Comus

Recorded with members of the Fairport Convention there is no doubt that this album will be musically sound. However it is not the instruments here that make this album great, regardless of how good the instrumentals are. Here it is about a brilliant mind, with a beautiful voice. His most optimistic album in my eyes, this album is an incredibly uplifting experience. Time Has Told Me sets the scene for a truly beautiful album, the little instrumental tangents here complement the song brilliantly and lay a perfect lattice work for Drake's magnificent voice.

Differing from Dylan's often harsh sounds Drake sets himself apart not only lyrically but stylistically as well. There are some brilliant lines of lyrics in Time Has Told Me, as well as the rest of Five Leaves Left, and indeed his other albums. River Man is one of the true highlights of the album. Drake manages some truly haunting vocals that hang in the air seemingly forever. The lyrics are a jumbled almost suffocating journey, often contradicting but always keeping you on guard. The dark, atumnal sound is driven by a beautiful string arrangment composed by Harry Robinson and Robert Kirby, Kirby having worked with such artists as John Cale, the Strawbs and Sanny Denny really shines here.

Three Hours has some lovely rhythms and percussion that give an outworldish feel to it, almost certainly a reflection of Nick Drakes optimism at the time it really does drive you through the experience. The longest song on the album very often feels like the shortest, despite Drake keeping his vocal performance very much subdued the music very much creates feeling of the song. This is the first song to fully manage to get a grip of your emotions, after being set up by the two previous songs. Three Hours will set your heart fluttering and put your mind in overdrive, it is a true musical experience and the Fairport Convention members featured really shine here.

Way To Blue hits with a beautiful string arrangement complementing Drakes beautiful vocals, it is an incredibly uplifting composition. When you hear this it's painful how overlooked the album was when it was first released, that such beautifully composed songs with so much heart and effort could be overlooked at a time when music was truly appreciated is nothing short of a crime. The poetry of Drake really shines here it never feels awkward, and never feels forced, always remaining natural and true to himself and his emotions. After being pumped up by Three Hours the sombre Way To Blue sets your feet squarely back on the ground, painfully short it ends all to quickly.

Day is Done has some more beautiful folk melodies, but here it is the lyrics that thrive. The truly inspired lyrics here, too many to write out really do shine. You're forced to stop and listen, but that's exactly what should happen when faced with truly brilliant songwriting. It would take a long time to be able to sing along to, as would most of Drakes songs, however it is a very satisfying feeling to constantly rediscover these pieces of lyric. 'Cello Song is a brilliant little ditty, once again there is a contrast between the music and Drak'es vocals.

On this album there seems to be a constant power struggle between uplifting music and sombre reflective vocals and it creates a very interesting juxtaposition. Drakes quiet vocals are not featured very high in the mix, this was a risky decision but I feel it works incredibly well. It forces the listener to focus on the lyrical aspect and it puts the album very much in control of the listener. This power should definitely not be lost when considering the merits of this already brilliant album.

Throughout the album you very much get a feel that it is a young album, the layering gives very much a sense of faux development. It is very Naive and juvenile at times, this makes his later two albums especially Pink Moon a greater significance and sets up a very emotional trilogy. The engaged listener benefits from this knowledge, I feel the album will sound its best and have the most effect on a person that is intimately aquainted with it and the other Drake albums. A general knowledge of the person itself also adds greater meaning to the songs.

The Thoughts of Mary Jane is most certainly one of the most uplifting beautiful songs on the album that very much creates a feeling of longing within the listener. This control of emotions once again features and just shows how much of a grip the album can have on the listener. Man In A Shed is another example of brilliant juxtaposition, both the lyrics and the vocals handle a quite sombre subject matter while the music goes in a totally different direction. Again this creates a feeling of longing which makes the previous track even more powerful.

As Fruit Tree makes it to my ear I'd most certainly like to comment on how effective the acoustic instrumentals are in creating something that is very much different from other albums of this nature. It's hard to consider this an acoustic album simply because of how well and how powerfully the album is constructed. The lyrics continue to shine on Fruit Tree and it's hard to find weak points in the album at this stage. This is purely because the album has such a grip on the active listener at this point.

It is far to easy to simply put a Nick Drake album on and have it running in the background, but that is simply wasting what are beautiful songs and albums. To give this less than your full attention is indeed a waste of beautifully constructed songs. While a general theme runs through the album it is impossible to say that all the songs sound the same, the only thing that remains constant is Nick Drake's voice.

Saturday Sun is a fitting end to the album, supported by some lovely sad piano and a suprisingly upbeat Drake it provides a totally out of place ending track. That being said it is very much of the album, even if it is quite different and it lays a foundation of whats to come.

Musically this album is brilliant, but lyrically it is sublime, that being said, there are a few things that just hold it back. It's not so much individual songs or passages, there is just a feeling of unfulfilled potential, stifled by a naive outlook. Many favour this album over his other two main albums, however I feel it is a step below Bryter Layter and so is Bryter Layter to Pink Moon.

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