'TIL THE BAND COMES IN

Scott Walker's sixth solo album 'Til the Band Comes In was released in December 1970. After the critical and commercial failure of his previous album Scott 4 (1969), Walker made several compromises with his manager and record company in an effort to restore his career momentum. Mostly written by Walker and his then-manager Ady Semel, this album failed to chart and it received negative reviews by the majority of critics.

I haven't listened to the whole album, here's just a quick look at two songs from it, both credited to Semel and Walker. Well, I certainly hope these are among the worst songs of the album. I frankly haven't much positive to say about them. ''Til the Band Comes In' has such a messy and circus-like noisy arrangement for the chorus. Otherwise this would be a decent but mediocre Scott Walker song.

'Jean the Machine' is a good-humoured, joyous song with a feel of the 30's/40's entertainment music, even some barbershop nuances. Unfortunately the brass-full arrangement gets too noisy on this one, too. The light-hearted charm is lost. I bet this is among the least enjoyable Scott Walker singles. So sad that his career started to lose direction at the time.