Customer Reviews

Way To Blue - An Introduction To Nick Drake (Remastered)

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Music reviews are difficult because we each hear the music differently. Our experience with an eclectic array of musical ideas frames how we hear the music.

My college years were 67-71 so I had broad exposure to the early English invasion - my favorites included the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Cream. At the same time I appreciated many American groups - Beach Boys, Byrds, Blood Sweat and Tears.

As time passed I experienced jazz and began to appreciate more textures in the music. Early jazz influences included the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Weather Report and Miles Davis.

Favorite singer/songwriters included James Taylor, Carol King, Joni Mitchell and early Elton John.

I write all this to give context to my perceptions of Nick Drake.

Nick Drake wrote beautiful, complex songs during his brief career. He did not write boring 3 chord progressions. Rather his music has many layers of complexity. While I do not find his lyrics profound, along with the music, I find them haunting.

For me the test of a CD is how often I want to listen to it. Does it addict me? Do the songs stay fresh as they become familar?

Nick Drake succeeded - even though few knew it at the time. His songs are timeless because his music remains interesting and unpredictable. He wrote uniquely - and that is wonderful.

So for those who do not hear the music as I and many other fans do - de gustibus non est disputandum. This CD meets my standard of greatness.

So who will like it - those who like their music a bit more complex - those who find that music creates mood - those who like Van Morrison, Jimmie Spheeris, and Leonard Cohen.

This is an excellent introduction to the work of Nick Drake. It also provides an entirely new perspective on his genius since the tracks are not arranged in chronological order. The individual albums are all classics but they are very much self-contained units that make one associate a particular song with the album. Way To Blue thus lends a new angle in the mix of songs. Although 10 tracks are repeated from the 1985 Heaven In A Wild Flower, the sound quality is much better.

From the album Bryter Later come Hazey Jane I and II, Poor Boy, One Of These Things First and Northern Sky. Five Leaves Left contributes Cello Sing, Way To Blue, River Man and Time Has Told Me, whilst the stark minimalist album Pink Moon supplies Things Behind The Sun, Which Will and the title track. Black Eyed Dog and Time Of No reply come from the posthumous Time Of No Reply album.

On Sweet Old World Lucinda Williams beautifully covered Which Will and Swans made a bloodcurdling version of Black Eyed Dog, found on their Various Failures album. The group Drive covered his song Road on their early 90s album Out Freakage. The Dream Academy dedicated the song Life In A Northern Town (1985) to Nick Drake. His song Mayfair had already been covered by Millie (of My Boy Lollipop fame) in 1970.

My only complaint about Way To Blue is the omission of Fly, a song that first appeared on Bryter Later and was then included, in a different version, on Time Of No Reply. In my opinion, it is one of his most moving songs. Besides that, this compilation contains the best of Drake's eerily compelling music but it is still worth it to investigate the original albums.

Four reasons to hate Nick Drake:

1. Folk music, haunting vocals, sensitive and bittersweet lyrics -- all for sissies! I'm a wartime reviewer, so I have to judge success on these matters.

2. Mellow, melancholy music recorded by a guy who killed himself at 27 -- you're kidding, right? That's not real life, it's a cliche from a screenplay written by a goth pothead freshman at NYU.

3. Bunch of yuppie hipsters ... driving around in their shiny new VWs ... playing Nick Drake to pretend that their souls haven't been crushed by an adult life consisting of crass commercialism and empty sex ... well I hate 'em all. And no, I'm not jealous.

4. Every open mic night has at least one Nick Drake wannabe, and, if you can believe it, they're usually even worse than the aging ex-frat boy in a hawaiian shirt accompanying Margaritaville on a casiotone.

One reason to love Nick Drake:

1. This CD, and any of his original releases, has some of the most beautiful music you'll ever hear. If you truly hate Nick Drake's music the part of your brain that forms fond childhood memories and tells you to stop and smell the flowers is probably damaged or missing.

If you've never heard much Nick Drake this CD is a great start.

There is a reason that people are listening to Nick Drake over 30 years after his death - this music stands head and shoulders above most popular music. The songwriting, arranging and musicianship are nuanced, intelligent, original, mature and non-cliched. These songs sound fresh and modern, and are a stark contrast to most of today's popular music (and much of the popular music of the past), which is generic, dumbed-down crap. This album is a must-buy.

This is the PERFECT Drake disc. It has all his highpoints. My favorite song is "Black-Eyed Dog" which is also on the "Practical Magic" movie soundtrack.

It personifies depression as a black dog that just shows up at your door one day. It is magnificent in it's simplicity and candor. Another stunning song that uses this metaphor is "Churchill's Black Dog" by the Aussie band, Things Of Stone & Wood, on their CD, "So Far: 1992 - 2002."

Apparently, Prime Minister Winston Churchill sort of popularized the phrase "the black dog is here" to describe his severe bouts of depression.

"And if one day you should see me in the crowd/Lend a hand and lift me/To your place in the cloud," Nick Drake sings dreamily against a backdrop of cello and congas. Talk about prophetic. The tragic singer-songwriter, who was only in his late 20s when he overdosed on sleeping pills, left behind an all-too-small collection of exquisite music.

