SCOTT WALKER

This album is a horror movie, thats the best way i can discribe it. The Drift is the second album in this trilogy (following up Tilt) expands on the Industrial sound and makes it....for lack of better words spooky lol but jokes aside this album can get pretty creepy a thing I've noticed in this album compared to the other two is the use of jumpscares, a song will be quiet and and of a sudden your surprised with sound. The songs have a very unconventional almost Post Rock like structure to them with elements of modern classical, Musique concrète and ambient, the album definitely requires some patience i feel that anyone can at least appreciate what a dark and twisted piece of art this album is. i personally think its one of the greatest albums ever made. an it still never fails to scare and deeply disturb me. so if you want a real musical experience, seriously, listen to this and let your self be sucked into the surreal, dark, and terrifying world of The Drift.

Scott Walker's Tilt is an sonic masterpiece unlike no other.

If you don't already know Scott Walker was a singer songwriter/baroque pop artist who would eventually go on a somewhat hiatuses only releasing albums once in a decade or so wich brings us to the 90s and the start of a sort of trilogy, Tilt of course being the start of it. This album is what i can describe is an ethereal, industrial, avant garde, neo darkwave blend and it's beautiful. Scott is excellent at painting imagery with words from foggy farmlands to avant garde imagery with his story telling and beat poetry. The intro track Farmer In The City is a very orchestral and for lack of better words a foggy feeling song, with vocals so ghosty it sounds like he's haunting his own song, the next track The Cockfighter is one of my favorites of the album, it's intense and is one rollercoaster of a ride the intro being very ambient and then about a minute and 30 seconds in your jumpscared and the song becomes an industrial thril ride later in the song horns come in they almost remind me of something you'd hear on a Residents or Tom Waits record, Bouncer See Bouncer is another intense track, it feels like a build up is gonna happen and pay off but nothing does like if the song is edging the listener. However these next two tracks are the bread and butter Manhattan and Patriot, Manhattan is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever created in my opinion, the track sounds like it'd be played at an opra in the apocalypse, one of my favorite moments in music ever is when the organs come in the organs sound heavenly and the electric guitars in the background only make it better, Patriot is another gorgeous track the strings combined with the industrial make an amazing duality while the whole album has this theme i think it shines best here. One more track i wanna bring up is the title track while it's not my favorite song here i just needed to mention the very 80s King Crimson guitar solo in it and just the song in general has that vibe. Overall this album is a sonic experience I highly recommend listening to this with headphones (and in the dark if you can) Scotts voice is again super ghostly and it just haunts every song like if his voice was an instrument the synths, horns and strings all collide with an industrial sound to make an album that sounds like no other

You may call it my guilty pleasure, to write premier PA reviews on albums or singles that sometimes are as far from progressive rock as possible. With Scott Walker it's an easy task indeed, hardly anyone else here even thinks of reviewing his easy-listening oriented cover performance era that followed the commercial failures of the 1969 and 1970 albums featuring his own song-writing. This forgettable and artistically weak era concerns the albums The Moviegoer (1972), Any Day Now (1973), Stretch (1973) and We Had It All (1974), after which Scott returned to song-writing with the three-year reunion of The Walker Brothers.

Stretch contains the clearest country songs Scott ever recorded, while the majority of songs still represent the same safe mainstream pop and soft folk-rock style of the previous albums. According to the All Music Guide review, Scott sings here with greater passion than for years, "but that still doesn't save Stretch from being anything more than a curiosity for dedicated fans". I agree that as a vocalist Scott Walker is in a good shape here, and that's actually enough to make this album a pleasant listen to anyone not despising easy-listening, middle-of-the-road entertainment vocal music. The arrangements are soft and romantic. I certainly prefer listening to well-made romantic entertainment music than poor pop/rock such as the Scott Walker single I reviewed yesterday.

