Product Description

Perhaps not even Scott Walker truly understands this record, which isn't to say that it it's not one of the most ambitious and ultimately rewarding musical experiences of the lastfew years; it's just that exactly what Walker was thinking when he made TILT remains a mystery to this day. Even Brian Eno, a huge Walker fan and no stranger to the avant-garde, apparently had to walk away from the sessions early on in therecording.
Longtime Scott Walker fans shouldn't expect either the Brechtian song-stories of his solo material, or his Spector-influenced work with The Walker Brothers. TILT is the sound of a man swallowed whole by the music industry. Unidentifiable noises pop in and out of the mix as Walker's voice, a beautiful baritone almost unequaled in pop, floats ethereally around, at times seemingly diving deep into an undersea echo chamber. The lyrics are more haiku than iambic pentameter and those expecting a chorus (much less a verse), will be severely disappointed. Whatever TILT is, it's unlike anything you have ever heard.

Track Listing

1. Farmer In The City
2. The Cockfighter
3. Bouncer See Bouncer ...
4. Manhattan
5. Face On Breast
6. Bolivia '95
7. Patriot (A Single)
8. Tilt
9. Rosary

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1854 in Music
• Released on: 1998-02-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 57 minutes

Customer Reviews

Scary
If your coming to this album with The Walker Brothers Or Scott's early solo music ringing in your ears, forget them! This is the other side of the coin. Tilt is experimental and very very avant garde. Its also quite chilling. Sit in darkness on your own listening to this album and I deify you not to be half scared to death!

Listen with your soul
I write this review too soon, having listened, no, experienced Tilt only several times. Not enough time to absorb by a long stretch. You will hear a different recording each time, experience something unique each time. Scott has somehow embedded his soul into this remarkable piece of work. It's like an extreme piece of visual art where the artist has been able to get his emotional state direct to canvas via brushstroke without compromise and on visualing the work you get it and are entranced by it and feel it. That's what this sound sculpture does to you if you are lucky. And more, much more. My first Scott album, what a find.

Inconsistent , but with moments of sheer brilliance ...........
I had read so many rave reviews of this record that I finally decided that I would probably never be satisfied until I had heard it ; so I bought it . Having read the aforementioned reviews I was expecting something so incredibly bizarre and 'out there' that it would be hardly recognizable as 'music ' ; in that respect I was disappointed . My basic feeling is that it is nowhere near as bizarre as some of these other reviewers have been making out . Some people have commented that it is 'scary' ; I wouldn't say that exactly , although there is an aura of menace on 'Bouncer See Bouncer ' that is largely owing to a pounding bass drum that evokes the footfalls of an approaching giant ; the most disturbing thing about this record is the fact that Scott sounds almost as if he himself is emotionally disturbed at times , a premise which led me to the conclusion that this album might more appropriately have been called "Having Fallen in Love with the Offspring of an Animal I've already Eaten " or , alternatively, " Songs from a French Abbatoir " . The cover and some of the lyrics just seem to suggest this sort of a theme without coming out and actually stating it . Farmer in the City , the title track ( " ..I knew nothing of the horses , nothing of the thresher.. " ) is admittedly a totally stunning piece of work which really has to be listened to several times in order to completely get your head around it . If the entire album had been as good as this track then I would have awarded this album 5 stars ( easily) ; unfortunately the rest of the album is not really up to the standard of the first track , and , for the most part , after this introduction Scott gets on with the job of basically making 'pop music that sounds as unlike pop music as possible' . By and large this record seems to me to be a continuation or expansion of what began in the late 70's among artists such as Bowie , Peter Gabriel , Eno , Robert Fripp ,David Byrne and Scott himself . It's just a bit more avant-garde than what we generally regard as 'rock' or 'pop' music tends to be , but still has it's roots in traditions such as Jazz , blues , film music and orchestral music and is not as totally 'alien' as some suggest .Having said all that , it's what you might call a 'brave' record and well worth the attention of an open mind .