Mystery White Boy (Expanded Edition) [Live]

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.