Tuck Box

The headline said it all !

Brillant!

This is a very simple, yet elegant, presentation of Nick Drake’s complete works.I purchased it through Amazon UK for about 25 pounds, which makes it currently much cheaper than the US import, and quite good value for money in my opinion.All the music has been previously, separately released.THE MUSICThe box (supposedly designed after Drake's “tuck box” from College days) contains Drake's 3 albums released during his lifetime (“Five Leaves Left”; “Bryter Layter”; “Pink Moon”), plus 2 CDs (“Made To Love Magic” and “Family Tree”) with his posthumously released recordings:- “Made To Love Magic” (originally released 2004) consists of outtakes, alternate versions and his last 5 songs for the never completed 4th album, most of the material professionally recorded in studio by Drake's engineer of choice John Wood, most of them just voice&guitar, a few augmented by Robert Kirby's orchestrations;- “Family Tree” (originally released 2007) collects home recordings hailing back before his first record: despite their “home recording” nature here we have some stunning Far Leys and Aix-en-Provence intimate performances.The three “official” records are absolute masterpieces of course, but - if you are a fan - the posthumous recordings are extremely interesting and rewarding as well.THE SOUNDNo new remastering here, none was infact needed, each record having been recently, wonderfully remastered by John Woods (in year 2000 for the first 3 records; 2004 for “Made To Love Magic”; 2007 for “Family Tree”).The sound is rich and gorgeous for the studio recordings (i.e. the first four records), quite acceptable for the home recordings on the fifth disc. Actually, I was so mesmerized by the guitar work on some of the home recordings that I actually forgot I was listening to a non professional recording.ARTWORK & POSTERSThe CDs are housed in cardboard gatefold sleeves.The booklets to the originally released 3 records maintain all the original artwork and recording information, plus lyrics to every song (same as the latest, 2000 CD version).The booklets to the posthumous CDs have essays from arranger-friend Robert Kirby, engineer John Woods, moving memoirs from sister Gabrielle and fellow songstress Robin Frederick from the Aix days.The box contains mini-posters for each of the five records; if you already own the records you can purchase just box&posters directly from Nick Drake Estate's site, for about £10.

The music of Nick Drake is wonderful - the three albums released by Nick (Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, Pink Moon) are wonderful, a rich legacy left behind at the young man's premature deathHowever, this new box set offers no new music, and, really, the previous Fruit Tree box sets (the first with FLL, BL, PM, Time of No Reply, booklet of lyrics & essay on Hannibal; the later (2007) reissue with a nice dvd (A skin too few) and (another) book included with FLL, BL, PM) are probably cheaper to pick up now. Here in the states the full retail price on Amazon for this release seems to be close to $100 from AmazonI'm not really sure who this box set is being marketed to. Most fans will already have the lot. Why Cally can't just put out the off air recordings of Nick playing the BBC, or outtakes from Five Leaves Left (with the original orchestration previous to Kirby stepping in)This set doesn't even include "Plaisir d'amour" which appears on a UK compilation import (Collection)Its great music, but there really needs to be a Fruit Tree II with everything thats already out there of Nick, or owned by the estate him playing at Aix en provence, him playing Michael Row the Boat Ashort at the odd party, home recordings of "Fly" being worked out (Brian Wells had a few takes of the track), work tapes from 68 that the late Scott Appell had from the family. I'm just surprised they're releasing this material one more time, no matter how good it is

Il cofanetto é molto bello, robusto e -sorpresa molto piacevole - con le foto pubblicitarie originali del tempo di uscita dei dischi. La musica di Nick suscita una strana malinconia che si avvicina alla gioia piano piano, come le cose più preziose e nascoste, essa si fa amare piano ma poi non ti lasciano mai più, e probabilmente prima di lasciare questa terra mi ascolterò la canzone più bella che sia mai stata scritta: "I never felt magic crazy as this..."

Maravillosa caja de un artista a reivindicar. La caja se compone de 5 posters promocionales de cada uno de los discos que lleva y cada disco en digipack de cartón con su libreto con las letras. Pero lo mejor de todo, por supuesto, es la maravillosa música de Drake, que te atrapa y te envuelve desde el primer acorde, un autentico genio que por desgracia nos dejo demasiado pronto, no sin antes regalarnos estos destellos de su arte. Un artista con el que la expresión "cuando menos es mas" cobra todo su sentido, música sin muchos alardes ni mucho instrumentos pero que lo dice todo y llega como la mas compleja. Por si esto fuera poco todos los discos han sido remasterizados a 24bits y os puedo garantizar que es una de las mejores remasterizaciones que he escuchado en mi vida, el sonido es cristalino, puro, con todos los instrumentos en su lugar pero sonando naturales una autentica gozada, por lo que no solo recomiendo su compra, y mas a este precio, si no que es una compra obligatoria para todo amante de la buena música.

