Sketches For My Sweetheart the Drunk

Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk) I purchased the 2 disc edition of Sketches. The first disc: Sky is a Landfill,Everybody Here Wants You, Opened Once, Nightmare by the Sea, New Year's Prayer, You & I, is easy and makes for very enjoyable listening. These recordings were done with Tom Verlaine as producer. Listening to the first disc, naturally causes one to speculate on which direction Jeff was musically growing in his astonishing professional development. Most of the songs strike me as less musical, not as instrumentally active, as those in Grace. Some have noted that his vocals are less elastic than in his previous album. However, one must always remember that what is found in Sketches are unfinished, rejected products. Jeff was dissatisfied with the Verlaine recordings, and did not want these songs released. He decided to start over with Andy Wallace as producer, but alas, that was not to be. Because Jeff rejected these songs, no judgement can legitimately be drawn, based on what one hears, as to whether Jeff was musically moving to a more "metallic", less vocal genre or not. We will never know just what Jeff disliked about the Verlaine recordings and what he eventually would have created in their place. The lyrics of Buckley's music have always impressed me as at first difficult to understand, and therefore, slow to evoke emotion. However, with repeated listening, they become easier to decipher and take hold in one's heart and soul. So it is with these lyrics. The second disc featuring, Haven't You Heard, I know We Could be so Happy, Murder Suicide Meteor, etc., is very difficult to listen to, and should not have been published. The recordings are nothing more than raw, very raw, demos. For percussion effects, for example, Jeff would tap on the microphone. There is no backup instrumentation. Jeff would simply, and justifiably, have been mortified to have these rudimentary works released to the public. I have rated "Sketches" very highly, based on the first disc. Though, as I have indicated, I am ambivalent despite the more developed, polished state of this disc. It is natural for any listener, any fan of Jeff's, to inevitably draw inferences based on what one hears in Sketches, about what would have been, could have been, in Buckley's future, had he lived. Yet, hopefully the listener will remember that these songs, being rejected versions, do not really represent Jeff Buckley music. Moreover, Jeff was a perfectionist, and would have been opposed to any release of unfinished works. As for the second disc, I recommend that it be ignored: it is nothing less than an insult to Jeff Buckley's memory. In my humble opinion, his mother, the executor of Jeff Buckley's estate, has acted quite unwisely, and has done her son, my favorite musician, a great disservice in allowing release of this disc. Despite my stated reservations, however, I recommend the first disc. Jeff was a singular artist of enormous potential. The likes of him come all too infrequently. Therefore, enjoy whatever scraps he has left behind. As musician and Jeff Buckley fan, Duncan Sheik, has quipped, even his failures (in Jeff's own eyes), are my favorite songs. Love you, Jeff.

I'll be honest, I absolutely adore this album probably more than it deserves. It is, in my opinion, his best work. It's extremely experimental and some portions can be very tough to get through, but upon repeated listening, Sketches starts to reveal a look into the mind of this great artist, and you start to develop a sense of where he was at as his life drew to a close. Songs like Murder Suicide Meteor Slave have such raw power and emotion behind the confusing and upsetting sounds. I'll be honest, I was nervous ordering this album on vinyl. It seems to be printed in very limited quantities and the price fluctuates quite a lot. I've never seen it in a record store and many I've asked don't have it in their records. Putting it bluntly, it smells of bootleg. I bit the bullet anyway, and I have to say I'm very impressed. As far as I can tell, this doesn't appear to be a bootleg at all. Everything from the sleeve, lyric sheets, art, and the vinyl itself appears to be very high quality. In fact, this is one of the best sounding records I own. Despite having listened to some of these songs hundreds of times, my mind was suddenly opened to entirely new dimensions of their sound once I placed down the needle. It was as if this record had come to life like never before. Without a doubt I can say that anyone that is a fan of Jeff's work or of extremely experimental sounds would be doing themselves a disservice by keeping this record out of their vinyl collection.

Its hard to say what My Sweetheart the Drunk would have actually evolved into had Buckley not drowned and been able to re-record with Andy Wallace, the rough sessions he layed down with Tom Verlaine. But I'm sure they would have blown away all expectations. What we have here is an incredibly ambitious set of stripped down songs that would sound complete by most other band's standards but Buckley was not satisfied and wanted to follow up Grace with something that would truly solidify himself as a modern icon and legend. Sadly, all we are left with are the blueprints of what Buckley was calling his Sgt. Pepper. The vinyl and packaging are top quality. The Audio is superb and easily blows away the digital versions I have listened to over the years. Well worth the purchase if you are a fan of Buckley and this album.

It's a collection of unpolished gems. Definitely an interesting snapshot of an unfinished work.

