Grace is the only studio album by the American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, released in the UK and Europe on August 15, 1994 and in the US on August 23, 1994 by Columbia Records. It was produced by Buckley and Andy Wallace.
After moving from Los Angeles to New York City in 1991, Buckley amassed a following through his performances at Sin-é, a cafe in the East Village, and signed to Columbia in 1993. He recorded Grace in Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, with musicians including Gary Lucas, Mick Grondahl, Michael Tighe and Matt Johnson. It includes versions of the jazz standard "Lilac Wine", the hymn "Corpus Christi Carol" and the 1984 Leonard Cohen song "Hallelujah".
Grace reached number 149 on the US Billboard 200, below Columbia's expectations, and initially received mixed reviews. After Buckley's death in 1997, its critical standing grew and it was praised by musicians including Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. By 2011, it had achieved sales of two million, and in 2016 it was certified platinum in the US.
Rolling Stone included Grace in its lists of the 500 greatest albums and named "Grace" and Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" in its lists of the 500 greatest songs. In 2008, "Hallelujah" became Buckley's first number one on Billboards Hot Digital Songs and reached number two in the UK singles chart. In 2014, "Hallelujah" was inducted into the American Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
Background
Buckley moved from Los Angeles to New York City in 1991, where he met the guitarist Gary Lucas and wrote the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin" with him. He performed both songs during his brief time as a member of Lucas's band Gods and Monsters. He built a following and attracted attention from major record labels.
Buckley assembled a band and delayed recording his debut album until he felt he had found the right musicians. He met the bassist Mick Grondahl at a concert at Columbia University, and recruited him following a jam session at Buckley's apartment. Recording was disrupted by a negative review of Live at Sin-é in Newsday, which likened his voice to Michael Bolton and wrote that he was derivative of "black idioms ... awkwardly reach[ing] for a balance of emotion and technique, eventually relying on sheer voice of will, oversinging, flaking out". Buckley recorded more than 20 takes of "Hallelujah", with the final version edited together from several recordings. Uncut said it combined "androgynous vocals, '70s rock, power chords and heroic drumming". The lyrics for "Grace" were inspired by Buckley's separation from his ex-girlfriend at the airport before moving to New York City. "So Real" and "Eternal Life". Buckley toured internationally for 18 months to promote Grace. According to the Mojo critic Jim Irvin, the performances "veered between delicate acoustic sets and full-scale sonic onslaughts", with Buckley "becoming increasingly interested in the harder end of the sound and the power of a band".
Grace did not meet Columbia's sales expectations and did not achieve wide popularity in Buckley's lifetime. It received little radio airplay. It spent seven weeks on the US Billboard 200, reaching number 149.
Critical reception
Grace initially received mixed reviews. In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that Buckley was "beholden to Zeppelin and Nina Simone and Chris Whitley and the Cocteau Twins ... Let us pray the force of hype blows him all the way to Uranus." Another Entertainment Weekly writer, David Browne, named it the sixth-best album of the year. He felt that though Buckley encompassed "every cliché of the tortured bohemian artist", he was "aiming for a higher plane, musically and spiritually, than any other singer-songwriter right now, and he succeeds enough to matter". In the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot wrote that Buckley's voice had "a soulful intensity that sends chills", matched by the "rolling-and-tumbling dynamic" of the music. The Sydney Morning Herald said it was "a romantic masterpiece" and a "pivotal, defining work".
Legacy
In February 1997, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, while working on his second album, My Sweetheart the Drunk. On May 29, he drowned while swimming in the Wolf River, a tributary of the Mississippi. Sales of Grace increased after his death, In December 2008, Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, behind a version by Alexandra Burke. By 2011, Grace had achieved worldwide sales of two million.
An expanded edition was released in 2004, with an additional CD of bonus tracks and a DVD making-of documentary. The British critic Colin Larkin included it at number 99 in the third edition of his book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000), writing that it "achieved a perfection that was staggering for a debut album". Rolling Stone ranked it number 303 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums, number 304 in its 2009 list and 147 on its 2020 list. Rolling Stone included Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" at number 259 on its 2003 list of the 500 greatest songs, and included "Grace" at number 394 on its updated 2021 list. On April 2, 2013, it was announced that Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah" would be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.
In 2006, Mojo named Grace the number-one "modern rock classic", and it was voted Australia's second-favorite album on the television special My Favourite Album. In 2011, VH1 named Grace the 73rd-greatest rock and roll album. In a worldwide poll of 40,000 people organized by British Hit Singles & Albums and NME in 2006, Grace was voted the 23rd-greatest album. In 2014, Guitar World placed Grace at number 26 in its list of "iconic albums that defined 1994".
The Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, said Grace was "close to being my favorite album of the decade". Bob Dylan named Buckley one of the decade's great songwriters, In 2010, the Smiths singer Morrissey, one of Buckley's influences, named Grace one of his favorite albums. The Muse singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy said Grace convinced him that his falsetto was suitable for rock music. In 2020, Bellamy purchased the Fender Telecaster Buckley used on Grace. He used it on his 2021 solo album Cryosleep and said he intended to use it on Muse albums.
Accolades
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Publication
! Country
! Accolade
! Year
! style="text-align:center;" | Rank
|-
| Entertainment Weekly
| United States
| Best 10 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 6
|-
| Eye Weekly
| Canada
| Best 30 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 4
|-
| Juice
| Australia
| 100 Greatest Albums of the 90s
| 1999
| style="text-align:center;" | 10
|-
| Les Inrockuptibles
| France
| Best 25 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 14
|-
| Melody Maker
| United Kingdom
| Best 50 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 9
|-
| Mojo
| United Kingdom
| Best 25 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 1
|-
| NME
| United Kingdom
| Best 50 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 21
|-
| The Wire
| United Kingdom
| 50 Records of the Year (1994)
| 1995
| style="text-align:center;" | 32
|-
| Pitchfork
| United States
| Top 100 Albums of the 90s
| 2003
| style="text-align:center;" | 69
|-
| Platendraaier
| The Netherlands
| Top 30 Albums of the 90s
| 2015
| style="text-align:center;" | 7
|-
| rowspan="2" | Q
| rowspan="2" | United Kingdom
| Best Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | *
|-
| Reissues of the Year
| 2004
| style="text-align:center;" | *
|-
| Rock Sound
| United Kingdom
| Best 50 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
|-
| rowspan="5" | Rolling Stone
| rowspan="5" | United States
| rowspan="4" | The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
| 2003
| style="text-align:center;" | 303
|-
| 2012
| style="text-align:center;" | 304
|-
| 2020
| style="text-align:center;" | 147
|-
| 2023
| style="text-align:center;" | 147
|-
| The Essential Alternative Recordings of the 90s
| style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:center;" | *
|-
| Select
| United Kingdom
| Best 50 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 41
|-
| Slant Magazine
| United States
| 50 Essential Pop Albums
| 2003
| style="text-align:center;" | *
|-
| Technikart
| France
| Best 5 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 2
|-
| The Face
| United Kingdom
| Best 30 Albums of the Year
| 1994
| style="text-align:center;" | 18
|-
| rowspan="2" | The Guardian
| rowspan="2" | United Kingdom
| Alternative Top 100 Albums Ever
| 1999
| style="text-align:center;" | 15
|-
| 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die
| 2010
| style="text-align:center;" | *
|}
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from Graces liner notes.
Musicians
- Jeff Buckley – vocals, guitars, harmonium, organ, dulcimer, additional tabla on "Dream Brother"
- Mick Grøndahl – bass
- Matt Johnson – drums, percussion, vibraphone on "Dream Brother"
- Michael Tighe – guitar on "So Real"
- Gary Lucas – "Magicalguitarness" on "Mojo Pin" & "Grace"
- Loris Holland – organ on "Lover, You Should've Come Over"
- Misha Masud – tabla on "Dream Brother"
- Karl Berger – string arrangements
Production
- Andy Wallace – production, engineering, mixing
- Jeff Buckley – production on "So Real"
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
- Steve Berkowitz – executive producer
- Clif Norrell – engineering on "So Real", additional engineering "Corpus Christi Carol" & "Dream Brother"
- Chris Laidlaw – assistant engineer (Bearsville)
- Steve Sisco – assistant engineer (Quantum Sound)
- Bryant W. Jackson – assistant engineer (Soundtrack)
- Reggie Griffith – assistant engineer (Soundtrack)
Design
- Nicky Lindeman – art direction, design
- Christopher Austopchuk – art direction, design
- Jennifer Cohen – design assistant
- Merri Cyr – photography
- David Gahr – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!Chart (1994–2026)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 3
|-
! scope="row"| Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)
| 35
|-
!scope="row"|Irish Albums (IRMA)
| 14
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
| 31
|-
|-
!scope="row"|US Catalog Albums (Billboard)
|10
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (1995)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
|94
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
!Chart (2003)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| style="text-align:center;"|93
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (2024)
!Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Vinyl Albums (ARIA)
| 14
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 188
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Chart (2025)
!Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 84
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 97
|-
! scope="row"| Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)
| 86
|}
Certifications
Release history
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Region
!Release date
!Format
!Label
|-
|