Walker Brothers - Nite Flights LP (RSD '26 Excl.)

TRACKS:

Side A
1. Shutout
2. Fat Mama Kick
3. Nite Flights
4. The Electrician
5. Death Of Romance
Side B
1. Den Haague
2. Rhythms Of Vision
3. Disciples Of Death
4. Fury And The Fire
5. Child Of Flames

The last of their three albums issued on GTO Records, unlike it's predecessors it was made up entirely of original songs and, though it was largely ignored by the public upon release, it has long since been reappraised as something of a lost classic. Indeed, the four tracks written by Scott Walker on side one are now widely regarded as some of his finest compositions, foreshadowing his re-emergence as an avant-garde artist in the mid-80s and influencing the work of Japan, Radiohead, Pulp and others. The experimental, string-laden single 'The Electrician' is particularly noteworthy; a remarkable piece that Midge Ure has claimed was the inspiration for the Ultravox smash 'Vienna'. And while Davie Bowie's Heroes (1977) was brought to the studio by Scott as a creative reference, Bowie was equally taken by Nite Flights, listening to it while creating The Lodger (1979) and covering the title track in 1993 for his Black Tie White Noise album. 30 years after it's release, UNCUT scribe Chris Roberts called Nite Flights, "one of the most important works of it's time", praising the synergy of the trio's individual styles. Though they worked independently, the album has a coherence that belies the fact it even the band members described it as more like three miniature solo efforts than a true group album.