I’m going to listen to the top 3 upvoted albums and give you my honest unfiltered thoughts.

Please explain what makes the album special to you. For context, lyrics are very important to me, so I gravitate to music with good storytelling.

Alright! Results are in. I’ll be listening to:

  • Lateralus - Tool
  • To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
  • Pink Moon - Nick Drake
  • Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - The Smashing Pumpkins

(I know I said 3, but I couldn’t resist!)

  •  frost   ( @frost@beehaw.org ) 
    9•1 year ago

    Nick Drake - Pink Moon

    Almost entirely ignored during his brief career and then promptly forgotten following his untimely death, Nick Drake’s three full-length albums have only since gained wide recognition and praise in more recent decades. The final of these three albums, Pink Moon, is by far the finest of the trio.

    Released in 1972, Pink Moon is more stripped back compared to Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, which feature full, lush arrangements of horns, strings, pianos, often with a jazzy twist. Meanwhile, Pink Moon is the result of two nights worth of recording featuring only Nick’s voice and his expertly played acoustic guitar (plus a single overdubbing of a piano on the title tack). Nick’s guitar playing is captivating, playing amongst incredibly bizarre tunings and alternating between complicated, classical finger picking, and slightly more reserved strumming and chords. Nick shows himself to be an incredibly talented player, owing to his classical training, and this style would go on to inspire other artists much further down the line, such as Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, or Robert Smith of The Cure, the band’s name drawn from a line from one of Nick’s songs.

    Nick’s singing is hushed and reserved, nearly breathless during some sections, as he weaves his way through the scant 28 minutes of the album’s run time. This ethereal, almost ghost-like singing prevents him from overshadowing his guitar, while at the same time perfectly delivering his poetic writing. The lyricism is sublime and suits the more reserved arrangements of the songs, but is also incredibly personal and introspective, reflecting Nick’s ongoing struggles during his life.

    Struggling with depression and anxiety, Nick retreated into privacy following the album’s release and meger sales, never doing a live show in support of it. He would die from an overdose of medication in 1976, aged 26. On his grave in Tanworth-in-Arden, his tombstone is inscribed with a line from the final song off of the album, From the Morning:

    “And now we rise, and we are everywhere.”