Best of Tim Buckley
These dozen-and-a-half songs provide an overview of the entirety of Tim Buckley's career. Between 1966 and 1974 he released a remarkable nine albums: remarkable not for their quantity (the '60s were the era of two albums a year) but for his fearless quest to follow his artistic impulses and instincts, no matter where they went or how they may have befuddled his fan base. Actually, the beginning (Tim Buckley, Goodbye and Hello, Happy Sad) and ending (Greetings from L.A., Sefronia, Look at the Fool) trios of releases fit into prevailing trends. The former presented a folk singer with arrangements that moved from orchestral filigree to psychedelic pop; the latter found him fronting a rock band with a predilection for funkish workouts. It's the three in between (Blue Afternoon, Lorca, Starsailor) that confounded expectations, bringing in jazz settings and luxuriating and improvising across the extended songs. This set is a potent look at a true artist.--David Greenberger