Elektra / Wea
1983
The Best Of
About This Album
While there are numerous Tim Buckley compilations, this is the one that tells a real story of restless artist hard at work in pursuit of that slipstream where the Muse resides, album by album -- and this latter point cannot be overstated. Buckley was, in fact, an album-driven artist who saw his work in terms of set pieces rather than collections of songs. The 2001 double-disc Morning Glory was thorough as far as it went; it leaned heavily on songs from his earliest efforts (as does this one). Neither Morning Glory or this Best Of gives more than a glimpse of an artist who resisted compiling since he blazed his way through styles and vocal techniques in a short life. In any case, that double-disc, which contained 33 tracks, might be too much of an introduction with its hefty list price. This one is much more manageable economically. The "best of" Tim Buckley is always going to be debatable, but Bill Inglot's selections are well-placed. There are three cuts from the self-titled debut album (including "I Can't See You"), and four from Goodbye and Hello ( "Morning Glory" is among them), as well as an alternate take of "Sing A Song for You." From here the tale goes winding around a rather strange road.
Track List (try tracks 7,13,15,16,17 and 18)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.