Gran disco

This album was released to give an idea of what jeff wanted to express in his next album, but never got to pin down and clean up. The goal was to put down exactly what he had recorded at the time he left the physical world, ascending to the position he may not have wanted. He clearly didn't like people focusing on the past so much that they didn't look to what new things we could do, what new places we could find. He also didn't subscribe to the obsession over musicians as idols("this entire show is dedicated to cuervo tequila and people magazine, both of which lead to...delusion"-live in chicago). But his thoughts put down here, which sometimes gently woo our sentimental hearts, and other times stab through our cold apathy, left him in a position to be some sort of legend; the memory of jeff was subject to poking and prodding by those who have a fascination with the death of someone known by many. But he lives on in many people's minds as an inspiration to move forward, taking new roads, to embrace spontaneity and all emotions we feel. Studio recorded demos comprise the first disk. The second: mostly 4-track home recordings while alone in Memphis. The final song on the second disk is a celebration of the time (short or long) that we have among the people who we can choose to love, an idea that jeff expressed consistently through his recorded life.

This was pieced together after Jeff Buckley died and his mom didn’t like it but it is something for us fans to hold onto as his legacy was short lived so any material of his is something to hold dear

I love "Grace" and was considering buying this one, "Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk)". The reviews put me off on doing this. They made it sound like this was some kind of bad sounding 'demo' tapes or actual musical sketches. Listening to some versions out on the inter-webs reinforced this too. I should not have listened and bought it already. WOW!!!! This is an excellent collection. Yea, some cuts are kind of rough, and yea, Jeff himself may have not thought they were ready, but yea, they are fantastic, and a lot more ready then what you hear on radio today. Just the piece "Opened Once" is worth the price of the CD or MP3s. Then add the soulful "Everybody Here Wants You" or "Back in N.Y.C."; or "Nightmares By the Sea", one after another of Jeff Buckley's unique voice and sound. If you enjoyed "Grace" you will enjoy this. If you didn't 'get' "Grace", you will still enjoy this.

Looks and works great. Also came with a free sticker which was awesome.

アレンジを除いた純粋な楽曲の質で言えば「Grace」より優れていると思えるほど、可能性に満ちたアルバムです。 歴史に「If」はないと言いますが、それを考えてしまうアーティストでした。

Le delais de livraison me semble un peux long, mais surtout je n'aime pas attendre, c'été pour une cadeau et la personne a qui je l'ai offert a adorée.

Sketches is a 2 disc album, disc 1 is the actual album, and disc 2 is more like a bootleg with some very lo-fi and weird demo versions of unreleased songs. Disc One (the album) Just as it's predecessor (Grace), Sketches takes a little while to access, but is enormously rewarding once it 'clicks'. The Sky Is A Landfill is a good song, but a strange choice for the opening track, as it is potentially one of the most progressive and complicated songs on the disc. Sketches is certainly not Grace 2, it is filled with new sounds, much more electric guitar driven, more raucous and harsher, with semi-self-destructive imagery (Nightmares By The Sea, Witches' Rave, New Year's Prayer), and a few tracks of Jeff's trademark echoing beauty which do hark back to grace (Opened Once, Morning Theft). As a whole, the album is a stunning listen, which holds together as a cohesive whole. Every track stands out both on its own and as a chapter in the 'Sketches' story. In my opinion, this is a completed album, which would have been released one day whether Jeff wished it or not. The 'Sketches' story, is that Jeff completed his second album, which is the first disc, and then changed his mind and decided that he hated it, and wanted to scrap it. However, his producer and band were perfectly happy with it, and personally as a Jeff Buckley obsessive I have to come to the conclusion that this was Jeff's perfectionism speaking, through the filter of his bi-polar disorder (which he had recently been diagnosed with). I view this album as a completed masterpiece, despite Jeff's personal demons about the project. Listen and experience the album for yourself, and I hope you will come to agree that it truly is a work of art. I also reccomend reading on the background of the album, or watching one of the many documentaries. Disc 2 (The random stuff) Disc 2 is not a cohesive album, it is a selection of various tracks which Jeff had been working on with the band (tracks 1-3), personally (tracks 4-10) and one live recording (track 11). The band recordings only contain one new song (Haven't you heard) which was the strongest selection from the Sketches sessions. They are all enjoyable listens though. The 4-track demos (tracks 4-10) are the most avant-garde part of this disc (or to be honest of anything of Jeff's I have ever heard), and I personally don't listen to them often at all, they showcase Jeff as his most abrasive, aggressive and extreme. When the band flew to join Jeff in Memphis for the recording sessions, these were the songs they were going to be working on, so we can only imagine what these furious demo's would have come out sounding like with the full band working on them. I imagine they would be about as far from 'Grace' as you could get. However this section of the cd is not an easy listen, full of clanking dissonant noises, clicks, indistinguishable chords and often distorted vocals, although they are Jeff, they sound very unlike him, and are my least favourite thing he recorded. The last track, 'satisfied mind' is one last tip of the hat back to the Sin-e/Grace era, and is a beautiful acoustic Jeff+telecaster finish to the album. Enjoy :)

L'album incompleto di Jeff Buckley, a cui stava lavorando prima della sua prematura scomparsa. Si capisce che stava ancora cercando la propria identità, il proprio sound, sperimentando molto. Non all'altezza di Grace secondo me, però ci sono belle canzoni in ogni caso ed è un disco da avere assolutamente nella propria collezione per chi ama questo fantastico artista. Arrivato in perfette condizioni.