Customer Reviews

Live at Sin-E: Legacy Edition (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This set is indecribably beautiful. This is what Jeff Buckley fans have been waiting for. As you know, Jeff performed at the Sin-e, a small coffee place in NYC in the early 90's, and some of it was recorded and released as the Live at Sin-e EP. This is an updated version with....a lot more stuff. The entire package is worth every penny - in fact, I'd pay a lot more for this stuff. You get 2 CD's, full of amazing music and hilarious monologues, and a DVD with an interview and videos of live performances at Sin-e.

The songs on the CDs are breathtaking, with great covers, some great blues guitar work on "Strange Fruit", epic versions of "Lover You Should've Come Over", "The Way Young Lovers Do", "Sweet Thing", and "Hallelujah", and hilarious in-between monologues (my favorites include his imitation of Miles Davis, and his "Musical Chairs" song). He even manages to do a good rendition of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's "Yeh Halka Halka Saroor Hai" (I highly recommend Nusrat's Intoxicated Spirit Album or his Greatest Hits). Almost all of these versions of the songs have never been released before, except for the few from the Live at Sin-e EP.

The DVD contains an interview, which unfortunately is the same as on the Jeff Buckley Live in Chicago DVD, so nothing new there. Also on the DVD are live videos of Jeff performing part of "The Way Young Lovers Do" and his cover of MC5's "Kick Out the Jams". He also reads aloud a beautiful poem he wrote hours before the show.

I cannot recommend this package highly enough.

NOTE: THIS CD PLAYS PERFECTLY IN COMPUTERS AND CAR CD PLAYERS. I have had no problems playing in my car, on my computer, and I easily made a digital copy to my hard drive without any problems. This CD is NOT copy-protected in any way.

a two disk set of buckley? but i can hear you saying: i feel like i have 'grace' three times already, do i really want five? isn't this just repeating his already limited catelogue?

well, yes, in a way, but primarily, it's a no. even where he does repeat music, this is buckley unlike you've ever heard him. this rare, vintage, the reason why there is 'grace'.

the back of the box reveals the many, many songs done by buckley that have not been collected before. they're covers for the most part, but as anyone who has heard a few of buckley's covers before, they'll realise that this is just as good as new music. (buckley's cover of leonard cohen's 'hallelujah' is absolutely brilliant.)

the album was recorded in 1993, before buckley began work on grace, so he doesn't have his band with him. it is essentially buckley in a small cafe with a guitar and his voice, and inbetween songs, he pauses to crack jokes, and to play a few tunes to songs people request. it's an intimate album, perfect for late nights, and professionally recorded--you can't hear the crowd talking over him, and there is no hiss or crack over the music. it's as perfect as one could hope for sound quality in an album like this.

live at sin-e, spread across two disks, contains twenty one songs, and thirteen monologues, and a third disk with live footage. as odd as it might sound, it feels like a new buckley album, a side of him that was stolen in the river he drowned in, and thought forever lost in the murky depths. it's a rare thing, and beautifully packaged, and almost makes you want to say that a giant corporation did a good thing.

When Jeff Buckley's debut album, "Grace", was released, listeners were amazed at the power and maturity of the music. Criticisms were often made about the rambling quality of some of the pieces, but it seemed as if Buckley had emerged fully formed from the head of his father. Of course, little could be further from the truth-- Buckley had a history long before "Grace" appeared, a pedigree in New York's downtown scene-- from jumping into John Zorn's Cobra performances (Buckley can be heard briefly on "Cobra: Live at the Knitting Factory", long out of print) to his work with Gary Lucas to unaccompanied performances-- just his voice and guitar. When Buckley was signed to Columbia, they made the odd and remarkably wise decision to capture him in his then-natural element-- at Sin-e on St. Mark's Place in the East Village. His two days of performance that were recorded were boiled down to about 25 minutes and released as the "Live at Sin-e" EP. This material has been expanded on this "Legacy Edition" to well over two hours of material.

The performance is-- you know, given it and Buckley's place in history, it's tempting to call it flawless, but it's really not. What it is though is utterly engaging and, for a then-totally unknown artist being recorded by his new record label, it's awfully brave. Buckley mixes originals and covers as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, traversing genres intuitivity and naturally. All in all, it's a lot of fun, fairly goofy (his Miles Davis impression is priceless) and at times, completely brilliant. And yeah, Buckley rambles now and again, and a couple of the pieces are a bit tedious-- but any time I think of it in this light, something comes on that's of such stunning beauty ("Twelfth of Never") or incredible power ("Strange Fruit", which threatens at Billie Holiday's original in terms of power of performance).

