Nick Drake - Pink Moon

A Special talent

It's hard to explain to someone why you like Nick Drake. People either hear the unique talent or they don't. To say he has a cult following today is an understatement.
In all his songs there is a soft gentle vocal wrapped around an intricate guitar arrangement. 2 of the better examples of this would be the title cut and "Place to Be". Listening to his music all these years later, it's hard to see how radio missed this wonderful artist. December 23, 2008

Baron landscape

"You can take a road that takes you to the stars, I can take a road that'll see me through" - as the lyrics to the beautiful "Road" ring, you can't help but feel the sadness of "Pink Moon". Moments of sanguinity and senses of cynical optimism cut through the bleak overtones, but they are ominously tinted by the reality of Drake's impending suicide. Certainly the legacy of a suicidal musician is nothing new, but while half-hearted, self-loathing singer/songwriters, surrounded in their glorification of depression emulate Drake's altar, one must take "Pink Moon" for what it is - one of the very best folk albums ever made.

Throughout the album Drake weaves a master class in acoustic guitar playing, utilising alternative tunings and complex, delicate finger picking, all produced through a wonderfully warm tone. The sound is sparse; unlike "Five Leaves Left" or "Bryter Layter" there are no orchestrated sections, nor even a piano in the mix. It is stripped down, raw and lonely. And this acts well to emphasise the stellar writing, especially with such outstanding songs as "Things Behind The Sun", "Pink Moon", "Road" and "Free Ride", some of the most delicate and haunting music Drake ever created. It is unfortunately a very short album, almost equalling a lengthy EP, and that is my one qualm. It is rightly heralded as one of the greatest folk singer/songwriter albums. December 17, 2008

Pink Moon

Nick Drake-Pink Moon ****1/2

Pink Moon is one of the most alluring albums in the history of music. Both dark and ominous and yet somehow either hits you as a incredibly hopeful piece of music or the bleakest track listing this side of Big Stars THIRD album.

With songwriting so sharp and poetic it drives you nuts and encapsulates you with each listen. Acoustic guitar work to write home about combining to make a sheer classic.

Pink Moon is an album for all times, moods, and most importantly all collections. November 30, 2008

So real, so true, so Nick Drake....

Many call this album stark, depressing, and disturbed. Yes, there are elements that are deeply sad, stark, and depressed, but I find most of the music beautiful, haunted, and beguiling. The title track is justifiably a Drake classic, and despite being used in a car commerical, I still love the song. The commercialisation of the song didn't hurt the integrity of it. Drake's music is like that. It's completely in its own universe than nothing can ever damage it. It's so pure and so unique. Nothing can poison it in the eyes of those who love this man's work.

This is the most stripped down album Drake ever did. It's just his voice, his guitar, his songwriting, and a touch of piano in the title track. That's all that's really needed. Despite the fact that his other albums have beautiful instrumentation (including appearances by Richard Thompson and John Cale), the stripped down quality of this recording really enhances it. I'm not going to say if this is my favorite Nick Drake album, but ultimately, it doesn't matter with him. All 3 of his albums are so unique and special there's no need to divide them up. They are like chapters in a book, all contributing to the greatness of the man himself. I miss Nick Drake quite a bit, but the albums will remain. October 14, 2008

Terrific guitar by a deceased wizard

Like Jesus, Nick Drake is a "resurrected musician" with terrific guitar sensibility who unfortunately died while young in the early 70s, perhaps of a drug overdose, perhaps suicide (it's unclear.) He was re-discovered, posthumously, by an advertising person who played his music in an excellent Volkswagen ad. While Drake has a wonderful gift for creating beautiful guitar sounds through open-tunings and off-beat tempos, his writing is lackluster and imagistic and often melancholy, somewhat blurry. His singing voice is high-pitched, unusual, with overtones of American Indian religious chanting. So Drake is on the verge of singer-songwriter excellence, in my view, but not quite there. I think what's happened is that people today feel guilty because of Drake's untimely death and, as a result, have resurrected him to a status that may not be deserved. There's a cult underground of guitarists who extol his music but I wonder whether his reputation is overinflated because of his early tragedy; if he had lived, perhaps Drake would have become the wonderful songwriter which people presume him to be. October 6, 2008

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