Jeff Buckley - Live at L'Olympia

Exclusive French pressing of this Import only live album features the same tracks as the less expensive Australian pressing but the French with exclusive French liner notes and lyrics in French. A nice piece for the legions of Buckley collectors out there. The CD features 11 tracks all recorded Live at the La Olympia Theater in France. Includes covers of Led Zeppelin, MC-5 & Leonard Cohen. Tracks, 'Lover, You Should've Come Over', 'Dream Brother', 'Eternal Life', 'Kick Out The Jams', 'Lilac Wine', 'Grace', 'That's All I Ask', 'Kasmir', 'Je N'en Cnnais Pas La Fin', 'Hallelujah' & 'What Will You Say (Duet With Alim Qasimov)'. Gatefold digipak. 2001 release. Album Description

A Match Made At High Altitude

It may be coincidental that my favourite Jeff Buckley songs were written by others...'Lilac Wine' and 'Hallelujah'. But in the usual banter we have when comparing him to his father, it's Tim trumping the prodigal with his lyric skills, which is by no means an attempt to diminish Jeff's gifts. 'Grace' is unquestionably a more listenable, intimate and coherent album than any of his fathers'. And if you wanted added proof of his virtuosity then this concert, held in July 1995,is a fabulous testament. The warmth of his voice is astonishing. But my prompt to get the album is the incomparable, final track, with my idol, Alim Qasimov, not from the concert at L'Olympia. It's tacked on, fairly seamlessly, from a concert of Sacred Music, held two weeks later, in the small village of Saint Florent Le Vieil in Western France. The latter had heard Jeff and invited him to the event. When he heard Qasimov rehearsing he was so overawed by the master's supreme purity, Buckley endured a period of great doubt before agreeing to join Qasimov for this duet. What a find! Or a find that these two matchless souls could unify, if only briefly.'What Will You Say' is the evidence. A treasure to pursue! June 23, 2008

Buckley's greatest live performances miraculously saved from oblivion

Fans have rightly complained about too many posthumous Jeff Buckley releases, but this import-only live album is something special. Buckley considered his Summer 1995 performances at the Paris venue L'Olympia, once the haunt of his idol Edith Piaf, to be among the best of his career. Incredibly, Buckley had a cassette tape of the performance which, except for a little hiss and some slightly unideal miking, sounds quite fine.

The first Buckley live release, MYSTERY WHITE BOY, was a mishmash of American concert dates. Though they show Buckley still in fine vocal form--by the L'Olympia dates his voice had been weakened from excessive smoking--the selections for that album are tame and unexciting. On the L'Olympia recordings, however, he really lets loose. The album starts with an extended version of "Lover, You Should Have Come Over" that improves over even that on GRACE. The electric version of "Dream Brother" complements the album version well, and some added lyrics make its allusion to Jeff's father Tim Buckley all the more poignant. "Eternal Life" is played savagely, easily moving into a cover of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams". And the wild performance of "Grace" here lacks the control of the album, but goodness, he's doing such vocal acrobatics live!

There's also a great rapport between singer and crowd here. A brief break has Buckley playing Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as if it were a 33 RPM record played at 45. In "Hallelujah", he makes a slight change in the lyrics to "I used to live with Leonard before I knew you." And, as insensitive as it might occasionally seem, Buckley taunts the crowd with mentions of Piaf and the little French he knows. And very touching is the way this crowd adored the singer. Buckley found instant fame abroad while he remained an underground figure in the US. At one moment Buckley has to interrupt his sound to say as if overwhelmed, "You people, you crazy people".

I suppose this album was import-only because MYSTERY WHITE BOY was selling sluggishly in the US and the label thought there was insufficient market for Buckley there. Nonetheless, if you are a fan of the singer, you absolutely must seek this out. September 12, 2007

Good buy

I'd like to comment on the heck of a job the audio people did in creating this CD. They pulled the songs off of some old tapes and yet the quality is pretty good. It's awesome to hear Jeff really 'get into' the music on these songs. This CD is quite unique I'd say. Sounds like he really owned Kick Out the Jams on this version. July 31, 2006

To short, but incredible none the less. . .

I'm Still waiting for "vancouver" and a few other songs of his to be published on cd, but until the time comes when all of Jeff's material is released, this cd in wonderful. "That's All Ill ask" is a good unrealesed song, and the versions of "dream brother" and "Eternal Life" are great. I'm dissipointed there isent a good quality live version of "Last Goodbye". The one of "Mystery White Boy" is the only bad quality recording on the entire cd. January 25, 2003

Amazing!

Jeff Buckley's "Live A L'Olympia" is a work of art! You can just feel the happy atmosphere in the concert, and it's like you're actually there. Jeff's Zeppelin parody is hilarious, and every song will have you either laughing or crying!
I have total respect for Mary Guibert, and for even allowing us to have this capsule of time of Jeff is too nice of her. "Live A L'Olympia" is one of my all-time favourite CD's, and you will love it too!! February 3, 2002

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