'Sunshine' is a laid-back and soft country song. Now, country as a genre has never been close to my heart, but this kind of entertainment music oriented country isn't so bad, fairly close to Glen Campbell. 'Just One Smile' written by Randy Newman (another artist I appreciate) is a sentimental slow-tempo ballad. 'A Woman Left Lonely' also, with a country flavour. 'No Easy Way Down' was familiar to me as the Carole King original. Scott's version is expectedly more sentimental. The producer and arranger Del Newman plays very safe throughout the album. All the possible rough edges are well erased and everything is as accessible and easy as it gets. 'That's How I Got to Memphis' is another Glen Campbell style country ballad.

'Use Me' is written by Bill "Ain't No Sunshine" Withers, and it brings some needed groove to this album. 'Frisco Depot' returns to soft sentimentality and features a harpsichord sound. Del Newman's own 'Someone Who Cared' is extremely slow, orchestrated melancholic ballad, and pretty gorgeous as such. The album continues safely til the end, offering some more country, and finally another Randy Newman piece, 'I'll Be Home' as a serene piano ballad. Sure, in the Scott Walker discography this is among the most forgettable and insignificant albums, but since this is a good entertainment music album, I rate it with three friendly stars.

— First review of this album —

Scott Walker's sixth solo album 'Til the Band Comes In was released in December 1970. After the critical and commercial failure of his previous album Scott 4 (1969), Walker made several compromises with his manager and record company in an effort to restore his career momentum. Mostly written by Walker and his then-manager Ady Semel, this album failed to chart and it received negative reviews by the majority of critics.

I haven't listened to the whole album, here's just a quick look at two songs from it, both credited to Semel and Walker. Well, I certainly hope these are among the worst songs of the album. I frankly haven't much positive to say about them. ''Til the Band Comes In' has such a messy and circus-like noisy arrangement for the chorus. Otherwise this would be a decent but mediocre Scott Walker song.

'Jean the Machine' is a good-humoured, joyous song with a feel of the 30's/40's entertainment music, even some barbershop nuances. Unfortunately the brass-full arrangement gets too noisy on this one, too. The light-hearted charm is lost. I bet this is among the least enjoyable Scott Walker singles. So sad that his career started to lose direction at the time.

Scott Walker is actually one of my favorite artists and I was surprised to see him added in 2023 on the site. I will start writing about his 'Climate of Hunter' album, because it is perhaps his first progressive rock album. As artistic and masterful as his sixties records may have been, they were in a sense English chansons albums with very sophisticated arrangements. On 'Clime of Hunter' Walker starts his stint with producer Peter Walsh and one could see it as a huge stepping stone or transitional record when having the very accomplished 'Tilt'-album in mind. However, whereas Tilt has a timeless yet modern sound, Climate of Hunter is definitely more rooted in the eighties soundwise. The gated (electronic) drums, the fretles bass and wave-type synths can be quite a hindrance when first listening to this record. I found that repeated listening really did wonders for me and my appreciation for this record. In a way its much easier to listen to than Tilt, yet almost as dark and brooding. The soundstage of the production is brilliant and the voice of Walker is recorded beautifully. The dissonant backdrops are in a stage of development, but they do enrich the eighties sophisto pop/rock arrangements immensely. The echoed voice of Walker sounds like ghost from another age in these eighties soundscapes and somehow it just feels right after a while. What puts 'Climate of Hunter' a notch down is the difference in quality between side 1 and side two. The first four songs are pretty much perfect and different from each other. With 'Sleepwalkers Woman' Walker returns to the fully symphonic arrangements of the sixties in a grand, dark style. De second side starts to drag a bit after a while and even sounds a bit unfinished when it comes to the production; the songs could you use an added instrument or sound effect here and there. Yet, this is really pushing myself to criticize this record in order to explain the record's lesser status in Walker's discography. The digital remastered version from 2008 sounds good, a little more focused and punchier than the eighties vinyl I have - which sound a bit warmer and more spacious. Both are fine. Scott Walker's 'Climate of Hunter' is a great eighties symphonic sophisto pop/rock album with the mark of the artistry of one of the greatest of the twentieth century music. Don't let the shadow that the mighty Tilt- album casts obscure this gem.

