Scott 4

Imagine it being 1969 and choosing to listen to this.

Brilliant Vocals and interesting songs. You can hardly go wrong with Scott Walker

Good

it's good enough

What are there 2 of these on here? This was music for squares and the olds when it was released.

Tho I miss the Tim Hardin covers he touts on the first two Scotts, I have to agree w/ the majority that considers Walker's fourth Scott to be his v best. Over-the-top, yes, & that's part of not only the fun but the realness of his baroque stylings. 'City after city, granite gray as mornin' / Heroes died in subways left behind / Far behind like our love.' That's fantastic lyricism, a delicious amalgam of Jacques Brel, Cole Porter, & Paul Simon. But it's his voice that stuns most consistently, not exactly surprising since his work w/ The Walker Brothers portends that gift. Many days, nothing will do but this baritone perfection. 'I can recommend angels / I've watched as they made a man strong / Oh so strong.' It's like the only Christmas music I really love.

At least it was short enough that I could finish it. "Get Behind Me" is a decent track. Other than that this was very much not my jam, although it felt reasonably well-produced. 2.3

Did not chart...

I like this guy … but I dunno. This album did nothing for me. Maybe I just like the hits? 🤷

not as bad as others but...

I want to give this 4 cuz it was totally unique and I enjoyed listening the whole time. But something is slightly holding me back. Still good though. Good on ya, Scott.

Proto-Nick Cave. I love Nick Cave.

This album sounds of its time. If I listen to this more, I might rate it higher - it sounds well produced and well written.

Had heard about Walker and tried listening but never to a whole album. Did this after many whiskys at a listening bar in Tokyo. Slapped on headphones in bed and it was incredible.

Dunno man. It just sounded nice

folk rock, country, 1969 -> 2

Oh FFS not another Scott. I already know that I don’t like him and after hearing the first few songs it’s pretty much exactly the same as the last one. 2 stars because it’s not horrible, there’s some value to it, but I just can’t listen.

Förklara för mig varför detta är med på listan

Bra arr men fan så trök, fel stämning den dagen

Snygga arrangemang!

Enjoyed bits of this, but overall it's not for me. I can see why people enjoy it and why it deserves a spot on the list. I'm glad I listened to it but not one I'll be coming back to

Not my style. ★★

Solid album, didn't stick out. 6.1/10

Great album. Loved the vibe.

Remember high school? Most people listened to the radio? Some kids were really into specific genres. Some kids had a really deep knowledge for a teenager. And then there was that kid who heard one song once and decided that that band was the big thing. He was desperate to come across as cool, desperate to be seen as a tastemaker. Maybe he got on the street team for the Deadlights or Pushmonkey or something. And he would absolutely insist that this thing he found was really great. But in reality he just found a thing that he thought he could get in on the ground floor of a bandwagon, only to find out the bandwagon was heading underground. You cannot convince me that the first dude to re-evaluate Scott Walker was not that kid in High School. Walker sounds a bit like Bernie Sanders’ vocal-training brother. His work is, on the surface, feels like a more maudlin torch-singer, a Manilow devotee maybe if Manilow hadn't been signed the same year as Scott 4. It's only the lyrics that make this feel any different from something your grandmother would listen to. But in his later career, Walker went avant garde in a way that definitely in no way felt forced and dishonest, not a bit no way. It's certainly hard to know how serious an avant gardener is about tending his freak field. Walker's most notable choice was punching a side of pork for a percussion track. Make your own judgment there. And so the art world re-embraced him in some sectors. And that led to a re-evaluation of his oeuvre which, I have no doubt, is linked to his inclusion here. Because no one wants to hear Bish Bosh twice, right? But this does have its own crepuscular charm. It's not like overwrought crooners were not wildly popular in the day. Walker gives the whole thing a certain glow-down, which is refreshing given how banal and populist the genre can be. A song like The Seventh Seal or Angels of Ashes would probably be too soporific for the genre's normal crowd, not necessarily because they are particularly dark or deep, but because they feel gloomy compared to the oldies station. This was never a style that was gonna take off for him, but he commits to it, and an earnest contrarian has his charm. Consider how non-patriotic, how obsessed with death and loss, he delivers “Hero of the War”. It's hard to know if he knows what he is doing, but he is definitely making Lounge in Opposition. And that slight turn makes this a grower album, to be fair. By “Get Behind Me,” you do start feeling like you get what Walker is doing here, though i do feel it's a bit in spite of himself. I think the world could have gone on just fine without bringing this guy into the Canon, but it's gonna be spun again as a light enjoyment at some point. Overrated doesnt always mean bad. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

whoever gave me this in oktober thank you! it is a spooky fall listen with insane production

