Album Review: Jeff Buckley - You and I

If you were to make a list of things that were deemed necessary in 2016, what would be on it?

If you were to say a collection of demo recordings of Jeff Buckley singing cover songs, I would tell you to stop reading this review right now.

Arriving 19 years after his death, and probably 23 years (or more) after they were committed to tape, You and I is precisely just that—a collection of demo recordings of Jeff Buckley singing cover songs.

It is also a terrible cash grab on behalf of some suit at Columbia Records.

Cobbling together a diverse mix of songs, one thing You and I does is it shows Buckley’s wide range of influences—including Bob Dylan, The Smiths, Led Zepplin, and Sly and The Family Stone.

And sure, why not throw a very early recording of Buckley’s own “Grace” in for good measure, too.

Another thing You and I does is it, of course, shows of Buckley’s legendary and impressive vocal range—the guy could wail, even when he’s stuck singing somebody else’s songs—that’s evident on the soul he pours into the refrain of “Everyday People,” and on Jevetta Steele’s “Calling You,” as well as in the Morrissey-esq gusto he layers on in “The Boy With The Thorn in His Side,” one of two Smiths covers to appear in this ten song collection.

Stripped of all the studio trappings of his debut album Grace, You and I also, inadvertently, allows the listener to be clued into what a great guitar player Jeff Buckely was—something that is evident in the frenetic virtuosity he displays on “Grace” as well as in the choppy rhythms he creates on “Night Flight” and “Everyday People.”

One thing You and I does not do, however, is earn its place among Buckley’s esteemed, albeit short, canon.

With a release like this, arriving so many years after Buckley’s untimely passing in 1997, one has to wonder what, exactly, is the point of something like this? Who is the intended audience of You and I? Is it the Jeff Buckley completest? Are there such people? And if there are such people, is this the kind of thing that they want to hear in 2016?

Something like this could have been released a year or two after his death—that kind of thing is expected, really. But not nearly 20 years later. It’s the kind of move that makes little to no sense given the content of You and I. It’s not a long lost album. It’s not even recently unearthed demos of original songs. It’s a collection of cover songs.

Much like another recently released posthumous collection, You and I is an incredibly underwhelming affair and to say it leaves much to be desired is an understatement. For the hardcore Buckley fans of the world, and for those who haven’t grown weary of hearing his rendition of “Hallelujah,” I’d say it’s worth one listen before you move along to something else.

You and I is out on March 11, via Columbia.