Recorded over two nights in July 1995 in front of a captivated Parisian audience, Live a L'Olympia marked the highpoint of Buckley's brief, brilliant career. A year on from the release of the seminal Grace, this concert recording captures the sound of a gifted performer at his most exuberant. Drawing on his appreciation of atypical tunings and world, eastern and show music traditions, Buckley fashioned a rare style of song performance. His was a genuinely poetic, operatic rock- as much Cohen and Piaf as Robert Plant- that helped reintroduce lyrical poeticism into mainstream music and so inspire innumerable would-be songwriters to take up the guitar in the name of romantic angst.
Live a L'Olympia is fitting testament to his legacy. At times dark, at times light-hearted, the album is physically impressive and poignant. Buckley’s natural showmanship and mischievous crowd-play, woven through a set of both bleak, epic melancholia and joyous interpretations of MC5 and Nina Simone, make for fascinating listening. Tired though he was of his burgeoning fame, the ever-reticent and road-weary Buckley would still regard the Paris shows as 'dreamlike'.
Curiously, despite having sold 500,000 copies of his debut album, Buckley remained almost penniless. Unable to afford professional concert recording equipment, the Olympia shows were committed only to basic analog audio cassette. Finally released in 2001, the impaired sound quality does nothing to diminish the album's lasting appeal.
Jeff Buckley - Grace - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=siNsgbIWhAQ
Posted In Classic Albums, Nov 11 2008.
Words - Pete