Customer's review

exeptional

this is more frightening than pink floyds animals and as scarry as gary numan later.it's like great music.

What if Scott sang every song..... what would we all think then ?

Everybody that has anything to say about this album write off John & Gary's contributions (tracks 5-10), and yes they are very weak in places. However, what if Scott had sang every song, even though Gary & John wrote the music & lyrics to the other 6 songs.... and nobody knew this fact. I am sure we would be looking at the other 6 songs in similar light to the first 4, and marvelling over Den Haague, death of romance, fury & the fire etc..., and yes, we may still admit that child of flames is rubbish. What I am trying to say is that we all marvel and look at Scott with rose coloured spectacles. My personal view is that this album is great as a whole - not in a serious way, but just because its so damn funny, even the Scott songs. I crease myself laughing at it every time I put it on... at all 10 tracks. Maybe its because they were in their GTO label stage, and I've got this image of them back slapping, drinking Newcastle Brown Ale with their tops off (a la No regrets), and this album is the last part of a trilogy with the 'No regrets' & 'Lines' albums

OH YOU MAMBOS

What a strange album this is. It reminds me of the Super-Sessions of Kooper, Bloomfield and Stills in view of the fact that what we have here are essentially two albums. The first is a Scott solo album in all but name (tracks 1-4). Tracks 5-10 are Scott's neighbours have a BBQ to drown Mr Engel out.

Scott's efforts themselves are mixed, with tracks 2 and 4, especially 2, being more adventurous, 1 and 3 displaying a more consciously conventional form. If you use your imagination, the title track (in terms of melody, not lyrics) could almost be sung by Duran Duran. Overall, Scott's songs are arguably his most successful efforts at combining conventional and experimental forms of songwriting, creating something listenable yet challenging. As ever with Scott, the lyrics are fantastic (excepting the line 'Dragons of disgust' from Scott 4-- I agree with you, Bowie). 'Drilling through the Spiritus Sanctus'-- what a lyric! What would Gregory of Nyssa have thought of Scott's intentions?

The previous reviewer's observation that Gary and John were attempting to keep up with Scott is very perceptive. Prima facie this seems the case. Take Gary's 'contributions'. They share the disjointed lyrical structure (or lack) of Scott's compositions. However, with Gary's, this technique appears contrived, forced even. Perhaps one is looking for Gary to pale compare to Scott, and that actually, lyrically, there is little difference. Actually, it may well be that our valuation of the lyrics is coloured by Gary's frankly piss-poor vocal 'performance- anaemic is not an adequate word to describe the vapid, emotionally empty, by-numbers excuse for a singing attempt. Sorry Gary, but stick to the drums-- you make Ringo sound like Pavarotti. Aside from the lyrics, the musical arrangements are unimaginative. From this we can hopefully see that Scott's power came from a mixture of his writing, arrangements, voice, and delivery-- he had the whole package, the imitation of only one aspect (in Gary's case, the lyrics) will not allow one's song to match the quality of one by Scott.
By the way, substitute 'Get back' for 'Den Haague' in the chorus.

My summary would be that this record is for Scott Walker fans only. There is precious little to hold the attention of the casual listener, or even the casual Walker Brothers fan. The Scott tracks are moving too far towards his later, experimental, boundary-pushing work. The Gary and John tracks simply don't cut the mustard (John's are better than Gary's, but that is damning the former with feint praise).

Baby it's slow...The Walkers' last recording intrigues..

When THE WALKER BROTHERS unexpectedly reformed in 1975 with the album "No Regrets", it did seem for a brief while that they may just be capable of reaching the kind of dizzy heights they peaked at in the Sixties, especially when the title track "No Regrets" became a smash hit. By the time the next album, "Lines", was released in 1976 however, any such thoughts became fairytales.

The final album in the reformed WALKER BROTHERS tenure was quitely unleashed in 1978 under the title of "Night Flites", and was quickly forgotten. Unlike it's two predecessors though (which whilst enjoyable were certainly not Scott Walker at his most prolific), "Nite Flites" began the transition for Scott which saw him completely leave behind the Scott Walker of the Sixties, particularly the persona from the the first three WALKER BROTHERS albums. The fact that Scott always seemed to hate having to deal with the fame of being a "pop star" made this progression inevitable, and the often touted inaccessability of his self-penned material on his two solo albums after "Nite Flites" (on 1983's "Climate Of Hunter" and 1995's "Tilt"), actually can be heard unexpectedly on this, THE WALKER BROTHERS final album.

Viewing "Nite Flites" as a whole, I would only rate the album with 3 stars, as the only tracks of real note are the first 4 out of a total of 10. These four stand-out tracks are the only ones written and sang by Scott, and it certainly shows. Whilst the 70's disco influence threatens to invade both tracks 1 and 3 ("Shutout" and "Nite Flites" respectively), they are nevertheless brimming with cutting lyrics which seem to float around, trying desperately to interlink with each other whilst fighting to find a deeper meaning. Both songs are backed by a rock/pop beat, and yet like so many of Walker's output, hide a much darker and deeper tone than at first may be apparent.

If these two songs would have lovers of only the more commercial pop style of the sixties WALKER BROTHERS confused and disillusioned, then tracks 2 and 4 would have them turning off their stereos in sheer disgust! For "Fat Mama Kick" and "The Electrician" really do push THE WALKER BROTHERS further than they were actually equipped to go. By that, I mean simply that they are purely the mind of Scott Walker - personal, complex songs that relate to drug use and are admittedly difficult for the average listener to fully comprehend. John Walker and Gary Leeds simply have no function in this arena, and it was inevitable that this had to be the last album for the group.

The remainder of the album are lacklustre affairs written and performed by John and Gary, with Scott assisting on backing vocals and playing the occasional keyboard or guitar. Granted, none of them are particularly dreadful, and the disco drenched album closer "Child oF Flames" is a lot of fun, but when you realise that whilst listening to the lyrics that both John and Gary are almost trying to compete with Scott's unique, poetic style of writing, the whole affair becomes almost laughable. Neither Gary or John have the expressive voice to carry off even "second-rate" Scott Walker style songs, so allowing them to perform and write the last six songs is all too foolhardy, and has you believing that the entire album is pretty average.

"Nite Flites" is certainly not just average fodder however. For the first four tracks it has the listener spellbound as they try to comprehend what dark journey Scott is asking them to follow (and believe me you get something new out the songs every time you listen to them, as if unravelling some chinese puzzle). The remainding Leeds/J Walker compositions do seem out of place though, and make you realise that the time had come for Scott to break up the band once again, and thereafter embark on his remarkable masterpieces that are "Climate of Hunter" and "Tilt".

Within THE WALKER BRORTHERS cannon then, "Nite Flites" does stand alone. It's like nothing else the band ever recorded, and whilst doesn't rank with either "Take It Easy...", "Potrait" or "Images" (the sixties albums), is still well worth purchasing, if only for the first four tracks!

Nite Flights

Customer's review

exeptional

What if Scott sang every song..... what would we all think then ?

OH YOU MAMBOS

Baby it's slow...The Walkers' last recording intrigues..

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