The Drift - Scott Walker
Metascore
85 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
view
per page
  1. Alternative Press
    100
    Walker has gone as far into the atmosphere as one can travel while still being earthbound. [Jul 2006, p.210]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. The Guardian
    100
    The Drift is a record that demands a lot of work and repays tenfold.
  3. musicOMH.com
    100
    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.
  4. Observer Music Monthly
    100
    Despite its complexity, every twist and turn of The Drift is absolutely compelling.
  5. The A.V. Club
    91
    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.
  6. Pitchfork
    90
    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.
  7. Playlouder
    90
    'The Drift' is an extraordinary piece of work, even more challenging and expansive than Scott Walker's startling last album.
  8. All Music Guide
    90
    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.
  9. Dusted Magazine
    90
    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.
  10. The Wire
    90
    Most of these songs will startle you at some point. [#268, p.50]
    All this publication's reviews
  11. PopMatters
    90
    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.
  12. Austin Chronicle
    89
    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.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 108 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 49
  3. Negative: 17 out of 49
  1. emilyc.
    0
    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.… Full Review »
  2. ErikH
    8
    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.… Full Review »
  3. jamesm.
    10
    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�39;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...… Full Review »
See all user reviews »