The first song is odd. I gets better after that, but it’s not something I would choose to listen to again. It’s just a bit too croony.

This dude is crazy and hilarious. 4

Super surprised, beautiful

Walker isn't a crooner per se but there's both a power and a distinctive note of amateur oddness in his voice; he sounds like someone tried to make him into a crooner and then just *stopped* about eighty percent of the way through. And that's basically what Walker is up to artistically also: trying to meld the pre-rock early Sixties and the flower-power era into a coherent whole. His success at this endeavor is inconsistent, mostly because doing more of the latter leads him to bad lyrical tendencies; "Angels of Ashes" is pretty enough but goes on too long, and the same is true of "Boy Child," which wanders off into hippy-dippy paths and can't find its way back. He's better when he's more concrete - "Hero of the War" is cheerfully searing, and the plainspoken "On Your Own Again" leaves you wanting more. "Wasn't it a good year?" Walker asks, channeling Sinatra at his most contemplative. Likewise, "Duchess" feels both classy and erotic, all shimmering dresses and candlelight. And the Guess Who-esque "Get Behind Me" figures out how to get away with more flower-child musing by marrying it with Biblical allusion (smart) and a strategic electric riff (smarter). It's hit and miss but more hit than miss - there will be at least a couple songs on this that you'll wonder how you managed to miss out on before now. Bonus points for not falling victim to the tankie temptation that ensared so many of Walker's peers (the anti-Communist "The Old Man's Back Again").

This started slow but what an incredible album.

Cool-Western bad-boy music. I'd never heard of Scott Walker, this is the stuff that should be on the list. Influences Bowie? I can actually see it. That full-bodied voice carries itself through the music. The fact that this is all original work is pretty cool. Might grab it on vinyl for cheap, otherwise I won't really look for this one again. It's dated, but fun. Goes well with Tarantino visuals, probabably because of the Christopher Walken cadence. 3.2/5

неплохо.

Oh, dear. The tragedy of Scott Walker continues, even in this book. Not only did the editors pass over Scott 3, the best of the four numbered albums he released after the Walker Brothers split, but they also completely ignored everything he did from the ’80s onward. It’s a shame, because most casual listeners won’t realize that he was so much more than a romantic ’60s crooner. In fact, he could easily be considered one of the most daring composers of all time. So, OK, we’re stuck with Scott 2 and this one, Scott 4. Let’s start with the positives. A lot of his experimental tendencies are starting to show here, particularly on “The Seventh Seal”, a cinematic epic inspired by Bergman’s film (one of my favorite arthouse movies ever). Haunting strings, choirs and imagery: dark and fantastic! “The Old Man’s Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)”, written in response to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, is one of his greatest tracks ever, with a groovy bassline, sinister choral singing and wicked lyrics about how totalitarian regimes always find a way to return. It’s a theme he’d explore further on albums like The Drift. “On Your Own Again” is mysterious and memorable in its brevity, while “Angels of Ashes” and “Duchess” are pretty and nostalgic, with ethereal string arrangements set against melancholy themes. “Boy Child” is just as ethereal and feels almost autobiographical (Walker was an only child, introverted and often alone). The rest? Fine, if a bit forgettable. I love the sensitive themes he brings to the table (as on “The World’s Strongest Man”), but not always the music and arrangements, which at times border on schmaltz and throwaway blue-eyed soul (and I say this as a truly devoted Walker fan). It’s sad, because this was the first album he wrote entirely by himself, and it flopped. One theory is that it failed because he released it under his real name, Scott Engel, instead of “Walker”. Either way, it vanished from the shelves almost immediately (2 weeks, according to the book), and after grinding out a series of horrible albums in the ’70s to fulfil his contract, so did he. That is, until the Walker Brothers’ Nite Flights in 1978, and he returned for real with Climate of Hunter in 1984. THOSE albums, along with Tilt, The Drift, Bish Bosch and, of course, Soused, his collaboration with Sunn O))), should all have been in this book, IF the editors had had the balls. It’s some of the most amazing, complex, perplexing and disturbing music ever made. I love those records to pieces. So I’ll just accept that they picked two of Scott’s weaker albums, and give them decent scores anyway, because he was a truly talented individual. An original if ever there was one. It hurts, but this only gets a 3 from me. His later albums mentioned above? 5s across the board. If you’re intrigued, give them a listen. They’re a ride unlike any other artist’s catalogue in history.

