Five Leaves Left

Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |Template:Short description|noreplace}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other Template:Category handler Template:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Bryter Layter1971studioFive Leaves LeftFive Leaves Left.jpgNick Drake3 July 1969<ref name="release">Template:Cite book</ref>May 1968 – April 1969Sound Techniques, London*Folk<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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Five Leaves Left is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. Recorded between 1968 and 1969, it was released in 1969 by Island Records.

Background and recordingEdit

Five Leaves Left was recorded between May 1968 and April 1969 at Sound Techniques in London, England. Engineer John Wood recalled that "[Drake] would track live, singing and playing along with the string section" without the use of any overdubbing. For the song "River Man", producer Joe Boyd described Drake playing on a stool in the centre of the studio while surrounded by a semi-circle of instruments. The studio's environment was also an important factor as it had multiple levels to it which enabled the creation of interesting sounds and atmospheres.<ref name="release" /><ref name="recordinginterview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied by Richard Thompson from Fairport Convention and Danny Thompson of Pentangle. Robert Kirby, a friend of Drake's from Cambridge University, arranged the stringed instruments for several tracks while Harry Robinson arranged the strings for "River Man".<ref name="bbcreview">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The title of the album is a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Composition and musicEdit

Ned Raggett of AllMusic characterized Drake's performance on the album as "steer[ing] a careful balance between too-easy accessibility and maudlin self-reflection," and his vocals as "soft [and] articulate." He described the lyrics as "captur[ing] a subtle poetry of emotion." He assessed, "Having grown out of the amiable but derivative styles captured on the long-circulating series of bootleg home recordings, Drake imbues his tunes with just enough drama -- world-weariness in the vocals, carefully paced playing, and more -- to make it all work."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Critical receptionEdit

Reviews of the album in the months following its release were mixed. The brief review in Melody Maker discussed the origins of the album's title and added simply, "It sounds poetic and so does composer, singer and guitarist Nick Drake. His debut album for Island is interesting."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Rating the album three out of four stars, Disc and Music Echo also described the album as "interesting" and said, "His guitar work is soft, gentle and tuneful; his voice highly attractive, husky and bluesy—but his songs uncertain and indirect." It concluded, "It's more a restful album than a stimulating one."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In October 1969 Gordon Coxhill of the NME expressed his disappointment with the record, saying, "I'm sorry I can't be more enthusiastic because he obviously has a not inconsiderable amount of talent, but there is not nearly enough variety on this debut LP to make it entertaining. His voice reminds me very much of Peter Sarstedt, but his songs lack Sarstedt's penetration and arresting quality."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A review the same month by Maurice Rosenbaum in The Daily Telegraph was more positive, describing the record as an "excellent LP of [Drake's] own songs", and observing, "His voice is slow, reflective and warm, and although the verse structure tends to melodic monotony, there is no mistaking the quality and the promise of 'River Man', 'The Thoughts of Mary Jane', 'Man in a Shed' and other items on this disc".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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Though Drake had sold relatively few albums by his death in 1974,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> his work began to attract critical and commercial attention by the end of the 1980s. A 1989 retrospective assessment of Five Leaves Left by Len Brown in NME awarded the album 9/10 and stated that it "remains a masterpiece of English melancholy; a moving work that first revealed Drake's remarkable talent to communicate his fears of passing light and life, with simple beauty; his skill to charge listeners with emotions equal to his own".<ref name="NME19890311">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Including it in a 1999 list of twelve of "the best folk albums of all time", Q in 1999 called it "the pinnacle of a melancholy canon of work so distinctive that admirers can only speculate miserably on what might have been".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A 2007 review by Chris Jones for the BBC said, "it's hard not to be still floored by the beauty of [Drake's] first album" and lauded its "unique vision" mixing elements of English folk music and jazz.<ref name="bbcreview" />

The release of the remastered version in 2000 resulted in further positive retrospective reviews from music magazines. John Harris wrote in Q that "the record's abiding impression" was of "a hesitant, slightly troubled soul peering at the straight world and wondering what will become of both him and the people he beholds".<ref name="QAug2000">Template:Cite magazine</ref> In Uncut Ian MacDonald said, "A fine debut, Five Leaves Left would have been stronger still had 'I Was Made to Love Magic' and 'Time of No Reply' been used instead of 'Thoughts of Mary Jane' and 'Man in a Shed' ... This aside, the album remains singular – cool and shady amid the celebratory sunshine of the late Sixties."<ref name="UncutAug2000">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Alternative Press called it "[one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote: "[Drake's performance] steered a careful balance between too-easy accessibility and maudlin self-reflection, combining the best of both worlds while avoiding the pitfalls on either side. The result was a fantastic debut appearance, and if the cult of Drake consistently reads more into his work than is perhaps deserved, Five Leaves Left is still a most successful effort."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

AccoladesEdit

Five Leaves Left has regularly appeared on lists of the best albums of all time. The album was ranked number 283 on Rolling Stone magazine's original 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> NME ranked it at number 258 on their 2013 list of "NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", noting that "his maudlin songs are brought vividly to life with orchestration from Fairport Convention, Pentangle and arranger Robert Kirby".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A list of the "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" in Uncut in 2016 placed the album at number 183.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

A list of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums" in Uncut in 2006 placed Five Leaves Left at number 29.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The record was also included in a list of "Debut Albums That Changed Music" in Q magazine in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In a 2007 Mojo article titled "100 Records That Changed the World" Five Leaves Left was placed at number 78.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which called it "a remarkable work: stuffed with complex, introspective music but leavened with arrangements and production straight off the top shelf ... the record is full of glittering, warm sounds that have not aged a jot in the interim", and concluded that Drake "rarely excelled himself more than on this first album".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was voted number 55 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).<ref name="Larkin">Template:Cite book</ref>