The voice of an angel, a love for the classics, and an abilty to rock out and chill your soul. Jeff Buckley only completed one album and yet leaves a legacy and reputation that most artists would kill for. Or die for.

Grace is that album.

Its a mixture of hard rocking numbers and songs which seem to have fallen from heaven. Its a mixture of originals and covers. Yet with those covers, he left behind what will probably be remembered as the definitive versions. Think 'Lilac wine' and Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujiah'.

The album opens with a classic slow burner. Buckley wails over a series of ambient sound effects before starting to sing in a rich husky bedroom voice, 'I'm lying in my bed...'. A great start to the album. It alternately goes from incredibly quiet to almost hysterical as Jeff is caught in the throes of emotion. Another past love affair.

'Grace' has some gorgeous guitar playing which reminds me of teh Doobie Brothers. But the Doobies never had such a singer. Strings soar in the background along with the vocal. At times he sings in a way that is paranoid or claustorphobic.

'Last Goodybye's is my favourite song on the album, even surpassing the mighty Hallelujah. Its the pppiest song here, and provides a fine tapestry for Jeff to display his vocal range. As well as having a really funky rhythm section. Did I mention sweeping strings? Well they're here too. I love the sentiment expressed in the song and song titile too.

'Lilac wine' is another cover. The other fanous version I know is by Nina Simone. While Nina is always great to listen to I far prefer this version of the song. The voice of Jeff really is always a stunning pleasure to listen to. And he absolutely pours feeling into this song. Timing and arrangement are simply gorgeous.

the last song on side one, 'So Real' is real slow and minimal. Its disturbing and dark, a lament. Its also experimentative and disjointed in places. Its good but probably a song I would skip rather than listen to.

Side two starts off with the mighty 'Hallelujah'. There is a legendary version by Leonard Cohen(he wrote the thing) that lasts for 20 minutes. He of course deadpans it. Its a mighty mighty song and Jeff simply brings it to new, literally, soaring levels. The backing is most minimal and the power of the song and its beauty are achieved by the voice alone. Stunning!

'Lover, you should have come over' starts off using an organ. It sounds like we're in a church before a closely miked acoustic guitar kicks in. This is a relatively restrained song on the album. Its got a bluesy feel to it. On another artist's album this would probably be the standout cut. Here its less than average.

'Corpus Christi Carol' is an unusual choice for what is oostensibly a rock album. It is a carol and seems unchanged from the original. A favourite song perhaps, sung here in a falsetto. this could be sung by a castrato or mezzo soprano. Again a single guitar provdes backing, letting the vocal perform.

After the post midnight near silence of the carol, we are suddenly assaulted by a wall of hard rock guitars and percussion on 'Eternal Life'. Strangely, when Buckley sings a song like this, he sounds like an average american rock singer. Almost Soundgardenish. Listening to this, you would think there wasn't much special about this guy.

'Dream Brother' sounds like a set out of 2001:Space Odyssey. We could be floating, or disembodied. Haunting guitars play heavily treated. Then Jeff does his best ghost impression, as his wails bounce around the walls. Perhaps we're in a motel, high up in the mountains in the middle of a winter. Its a good track, some great guitar playing, very strong atmosphere, loads of tension.

'Grace' is considered one of the best albums of the 90's. Brilliant playing, amazing voice and full of ideas. Not to mentione some of the best songs of the decade. As is alays expressed, its a pity that he did not stick around to show us what else he was capable of.

I have three editions of this album on vinyl, the original UK vinyl fom '94, the Simply Vinyl version and the latest edition remastered from the US in 2004.

None of them are perfect.

The Simply Vinyl is beautifully packaged and is, as always, pressed on perfect 180grm vinyl. However the sound is cluttered and a bit messy. Seems to be a problem on the high end too.

The recent Columbia pressing comes with a 7" with two extra songs, a nice bonus. Its pressed as a jukebox 7" on blue vinyl. 'Forget her' sounds like a cross betwen 'Lover' and 'dream Brother'. 'Strawberry street' is far rockier and not particularly to my liking. The sound of the main record is a disappointment to me, particularly as the cover proudly proclaims that it has been remastered from the original tapes. Throughout the album it sounds extremely subdued and strangely fails to make an impact or draw me into the album.

The original UK pressing I have, to my ears, sounds by far the best. It manages to sound more punch, detailed and natural all at once. I would be interested to hear other people's opionions. However this edition has aged quite badly. There is a lot of surface noise and a few light scratches. It may be partly my fault(God forbid!!) but I have noticed this on other Columbia albums. I don't know what could make their vinyl react like this.

If you could find a mint copy of the original vinyl that would probably be the way to go. Otherwise, I think the CD or the SImply Vinyl would be the way to go. Maybe some day we will see a proper audiophile issue of this on record.

Ratings will refer to original UK pressing.