276: GRACE | JEFF BUCKLEY
Grace is the only studio album by Jeff Buckley, released on August 23, 1994. While the album initially had poor sales—peaking at number 149 in the U.S.—and received mixed reviews, it gradually acquired critical acclaim and commercial success and, as of 2007, had sold over 2 million copies worldwide and been cited by critics and listeners as one of the greatest albums of all time. An extended version of the album (subtitled "Legacy Edition") celebrating its tenth anniversary was released on August 23, 2004, and it peaked at number 44 in the UK.
Grace re-entered the albums chart in Australia at number 44 for the week of January 29 to February 5, 2007, 13 years after its original release date. It is currently certified 7x platinum in Australia.
Buckley's version of "Corpus Christi Carol" was based on a version by Janet Baker. A childhood friend introduced him to the song, and Buckley sang a version on the album as a way of thanking him.
Grace has been highly rated in magazines such as Q, in which readers voted Grace the 75th greatest album of all time in 1998; the same vote was taken again in 2005 and Grace then ranked 13th. In 2003, the album was ranked number 303 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,and 304 in a 2012 revised list. In 2006, Mojo named Grace the No. 1 Modern Rock Classic of All Time. It was also rated as Australia's second favourite album on My Favourite Album, a television special aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on December 3, 2006. In 2003, Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was ranked No. 259 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. VH1 also rated the album No. 73 on its "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" show/list. It was voted number 99 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). Larkin stated "his music achieved a perfection that was staggering for a debut album." Read more