Fruit Tree: +DVD [Box set, Extra tracks, Limited Edition]

As a Nick Drake's fan since the time when he released "Five Leaves Left", I am very happy that Nick's work has finally found a broader audience who truly enjoys his work. We should be grateful to Joe Boyd for making it contractually mandatory for Nick's record label to keep his work permanently available. Nevertheless, I find that those good intentions are being pushed a bit too far.

In 1992, I bought the first "Fruit Tree" 4-CD box compilation, which included the contents of the first three Drake LP's. The four extra studio tracks (recorded in February 1974) which first appeared on the original "Fruit Tree" Island vinyl box (1979) were augmented with ten selections of additional material (early takes, home recordings.) This material featured on the last disc, titled "Time of No Reply."

Although released in 1992, the Hannibal CD remasterings were, sonically, not all that they could be. I find this to be true for all the other Hannibal CD's that I own when compared to the original LP's or to other state-of-the-art remastered CD's from the same period.)

Therefore, I was very pleased to be able to buy the three 24-bit remastered Island CD's (issued in 2000), which feature stellar sound. "Time of No Reply" was not remastered and I kept it, of course.

Later on, John Wood discovered another previously unissued studio track ("Tow The Line") from the 1974 sessions. This track appears solely on a so-so compilation titled "Made to Love Magic" (which mixes some songs from "Time of No Reply" tracks with other material). The remastering was a bonus however. I bought the latter CD whilst holding on to "Time of No Reply."

Now, the "Fruit Tree" box reappears in its third guise. Nick's first three LP releases appear as audio discs stored in faithfully reproduced "LP mini-sleeves." By the way, I find that if these mini-sleeves are what it takes as far as nostalgia goes, they are hardly appropriate to retrieve/insert the discs properly. You will be better off storing them in standard jewel boxes.

The fourth disc is a 48-minute documentary DVD titled "A Skin Too Few" including some fairly interesting material for those who want to see and hear first-hand anecdotes from the Drake family and friends, as well as pictures and incidental musical backings by Nick. There is also a wealth of notes, comments, etc. that will keep you reading for quite some time.

From my point of view, this release is a faux pas. I wonder why the compilers decided to leave out the additional studio tracks from the first CD box. DVD release or not, this box was an opportunity to include all of the FIVE original 1974 recordings, thus offering a complete view of Nick Drake's original studio material (at least until John Woods does find another unissued studio take in those decidedly unkempt tape vaults!)

Unless you want the DVD and the wealth of added new notes, comments, etc., there is no point in buying this if you are already well acquainted with Nick Drake. If you do, this makes for a very expensive DVD and some new literature.

I understand that the "targets" of this piece of product are, besides the collectors, those people who will want to use it to fill some Christmas stockings.

Incidentally, the music on the audio CD's is magnificent. Nick Drake was born to create magical music and words only. However, you already knew that, didn't you?

Admittedly, all the press hype and whatnot that surrounded this guy may have been slightly hysterical...but...

These three albums are really all you need to own if you consider yourself remotely human. These really are some of the most beautifully crafted songs ever. Period.

This is a lovely box with "mini vinyl" versions of the CDs, with all the original artwork and a huge booklet with notes on every song and lyrics.

It's interesting to read and hear the "story" and how Nick progressed with his writing and playing. It is sad that he died, but kind of great that ALL he left behind was this good. A little secret for us that care.

Each album is different in it's own right and I don't think there's a specific best one. Just put them all on and get lost in the splendour.

If you make one purchase this year, this should be it.

Nick Drake was one of those rare artists who had great talents, but too little time on this earth.

When he died in his mid-twenties in 1974, Drake left behind only three albums of poignant baroque-folk pop. Three albums, and a demo/B-side collection -- sadly, that was all he created, aside from a few songs scattered here and there. We can only imagine what he would have made, had he lived.

"Fruit Tree" collects all four albums together, in the order they were released: The first is his enchanting debut "Five Leaves Left," a wistful and startlingly polished first album. "Five Leaves First" is followed by the masterful, brooding "Bryter Layter," which many consider to be his best work of all.

His swan song was the beautiful, tormented "Pink Moon," which hints at Drake's inner turmoil, but not in a raw or obvious way. Coming after that was "Time of No Reply," a solid collection of non-album tracks. Admittedly, it's a bit of an anticlimax after the veiled emotion of "Pink Moon," but still extremely good.

It's a rare thing when am artist's entire discography is made up of beautiful songwriting and equally exquisite music, without a dud to be found. There is literally not a single bad song on the entire collection -- the worst songs on it can simply be said to be pretty good, but not one of them is actually bad or boring. That in itself is a rarity.

Drake's music is of a nearly-uniform mood -- wistful, brooding, soft and melodic. Normally a repeating theme is a bad thing, but Drake managed to keep it always interesting. He has a few catchier songs, a few bland-ish ones, and a few hopeful ones. But the overall sound is of a young man with romantic sensibilities, who was also sad and fragile.

His instrumentation is half the beauty of these, especially since folkpop with all these extra instruments is still kind of a rarity. He mixed his finger-picking guitar style with viola, strings, piano, and other such instruments. The baroque-pop flavour of these songs adds extra beauty -- and often a richly ethereal quality -- to the grounded guitar.

But despite his loneliness, Drake had immense writing ability. His songwriting has a simple eloquence, full of literate allusions to classic poetry. So unsurprisingly, his songs are full of beautifully poetic moments ("Time has told me/You came with the dawn/A soul with no footprint/A rose with no thorn"). Some of them even hint at the depressed state of mind.

Nick Drake left behind only a few albums, but "Fruit Tree" allows you to hear them all together. Exquisite, understated, and truly timeless.