Track Listing

1. Pink Moon
2. Place To Be
3. Road
4. Which Will
5. Horn
6. Things Behind The Sun
7. Know
8. Parasite
9. Free Ride
10. Harvest Breed
11. From The Morning

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #956 in Music
• Released on: 2000-06-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 28 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A stark, solo 28-minute adieu, Pink Moon was the last album Nick Drake lived to complete. That it proved to be his last album lends a suicidal urgency, and much has since been read into its staccato bleakness. But even before his previous album, Bryter Layter, was released, Nick had decided that the next one would be just him and a guitar--"no frills" he insisted. There is little comfort to be found in songs like "Know" or "Parasite" but, in an irony Nick would have appreciated, an American car commercial featuring the haunting title track recently alerted a huge new audience to his music. Digital remastering has enhanced the sound of all Nick's albums, but perhaps Pink Moon has benefited most: its aural environment, now all-enveloping, lending a pristine clarity to that matchless singing and playing. Sombre it may be, but it is a mistake to view Pink Moon as a tombstone--or, indeed, Nick Drake as a victim. Enjoy his music. He did. --Patrick Humphries

CD Description
It's widely reported that by the time Nick Drake got aroundto recording his third and final album, PINK MOON, his already-precarious mental/emotional state had drastically deteriorated. In a deep depression, Drake recorded a brace of soloacoustic tunes, dropped the tape off unannounced at the label's office one day, and that was the last the world at large ever heard of Drake's music.
The results of those solo sessions were as harrowing and stark as anything by Robert Johnson or Charley Patton. Enclosed in an inner world of psychological distress, Drake recorded PINK MOON's dispatches from a private hell that was simultaneously terrifying and beautiful. Both the lyrics and the melodic motifs are pared to the bone here, their simplicity making them all the more immediately striking. The most nakedly emotional and disturbingmoment is probably "Parasite", a visceral-but-mysterious account of a disconsolate soul roaming through the world in search of succour, with Drake taking the starring role, ultimately offering, "take a look, you may see me in the dirt". This was the end of the road for Nick Drake in more ways than one, but just the beginning for the scores of songwriters subsequently inspired by his bleak-but-beautiful visions.

Customer Reviews

I admit it, I was wrong......
I first heard this album not long after its original release and I wasn't too impressed. Compared to "Five Leaves Left" and "Bryter Layter" it seemed sketchy, unfinished, some interesting ideas which hadn't been fully worked out. Well, I was a whole lot younger then. Returning to this music after a thirty-year break I find it is fast becoming my favourite of Nick's albums (which is saying quite a lot as I love both of his earlier works). The intimacy of this record is the secret of it's appeal. Apart from the fact that the remastered sound is of brilliant quality and crystal clear, this could almost be Nick Drake sitting alone in his bedroom with his guitar, making up simple tunes and singing quietly just to himself. This is no rehearsal tape, however - the songs are fully formed and, without exception, exquisitely beautiful. The apparent simplicity which I had earlier dismissed as "unfinished" is in fact the result of commendable restraint on the part of the artist...less really is more in this case. I deliberately haven't commented on individual songs because the whole album is such a cohesive entity. I just love the whole thing. My only regret is that it took me so long to get around to giving the album another listen.

Timeless Perfection
I am always searching for the perfect album, the album which is totally faultless, which can be listened to over and over again, where there is not a single track you would even consider skipping, not a moment which drags a little, not one second which it could have done without. Finally, I have found one of these albums. Pink Moon is beautiful, bleak, uplifting, haunting, playful, atmospheric all at the same time. It's short at just under 30 minutes, but that seems just the right length for this album. Nick Drake is one of the most skilled virtuoso guitar players I have ever heard, at times its difficult to believe that there isn't a whole band playing, let alone just one man and his guitar. And not only that, his voice is just about the most perfect I have heard - delicate, honest and up front - almost sounds as if he's singing in your room. The lyrics are fascinating and, if you take the effort, add an extra dimension to the album. He sounds like a man who has finally found an inner piece after much turmoil. He sings of innocence, choice, identity, nature, suicude but the overriding feeling I get from this album is certainly not of a man crying out for help, but a very sensitive man who has finally accepted a few truths about life (read the superb lyrics to 'Road'). He seems tired and almost numb after the years of depression. "know that I love you, know that I don't care".
The most brilliant aspect of Nick Drake's music though is of course the songwriting - often relatively simple, often totally unique, always brilliant. Dont expect his music to come immediately - it takes a few listens to appreciate the melodies.

A perfect album. Not just 5/5 but 100/100.
Get this one first, then get Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, which are both near perfection too.

A raw and haunting beauty
This was Drake's third and last album and sees him at his most raw. At the time of recording it, he was going through the severe depression which would eventually lead to his tragic demise. During his recording sessions for Pink Moon he simply sat facing the wall with his back to everyone else, concentrating on his wondrous guitar playing and singing.

Drake used lots of different tunings for his acoustic guitar, which lends his songs a darker vibe than more conventional tunings. His voice croons over the guitar in a gentle, soft whisper which is tremendously comforting rather than depressing.

The guitar playing is awesome, and so raw - you can actually hear the sound his fingers make as they dance over the strings. There is no orchestration to speak of, which may disappoint fans of Drake's previous albums, but in my opinion this is the way Nick intended it - a glimpse of his soul, uncovered.

For anyone who has not yet heard Nick Drake, I would recommend Five Leaves Left as the best place to start, as it has a small amount of orchestration to complement the guitar picking and vocals. Bryter Layter, for me, is a little too layered, lush and upbeat, taking on a more country-esque feel. Five Leaves Left and Pink Moon are more folky and dark.

All in all, anyone who has ever loved masterful acoustic guitar playing and deeply sensitive songwriting would be mad to miss out on any of Nick's work, but Pink Moon is perhaps the best bet for fans of contemporary singer songwriters as it sounds so incredibly timeless.