"Way To Blue: An Introduction" serves both as an intro to his poignant folk music, and also as a sort of "Best of" collection. This album contains selections from his four albums "Pink Moon," "Five Leaves Left," "Bryter Layter," and "Time of No Reply," and these selections are arguably the best of Drake's bittersweet music.

Drake generally stuck to the folk sound -- lots of acoustic guitar and laid-back bass, sometimes dressed up with piano. But he twiddled with that sound in a few songs; the ethereal "Northern Sky" is swathed in organ, piano and celeste, raising it above the average folk song.

What all these songs have in common is a loneliness, a poignancy, and a beauty that is truly heartrending. Drake suffered from depression during his short life, which may explain the tone of songs like the sweet "Time of No Reply," in which he sings sadly, "The time of no reply is calling me to stay/There is no hello and no goodbye/To leave there is no way."

In other songs, Drake describes the fickleness of his fame, the loneliness of his life, and hopes to "forget this cruel world." But also seems to have a kind of optimism about love, which sounds all the more poignant in his smooth vocals. Drake's singing sounds unpolished by computers, making its husky sweetness even more striking.

Long after his death, Nick Drake's bittersweet music lingers on. "Way To Blue: An Introduction" is both an excellent collection of his best songs, and a good introduction to his work.

Nick Drake's music demands your attention. The warmth and humanity of his voice can paralyze you. He is a virtuoso guitar player and songwriter.

Although there's no way a compilation of songs from this artist can fail, this cd does a good job at encompassing Nick's three released albums, as well as a few extras, like "Black-Eyed Dog." The differences between these three albums, in mood,theme, and production, is made even more apparent. It paints a neater, more complete picture of the legend.

What I love most about this cd is that it was what introduced me to Nick Drake's music. I'm as much a fan of "happy" Drake songs as the melancholy ones; the combination of uplifting songs on here like the Hazy Janes, Northern Sky, Poor Boy ( anything from Bryter Layter), plus Pink Moon (i still say that song is happy!) stood up well against the sadder ones, like River Man and Fruit Tree. So I never thought of Nick's as 'sad' music, specifically.

You should get this to really absorb the timelessness of Nick's sound. The mood he evokes is unforgettable.

I love Nick Drake b/c he is fascinating and his music is unusual and enchanting. If you are unfamiliar with his music, it is definetly a bit different and somewhat challenging to fully comprehend.

To understand the music you must understand the artist. This is not commercial b/c the artist had no desire to be commercial. He was a strange, eccentric shy and tortured artist. Drake seemed to have been a pretty bohemian artist simply trying to pursue his muse.

On this introductory sampler, there are a variety of different forms of music most likely b/c of an experimentation on how to actually produce him. There are sparce, purely accoustical numbers, lushly orchestrated numbers and works that fall in between.

Something that is special about his music is the unique manner in which he played guitar and sang. He played in a variety of unusual guitar tunings (therefore the chord and melody structures were unique sounding).

He was a fingerpicker who pulled at the strings with great force which added a lot of texture (not usually heard with other guitar players) tohis playing.

He sang in a strange whisper so you had this muscular accoustic guitar playing which was strangely coupled with wispy vocals.

Nick Drake's love songs have an etheral beauty to them. My favorite song, "Northern Lights" is, without a doubt, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG I HAVE EVER HEARD, BAR NONE. The song is gorgeous.

I also like the raw, Robert Johnson like, bluesy quality of "Black Eyed Dog"

This is not music that you can fall for upon just an intial hearing. This stuff has to sink in. Once you get it, you will see that Nick Drake is an unusual, uncompromising artist that offers stunning beauty, depth and drama.

As fas as compilations go, this one is excellent. It draws equally, four songs apiece, from Drake's three studio albums as well as from his album of posthumously released material.

'River Man' is his most covered song (i.e. Brad Mehldau) and along with 'Cello Song' it represents the pastoral mood of his first album very well. The lush orchestrations of his second album, "Bryter Layter" are manifested by 'Poor Boy' and 'Hazey Jane II.' These songs are in stark contrast to the acoustic bleakness of 'Things Behind The Sun' from his final studio album, "Pink Moon." But it is the title track from this final album that stands as Drake's most famous due to its inclusion in a Volkswagen commercial. The songs from his posthumous collection aren't quite as good, but are nonetheless worth hearing.

The bottom line is that Drake's whole catalogue is worth owning, but if you aren't sure what his music is all about than this is a wonderful place to start. His influence on bands like Belle & Sebastian has been enormous. Drake died at a tragically young age, but this collection is testament to his genius.

I have NPR and the late great Elliott Smith to thank for a path leading to Nick Drake...this is the best folk album I've ever come across. What a shock to find out this man has been dead 30 years; both his lyrics and music are timeless, sound current. This is a compendium of Drake's 3 albums along with two non-album songs (Time of No Reply and Black Eyed Dog) recorded just before his death. The album is well-mixed, alternating acoustic numbers from "Pink Moon" with more instrumental compositions from "Bryter Layter". Fantastic.