best Nick Drake album

[Bungo the Mungo]

I'm taking the plunge.

Yes, I know they're all different and it's impossible to choose just one and you really need to hear them all blah blah blah

Vote for one anyway, and explain why, if you could.

[Matty Red Sox]

None of the above. Seriously, this is an artist that gets on my nerves as much as the fucking Eagles. Try again John.

[Penk!]

The cool, edgy pick is Pink Moon.
The beardy muso pick is Five Leaves Left.
The populist, boring and above all honest pick is Bryter Layter. It's a wonderful album, with fine songs splendidly arranged and lovingly played, while its predecessor errs on the dull side at times and Pink Moon's sparseness is often mere thinness. That's not to say I don't like all of them, but the general consensus ought to point you in the right direction here.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

None of the above. Seriously, this is an artist that gets on my nerves as much as the fucking Eagles. Try again John.

He's way better than the Eagles, so you only have yourself to blame.
The board, over time, or maybe it was Slider. Anyway, I'm convinced. It's Bryter Layter.
I wouldn't be without any of 'em, though.

[Matty Red Sox]

None of the above. Seriously, this is an artist that gets on my nerves as much as the fucking Eagles. Try again John.

He's way better than the Eagles, so you only have yourself to blame.
The board, over time, or maybe it was Slider. Anyway, I'm convinced. It's Bryter Layter.
I wouldn't be without any of 'em, though.

Meh...only myself to blame...I didn't write this treacle. He really bores the shit out of me, and I have a lot more tolerance than many here. Gimme Digable Planets and NWA any day!

[toomanyhatz]

It's Five Leaves Left.

It's true that they're all great, but I can do without the instrumentals (and "Poor Boy") on Bryter Layter and Pink Moon, as great and haunting as it is, has always felt more like a set of demos than a realized album. Plus the orchestral arrangements, particularly those of Drake's Cambridge friend Richard Kirby, are gorgeous.

[Charlie O.]

Bryter Layter for me, too. Penk's basically got it (although I wouldn't call Pink Moon "thin"). I'll add that it's a much more mature work lyrically than Five Leaves Left. And I love the instrumentals (and, heaven knows, "Poor Boy").

[Shagger Dave]

Bryter Lyter. Gorgeous, but like the baron, I couldn't be without any of them.

[Kenji]

I think it's the one that you are listening to at the time you think about this question...

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Pink Moon for me - and I suspect it is the one with the best shot at making an impact on you John.

As strong as the arrangements are on the other albums, I can't imagine they are going to impress you any. Might as well go for the one that makes the case for him unadorned.

[Jeff K]

I'm taking the plunge.

Why now? If you didn't like him before what makes you think you'll change your opinion? I think you're caving in to the almighty BCB canon.

[Matty Red Sox]

I'm taking the plunge.

Why now? If you didn't like him before what makes you think you'll change your opinion? I think you're caving in to the almighty BCB canon.

Baaa baaa baaa Coan may be a black sheep, but he's still a sheep....baaaa baaaa baaaaa....I'll not cave to Nick Drake. Ever.

[king feeb]

I'll not cave to Nick Drake. Ever.

But will you drake to Nick Cave?

[James R]

Pink Moon, strictly because I think Drake is a bore and this is the least boring of his albums, and it's not hamstrung by instrumental arrangements that have dated poorly. I'm perhaps not as resistant to Drake's charms as what Mr Red Sox seems to be, but I do think he's massively overrated.

[Bungo the Mungo]

I'm taking the plunge.

Why now? If you didn't like him before what makes you think you'll change your opinion? I think you're caving in to the almighty BCB canon.

Remember our whinging a few months ago, Jeff? that we've run out of stuff to listen to? I need something 'new'.

I haven't actually heard much Nick Drake - I don't even think I've heard one song all the way through.

I like melodic music more and more, the older I get. I'm guessing this fella dishes up the goods from time to time. His melancholy will serve as a suitable soundtrack for my life in 2009.

[never/ever]

The cool, edgy pick is Pink Moon.
The beardy muso pick is Five Leaves Left.
The populist, boring and above all honest pick is Bryter Layter.

And I don't even have a beard!

[Corporate whore]

Pink Moon for me - and I suspect it is the one with the best shot at making an impact on you John.

As strong as the arrangements are on the other albums, I can't imagine they are going to impress you any. Might as well go for the one that makes the case for him unadorned.

I'm with the fat man.

in a purely platonic sense of course.

[purgatory brite]

Bryter Layter

[andymacandy]

You can get them all pretty cheap these days, otherwise Id say start
with this excellent comp;


You could do worse than get them in chronological order.
Five Leaves Left is a great introduction-full of the flavour of Drake.The voice and the subtle guitar work.
Bryter Later is both brighter, and later, and has the iconic "Northern Sky", and I quite like the more upbeat flavour-shows he could do both moods.
Pink Moon is very stark and bleak, but its the album that will grow on you the most once you have digested the other two.

Harshly, you might say that Drake had the perfect career.Three seminal albums, a bit more in the locker for the enthusiasts to discover later, and an early death before he made a clunker to taint the myth.

[Bungo the Mungo]

bryter layter is spoilt horribly, by 'poor boy', which is actually something of a BCB fave. make of that what you will.

i really like the compilation 'time of no reply', which was part of the fruit tree boxset. not sure if it's available to buy separately?