Jeff Buckley - Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)

Perhaps the most talented "son act" in pop music, Jeff Buckley combined the often harrowing eclecticism of estranged papa Tim Buckley with the rock acrobatics of Robert Plant. This posthumously released collection of four-track demos and sessions helmed by Tom Verlaine indicates that Buckley's astonishing full-length debut, Grace, was no fluke. The young singer-songwriter puts his falsetto to good use on an extraordinary collection of original material, from the soulful "Everybody Here Wants You" to the psychedelic "Murder Suicide Meteor Slave." And while his bluesy take on Porter Wagoner's "Satisfied Mind" may not be as revelatory as his earlier version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," this album offers ample proof that Buckley was among his generation's most gifted voices. --Bill Forman Amazon.com

Heartbreakingly Divine & Beautiful

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 - September 2, 2008

A Two Disc Masterpiece : It just might be better than "Grace"...

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. October 17, 2007

For Jeff Buckley worshippers only

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. August 4, 2007

Half polished, half sketches...

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." July 31, 2006

Disc 2 is just AMAZING!

This CD is one of my favourite CD's of all time. You people saying that the disc 2 is not worth listening to, you haven't got it, have you..? When disc 2 really starts with "haven't you heard" (the first two songs are remixes from disc one), it takes you to a totally unique experience all the way to the last chord is played.

I feel dragged into a spiritual world in a way I've never been before when listening to this record. It's so raw and naked that it took me a long time to like it, but when I first did, it just got better and better for each time I listened to it, and it still does. Jeff Buckley is truly one of the most gifted and talented musicians of all times, if not THE most gifted. My favourites on the disc 2 are perhaps "we could be so happy baby (if we wanted to be)", "murder suicide meteor slave", "demon john", and "Jewel Box", but all of the songs, except "your flesh is so nice" perhaps, are just unbelievable.

I do not dare to think about what this could have become if he got to finish it.. Jeff Buckley has, with all of his music, added new aspects into my life, and I am forever grateful.

But it surely takes time to like the second disc, you will probably think it's just weird and far too raw if you don't give it a real try, but if you are a Buckley fan (which you all should be), listen to it until you like it, and trust me, you won't regret it. I can't get it out of my cd-player, not even to play Grace!!

By the way, the first disc also rocks!!("Vancouver" is just soo cool!!) January 12, 2006

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