Customer Reviews

Tilt

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Scott Walker's retreat from the public eye in the 1980s only assisted his ascent into the realm of the avant-garde. His 1984 Climate of the Hunter LP hinted at a newfound interest in eclectic ambience but was nothing compared to the creative supernova of 1995's Tilt. Here, Walker's music wasn't completely removed from his classic 1960s existential baroque-pop, but rather allowed to evolve naturally into a bizarre and engaging dark suite of art-songs. "Farmer in the City"-- a tribute to Italian art-house director Paolo Pasolini-- connects Walker's affinities for cinematic orchestral arrangements and weighty, minor key balladry. "The Cockfighter", like many of Tilt's tracks, uses natural ambience and subtle electronic touches to establish a mood, and then suddenly erupts into abrasive, aggressive avant-rock, as Walker operatically wails, "It's a beautiful night!"

In fact, Tilt resembles nothing so much as an extended, post-modern aria; its structure defying the simple arrangement of verses and choruses, it delivers a faithful presentation of stream-of-consciousness self-discovery and even dementia. The most ambitious moments ("Patriot [A Single]", "Bouncer See Bouncer") elude description entirely, but are stunning examples of what can happen when an artist is allowed to explore his muse on his own terms. The chilling "Rosary", featuring only a trembling Walker accompanying himself on guitar, perhaps betrays the intense isolation at the heart of Tilt, but it also exposes his raw-nerve expression as both a beacon of originality and something capable of truly moving emotional resonance

You have to have an open mind to sit through this album. It is very distubing and I would not listen to this on my personal stereo late at night. This is challenging in the extreme and not for the faint-hearted

Having said that, this is a work of such genius and beauty that, to me, it is like opera. Here is a man who can sing anything - and proves it on this album.

My advice to everyone who wants to know about this album and wonders if there is anything similar to it, is to ignore all his early albums. I listened earlier to "Boy Child" - the compilation of Scott's music from 67 to 70. It's a magnificent collection from his first six albums, but this is nothing like that - the music on "Boy Child" and "Tilt" could not be further away from each other, they're light years apart.

To have any clue about what to expect musically and lyrically here, you might listen to the last Walker Brothers album - "Nite Flights" - and Scott's previous release "Climate Of Hunter". Even then, you'll put this on your stereo and listen in wonderment and disbelief.

You can't categorise this music, you can't sing along to it - you just listen to it and marvel at it's originality and it's brilliance. The musicianship is magnificent and simple and the strings, in all of this albums oddness, stand out beautifully.

A distubing work of genius. As others have said, you can't accuse of Scott Walker of selling out, of writing to get hit records.

The bad news is that there has been nothing from Scott since this album - 9 years of nothing, although I am ever optimistic that there is another album in him. The further bad news (for other writers, that is) is that most of them could not write material of this massive quality even in their dreams (or their nightmares).

This is immense in the extreme. A strange but glorious masterpiece.

There is no other album like "Tilt." Imagine Jack Jones or Tony Bennett collaborating with Laurie Anderson and the London Philharmonic Orchestra on a reinterpretation of Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music" with additional lyrics by Nico, and you'll have a vague idea.

Admittedly, "Tilt" is not for everyone, not even for all fans of Scott Walker's earlier, idiosyncratic chamber pop. But it's one of the few albums released in the last ten years that makes me want to do what I used to do when I was a kid - put a record on the stereo, turn down the lights, and sit back with my eyes closed and listen.

I have two comments for the previous reviewer: 1) If you thought Walker's vocals were indistinguishable, clean out your ears or get a better stereo; and 2) You heard this on the radio?!? Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that one. I'd venture that there are maybe two or three independent radio stations in the entire country adventurous enough to play even the most "accessible" cuts from "Tilt," and if you were a listener of one of those stations you'd probably have a better understanding of music. When and on what station did you hear "Tilt?"

strange and quite pained album , something that may bring on depressive bouts for anyone feeling down .... i like his songs on Nite Flights (the opening 4 tracks) , the rest of that album sounded so very dated like so many other pub disco bands ... despite the pedigree , i cannot find anything in this album to recommend it (and i went searching for it) ... i really think it belongs to members of the art set to discuss over a martini or those looking for a very low key minimalist soundscape , perhaps it may be good background music for an installation in the middle of a desert , sad and a little scary......... maybe i missed the point or maybe it has no point

I love this album. It's weird enough to be intriguing, but not so weird that you want to use the CD in your latest craft project, rather than be forced to listen to it one more time. I like this kind of singing - vaguely operatic, but without the trappings of a real opera. It's marvellous stuff. Every time I listen to this album, it's like hearing it for the first time. I know that sounds terribly trite and cliche, but I mean it. Really.