Der britische Gitarrist und Singer/Songwriter Nick Drake, geboren am 19. Juni 1948 in Rangun, Birma, blieb Zeit seines Lebens ein Insider-Tip. Seine drei offiziellen Alben wurden von den Musikkritikern zwar sehr positiv bewertet, der kommerzielle Erfolg wollte sich jedoch nicht einstellen - die Verkaufszahlen waren wenig erfreulich. Zudem wollte Nick Drake nicht live auftreten und Single-Hits hatte er auch nicht zu verzeichnen. Die Folge war, dass er immer introvertierter wurde und in Depressionen verfiel. Am 25. November 1974 wurde Nick Drake in Tanworth-in-Arden nahe Coventry tot in seinem Bett aufgefunden. Er starb an einer Überdosis Antidepressiva - bis heute ist unklar ob gewollt oder versehentlich.Die vorliegende "Tuck Box" liefert nun nahezu das gesamte Werk des Folkmusikers, der völlig zu Recht im selben Atemzug genannt werden kann mit Musikern wie Van Morrison, Tim Buckley oder Leonard Cohen. Die Box beinhaltet folgende CDs:- Five Leaves Left (1969): ruhige, melancholische und sparsam instrumentierte Songs (teilweise Streicherarrangements). Warme Stimme und überzeugendes Gitarrenspiel- Bryter Layter (1970) : sehr persönliche Texte, getragen von einer sehr guten Rhythmusgruppe, u.a. Richard & Danny Thompson, Dave Pegg und John Cale. Dieses Album gilt allgemein als sein bestes Werk. Ein vergleichsweise fröhliches Album.- Pink Moon (1972) : aufgenommen in nur zwei Nächten ohne Begleitung; Solo Gitarre bzw. Klavier. Warmer, intimer Sound, aber auch zunehmend klaustrophobisch.- Made To Love Magic (2004) : eine Outtake-Compilation mit unter anderem den letzten fünf Songs, die für das vierte Album geplant waren.- Family Tree (2007) : Demo-Aufnahmen aus der Zeit vor seinem ersten Album.Die feste Box hat die Masse 18,5 x 18,5 x 5,5 cm (LxBxH). Die fünf CDs liegen fest in einem eingelassenen Fach. Die Einzel-CDs erscheinen in aufklappbaren Paper-Sleeves mit Original-Artwork (Farb- und Druckqualität sehr gut!). Jede einzele CD enthält ein 12 bis 16-seitiges Booklet, bei den drei Original-Alben mit Songtexten. Zusätzlich liegen der Box fünf Reproduktionen der originalen Promoposter bei. Laut Werbung ist die Box der Nachbau eines Kästchens, das Nick Drake nutzte, um die Kuchensendungen seiner Mutter aufzubewahren. Erfreulich ist, dass das Ganze überhaupt nicht billig anmutet - ein tolles Geschenk!Es sei darauf hingewiesen, das die Box nur bereits veröffentlichtes Material enthält! Keine neuen Bonus-Tracks, keine neuen Fundstücke.Die Musik Nick Drake's hat es wahrlich verdient, neu entdeckt zu werden! Höchste Empfehlungsstufe![Reinhard Busse]

I've read a few misleading reviews about this set. Just my two pennies worth trying to set the record straight.This box is a very simple, yet elegant, presentation of Nick Drake's complete works.All the music has been previously, separately released.THE MUSICThe box (supposedly designed after Drake's "tuck box" from College days) contains Drake's 3 albums released during his lifetime ("Five Leaves Left"; "Bryter Layter"; "Pink Moon"), plus 2 CDs ("Made To Love Magic" and "Family Tree") with his posthumously released recordings: - "Made To Love Magic" (originally released 2004) consists of outtakes, alternate versions and his last 5 songs for the never completed 4th album, most of the material professionally recorded in studio by Drake's engineer of choice John Wood, most of them just voice&guitar, a few augmented by Robert Kirby's orchestrations; - "Family Tree" (originally released 2007) collects home recordings hailing back before his first record: despite their "home recording" nature here we have some stunning Far Leys and Aix-en-Provence intimate performances.The three "official" records are absolute masterpieces of course, but - if you are a fan - the posthumous recordings are extremely interesting and rewarding as well.THE SOUNDNo new remastering here, none was infact needed, each record having been recently, wonderfully remastered by John Woods (in year 2000 for the first 3 records; 2004 for "Made To Love Magic"; 2007 for "Family Tree").The sound is rich and gorgeous for the studio recordings (i.e. the first four records), quite acceptable for the home recordings on the fifth disc. Actually, I was so mesmerized by the guitar work on some of the home recordings that I actually forgot I was listening to a non professional recording.ARTWORK & POSTERSThe CDs are housed in cardboard gatefold sleeves.The booklets to the originally released 3 records maintain all the original artwork and recording information, plus lyrics to every song (same as the latest, 2000 CD version).The booklets to the posthumous CDs have essays from arranger-friend Robert Kirby, engineer John Woods, moving memoirs from sister Gabrielle and fellow songstress Robin Frederick from the Aix days.The box contains mini-posters for each of the five records; if you already own the records you can purchase just box&posters directly from Nick Drake Estate's site, for about £10.

Tout ce qu'a enregistré Nick Drake est là... ses 3 albums originaux + le disque de raretés et out-takes + le disque Family Tree enregistré dans sa jeunesse en famille.Chaque CD (dont le son est très bien) est dans un boîtier carton avec livret 12 pages, l'artwork d'époque est reproduit (y compris le label sur le disque lui-même). Il y a aussi 5 posters. La quantité et surtout qualité que vous recevez pour ce prix si modique, vaut vraiment le coup !En plus, si vous avez DÉJÀ les CDs vous pouvez acheter la boîte seule (avec les posters) sur le site officiel ! c'est pas beau ça ?N'hésitez- pas ! ...et pour celles et ceux qui ne connaissent pas Nick Drake, c'est aussi un bon moyen de le découvrir pleinement et facilement. Bonne écoute !