Bryter Layter Music Cd

Nick Drake - Bryter Layter

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Bryter Layter      Artist : Nick Drake      List Price : $18.98 USD        Your Price : $18.98 USD      ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 2003-05-06      Studio : Umvd Import      Label : Umvd Import      Avg. Customer Rating : (80 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Bryter Layter      'Bryter Still'      Rating:      Aw no, not another hippy. Not another counter-culture lifestyle mullah. Ok, it looks that way but first, let's check Nick Drake's hippie-dom credentials; 1, Centre Parting ? - Check. 2, Floral Shirt/Dungarees ? - Check. 3, Being on Island Records ? - Check. 4, Standing in the woods with an acoustic guitar looking meaningful ? - Check. So, he meets the criteria, but does he have a pleasing, cynic-bashing, soulful music, designed (in a genuinely conspiratorial sense ) to make your wobbling correspondent eat his facetious words with side-orders of tofu and quorn? Of course he does, 'Bryter Layter' is yet another excellent surprise. This one is screaming 'winner' before you even get to the music. The sleeve reveals he has John Cale and Richard Thompson (who is rapidly becoming one of my all time heroes) in tandem, so you instinctively know he's running from the winning blocks. Drake's from the Cat Stevens school of smoothy folk-pop, but he's far from drone and earnestness. He's got torrential strings, ringing guitar, and more impressively, good songs in abundance. A big music (in a small sense) but it compliments his sweet lyrics and melodies without swamping them. Thompson's influence is immeasurable. Not just here but in music generally. He's enriched works from Sandy Denny to David Thomas, and his enigmatic-isms are seized on by Drake who uses them as a platform for his own successes, a building-block to his own particularly pleasing house of tricks. On top, he's got the best use of flute and strings since Tull's sumptuous 'Reasons For Waiting', (which a fair block of 'BL' is very like) and a vital, vibrant album results. Sure, Drake looks all Woodstock, wet and wimpy, but his voice has a sandpaper smoothness, and his songs very definitely have depth, insight and unity. He ticks the creative boxes much more than the (deliciously) sarcastic ones above, and therefore he emerges with kudos and no shortfall of credit. He's nowhere near the genius Roy Harper is, (See? That Thompson again!) but 'BL' is firmly on the right track, and can fight it's corner with vim and plenty of pride. So, puns well and truly on the back-burner, (and isn't it cute the way that my reviews are circular?) one last condition.. Does Nick Drake have a deserved 5-star brilliant album ? - Check.     Customer Reviews for Bryter Layter Cd      Drake at his Most upbeat      Rating:      This is my favorite Drake record. All 3 of his albums are easily 5 stars albums but this one is the most upbeat and thus can be listened to fairly regularly while the other 2 especially Pink Moon can only be taken on a song by song basis for me. 1. "Introduction" 3/5 2. "Hazey Jane II" 5/5 3. "At the Chime of a City Clock" 5/5 4. "One of These Things First" 5/5 5. "Hazey Jane I" 4/5 6. "Bryter Layter" 5/5 7. "Fly" 4/5 8. "Poor Boy" 4/5 9. "Northern Sky" 5/5 10. "Sunday" 4/5