Grace

Before I actually sat through this album, I was listening to "Hallelujah" quite a bit for a few days. I like the song, and was enjoying it more on each listen, but something felt missing. A few years ago, during a middle school chorus concert, one of my best friends performed a solo of the song. To this day, as someone who has always sought out good vocalists, I don't think I've ever heard such a moving performance. At least a dozen girls went up to him afterwards, telling him how it made them cry. So yeah, it was pretty good (my friend later got accepted into a national choir thing that accepts ~200 people from across the United States.). But I was a bit surprised that this Jeff Buckley fellow, who supposedly made one of the greatest albums ever and has a super hyped-up voice, didn't impress me as much as a random seventh grade performance. In fact, I was planning on telling that friend that he could teach Buckley and Cohen a thing or two this week.

And then I heard "Mojo Pin". And then "Grace". And then realized that maybe Buckley knows what the heck he's doing. He sounds absolutely amazing on every single one of these tracks, musing over love in such beautiful ways that, on a rough day, would probably devastate me.

Unfortunately, however, I don't really think that this is my genre. Yes, Buckley's vocals and the production are stellar, but my mind kept wandering as I listened to this project. Some of that is probably from the rockier moments on the record, but some of it probably comes from the emphasis on love as well. Buckley's lyrics go far and beyond any romance that gets sung about on modern pop tracks, but I still don't find it to be the most engaging topic.

Ultimately, I can see why this is considered one of the greatest albums ever made, and I agree with that sentiment. However, it doesn't really fit as one of my favorite albums. The highs are phenomenal and some of the richest sounding music I've ever heard, but the rest is just "really good" and not necessarily mind-blowing. But who knows, maybe this'll grow on me.

Favorite Tracks: Mojo Pin, Grace, Lilac Wine, Hallelujah, Corpus Christi Carol.