The greatest record ever made by a single artist (as opposed to by a band).
Its absolutely English. If you wanted to argue as to why England is the best country in the world, this record would be part of your pitch. So absolutely subtle yet atmospheric too. And its not just a 'sad' or 'happy' atmosphere. Its so much more complex. Its neither. And its such a 'natural' sounding album too.
I'm fully aware everyone loves Pink Moon more, but for me, this was him at his peak. He was unaffected by his depression or drugs or any of that stuff. Its pure. The fact he doesn't have anything in particular to say, or any direct agenda makes it better.
Were it not for The Beatles, this would be my favourite ever album by a British artist.
:)
It is superb
my ipod chose 'Cello Song' for my listening pleasure whilst on shuffle in the car this morning. As I drove along I imagined the committee room as Nick Drake demoed it to some faceless suits:
"well yes, it's all very well and good, but what to call it?"
"Tricky one this, what about 'Harpsichord Song?"
"Not really doing it for me. How about 'Banana Rainbow Disco Catastrophe?' bit more edgy"
"well, it's got a cello in, we could just call it 'cello song' and break for lunch"
"Gets my vote"
It is incredible, yes
You don't realise quite how incredible a guitarist he is too until you get his chordbook and even though it tells you all the tunings and displays all the tab, you can't play ANY of the songs to save your life because you have fingers made out of Scalextric and you're not even as talented as Nick Drake's hair and you realise what a waste of money the whole thing is and then you cry a bit.
unaffcted by depression?
some of the tracks on "five leaves left" are the saddest sounding i've ever heard. it is a fantastic album, though - even crap like 'man in a shed' can't spoil it.
its not crap!
The lyrics are 'whimsical' but so what? Not every song has to mean something. If you judged everything by their lyrical relevance, Piper At The Gates would be dogdirt.
I don't think they're 'very sad', the tracks. As I've said, there's more to them than that. Bits of sadness, sure, but not just bitter rants. Absolute poetry - musically and lyrically.
this^^^
the only Nick Drake song i can play is River Man cause its basically the only one in standard tuning... but its still in 5/4 and the fingerpicking pattern is ridiculous. And then he manages to sing ontop of it WAHT!
fingerpicking is all muscle memory
once you've drummed the right patterns into yourself you don't need to expend any conscious thought while playing it, the left hand takes care of itself.
or right hand in most people's cases
I forgot I was left-handed.
My favourite Nick Drake album for sure..
way to blue just blows me away everytime, just his voice and those strings, amazing. also i find man in a shed pretty charming.
i'm going to listen to this album tonight now.
Me too
*wallows*
Its so appropriate for any time.
Not any occassion, obviously. But any time of the day. Sunday morning. On the way home from school. At night having a read or in the bath. In bed. Perfect.
I'm hoping to catch some shut-eye on the coach to Glasto tomorrow and Nick will be helping me.
Much much
love for the Drakester. In addition to its general perfection, this album also has the power to make ladies do sex, and that is a rarity among the so-called classic albums!
Nowhere near the best solo artist album
Probably the worst Nick Drake album on the whole, though it does have Riverman which is one of my favourite songs of his. The strings just sound so overbearing and unnecessary, I really dislike Way to Blue, just sounds like by the numbers Drake (if such a thing exists).
Don't get me wrong all of his albums are great, but this is the one I go to the least, I even listen to Family Tree more.
I was going to go on about this
But I realised that anything I wrote would be a trite tribute to what is, without doubt, one of the finest collections of songs ever written.