Monday, April 16, 2007

262. Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)
















Track Listing

1. Pink Moon
2. Place To Be
3. Road
4. Which Will
5. Horn
6. Things Behind The Sun
7. Know
8. Parasite
9. Ride
10. Harvest Breed
11. From The Morning

Review

I love Nick Drake, but contrary to most people I find this album to be the least interesting of his three albums. It is the most intimist of his albums and mostly composed of Drake and his guitar playing songs. It is also a very short album. So this album keeps his inspired songwriting and his great guitar playing but is missing one of my favourite elements fro his other two albums, which are the great string arrangements. Maybe it's because I like flashy stuff, but this one just doesn't hook me like his other albums.

It is a surprisingly peaceful album, and it is interesting that his was his last album before he commited suicide. This sounds like a man at peace with himself, and that is maybe why all those retro-emo kids love this album so much. Still, there so much to commend here, this is probably the most peaceful singer-songwriter album on the list... but there is also a lack of fire here which is quite sad.

It's like Drake has lost the will to live but had made his peace with it. It is not particularly depressing, but it seems like he is not caring very much anymore. It's really not an album that I would want to have playing all the time, Five Leaves Left was beautifully produced and Bryter Later was shinning with positiveness and warmth. Pink Moon is much more intimate but also much more detached and in the end not as good as the other two albums. Get it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. Pink Moon
2. From The Morning
3. Know
4. Place To Be

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia


From Wikipedia:


The cover of the album features an illustration by the partner of Drake's sister Gabrielle, Michael Trevithick.

Initially, Pink Moon garnered a small amount of critical attention, but after Drake's death it received widespread public and critical acclaim. The music on Pink Moon is strikingly sparse and unadorned (especially in comparison to Drakes' previous recordings), leading some to consider it to be the least accessible of his three albums, though it nevertheless continues to be thought of by many as his greatest work.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 320 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The title track was used in a Volkswagen advertisement in the US in 2000.

Nick Drake Sells Out! From Beyond the Grave!:

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read your blog all the time and I'm really enjoying, particularly as I'm also going through the book.

I was waiting for this one because I also love Nick but agree this is his 'worst' album and I don't get why everyone loves this one the most.

Also just to add - I don't think it was 'clear' he suicided, could have been an accident.

Francisco Silva said...

I also don't understand why this is considered his best.

Yes, some people like to think it was an accident with taking too many anti-depressants... it might have been, but it probably wasn't.

I actually think Pink Moon reflects a guy who was done with life and had made peace with his decision.