, the New York venue where his debut 4 song EP was recorded. Some insight is provided by four of the musicians who played in Buckley's band and other artists that were inspired by him. After hearing about this film for so long, for it to not only be so interesting and compelling, but also that it was part of this package, for not a lot of cash, I am very happy with the job Buckley's estate and record company did with this release.

Here's the trailer for the bonus DVD documentary, Amazing Grace:



And if you click here, it will take you to an electronic press kit for the entire release.