Way To Blue: An Introduction To Nick Drake - Nick Drake

It’s hard to know what to say about Nick Drake’s life without sounding trite or sentimental. Yes, I know this is a review of an album, and not a biography, but like most fans, I find his life fascinating, if depressing, and I think it’s necessary to know a bit about him to understand the Nick Drake ‘phenomenon’, for want of a better word. Nick was an English singer-songwriter born in 1948. He released three exceptional albums during his life, which were received by the public with great indifference, partly because of his refusal (or inability, due to intense shyness) to tour and promote his work. He became more and more alienated, lost ...  Read the complete review

Way to Blue is a gathering of tracks taken from Nick Drake's 3 albums 'Five Leaves Left' (1969), 'Bryter Layter' (1970), 'Pink Moon' (1972) and a compilation of unreleased tracks called 'Time Of No Reply'. Critics and artists alike speak of Drake in oft-reverential tones and it's easy to see why. A lot of the tracks here are over 30 years old but sound remarkably fresh and interesting. I was initially surprised at how string laden Way To Blue was. Nick Drake's music is uncomplicated folk yet all the while an 8 piece orchestra does its stuff in the wings. 'Hazey Jane I' uses the string section to creates a ...  Read the complete review

I first encountered Nick Drake on a film soundtrack and was hooked on his simple but beautiful songs. I wanted to hear more of his stuff and this is the perfect cd to start with. The cd is stated as an introduction to Nick Drake and it contains songs from all his albums. If you're sometimes tired of listening to all that rock music and you need something more soothing then this solves the problem. NIcks's songs are all very stripped down and use acoustic guitars, sometimes strings and the odd other instrument and backup vocal. HIs voice is very calming and never once bcomes aggressive. River Man is probably the best song on the album and the one that ...  Read the complete review