I am more or less familiar with Scott Walker's classic repertoire from the late sixties (actually I mostly have had good compilations at my hand instead of whole individual albums), so it may feel strange that I choose to make a review of this collection of movie songs. Perhaps the given low rating makes me want to find out if it's really that bad in comparison. Upon my initial youtube listening I'd say this isn't a poor album per se, although I certainly see the point why it's not on the same level. First of all, the songwriter Scott Walker is not present here. This was a product aiming at easy marketing.

Wikipedia: "Having lost creative control of his music after the commercial failures of his previous two studio albums Scott 4 and 'Til the Band Comes In, Walker was tasked with recording 'inoffensive, middle-of-the-road material that could be easily processed, marketed and sold'. By way of compromise Walker had some say in the song selection and drew together a selection of themes from some of his favourite films." Some of the twelve tunes on this album are familiar to a large audience, but at least to me there are many good songs unfamiliar to me in advance. Middle-of-the- road easy listening, admittedly. But as such, this is worth hearing: Scott Walker as a singer doesn't fail, and the arrangements are ok.

'This Way Mary' is a theme song from "Mary, Queen of Scots" composed by John Barry who is IMHO among the best movie composers, far beyond his well-known contributions to James Bond films. Nino Rota's 'Speak Softly Love' from The Godfather is unfortunately overplayed up to these days (not the Scott Walker version, but it sounds pretty much the same anyway). 'Glory Road' comes from the film W.U.S.A. (1970, not familiar to me). A recognizable Neil Diamond softness in this song. Nice, if a bit forgettable. 'That Night' composed by Lalo Schiffrin is also a slow-tempo ballad, and the orchestration is very romantic. I do have a sof spot for music like this.

Other featured composers include masters such as Michel Legrand and Henry Mancini. Songs written by less familiar names, like 'Come Saturday Morning' from Pookie (1969) are also very good in this particular easy listening genre, all very suitable for Scott's emotional voice. And it's very nice to hear 'The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti' (Ennio Morricone, Joan Baez), being only familiar with 'Here's to You'.

It's safe to say this album is pretty unessential in Scott Walker's discography, but worth listening to, if you have nothing against romantic, orchestrated crooner stuff.

— First review of this album —

I'm glad to see Scott Walker here, he's definitely one of the best male voices in popular music ever. His perhaps eyebrow-raising addition in ProgArchives is based on his later era showing a great amount of challenging originality that undoubtedly puts off the easy listening oriented old fans. I'm however personally much more fond of the classic era from 1967 to the early 70's, when he as an artist was closer to the likes of Tony Bennett and Jacques Brel -- whose songs he recorded -- than to anything even remotely prog related. 'Joanna' is a good example of Scott Walker's passionate, larger-than-life art of singing at that time.

This was his second single which climbed even higher on the UK charts (No. 7) than the legendary Jacques Brel interpretation 'Jackie' did the previous year. His debut solo album titled Scott had already been released but 'Joanna' was a new song, written exclusively for Scott Walker by the married songwriting couple Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent. Walker actually wrote a significant proportion of the lyric. The lush orchestral arrangement was done by Peter Knight, who was responsible for the orchestral parts in Days of Future Passed (1967) by The Moody Blues.

Walker's vocals are truly gorgeous here. The song is a shamelessly emotional entertainment vocal music piece, pretty similar to what Tony Bennett (whom I also appreciate) had recorded in the 50's and 60's. The big, deep voice and the beautiful orchestration work brilliantly together.

The B side track 'Always Coming Back to You' was taken from the Scott album and it was written by Scott Walker himself, credited on the label to S. Engel (Noel Scott Engel being his real name). If 'Joanna' showcases his incredible ability as a vocalist, this song is a good example of his impressive songwriting skills. Not as immediately charming as 'Joanna', but a fine and elegant song that gets better with repeated listenings. The orchestral arrangement is by Reg Guest.

P.S. My five stars totally ignore the rating guideline "Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music". On the contrary, I'm finding (guilty?) pleasure from reviewing great music that is not even remotely progressive rock.