One thing it's not though is polished, and this is ok, because it's really quite exciting and engaging in its own way, but not being polished, it's not a good place to start for newcomers.

I'm guessing the recording was remastered for this release (truth to be told, I never got the original EP), because the sound is fantastic throughout. The bonus DVD isn't really a high selling point for me, all told it's about ten minutes long, with brief interview snippets (from the same session that produced the "Making of Grace" and the video press kit on "Live in Chicago". The live clips on here (a snippet of "The Way Young Lovers Do", a performance of "Kick Out the Jams", and the reading of a goofy poem by Buckley titled "New Year's Eve Prayer"). All of this is wrapped in a multi-panelled digipack in a plastic sleeve. The liner notes include essays from Mitchell Cohen (who saw Buckley a number of times at Sin-e and other clubs), Mary Guibert (Buckley's mother) and producer Steve Berkowitz.

Again, as nice a package as it is, it's not a good place for newcomers (start with "Grace"). For the converted, this is essential listening. Highy recommended.

LIVE AT SIN-E: LEGACY consists of two concerts played by Jeff Buckley shortly after being signed to Columbia at Sin-E, the Manhattan cafe where he first gained public attention. Four songs had been released before as the "Live At Sin-E" EP, but in celebration of the tenth anniversary we are presented with the full recording.

Buckley performs unaccompanied, a single man standing before a small crowd of cafe-goers. There are no barriers between the audience and the performer, and he even takes suggestions from spectators on what to play next. There are a large amount of cover versions, showing Buckley's vast knowledge of all kinds of music. In the second disc alone he covers Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Edith Piaf, and Leonard Cohen. But there are also early versions of his original songs that would take their final form on his only album GRACE. While the version of "Grace" here is, I feel, uninspiring, we hear solid versions of "Mojo Pin", "Lover, You Should Have Come Over", and "Eternal Life". The third disc is a DVD which consists of an interview and performances of three songs. The interview is the same as that from the Electronic Press Kit on the LIVE IN CHICAGO DVD, but there is more of it here. Unfortunately, the quality of the video on the performances is poor, as it appears to have been shot with a camcorder.

LIVE AT SIN-E is not something for the listener who merely liked a few songs of Grace. Instead, it is for the die-hard Buckley adorer who has also collected the various other posthumous releases. The Sin-E concert is of value not as a brilliant display of music in its own, but because it shows the genesis of Buckley's musical vision, and the monologues help explain turns that came in his career afterwards.

My only real complaint with the music of LIFE AT SIN-E is the sparseness of the sound. Buckley was an incredible artist, but his band was a key part of his sound. In this Sin-E we don't have Mick Grondahl's superb bass or Matt Johnson's drumming. As a result, the concert as a whole seems a little hollow and incomplete.

If you are a dedicated Buckley fan, and are interested in the work that led up to his major-label signing, LIVE AT SIN-E is an important document. If you're new to Jeff Buckley, this is a bit much for the moment, and I'd recommend GRACE or LIVE AT L'OLYMPIA to get started.

Having never heard Jeff Buckley before and not really knowing much about him other than his strange death and supposed musical genius, I felt an intuitive affinity to check him out and figured a live album would give me a chance to see his real side and experience the truth of the performance. As I write this I am listening in awe. I've always thought the true sign of a great musician and/or music is when it is performed alone with a single instrument- for me a guitar or piano. In this you have Jeff alone with his telecaster in a coffeshop in NYC essentially letting it all hang out. I save 5 stars for truly great music- I'll admit it, I'm a music snob. But in this you see the seeds of a budding star, still reaching deep to find IT (which he does). You can hear and hold a great potential, some say lost, but I say captured on this highly inventive live performance. Hear where Jack White and Rufus Wainwright found his vibe and where grunge could have NEVER gone. The music is sweet and dreamy at times but also full of funk and soul as well. We need Jeff now- hear the future of rock and roll, a voice now sadly gone 6 years. If you need something new, deep, fun, crazy, honest and sincere- click away.

Although I feel for the fellow who thought this was a protected CD, Live at Sin-E [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] isn't a protected disc. It is completely compliant with "Red Book" standards. It played in all devices I tried including my computer, portable CD player, iPod, and home DVD player.

