After the Lights Go Out - The Best of 1965 - 1967

The Walker Brothers were a British hit sensation, though the group was neither brothers or British. Scott Engel, John Maus and Gary Leeds met in California and went to England to be a part of the British Invasion. Their sound is a mix of ornate orchestrations and Scott Walker’s intense take on showbiz singers of the pre-rock era, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, that when pushed together with the other members sounds like a bizarre spinoff of the Righteous Brothers. Their cult has grown over the years as their records are reissued and a new generation submerges themselves into the band’s stunning melodicism. These twenty tracks are a comprehensive overview of the band’s short but prolific early career. (They reunited several times for the credible comebacks of No Regrets and Nite Flights). “Saddest Night In the World,” “Make It Easy On Yourself,” “First Love Never Dies” and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” are first-rate pop songs that range from romantic to doomed. Scott Walker would continue with a fascinating solo career.