This is one STRANGE CD. I admire Scott Walker's willingness (especially at his age) to take big chances with this very arty, uncompromsing music. It is a bit stiff which leaves it not totally engaging, thus, the four stars. However, anyone interested in truly original music should check this out. If you like The Divine Comedy or The Tindersticks, go to the orignal and you see how much these groups have followed his lead.

I've really made a huge effort to try to appreciate Tilt, without success, alas! Walker has a very distinctive voice, but I find this particular aesthetic to be completely impenetrable. I am giving it 3 stars because it's obviously a well-conceived work of art, but I derive no enjoyment from listening to it. In fact, it induces a feeling of claustrophobia. Very bleak, lugubrious music and the obscure lyrics don't help either. Comparisons are difficult, but perhaps John Cale's "Music For A New Society" is similar in its uncompromising desolation and despair. These pieces at times serve as a good vehicle for Walker's voice, but purely on a sonic level as the lyrics convey no concrete meaning to me except a sense of unease and suffocation. I'm tempted to describe it as chamber music from hell, but perhaps instead it is a bizarre new direction in classical experimentalism.

I'm enthralled by this magnificent CD. A masterpiece of contemporary music, totally unclassifiable, unique in its beauty and magic. The intricacy of these compositions is astounding, with intriguing instrumentation, some lush, some loud/crashing, but all knit together with riveting drama and passion.

The meaning of the lyrics, or are they poems?...or perhaps a script ?...are incomprehensible to me, but I "feel" them in the way that they're sung. Charged with emotion, his expressive voice conveys more than words could ever say. A dark inner/outer journey to his/our world of alienation.

This is challenging music. Scott said about this recording: "I worked hard at it and they (his listeners) should work at it as well. More and more I think there are people around who'll do that". So if you're willing to go down the path Scott made, put this CD on late at night, turn off the lights, and explore it...it's a wonderful voyage.

Ok...am I missing something here? Scott Walker is the greatest singer ever. It's that simple. This guy has sung it all from schlock broadway tunes to brooding interpretations of J. Brel and there has never been a bad note. The celebration of that voice has probably obscured the fact that the man is also responsible for some of the most intense self-penned anguish in the recorded history of recorded history. Tilt is a benchmark of total excellence for a genre that doesn't even exist. No one is as deep space profound as Scott Walker and no one has ever come close to the stratas-fear of pain and plight as THIS artist on THIS CD. Drive a nine-inch-nail in your head. Chant that Bowie is far from being the man who fell to earth. Whisper to Frank that Wee Small Hours just got smaller. Radiohead? RadioDEAD. Julian Cope dubst Scott Walker is an incredible God-like Genius. That is an understatement. Years since Tilt and still waiting. The plea to Scott..."more!"

I like to pride myself on being interested in a variety of new an unusual musical styles. Every once in a while, though, along comes an album that challenges my comfortable, preconceived ideas of what the frontiers of musical expression really are. TILT is one of those. After many listenings, I had to conclude I had *no* category in my mind where this music belonged. Walker has succesfully forced me to expand my expectations, as well as my understandings of how music can be used. His style redefines what the word "minimalist" means. Yet, this isn't "classical" music of the likes of Adams, Reich, or Riley. It's much more something that's grown out of the pop and rock genre, though it's certainly not that kind of music any more. It's left me waiting for several years for some kind of follow-up to this CD. Nothing yet, as far as I can tell....

Perhaps I should mention how I first discovered this. I was part of a discussion group, several years ago, re: the music of David Sylvian. Scott Walker's name appeared briefly along the way when this CD came out. I had no idea who this guy was, and I didn't give it much thought. Then, as I figured out much later, I dreamed something about a "best of" Walker collection. But, it was one of those dreams that you don't realize was a dream, and I went about thinking I'd seen this thing on a web site somewhere, still not giving it much additional thought. Finally, in a conversation with a true Walker fan, I came to understand what had happened. Okay, I thought, I can afford to check this out. Wow! This story is more than a little an accurate view of where Walker is coming from on this CD. He was certainly touched by some kind of muse when he came up with this stuff!

If this sounds at all interesting to you, then you really *should* check this one out. I'll leave the rest to you....