Aside from completely disastrous tribute albums and Now! compilations, I dare you to think of anything that constitutes an easier target for mockery and disgust than sub-par posthumous material. Yet, amidst the cries of shameless exploitation and legacy defilement, it's easy to lose track of the fact that more material is rarely, if ever, a bad thing-- especially from an artist whose lifetime output saw but one complete studio album.
The Grace EPs, the second archival release by the late Mr Buckley to hit shelves this year, is the kind of release most likely to draw criticism from all fans of all degrees. Collectors will no doubt be shitting themselves, as out-of-print and collectible Buckley EPs see re-release here in a repackaged form that not only drives down the aura surrounding the originals, but their value as well. Casual fans will surely be miffed at the fact that this box set, which bills itself as "over two hours of music," consists of various interpretations of only eleven songs, five of which appeared on Grace in alternate forms. And then there are the duplicates: "Mojo Pin", "Grace" and "Last Goodbye" are culled straight from the album (two are radio edits), which admittedly is sort of the idea with EPs-- but even the bonus material is duplicated once, with a live version of "Kanga-Roo" showing up twice in identical form.
So, the statistics aren't promising. And "Tongue", the only track here that has never seen release at all, is essentially a studio recording of an instrumental warm-up jam. But as is usually the case with such compilations, those who simply can't get enough of Buckley's tragically narrow repertoire will enjoy having it around.
The Grace EPs collects five foreign and/or promotional EPs that were released around the same time as Buckley's only finished studio album. These releases, several of which were never intended to be sold to the public, showcase Buckley's incredible talent as a live performer. In fact, the early Live at Sin-é EP is as good a point of reference for much of this material as the post-Grace live albums Mystery White Boy and Live à l'Olympia. In fact, the Live from the Bataclan EP, which is included here, has a very similar tracklist to the Sin-é EP, with Buckley taking on both "Je n'En Connais Pas le Fin" and Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do".
Buckley, of course, had quite a talent for cover songs, and that particular strength is well-represented here. His aforementioned rendition of Big Star's "Kanga-Roo" (the one that appears twice in unaltered form), was included as a live track on Mystery White Boy, but appears for the first time here as a studio outtake. The song shows Buckley tempering the desperate breakdown of the Big Star original with the melancholy of his silky voice, and the result is absolutely stunning. Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" appears in several live incarnations here, as well, and the despairing wisdom of Cohen's song brings out the most heartbreaking qualities of Buckley's vocals.
And, as is always the case, Buckley's voice is the star. Buckley effortlessly produces tones that are nothing short of divine, completely free of self-conscious showmanship. When he hits a high note, it doesn't sound forced; it sounds liberating. There's a sense of freedom and directness about Buckley's voice that's absolutely intoxicating-- if you listen long enough, you almost begin to feel as if he's singing through you.
In spite of its various shortcomings, this is where The Grace EPs succeeds. Immersion in Buckley's music is a powerful thing, and the live tracks and outtakes on The Grace EPs will be of immense value to those who are hell-bent on amassing every version of every song Buckley ever performed, and of lesser value to those who just can't get enough of his voice. Whatever your reason, be advised that you're going to be dropping $30 for material that was largely designed to hype the release of Grace. If you haven't fallen madly in love with the main course, it probably wouldn't be wise to bother with this admittedly overpriced repackaging.
