Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
On the Way..., January 20, 2002
A prologue, to offer the novice Buckley-buyer some thoughts. Buckley the man and the artist was on the edge, his art a way out of his own skin, and he found peace in neither. In retrospect, destiny's path for an emotionally traumatized teenager possessed of great intelligence, a seeker's spirit and a voice the likes of which has probably seldom been heard on this earth, could not have been kind and led him toward balance and contentment, artistic or personal. The oft-derided last three albums of sex-obsessed R&B, full of celebration, still hid poetry, surprisingly good music and the pleas of a man feeling lost and looking for meaning, love and a home, amongst the funky-rhumba posturing, whisky swilling growls and a more seductive, soul-tinged croon. Sefronia, full of radio funk yet somehow still a good listen, has a title track whose melody and vocal interpretation stand with his best, and lyrics that, while derivative and cryptic, are evocative; Dolphins, over-produced to an enamel shine, still pulls at the heart and is sung powerfully and with a mature passion; this cover of the Fred Neil peace plea was part of Tim's early live set; the chorus of "Quicksand" is a gem set in tin. On his last, unfairly ridiculed album, Look at the Fool, after singing "I can't live without your loving me at night" like an imitation of Al Green, he sings passionately then gently, "I run into the sea, but the sea only sighs, look at the fool that love brings me". The hopeless poet of years before can't even stay away from an enjoyable funk album. You can hear the desperation. By 28 he was dead of an accidental overdose of a drug he had supposedly given up. Some friends reportedly predicted that he was self-destructing and fast, and the writing had been on the wall all along. Some say Tim was just having fun, knew exactly what he was doing and was working towards a new vision, with soundtracks, magnum projects and acting jobs in the works. His first album, full of beauty, was a producer and promoters clay, but showed the world a vocal, melodic and poetic talent perhaps unmatched to that day in popular music and still exquisite. On Goodbye and Hello, there is a hybrid, still an obvious product of the producer and the year (1967) - but with Buckley and poet Larry Beckett letting loose with vivid, literate and riveting, if often youthfully over-ripe, lyrics and the former's beautiful melodies expressing the reaction to war, poverty, and the falseness of values. There is the further revelation of the subtle, painterly and balanced guitar work of Buckley's right-hand man, Lee Underwood, who came to grow in range throughout the many works to which he contributed. There is the ever-present desperation for lost love and meaning that never left Buckley's work, even if hidden (Song to the Siren is an otherworldly, gorgeous poem to the call of love in the night, leading the hopeful to the death of hope - "now my foolish boat is leaning, broken, lovelorn, on your rocks...should I stand amid the breakers, or should I lie, with death my bride?" - was plunked right into the middle of the wildly experimental and unique "Starsailor", my only 6-star album). By now, the note perfect, sailing voice, spanning bottom-baritone to the highest counter-tenor, gives full expression to Buckley's experiments, letting his instrument try to express far more than words-and-melody, giving itself to the idea, feeling and an inner inspiration at the moment of creation for which there is no name or category. The knowledgeable Buckley fan will hear the pitch wander freely, the breath, endless, turn from dulcet to scream with no break. The album opens with bombs exploding and Tim's voice climbing into the sky as he straighfrowardly, almost weepingly, derides war - THE war - a protest song if there ever was one, but beautiful nonetheless. Anger never turns to noise. There is a touch of madrigal in Kight-Errant. Here, Tim tears through the heart as well as puts out some powerfully vivid lyrical imagery on "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain", one of my desert-island 10 songs; maybe 5, if they make me pick. His voice, reportedy on the 16th-or-so take of a 6-minute burning coal in which he sings almost without break, flies in the stratosphere, then out of orbit, once breaking into ascending but still-in-tune sobs. He experiments with harpsichords on "Carnival Song" sung in the upper-most register without falsetto (either about a carnival or about the freeing of senses and sensibilities, or both) and hallucinations on the eerie and delicate song of that title. (Remember - this is the age of Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds - the studio and unusual instruments are all over the place - as are drug references). The title track is a courageous, long and rich experiment in which two separate songs are sung side by side, coming together in a single declaratory statement at the end of each parallel verse. He actually pulls it off, defiantly declaring the death of hypocritical old fashioned values and the birth of a new, love-based world. Easy-listening it ain't, and sometimes the lecture just isn't the thing one wants to hear. Self-appointed Nietzsche, driven by love. This is not my favorite Buckley album. Sgt. Pepper (am I dissing a holy icon here, one I love?) and other breakthroughs of those years may mark the birth of a new pop and rock age. But, for all its forgiveable if sometimes annoying quirks, if there were one time capsule album to honestly and fully represent youthful 1967 to a future that really wants to know, THIS is it. Buy it, or there will forever be a hole in your personal time capsule.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A LIGHT FROM THE 60s THAT STILL SHINES BRIGHTLY..., January 24, 2004
