It was 10 years ago today that the music world lost Jeff Buckley. The musician drowned after taking a midnight swim in the Mississippi River during a break from recording his sophomore album. Yes, he only released one studio album while he was alive, the critically acclaimed Grace, which was released in 1994 but didn’t reach gold status (500,000 copies sold) until 2002.

In memory of Buckley’s passing, Sony has released So Real: Songs from Jeff Buckley. The CD is basically a “best of” collection of his two studio albums, but also contains two newly discovered live tracks, including a cover of The Smiths “I Know it’s Over,” recorded at a radio station’s studio, but never aired. The album is a fair introduction for those who’ve only recently discovered Buckley’s music, but for those who already own his first two albums, only hardcore fans will benefit from the addition of the two new tracks.

When he first came onto the scene, he received some minimal radio airplay for his single “Last Goodbye.” The dark love song also garnered him a Best New Artist nomination on MTV in 1995. Many songs from Grace have been covered by many artists as well, including Natalie Merchant (“Last Goodbye”) and Jamie Cullum (“Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”). Buckley’s own cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” has now surpassed the original in popularity and has been featured in several movies and shows. Since his death, almost two dozen tribute songs have been written about him.

For those who’d like to hear what he was like live, there are several different live albums to choose from. The only live recordings we could find from any Houston performances were on a bootleg CD, which features three songs from his appearance at the late, great Cactus Records. That’s one performance Houstonist regrets missing. With his ethereal voice and massive octave range, his songs can still put chills down your spine ten years later.

Listen: "Hallelujah"