This Is Magic
The tragic genius that he was, so unknown during his lifetime and now celebrated and rightly so. Nick Drake put simply was (and still in my mind is) the greatest folk singer Britain has ever produced. Forget, Fairport Convention and Vashti Bunyan, Nick is the real deal.

His music moves me in ways no artist has ever done. The autumnal beauty of his songs take me on a journey through his life, I feel like I'm standing in that recording studio with him on "Pink Moon" and I feel his breath on "Five Leaves Left". Currently I don't own "Bryter Layter" but that is my life's top priority at the moment, screw everything else, I won't be a complete human being till I own every song Nick's voice appears on.

Some people may see this as a bit over the top, but if they listen to this album they will see my point. A collection of rarities and previously unreleased b-sides "Made To Love Magic" is a worthy eulogy to Nick's grandeur. Every song is flawless.

There are three immediate distinctions of Nick's music: his voice, guitar style and unique sound.

His voice is husky and changes over the course of his catalogue. This collection has a wide array of his vocal timbres as many were recorded in the desperation of his last days. Chilling, yes, but a lot of hope can be heard in his depressing voice. It has a very quaint English accent to it and sounds very feminine.

I consider Nick to be the greatest guitarist that ever lived, unlike Hendrix or Cobain he never had to rely on mass amplification and fuzz that overshadowed the techinical ability of their playing. Nick's solely acoustic playing adds a new dimension to music, his tunings were simply genius and have basically never been repeated. He plays the guitar with such finesse and intuition it often takes away from the integrity of his lyrics.

I have never heard folk music sound so unique, the string infusion into Nick's music on his earlier music especially give folk a lushness never heard before or again since. This collection picks up on that well. These b-sides rival any of Nick's album work.

Nothing Nick has done could be called bad. While this is an amazing collection I am still under the agreement that "Pink Moon" is his best work.

Serendipity
I first discovered Nick Drakes music while watching the movie Serendipity. I fell in love with "The Northern Sky" and they also use the beginning of the song "Black Eyed Dog" here and there about the movie. His music Haunted me, I downloaded them and listened to them and continue to this day to listen to his words.
I never read anything on him until today, I didnt even know he passed. His music formed new meaning as I discovered more and more about his life.

Simply Magical
I stumbled across this CD a week or so after visiting Tanworth in Arden and Nicks grave..a coincidence I am sure but still !!!

This does Nick justice, and everyone involved in putting this compilation together should be proud of their achievements.

The fact that many of the tracks on this CD did not make an 'official' appearance when nick was alive does NOT diminish them

If you have never heard Nick Drake before then this is as good a place to start...then go and buy Five Leaves Left

Definitely Worth Having (If You Don't Have It Already)
Nick Drake's body of work is getting a bit cannabilized at this point, having been packaged and repackaged several times over. This is yet another collection of tracks that did not make his three studio albums (or did, but this provides alternate takes). Drake was such a wonderful guitarist and had such a unique voice that anything he did is worth grabbing up, but for his diehard fans a lot of this is going to be duplication. The new listener might want to check out highlights such as "Mayfair," "Hanging On A Star," or "Black Eyed Dog." A better starting point, though, would be his actual albums: "Five Leaves Left," "Bryter Layter," and the haunting "Pink Moon."

Just great
In a nutshell - all Nick Drakes tracks are fine also all
this cd's tracks.