There's no denying that some of the lyrics on this album apply specifically to the incredible era that was the 1960s - but have the values and beliefs they espoused so vibrantly faded into nonexistence? I don't think so. Emphasis shifts, forms of expression change - but the things about which Tim Buckley sang so eloquently on this recording are eternal: war and peace (both internal and external); love and loneliness; the strife that is born between generations. The 60s era was full of bands and songwriters wrestling with these subjects, striving to help us all deal with them - and more than a few who tagged along for the ride with the hope of making a buck out of the movements that arose around them. Buckley - and his (then-) lyricist Larry Beckett were, as artists, reaching desperately and honestly for something higher, not for any accolades that might come their way as a result, but to latch onto something they could use to pull themselves (and the rest of us) up to a higher level. Tim Buckley succeeded in this more than most of his contemporaries.The musicianship on the album is superb. Buckley has moved to a 12-string acoustic guitar, the instrument which was soon to become his main choice. Lee Underwood is along on lead guitar - and I can't say too much about Lee's contributions to Tim's music (and his life - he was one of Buckley's closest friends). Carter C. C. Collins makes his first recorded appearance on congas - another musician who would become a close friend to Buckley, as well as a frequent, welcome accompanist. Jim Fielder is along on bass on some of the tracks. Most of the rest of the musicians, while talented, are studio players brought into the recording by producer Jerry Yester - Elektra recognized Tim's potential, and wanted a fairly slick, commercial recording. It turned out pretty good from all angles - but it would be the last bow to commerciality that Buckley would make. The album begins with a song dealing with the horrors of war - it was, after all, the era of Vietnam - but in the case of `No man can find the war', the lyrics suggest that the real war is not in the jungle, but in the minds of men and women: `Is the war across the sea? Is the war behind the sky? Have you each and all gone blind? Is the war inside your mind?' It is only when we fight - or at least make an attempt to do so - the battles that rage within us that real peace will come. `Carnival song', the next track (written by Buckley alone) speaks to hypocrisy and truth, and does so more directly than many of the more popular tunes of the day that addressed this subject. `Pleasant Street' (also written by Buckley alone) is one of his finest tunes - `Hallucinations' is just that - the melody, lyrics and arrangement combine to produce a gently swirling maelstrom that draws the listener into the images spun by the singer. The next track, `I never asked to be your mountain', is in my opinion one of the best things Buckley ever wrote. In it, he addresses his first wife, speaking openly and poetically of the forces that pull two people together and drive them apart. His 12-string guitar thunders out the rhythm on this track, drawing the other musicians along with him into one of the most powerful pieces he ever recorded. At the end of the song, the listener aches to hear Tim cry out `...please come home...' over and over - this is piercing music straight from the heart, which is where all of Tim's songs originated. `Once I was' follows, a song that speaks gently of love and change - a beautiful song. `Phantasmagoria in two' (which Tim and Lee called `The fiddler'), is a deceptively progressive step in Tim's songwriting - giving free rein to the meaning at the heart of the song, Tim abandons completely attempting to force the words into rhyme. The effect is perfect - Tim's lyrics are so moving, combined with his amazing voice and the melody, that it almost goes unnoticed, form being overshadowed (as it should be) by substance. `Knight-errant' is next - a nod to the romantic attitudes of the era that uses the images of a knight and his lady nicely, if a bit naïvely. `Goodbye and hello' is Larry Becket's magnum opus - at least among the songs he co-wrote with Tim. It's quite a piece of poetry, with two stanzas existing side-by-side in several places (and sung that way by Tim) - the fact that Tim was able to take this challenge up and write the melody for it says a lot about his skills as well as his determination. This is a tune that, due to its complexity, was only performed live on a couple of occasions. It borders on being overwrought - but it stands nevertheless as a valuable document. `Morning glory' ends the set - this was covered more popularly by Blood Sweat and Tears - a gentle song that is deceptive in its depth, dealing with the romantic notion (held by the `character' who sings it) that simply by asking a hobo about his life, that life can be experienced by the questioner. The hobo makes his point by his refusal to tell his stories to the singer - and Beckett's lyrics make the point as well, that experience is the greatest teacher. This is an amazingly good album - a wonderful example of Tim's most `accessible' work - and one which will shine for many years to come. Once you've dipped into the rich well that is Tim Buckley's voice, allow yourself to become adventurous and move on into his jazz explorations (on HAPPY SAD and BLUE AFTERNOON), then on to his more experimental works (LORCA and STARSAILOR, which he considered to be his greatest achievement). It's a journey you won't regret.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Album from the Best 60's Folk Artist, February 10, 1999
By A Customer
I am a huge Buckley fan and "Goodbye..." is my favorite of his albums. It blends perfectly his variety of writing & vocal talents. It has dramatic songs (I Never Asked to Be your Mountain, Goodbye & Hello, Once I Was) that showcase his emotional lyric writing and vocal style. It also has pop songs (Phantasamagoria in Two, Pleasant Street, Morning Glory) that really make you wonder why he wasn't a huge commercial success. I have a large collection of music, over 500 CDs ranging from 60's folk to 90's alternative. This is the one CD I have listened to more than any other and in my opinion is one of the best ever made.
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by Tim Buckley 
