Live At L'Olympia

Includes a secret code to access live footage on the internet. Personnel includes: Jeff Buckley (vocals, guitar); Alim Qasimov (vocals); Michael Tighe (guitar); Mick Grondahl (bass); Matt Johnson (percussion). Recorded live at Olympia, Paris, France on July 6, 1995. Includes liner notes by J. D. Beauvalet. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Australian edition. Partially due to the increased rate of cultural dissemination in the information age, Jeff Buckley's posthumous releases nearly caught up with those of his '60s-icon father Tim by the beginning of the 21st century. The elder Buckley had more time to grow stylistically, lending his various posthumous live albums a diversity and air of discovery Jeff's concert recordings never had a shot at. Nevertheless, every Jeff Buckley concert was an event, and his muse was so mercurial that no two of his performances were remotely alike. Thus, amid staples from GRACE such as the fragile Leonard Cohen ballad "Hallelujah" and the raga-rock "Dream Brother," there are some surprises. The previously unheard "That's All I Ask" has a loose, wandering feel that makes it seem spontaneously created. The brief lampoon of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" does not obscure Buckley's obvious debt to that band (and that song). A turbo-charged "Eternal Life" echoes Buckley's love of the MC5, more explicitly evidenced by the following song, an unfettered cover of that group's classic "Kick out the Jams." The French audience is so taken with Buckley's swooning rendition of the Edith Piaf ballad "Je N'en Connais Pas La Fin" that he interrupts himself mid-croon to clown around with them. From ferocious rockers to pin-droppers like the Piaf song, Buckley's unearthly voice is a remarkable instrument constantly giving birth to excitement and surprise. There's no better way to experience those feelings than in a live setting, and for most Buckley fans, this is unfortunately about as close as they'll ever come to that.