CD Reviews

Scott Walker

’Til The Band Comes In | Water

By GUSTAVO TURNER | August 26, 2008

4.0 Stars

Let’s say you’ve accepted the received wisdom about Scott Walker’s career. Like everyone else, you own and revere Scott 4 (1969), and most likely you’ve checked out and enjoyed the earlier solo records, with their potent mixture of schmaltz, Brel, existentialism, and that voice. You’ve even managed to find those elusive four tracks in the Walker Brothers’ Night Flights (1978) that redefined the post-punk landscape (Bowie and Eno on their knees: “We’re not worthy!”) and that sound like the future even three decades down the line. Those (including the singer himself!) who avoid anything between those two landmark recordings should reconsider this welcome reissue of ’Til The Band Comes In. In 1970, upset at the commercial failure of his experiments, Walker switched gears on what should have been Scott 5 and decided to devote himself to more-accessible MOR covers, finally crashing with an exhausted reading of Roy Orbison’s “It’s Over.” But all too often what is painful for the artist is a blessing for the fans: frustration, compromise, and confusion clashing into Cold War novelty tracks (“Jean the Machine”), touching quirkiness (the sublime “Time Operator”), and a few portraits of loneliness that rival Sinatra at his most heartfelt (“Joe”). This is one of the classic artistic-breakdown albums, as revelatory as the Beach Boys’ Wild Honey or the Beatles’ Let it Be.

Hard target
The impenetrable pop of Scott Walker
Green is the new black
How to be socially responsible in a $240 pair of pants
Boxed and ready
The cream of the season’s CD/DVD crop
More

Topics: CD Reviews , Scott Walker , The Beatles , The Beach Boys , More

Comments

Add a Comment

Today's Event Picks

[WORDS] SUPER NOVA: JAMES BOICE

Plus 6 more >>

ARTICLES BY GUSTAVO TURNER

REVIEW: MALLU MAGALHÃES | January 06, 2009
Vivo (2009)

REVIEW: LITTLE WILLIE JOHN | NINETEEN SIXTY SIX: THE DAVID AXELROD & HB BARNUM SESSIONS | December 19, 2008
Kent Records (2008)

REVIEW: ANGIL & HIDDENTRACKS - OULIPO SALIVA | December 09, 2008
Chemikal Underground

THE FIREMAN | ELECTRIC ARGUMENTS | November 24, 2008
MPL/ATO (2008)

STOMU YAMASH’TA | FLOATING MUSIC; FREEDOM IS FIGHTING; THE MAN FROM THE EAST; ONE BY ONE; RAINDOG | November 18, 2008
Esoteric (2008)

See all articles by: GUSTAVO TURNER

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

FAKING IT
MTV's The City never gets real

REVIEW: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION
Domino (2009)

BUSTING BALLS: 20 WAYS TO IMPROVE SPORTS
We blow the whistle on the ridiculous rules and quirks that make the games lame

DAILIES GO DARWIN
Reports of newspapers' death are exaggerated — but after the changes coming in 2009, will we still recognize them?

DAILIES GO DARWIN
Reports of newspapers' death are exaggerated — but after the changes coming in 2009, will we still recognize them?

REVOLUTIONARIES
Kino Proby pay tribute to a legend

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
Fear and loathing? Or happy days? The only thing we know for sure about the coming year is that we're all in this together.

BARKLEY EDITION
Barkley Rules

HOT TOPICS

Boston Symphony Orchestra , Kim Deal , Radiohead , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Harvard University , Kurt Weill , James Levine , James Robinson , John Harbison , Brian Eno