Nick Drake Treasury CD

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Personnel: Nick Drake (vocals, guitar); Richard Thompson (guitar); Claire Lowther (cello); Robert Kirby (strings, brass); Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone); John Cale (piano, celesta, organ); Chris McGregor (piano); Dave Pegg (bass instrument); Danny Thompson (double bass); Dave Mattacks, Mike Kowalski (drums); Rocki Dzidzornu (congas); Doris Troy, Pat Arnold (background vocals).
Liner Note Author: Peter Paphides.
Poor Nick Drake. The soft-spoken introvert may have spent his days upon this earth as a struggling singer/songwriter, but since leaving, his atmospheric and distinctly melancholy songs have become a pop culture fixture. Rescued from British folk oblivion by a one-off Volkswagen commercial, his name has since been bandied about by critics looking to link the English bard with every winsome, dough-faced up-and-comer who puts out a record with strings on it. What's on a Nick Drake compilation is never as interesting as what was left off. The insistence of compilers to show the "whole" scope of Drake's sound is a bit laughable, as his four records -- despite the sparse arrangements on Pink Moon and 1986's demo collection Time of No Reply -- are essentially the same. On the SACD Treasury, his third "best-of" (not counting the Fruit Tree box), listeners get the usual suspects: "Hazey Jane II," "River Man," and "Way to Blue"; stereo remixes of "Black Eyed Dog," "Road," and "From the Morning"; and the posthumously released U.K. "hit" single "Magic," a flatly sung composition that Robert Kirby's spooky new string arrangement can't rescue from mediocrity. This leaves no room for essential Drake offerings like "Fly" or "Time of No Reply," resulting in a mix that, while still classic, suffers from the very knowledge of the aforementioned tracks' existence. Newcomers, if there are any by now, would be better off picking up 1994's Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake, a far more comprehensive look at an artist who continues to enchant and inspire, despite his somber demeanor and bitterly contested end. ~ James Christopher Monger
While there was no shortage of Nick Drake collections on the market by 2004, the options for Drake fans with high-end stereo systems and/or SACD players was pretty limited (that is to say non-existent) before the release of A TREASURY. A hybrid disc remastered in Super Audio Surround Sound, it offers 15 cuts from the Drake catalog; considering that he only released three official albums, that's a healthy chunk of the British singer/songwriter's oeuvre.
With unprecedentedly crisp quality, we're given masterfully orchestrated folk-rock ("Hazey Jane II," "Northern Sky"), bleak, strikingly minimalist, haiku-like solo-acoustic pieces ("Pink Moon," "Black Eyed Dog"), and lush, mournfully elegant ballads ("River Man," "Way to Blue"). Throughout, Drake's hushed, breathy voice, nimble Joao Gilberto-meets-John Fahey guitar work, and hauntingly beautiful lyricism shine through, making it clear why this doomed troubadour's slim repertoire has been revisited so many times over the years.