As far as the content of Live at Sin-E, It is simply breathtaking. I, unfortunately, never got into Jeff Buckley when he was alive and this tender look at the man behind Grace, is enlightening. The more I listen to this album the more I appreciate what I'm hearing. The reproduction of the material is superb and feels like you're there with him. A truly awe inspiring album.

I could write something similar to this about any Jeff Buckley album, but instead of going through them all and repeating myself, I'll just say a lot here.

Jeff Buckley, for me, has always been one of those draw-a-line-in-the-sand artists. A sort of test, like; love Buckley (and we can be friends) or hate him (and you will be buried in the back garden with the others).

I first saw him when I was 15, at Glastonbury festival. At the time, all I can remember thinking was "wow, he can sing high". Since then, of course, JB has gone on to be one of the biggest and most sorely missed 'cult' artists of our time.

I was faintly worried about this whole 'Legacy Edition' thing, it seemed at first another way of wringing some more $$$ out of the tiny body of Buckley's work.

Do I really need another SLIGHTLY different version of Hallelujah? I asked myself.

The answer is, of course, yes, yes, yes, buy it, for God's sake. There are 21 tracks here, as well as between-song chatter (although these are called 'monologues' on the CD track listing- one 'monologue' entitled Good Night Bill goes like this-

JB- "Good night, Bill"
... and then the next song starts.)

However, most of them are often really funny- a sufi interpretation of Smells Like Teen Spirit, and a one man impression of Miles Davis'[...]Brew being particular highlights.

And, of course, THAT voice, THAT electric guitar, THOSE songs.
This is the man on his own, browsing through his own tunes and covers he loves, twisting, bending and whipping them into a frenzy. Strange Fruit as hard, stabbing blues. Just Like A Woman becomes a whispered lament over soft slide guitar. Calling You, from the film Baghdad Cafe, is as powerful and otherworldly as what has almost become his signature piece, Hallelujah (also featured here; a majestic, rage-against-the-dying-of-the-light version).

SO! The point is, there are SO FEW truly original, talented and affecting artists available in the mainstream... and Jeff Buckley is one of them. You owe it to yourself. You owe it to your children, and your children's children's children to have something like this in the house. Buy his album. Buy all his albums.

...Actually, I'm definitely not sure whether to get the Grace Legacy Edition. But thats more because I already own Forget Her- The Song Jeff Didn't Want You To Hear....

Having purchased this album several months ago, i decided to wait to write a review. i wanted to let the emotional impact of this album sink in after several listens. If 'Grace' was one of the best albums of the last 20 years, then 'Live at Sin-e' is the best live album of the past 20 years. These recordings transport the listener to a time when music was simpler. You can't help but feel as though you were one of the hundreds trying to cram into this lower east side cafe to catch a glimpse of arguably the greatest singer/songwriter of our time. Buckley's haunting voice captivates the listener and sucks you into his world of heartbreak, love, and fun. He was a realist and loved to just play music; nothing more, nothing less...just play music. those who were fortunate enough to see him live got to experience a true musical genius. this album offers us who did not the closest feeling to that experience.
There is one major negative to this album though, it is just a reminder that there will be no more heard from Jeff.

More than six years after his tragic death, Jeff Buckley can still charm and awe you. The expanded Live at Sin-E is breathtaking, showing Buckley at his most charismatic and displaying the power of a voice unparalleled in modern music. The tenderness with which he delivers songs like "If You Knew", "Twelfth of Never" and "If You See Her Say Hello" is transcendent, as is his obvious devotion to singer Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan in a rendition of "Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai." There are fun moments as well, including the double-CD's opening song "Be Your Husband," which Buckley accompanied only by a primal beat, or any of his monologues, which are interlaced with the music. All in all, the album more than adds to an already rich and growing legacy sadly left when Buckley entered the Wolf River on May 29, 1997.

Jeff Buckley had a rare voice, like his father's, a voice so delicate that flirted with perfection. This collection of live performances could not be more sparse or honest - just him and his guitar and some cafe clatter. Often times I've wished to see the artist before he or she became huge. In a small way this is a chance to at least hear Jeff Buckley before too many people cared, before he had to care (if he ever did). Of all his recordings (so painfully few) these put the talent and passion out for all to see - the result is astounding. It's selfish to think of all the music that died with him in that river - instead it's better to celebrate and hear him at his most naked, perhaps happiest time, performing songs that he obviously loved in ways that made us love them too.