Various Artists: Dream Brother: The Songs Of Tim and Jeff Buckley : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Tributes to dead musicians attract reverential performances, and this salute to father and son Tim and Jeff Buckley, both heart-melting singer-songwriters who died young, has an unpleasant "we're not worthy" air about it. The cast is mostly indie unknowns -- the biggest name is Sufjan Stevens, who contributes an earnest if bloodless reading of Tim's "She Is." The problem isn't just that nobody on Dream Brother is as graceful or inventive a vocalist as either Buckley. It's that nobody tries to find anything in their songs other than tragic melancholy, and the timid, literal performances drain the sex and mystery from both repertoires. Only Matthew Herbert and Dani Siciliano, recasting Jeff's "Everybody Here Wants You" as a feathery electronic shuffle, even try to leave their own mark on the original.