Happy Sad – TIM BUCKLEY****

Strange Feelin’/Buzzin’ Fly/Love From Room 109 At The Islander/Dream Letter/Gypsy Woman/Sing A Song For You

For his third album Happy Sad Tim Buckley introduces some jazz influences into his folk orientated songs. Largely overlooked at the time this would be his most commercially successful LP. (US:81)

“This is where he really finds his true voice, heading into jazz territory with an open heart. From the first note to the last, his emotions are naked, deep, filled with yearning, loss, soaring joy and regret, often at the same time. And that magnificent voice. It plumbs the depths, it touches the skin of heaven, and it conveys the experience of several lifetimes as it caresses and shapes each word like a master sculptor. The music itself is a match for its singer, melodic and inventive, surprising the listener with sudden unexpected changes and shifts. But for all the experimentation going on, the songs themselves never get lost. This is a timeless work, one to be heard again and again.”

“Tim's voice floats like some sort of a trumpet improvisation, meaning every last word. It's calm but edgy. There's virtually no percussion but it carries itself just fine. Happy Sad is a classic to me. I'm sure it will continue to be overlooked, but that doesn't change how much it means to me.”

“This is such a lovely album. It's also one of those that I enjoy more at night than in the daytime. There’s a moodiness to the whole thing that just fits the darkness. The instrumentation is top notch, and Buckley's words, or better yet, poetry are both introspective and interesting.”

“A dreamy, jazz-tinged folk masterwork. Tim's voice paints the album, an idiosyncratic, rending croon, and it is this album which begins his series of experimentations with his voice as an instrument.”

“This is music for a series of dreams, lovely romantic dreams, dreams of loss and regret, dreams of redemption, dreams that remain vividly imprinted on your mind upon waking in the half-light of dawn.”

“Happy Sad is folk rock, but it is folk rock starting to mutate. Buckley opens up the chords, making them long hallways on which he can paint.”