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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Drift
Universal acclaim
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 106 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: 4AD
Release Date: 23 May 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Singer-Songwriter, Rock, Experimental
Summary
The legendary singer-songwriter and one-time teen idol re-emerges with his first album in 11 years. Anyone expecting conventional rock or pop should look elsewhere, however, as it is even more challenging than previous release 'Tilt.'
Also On The Web: Scott Walker @ 4AD
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
musicOMH.com
This is out in the margins, removed from 'pop' and 'alternative' genres by the scale of its reach, its bloody and bold ambition. It is complex, multilayered, densely plotted, wordy. It's also scary, harsh and bruised.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Despite its complexity, every twist and turn of The Drift is absolutely compelling.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The Drift is a record that demands a lot of work and repays tenfold.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Walker has gone as far into the atmosphere as one can travel while still being earthbound. [Jul 2006, p.210]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's unlikely that any other album will sound much like The Drift this year, and even less likely that it could be forgotten if heard even once.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Even at its most dissonant and abstract, this record is human to the core, and if you're ready to face a few demons, it's as inspiring as music gets.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
The Drift--in all its nightmarish, bloody glory--is as bold and profound a comment on our times as has emerged so far this century.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
'The Drift' is an extraordinary piece of work, even more challenging and expansive than Scott Walker's startling last album.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
No easy listening feat by any stretch of the imagination, Scott Walker's The Drift will provide critics and general music fans with talking points for the next 10 years. It is, simply, a work of staggering emotional sentiment and complexity that few will be able to match.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
The Drift isn't an equally severe leap from Tilt [as Tilt was from Climate of Hunter], but it is darker, less arranged, alternately more and less dense, and ultimately more frightening.
Read Full Review >The Wire
Most of these songs will startle you at some point. [#268, p.50]
Austin Chronicle
The lengths of hiss and silence can be unnerving, especially when his ethereal prose floats into a void. Yet when the swells come and Walker breaks the waves, it's a thing of absolute beauty, and the black turns neon.
Read Full Review >Uncut
This is a record that genuinely sounds like nothing you have heard before. If you can rise to its portentous challenge... The Drift will prove to be a frightening, bewitching and rewarding experience. [Jun 2006, p.96]
New Musical Express
Every bit as stark, foreboding, but utterly singular as 'Tilt'. [6 May 2006, p.33]
Slant Magazine
The album is powerful stuff, and though it's unlikely to be heard by many, it's even more unlikely to be forgotten by those who do hear it.
Read Full Review >Blender
The Drift is like a nightmare you look forward to repeating. [Jun 2006, p.148]
Paste Magazine
This is a beautiful nightmare with no referent in pop and few in recorded-music history. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.131]
Spin
More avant-opera than pop. [Jul 2006, p.90]
Mojo
A record that makes the tortured beauty of Tilt appear like a mildly resigned shrug. [Jun 2006, p.102]
Prefix Magazine
The most elaborately impenetrable album we're likely to hear this decade.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Ultimately, those enamored with Walker's infrequent but peculiarly expressive post-'70s work (from Climate of Hunter on) will find much to enjoy here.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Those who lovingly caress their copies of Tilt have probably already jumped in its trenches, liking what there is to like, and there is much to like about this album, even if it doesn’t maintain the consistency of that masterpiece; those who find his voice annoying have already set up sniper posts across the field; everybody else is standing in the middle wondering what the fuss is about. The Drift won’t change that.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
"The Drift" sets out only to follow its own obsessions; it's both lush and austere, utterly personal and often Delphic in its impenetrability.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
It's a lot to digest. [#14]
Stylus Magazine
His effort to make the most tense, uncomfortable record in the world has resulted in something that actually feels pretty straightforward, uncomplicated, and digestible.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
This new album is relentlessly dark, disjointed, and disturbing. While there exist elements of his pop past -- gorgeous string sections, delicate guitars, bombastic drums -- there's nothing like a song here.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
By so clearly rejecting the terms and expectations of rock and pop, The Drift asks fairly explicitly to be taken as a serious work of art. However, for all its highbrow aspirations, it seems to fall between two realms, lacking the innovative reach that would make it a credible presence among contemporary avant-garde compositions.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
It could be high art. It could be utter bollocks. Either way, it's lovely when it's over. [Jun 2006, p.119]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 106 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
emily c. gave it a0:
How about if I just moan while shoving a crooked stick in my pussy and record it. It would be far more interesting than this shit, and would probably sound about the same.
Erik H gave it an8:
This is an extremely difficult album that a lot of people will hate. You can tell just by reading the user reviews which of these people actually know what to expect from a Walker album and those who just listened based on a Metacritic score or Pitchfork review. It took me about two months (and dozens of listens) to penetrate this album. When I finally did, I found it terrifying, deep, and breath-taking. There's as much to be found in its moments of tape-hiss and silence as there is when it reaches it's most decadent moments. Worth listening, but only if you're willing to invest time in it.
james m. gave it a10:
Thus far the record of the new century, from an artist who made some of last century's best records, i.e. Scott 3. Psst... These aren't waltzes for dodo's. psst. This noirish take on life in a post modern world is accurate and revelatory. psst. And not, I might add with touches of absurdist humor..psst. There has always been an eerie strain running through Scott's recordings, now with this stripped down, bleak, spare approach the essence of life, if not music itself, is laid bare for all to see, and for all to hear.psst...
neil gave it an8:
why are people lsitening to this album who don't like difficult music...this is scary shit and the people who are giving it zeros....who knows
Dave E gave it a6:
I haven't made my mind up about this album properly yet. There's some great noises and moments, some genuinely scary, some comic. I haven't quite got my head round the songs yet though (am I supposed to?). I'd just like to use this space to express my contempt for those who have decreed that anybody who professes like this album is a hipster or idiot. That's not the case, but it is probably true that anybody who says anything like that is a self-important know-it-all who's just annoyed that an album exists that they can't get their head round. Try it yourself and make your own mind up, I say - there's certainly plenty here worth listening to.
Tony S gave it a0:
This is unlistenable crap. I don't know if he was trying to be Nick Cave or something, but it didn't work. I don't usually dump on so-called "critics' darlings," but how the hell can you like this record?
Henry B gave it a9:
Scares me shitless. All very pretentious but worth every minute.
