I'll add a few thoughts for the person considering this CD, particularly who only knows the album Grace: The first disc of this set is a relatively finished product produced for Buckley by Tom Verlaine (with some subsequent minor clean-up). The second disc consists mainly of rough drafts for unrecorded songs, and should be considered as such. The second CD is not easy listening, and is really for the most devoted fans only (as is fully disclosed in the liner notes).
It is said that Buckley was dissatisfied with the Verlaine sessions. I recall that Buckley's biographer reported that Verlaine told Buckley, essentially: "If you don't like the tapes, destroy them, or they'll find their way into the public eye eventually." Buckley didn't destroy them. He and Verlaine worked on them in Memphis, then Buckley set them aside.
Buckley chose Verlaine to produce the sessions. Verlaine produced Buckley's music with a far more stripped-down sound then you find on Grace. Buckley and his band (save for the drummers on the tapes) had been touring for quite some time, and were deeply attuned to one another's playing. They had a wonderful sound, simple, centered on electric guitars (played with relatively few effects), bass, and drums, supporting Buckley's vocals. This is the sound that Verlaine, and perhaps Buckley, wanted to capture. And they did, very well.
I describe the sound as "simple"--what I mean is that the ingredients were as straight-forward as your basic bar band. What they did with those ingredients was 10 levels beyond your basic bar band. Buckley had developed into a first-rate writer of deceptively complex songs. A song, like "The Sky is a Landfill," might start out rather like a basic rock 'n roll song, but pretty soon you're in another place...the verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure generally vanishes; the 2 guitars (sometimes more) and bass play off of one another (with considerable panache and skill) into different layers and blends, and Buckley sings his serpentine melodies, unflinchingly exploring his uniquely wide range and timbres. It still rocks, and often pretty hard, too, but it requires, and greatly rewards, attention. (There are several ballads as well--not surprising for Buckley, who was a master of the form.)
None of this is utterly different from Grace, but Grace was more heavily worked in the studio, with considerable multi-tracking of vocal parts, multiple and various-sounding electric and acoustic guitars (some "treated"), some keyboards, strings, etc. And Grace is terrific. But so is Sketches...even though Sketches is thought to be something of a rough draft. In terms of the way it sounds to this listener, it's not that rough--certainly no "first draft." Maybe more of a "works in progress," by a band that, like any really active, working band, is always somewhat "in progress."
But what about Buckley's dissatisfaction? Is it possible that we're dealing with an end result that, though excellent otherwise, just didn't match his vision for it, and thus simply disappointed him at the time? Is it possible that he would have turned to it later and been pleasantly surprised? We'll never know. But he didn't destroy it. And now we have it, and can be grateful for it. E Weed
It is said that Buckley was dissatisfied with the Verlaine sessions. I recall that Buckley's biographer reported that Verlaine told Buckley, essentially: "If you don't like the tapes, destroy them, or they'll find their way into the public eye eventually." Buckley didn't destroy them. He and Verlaine worked on them in Memphis, then Buckley set them aside.
Buckley chose Verlaine to produce the sessions. Verlaine produced Buckley's music with a far more stripped-down sound then you find on Grace. Buckley and his band (save for the drummers on the tapes) had been touring for quite some time, and were deeply attuned to one another's playing. They had a wonderful sound, simple, centered on electric guitars (played with relatively few effects), bass, and drums, supporting Buckley's vocals. This is the sound that Verlaine, and perhaps Buckley, wanted to capture. And they did, very well.
I describe the sound as "simple"--what I mean is that the ingredients were as straight-forward as your basic bar band. What they did with those ingredients was 10 levels beyond your basic bar band. Buckley had developed into a first-rate writer of deceptively complex songs. A song, like "The Sky is a Landfill," might start out rather like a basic rock 'n roll song, but pretty soon you're in another place...the verse-verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure generally vanishes; the 2 guitars (sometimes more) and bass play off of one another (with considerable panache and skill) into different layers and blends, and Buckley sings his serpentine melodies, unflinchingly exploring his uniquely wide range and timbres. It still rocks, and often pretty hard, too, but it requires, and greatly rewards, attention. (There are several ballads as well--not surprising for Buckley, who was a master of the form.)
None of this is utterly different from Grace, but Grace was more heavily worked in the studio, with considerable multi-tracking of vocal parts, multiple and various-sounding electric and acoustic guitars (some "treated"), some keyboards, strings, etc. And Grace is terrific. But so is Sketches...even though Sketches is thought to be something of a rough draft. In terms of the way it sounds to this listener, it's not that rough--certainly no "first draft." Maybe more of a "works in progress," by a band that, like any really active, working band, is always somewhat "in progress."
But what about Buckley's dissatisfaction? Is it possible that we're dealing with an end result that, though excellent otherwise, just didn't match his vision for it, and thus simply disappointed him at the time? Is it possible that he would have turned to it later and been pleasantly surprised? We'll never know. But he didn't destroy it. And now we have it, and can be grateful for it. E Weed
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