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 My thoughts on "Sketches" Sep 11, 2009
Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)I purchased the 2 disc edition of Sketches. The first disc: Sky is a Landfill,Everybody Here Wants You, Opened Once, Nightmare by the Sea, New Year's Prayer, You & I, is easy and makes for very enjoyable listening. These recordings were done with Tom Verlaine as producer. Listening to the first disc, naturally causes one to speculate on which direction Jeff was musically growing in his astonishing professional development. Most of the songs strike me as less musical, not as instrumentally active, as those in Grace. Some have noted that his vocals are less elastic than in his previous album. However, one must always remember that what is found in Sketches are unfinished, rejected products. Jeff was dissatisfied with the Verlaine recordings, and did not want these songs released. He decided to start over with Andy Wallace as producer, but alas, that was not to be. Because Jeff rejected these songs, no judgement can legitimately be drawn, based on what one hears, as to whether Jeff was musically moving to a more "metallic", less vocal genre or not. We will never know just what Jeff disliked about the Verlaine recordings and what he eventually would have created in their place.
The lyrics of Buckley's music have always impressed me as at first difficult to understand, and therefore, slow to evoke emotion. However, with repeated listening, they become easier to decipher and take hold in one's heart and soul. So it is with these lyrics.
The second disc featuring, Haven't You Heard, I know We Could be so Happy, Murder Suicide Meteor, etc., is very difficult to listen to, and should not have been published. The recordings are nothing more than raw, very raw, demos. For percussion effects, for example, Jeff would tap on the microphone. There is no backup instrumentation. Jeff would simply, and justifiably, have been mortified to have these rudimentary works released to the public.
I have rated "Sketches" very highly, based on the first disc. Though, as I have indicated, I am ambivalent despite the more developed, polished state of this disc. It is natural for any listener, any fan of Jeff's, to inevitably draw inferences based on what one hears in Sketches, about what would have been, could have been, in Buckley's future, had he lived. Yet, hopefully the listener will remember that these songs, being rejected versions, do not really represent Jeff Buckley music. Moreover, Jeff was a perfectionist, and would have been opposed to any release of unfinished works. As for the second disc, I recommend that it be ignored: it is nothing less than an insult to Jeff Buckley's memory. In my humble opinion, his mother, the executor of Jeff Buckley's estate, has acted quite unwisely, and has done her son, my favorite musician, a great disservice in allowing release of this disc.
Despite my stated reservations, however, I recommend the first disc. Jeff was a singular artist of enormous potential. The likes of him come all too infrequently. Therefore, enjoy whatever scraps he has left behind. As musician and Jeff Buckley fan, Duncan Sheik, has quipped, even his failures (in Jeff's own eyes), are my favorite songs.
Love you, Jeff.
Heartbreakingly Divine & Beautiful Sep 02, 2008
CD One is LOVE, LOVE, LOVE - I LOVE IT... Even to a Non Jeff Buckley Fan. CD One is VERY Polished (Yes, I am aware the CD is not polished to Jeff's or his band's standards due to Jeff's death) - BUT Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk will not disappoint!! Jeff Buckley's songs are always so original and never sound the same (so often found in today's indie and alternative bands). The music is Timeless WITHOUT that "classic rock" feel (I like classic rock - but sometimes sicken from radio overplay). If you have a good ear for music you will quickly realize that Jeff Buckley was a multi-talented genius with endless musical possibilities just from listening to the CD the 1st time. If you are poetically inclined, a lyric lover, or a deeper meaning seeker - this CD will submerge you in a state of perpetual bliss... The lyrics to these songs kick butt beyond the surface of everything that ever was.
CD 2 is a bit unpolished as these were "RAW" songs - some produced by Buckley alone via Home Four Track Recordings - and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE 2ND CD AS MUCH AS THE 1ST, but this may not be so to a Jeff Buckley Newbie - no offense...As a Buckley Fan (and I am the biggest that ever was and ever will be - I have listened to Sketches for my Sweetheart the Drunk EVERY DAY for the last 2 1/2 years) - I absolutely ADORE and LOVE the 2nd CD as it exposes and reveals Jeff in his natural, real, and raw music making process. The 2nd CD may be a turn off to a person who has not listened to his music for long. Jeff Buckley was a paradox to many people, and the 2nd CD can appear as a confusing paradox as well. I give Buckley's Mother, Mary Guibert, a round of applause for being bold in this decision.
Anyways - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CD - BUY IT AND LET IT GROW ON YOU... then after you have a good grip on CD 1... venture on to CD2. This music is heartbreakingly divine and beautiful -
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A Two Disc Masterpiece : It just might be better than "Grace"... Oct 17, 2007
I cannot believe the negative and unfortunate reviews here for this album. Do so many people really feel cheated by this CD, calling it a bunch of rough demos? That is just insane!
Heres the thing - this is a very superior collection of songs that in no way can be called demos. Just because they aren't of the highly polished variety such as the ones on 'Grace' in no way makes these recordings inferior.
Take for instance the second track - 'Everybody here wants you' - is there a single more touching torch song in the entire Jeff Buckley catalog? I don't think so. What a song. What a melody. What a voice! That song alone is the worth the $15 asking price for this CD.
Needless to say, I am a huge Jeff Buckley fan, and consider 'Grace' to be the greatest male album ever recorded. However, repeated listening to this double disc might make you wonder if THIS isn't Jeff's best. It is much more musically versatile when compared to 'Grace', and its also very diverse in his vocal stylings. Theres rock (very Led Zep), alternative (very cold play), soul (very Maxwell), love-pop (very Barbra Streisand), and blues (very Nina Simone). Tell me of another album that does all these genres this well.
People, this is a masterpiece and a necessary addition to your collection. Get it today. Don't let this one slip you by.
Five Stars - A timeless classic.
2 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 For Jeff Buckley worshippers only Aug 04, 2007
As the title states, these were sketches for an album which was never made due to Jeff's accidental drowning. These are VERY ROUGH sketches. According to those who knew him, these sketches were nowhere near the state Jeff would have wanted them to be recorded and published. Most are incredibly unmelodic, and Jeff's voice is quite harsh and unrefined on the majority. Despite loving Grace and Live at Sin-E, I found this music very difficult to listen to and with very little worth remembering. It actually tarnishes my image of Jeff.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Half polished, half sketches... Jul 31, 2006
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is so good, and, at the same time, so hard to listen to. Jeff Buckley had planned to go into the studio to record his sophomore album, My Sweetheart the Drunk, in June of 1997. He died in May. This album, a two-CD compilation of three studio sessions and a fourth unofficial recording session, was released posthumously.
The first disc, a mix of the studio sessions sounds like a real album. The second disc has a few polished songs, but is mostly a sampling of Buckley's rough four-track recordings. He sounds like he was playing with where to go next, and it's a tragedy that the album will never be fully realized. (That sense of unfinished business gives the CD its amended title.)
As the audiophile who introduced me to Buckley said, "It's no Grace." Well, no, it isn't. You shouldn't expect it to be, either. Not everyone is as fortunate as, say, Warren Zevon, who, after being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002, made an album before he died, knowing it would be his last.
Buckley wasn't finished. I suppose you could make the argument that no artist ever is. But, listening to this album, you can't help but wonder what might have been.
As his mother says in the liner notes, "If Jeff had lived and chosen to erase these sketches, it would have been a relative minor loss. He could have written hundreds of songs and made dozens of albums in their place. Unfortunately, God had something else in mind for my son, and for me."
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