Lorca

Tim Buckley

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1970
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Ada
• ASIN: B000005ISE
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,261 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not as difficult as reviews would have you believe., December 8, 2003

By	"keefrob" (Yonkers, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This album, while a departure from Happy/Sad and Goodbye And Hello, isn't as difficult as some people would have you believe (from reading 30-year-old reviews by people who just didn't get it and believing that those reviews are gospel without actually bothering to listen to the songs and figure them out first).

For instance -- the first two songs (the first side on the original vinyl) are *not* free-form. "Lorca" has verses, and is based on a descending pattern in 5/4 where the minor key and the locrian mode on the same root are played off of each other throughout the first eight minutes of the song, in a droning mode. Nifty pun there -- "Lorca" with the locrian mode. It's not hard to follow once you figure out where the actual verses are, and once you do, it seems a lot shorter than it is.

"Anonymous Proposition" actually has a proper chord progression, but it sounds like the gestures moving from chord to chord are scripted (much like so called "freedom jazz" or "fire music"), so that the chord changes are implied. The scripted gestures happen in the voice as well. It's not hard to hear it, and once you figure it out, you will find that this song actually has verses too.

The final three songs *do* continue in the "Happy/Sad" mode, with strummed chords, verses and choruses and hooks, so if you like that stuff, especially the wilder stuff like "Gypsy Woman" this might be up your alley.

All in all -- don't believe the morgue files that tell you this album is "weird", "difficult", etc. Remember that the people who originally wrote those reviews didn't know how to comprehend the musical language that Buckley was speaking on the first side, what with "Lorca"'s polytonality and "Anonymous Proposition"'s gesture based structure. In fact this record would be a fine way to demonstrate how "fire music" or "freedom jazz" works and open up an entire new musical world for you ... and any record that has that sort of power is worth checking out.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tim Buckley must, August 29, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Colorado) - See all my reviews

I was with Tim in the studio and at his home during the recording of this album. Please know that Tim was not I repeat, was not under the spell or influence of Heroin or whatever! A fine, inovative work by a talented, creative musician/writer. Also check out Starsailor.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tim Buckley - avant-garde contemporary song writing, September 22, 1998

By	Michel Laverdière [e-mail] (Montréal (Québec)) - See all my reviews

I remember the day I bought this album after listening thousands of time to the Happy/Sad and Blue Afternoon albums. It was a real cultural shock. The Lorca song with its contemporary approach and the exploration Tim Buckley was doing with his voice blew me away. For a young singer in his early twenties, one wouldn't expect such a mature understanding of song writing in avant-garde style as well as in romantic ballads like I Had A Talk With My Woman. Definitely worlds ahead of his time... a timeless musical statement.