The "I've Just Tried" Thread

Here's a thread for fresh opinions on an album by a group that you've heard about, read about or heard a song from that made you want to try an album. If you are like me you are constantly exploring and trying to dig into as much as you can and this happens all the time. My debut for this thread is an artist I've seen tossed around a fair bit here and is a very critically acclaimed dark horse of his time as he's only achieved his legacy post career and life. The artist is Nick Drake and I picked what seemed to me his most famous album based on what I've seen and the familiarity of the album cover:

Nick Drake-Pink Moon


Upon first listen I could already tell he wasn't a folk voice I tend to favor but i could hear his influence in other folkier artist like Death Cab For Cutie, Elliot Smith, etc. I'm not crazy about that hazy kind of droll folk vocal. I like a little more personality and vocal inflections in my folk artist. The other end of the spectrum is Bob Dylan as he's way too off the grid in the opposite direction more me. Nick Drake as written is very depressing and a lot of times with the right emotion I can buy into that emotion cathartically. Here it just drags me down in a sleepy slump. At it's best I can get into it as he picks up a little bit with what I find to be one of the highlights, "Things Behind The Sun". Here he kind of sounds like Urge Overkill which I know would be vice versa since Nick Drake came first. There's a little more groove here and one of the signs of life on the album. Lyrically it's still a cautionary tale that lackstrust in others but still offers glimmers of hope with lines like "Don't be shy you learn to fly and see the sun when day is done" and It's a gleam of light in all the gloom:

Things Behind The Sun


I've noticed that when the guitars come in the sharpest and strongest is when the album is best as he needs something to cut through his vocals. He's got this vocal that just sets in like a fog and at times it's like a slow slur where I can't even tell what he's saying. Some may like this style of folk but I never have. Overall this is still a solid album for what it is. It has some elements of beauty and expression and I believe it's 100% genuine from the heart and soul of the artist which in folk is all you can ask for. I'd recommend this to fans of folk and singer songwriters who have more of an ear than I do for the more depressing, sleepy vocal stylings.

Soot, I honestly think you got the wrong Nick Drake album. You really should listen to Five Leaves left.

As for the thread idea: let me think about that a little longer.

Here are some songs from Five Leaves Left:

Riverman:



Time Has Told Me:

A great album/artist to start with Soot

Quote: heard a song from that made you want to try an album - end Quote

It was in the summer of '94 that I went to a record shop in my hometown. During that time I was heavily into metal like Megadeth and such bands. The music they played stopped and a new song rang out through the store. My attention was immediately drawn to that song. I went up to a guy who worked there and asked who that was. He said Jeff Buckley man!! You must hear more. So they played a few more songs, I bought it right away and it's become a big favorite ever since!!



Grace:

electric funeral said:

Soot, I honestly think you got the wrong Nick Drake album. You really should listen to Five Leaves left.

As for the thread idea: let me think about that a little longer.

Here are some songs from Five Leaves Left:

Riverman:



Time Has Told Me:

Click to expand...

lpjunkie93 said:

A great album/artist to start with Soot

Click to expand...

I'll definitely go back and try that one EF! Maybe I'll like it better. I see he had three official albums. It's be cool if each was a little different from each other.

Thanks lpjunkie! Even though I didn't love it I'm glad I tried it out!

Now THIS is a great find for me. I listened to this after Nick Drake not because I'm covering all the Nicks but because I'd falling in love with an artist named Lissie who first started some awesome live covers on youtube before dropping an album of equally awesome originals. Anyway, after that album she dropped a EP with some of those covers plus a cover of a song I'd never heard of. I however loved that one more than any of the others and after hearing the original think it's an amazing cover that does it more than justice. The cover was "Ship Song" and I found it was by a band and artist I'd only heard the name off, "Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds". Here's the cover before I delve into the original:

Lissie-The Ship Song


Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds is not a name you'd associated with such a beautiful piece and I was somewhat right. The song was very rough around the edges in comparison after listening. It's like they switched the vocals to Lestat or something and it was a gothy vampire ballad. Still it was brooding yet beautiful.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds-Ship Song


Still, I never bothered with an album as it still didn't seem like the rest would be my style. I pictured that song being their exception and they'd be a goth rock or punk band. Last night and today I've been playing the album where the song came from:

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds-The Good Son


What a surprising ****ing gem! Seriously, I don't know what to call this as it has everything. It's an intense album full of dark emotions but also ones of light. I wasn't quite settled into the album with the French titled "Foi Na Cruz" but I was interested. The gospel of 'The Good Son" completely drew me in. It's like Depeche Mode found themselves singing a rock opera.

The Good Son


The instrumentation on this whole album is so rich and powerful. It's amazingly arranged and compliment Nick's vocals amazingly. Perhaps the track that blew me away the most though was "The Hammer Song". I really can't stop listening to it. It's fierce and full of angry conviction. Every instrument like the title of the song comes hammering down:

The Hammer Song


The album is a mix of beauty and gloom. I've read that fans were disappointed but Nick was in love at the time so maybe I wouldn't like Nick's other works if it's drastically different. I think this album is absolutely brilliant though and warrants more exploration. The album ends appropriately on a very tender ballad and like a Robin Williams movie where the funny man aces the dark dramatic roles because he naturally has that energy built up inside it's nice to see the reverse here. Behind a dark facade sometimes is where the most beauty comes from:

Lucy

I'll have a think about this one. Nice idea and I'll enjoy reading the posts

electric funeral said:

Quote: heard a song from that made you want to try an album - end Quote

It was in the summer of '94 that I went to a record shop in my hometown. During that time I was heavily into metal like Megadeth and such bands. The music they played stopped and a new song rang out through the store. My attention was immediately drawn to that song. I went up to a guy who worked there and asked who that was. He said Jeff Buckley man!! You must hear more. So they played a few more songs, I bought it right away and it's become a big favorite ever since!!



Grace:

Click to expand...

I had a similar experience. We were at a friend's party and he has a very similar taste to me in music, so all the stuff he had playing I knew well. Then this one song came on that stopped me in my tracks - I didn't know it and didn't recognise the singer's voice, but I fell in love with the song immediately. I asked who it was and was told Jeff Buckley... the song was Grace. I went out the next day and picked the album up Such a stunningly beautiful song, and I never tire of hearing it.