Jeff Buckley
Mystery White Boy
[Columbia]
Rating: 7.5
At this point, a live album seems like a perfunctory addition to the Official
Posthumous Legacy package, right between the unfinished album of demos and the
inevitable b-sides compilation. But it's also something of a necessity for Jeff
Buckley, who did a fairly exhaustive amount of touring in support of his one
modestly successful record. When Columbia signed him, before booking weeks'
worth of studio time or letting him put together a backing band, the first
thing they did was issue the Live at Sin-E EP as a showcase of his raw
talents.
Like any live performance, Mystery White Boy exemplifies both the
weaknesses and strengths of Buckley and his band. His voice is, naturally,
the greatest asset to the package, but in concert, he was more prone to
spiraling off into indulgent falsettos, and often struggled to match the
band's intensity. Elegantly dynamic songs like the opener, "Dream Brother,"
and "Mojo Pin" are given a slightly rougher touch for added climax. Sadly,
the latter fails to improve on the fragile perfection of its studio counterpart,
with otherwise immaculate drummer Matt Johnson rushing through the frantic
triplets of the crescendo.
"Grace" and "Last Goodbye," on the other hand, are honored with impassioned,
but far from unique, renditions that do them reasonable justice. On "Last
Goodbye," Buckley runs through his only hit with luxurious slide guitar that
puts more emphasis on the soaring string arrangements. Elsewhere, variation
proves fatal for "Eternal Life," whose temporarily intriguing death metal
version fails to enhance the already cringe-worthy bridge lyric.
Several previously unreleased Buckley compositions are presented here, if
purely to make the compilation more salable. These tracks often come off as
a bit ragged and underwritten alongside the complex material of Grace.
"I Woke Up in a Strange Place" is hard rocker that whimpers off, as if there
was a killer ending planned that never got written. But "What Will You Say"
succeeds by its simplicity with one of the most affecting melodies of
Buckley's brief career.
Jeff Buckley's always had a fluid repertoire of covers in addition to his
respectable originals, and that's represented perhaps too well on Mystery
White Boy. The last 20 minutes of the record are dedicated solely to
covers. The off-the-cuff Gershwin classic, "The Man That Got Away," is as
enjoyable as anything else here, but certainly didn't need to put in an
appearance. The majestic "Kanga Roo" is well worth the 10 minutes it requires
to rise into a fury, and Buckley gets extra points for taking on a Big Star
song other than "Thirteen," for once. Appropriately enough, the set ends with
Buckley's definitive reading of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," here labeled a
medley for the impromptu inclusion of a few lines from Smiths' "I Know It's
Over."
Such collections are never complete without one glaring omission. In the case
of Mystery White Boy, it's the surprising absence of "Lover, You Should
Have Come Over." Both the penultimate Buckley ballad and a surefire litmus test
for any potential fan, "Lover" begs a powerfully passionate performance, and
finds it only in the disc's counterpart home video, Live in Chicago. This
seems especially odd and undeserved given that several of the songs from
Grace included here have already appeared in live form on previous
singles and EPs.
But flaws are to be expected of live albums, even when severe missteps are
overlooked in editing and remastering. And despite a selection that leaves
something to be desired, Mystery White Boy is a vital document of not
only the late Buckley's talent, but of the chemistry and generosity he shared
with his bandmates.
-Al Shipley