Album

Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk

Jeff Buckley

Nouveautés: May 1998

Label: Columbia

Incomplete at the time of his death, Jeff Buckley's second LP mirrors his contradictions as an artist -- half tunes that were bolder and more glossily produced than anything from Grace (highlights: "Yard of Blonde Girls," "Everybody Here Wants You") and half 4-tracked scraps and demos ("New Year's Prayer," "I Know We Could Be So Happy Baby"). It's suspect whether the release is any homage to Buckley's meticulous nature as a recording artist (especially failed experiments like "Your Flesh Is So Nice"), making for a collection that is often chilling, occasionally brilliant and ultimately mixed.

Nate Cavalieri