Five Leaves Left
by Nick Drake

From HoldenM 04/23/2026 20:28 | #314088

Stunning.

From JoaoMoreira 02/09/2024 00:40 | #301822

Beautiful ambience.
Some compositions are better than others but overall a good record.

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This is an absolutely stunning listen from start to finish. Nick Drake is just a genius and all the praise he has received is well deserved in my opinion. Everything about this album is just mesmerising to listen to. At the centre of all of this is a singer songwriter album with one of the greatest artists who has made albums in this style. His guitar playing is delicate and soothing but it is filled with emotion and I always find myself feeling like I am right alongside him as he plays. This album really gives that much of a personal feel that you become so connected to Drake and his music. His lyrics are fantastic and his vocal matches his guitar playing perfectly. If the album was just Nick Drake and his guitar it would still be amongst the greatest of all time because of how sensational he is on here but he strengthens the quality on this release by adding a diverse array of instrumentation. They are integrated into every song beautifully and add depth and character to an album that is already packed full of both of these. It is stunning to listen to this record time and time again and just be blown away by the additional musicians on here and seeing how much they can add to an already phenomenal release. Overall, Nick Drake keeps on impressing me with how intelligent he is with music and with how outstanding he is as an artist as this album is extraordinary.

This is the first Nick Drake album i have listen to, and it is very good. He is a very good singer songwriter, and i intend to listen to his other albums.

Best Drake album in my opinion, I love its rawness and the orchestral arrangements in some of its songs.

From Rug 02/20/2022 07:03 | #281568

The story goes that Nick Drake's understated, intimate lyricism was a product of his being "too sensitive for this world," a remark that diminishes his skill and commitment to revision by reducing them to an emotional quirk. Nick had "a skin too few" maybe, as Gabrielle Drake would say, but hardly a superpower or malignant brand of genius.

Five Leaves Left is his best album by a hair, and that hair grows on a little patch of versatility. While Pink Moon and Bryter Layter are masterpieces in their own right (and both would find spots on my chart if it weren't for my 1 album per artist rule), Five Leaves Left is more emotionally flexible. "Time Has Told Me" could be either your mother whispering the opening notes of a lullaby or your lover murmuring a gentle good morning. It's the balm you reach for to soothe or the champagne you sip to celebrate.

Five Leaves Left is both a respite from the harshness of the world and an exploration of the thousands of beauties you might find in it, and that duality only happens through Nick Drake's willingness to speak as carefully as he listens.

I much prefer the atmosphere of Bryter Layter but this one has good one too. Not necessarily my thing, but I can appreciate unique arrangement of River Man and a lot of other tracks here.

I came to this way later than the rest of Drake's material, and that's both a blessing and a curse. While I can appreciate the musicality and sonic decisions, there is better material out there in my opinion.

From teague 09/18/2021 17:18 | #273893

Reminds me of Buffalo Springfield in parts. His voice is really soothing, and the instrumentation is great. I just wish it were a little less busy sometimes.