The Walker Brothers - Nite Flights mp3 download

Ffrlel

Unbelievably weird artifact. I'm not sure what else to call it. The Walker Brothers had moved on so forcefully from their easily-digestible AOR past that they no longer resembled anything marketable, and they obviously didn't much care. The resulting album is jarring, alienating, and individualist to the point of confusion. At times airless and claustrophobic, other times skronking and sleazy—and seemingly at the mercy of pure dream (il)logic. There's not much love to be had here, it's all creepy urban noise and upset stomachs. The nightmarish narrative of "The Electrician", about torture/interrogation, is a high point, and its pitch black exploratory vibe would accurately predict the arc of Scott's later career. There are certainly kernels of what he was to later become in his earlier, torchier solo material, but this moment is when the expression of that true Scott Walker-ness began to bloom. To get a sense of how different this output was from the trio's previous releases, read the lyrics to the four Scott songs. A sample, from "Shutout": "There is crouching and wailing on stones down here / We must freeze off this ratmosphere".The album is divided into three sections: the first four songs are Scott Walker songs, the next two are Gary, then the last four are John. The other Walker fellows follow Scott's bold avant garde tendencies to a somewhat lesser extent with their contributions, but there's an amiable unity of purpose expressed here that suggests they were willing accomplices to him following his weirder inclincations by this point. It's been about fifteen years since I first heard this album, and I only just realized I can't even quite say what type of music it is. There are a few rock elements, but...

Xirmiu

I love it, myself. There are a few songs that aren't really necessary, but it's mostly fantastic!

Agamaginn

Scott Walker's avant-garde tendencies took root on this album, that's for sure. As for its rarity, it's incredible that it is universally agreed by every seller to overprice this album to an absurd level. Even secondhand sellers - arguably people who don't care for the post-Walker Brothers stuff - jump on the chance to earn a mint with this resell. Amazing record, nonetheless.