MOG

This album, on its surface, didn't strike me as anything overly remarkable when I first hear it. Grace's presentation seemed too flashy and ostentatious, with a singer so in love with his own voice that he has built an hour-long sonic altar to himself. It took a 7 1/2 hour flight from Dallas to Honolulu to give me the mental patience and pliability to give Buckley's debut album an in-depth listen. It became apparent that I had misled myself terribly. Jeff Buckley is an artist gifted with the rare kind of vocal range and expressiveness that can paint vivid images. He flows with such passion and power that one cannot help but to swept away. His backing band does him a great service by providing a interesting yet neutral enough area in which he can work. On "Lilac Wine," his band quietly paces along with him, complimenting the swells and drops in his voice. On the other side of the spectrum, "Eternal Life" bristles with swirling, grinding guitar riffs and a rhythm line that could almost walk off on its own, but all the while whittling out a tight groove that Buckley's voice can operate comfortably in. But other albums are just as comparably well-produced. What sets Grace upon its well-deserved pedestal are the moments when it moves into the epic. Grace, even at its weaker moments (and there VERY few, if any), it moves with the kind of bravado that most albums and bands would find themselves eventually crushed beneath. But Buckley makes it work in ways that almost no one else could dare to, and moves himself and his work into the realm of the ages. "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" charges harder and harder head-long into an unsuspecting audience, gaining enough emotional force to level even the hardest love-weary heart. And then there's "Hallelujah." This Leonard Cohen cover stands as more than just the crown jewel of the album; this track is arguably the crown jewel of 90s music. Many people (myself definitely included) are of the belief that music is one of the better ways for us to touch and experience the divine, with the best of the best of the best singers doing nothing less than channeling the voice of that most-high force that binds the universe together. This song stands as proof to me that this effect is as real as gravity or magnetism. Grace is a rather fitting memorial to a gifted artist just coming into his own before leaving us much too soon. There is no tiring of this album; every time I hear or appreciate something new about it. If you are reading these words and have anything less than a decent appreciation for Grace, shame on you. This is one for the ages.