Scott Walker is cool. But if you’ve heard one album you’ve heard them all.

2.5

2.5

jestermaxxing in the taverns

A ballad heavy album. It was ok! Listened in the wee hours of the morning

Meh. Kinda budget crooner.

I know the critics loved him and The Walker Brothers but it's a no for me.

Banger.

Surprised by this one. Almost a 4 but not quite.

Feels very personal & melancholic. The songs are on point, and I'd love to find more time to get into the lyrics some more. Also, thanks to this album I've learned that one of my favorite Neko Case songs is a cover of a Scott Walker's song.

It bored me (I'm bored). Boring!

Felt like I should have really liked this, it has all the elements of something I would like, but to my horror as I was listening to it I mostly just found myself being bored. Upsetting. I do really enjoy the character of his voice, it’s so distinctive and striking it almost feels like someone doing a parody of a sultry singer. Second act montage needle drop in my biopic: “The Old Man’s Back Again”

This album feels like the kind of album the phantom from the phantom of the Opera would drop if he was just some guy probably from new jersey or Pennsylvania, once the album was over a perfect approximation of a country song came on by him and I was rattled to my core but deeply intrigued...... The song was good btw. He's like Cindy sherman to me Loved the first song but on the whole the album wasn't too memorable other than the fact that I really did like this one and thought it was so neat, I was very happy to listen to it. He really creates a whole specific vibe. Another one that is really hard to choose between three and four but it didn't stand out quite enough to me.

weird! first listen i really didn't dig it but i think I'm on my way to liking this , one that i feel like i should like because it has elements that i enjoy but the end product just doesnt hit the way I'd hoped. i love how much of a freak this dude is though and the old man's back again is a great song

I've never heard of Scott Walker, but am immediately intrigued. From the opening notes of "The Seventh Seal" I get a Ennio Morricone-esque spaghetti western feel. And I enjoy that immensely. That's not to say I enjoy all of the songs on this album, I found "Boy Child" to be relatively boring. Overall, I really enjoyed this album, and will go looking for more.

I almost can't believe something this sonically cinematic released in 1969. Granted, I'm sure some remastering was done for streaming service needs but the overall sound of the project is really lush and layered. There are haunting moments fueled by Scott's voice and lyrical talents taking center stage. I really enjoyed this one.

4/5

The arrangements and production really gave this an easy listening feel that just prevented it from connecting with me.

Ok 2/5

My previous album was one by Echo and the Bunnymen, this was more like Bunnyman and the Echo. I’m not sure what to think about it.

Beautiful haunting voice. A very 1969 album. War was on the mind

Super! Esta muy lindo :D

Scott Walker was quite pragmatic in naming his albums. This sounds a lot like Nick Drake, with soulful, sad songs. Top tracks: "On Your Own Again," "The Seventh Seal," "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)"

Greg was right!

--The Seventh Seal...bless you, you beautiful weirdo --On Your Own Again...atmospheric and contemplative. nice strings --The World's Strongest Man...a continuation of "On Your Own" of sorts. more nice strings --Angels of Ashes...ethereal. beautiful --Boy Child...slow ballad. maybe more of a collage. again, very atmospheric --Hero of the War...we keep the lush arrangement but up the tempo. it's got a nice swing to it --The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)...this is the song that got me into Scott Walker. I remember thinking to myself, "this sounds like my kind of oddball". DWEE-DOBBA-DUP DWEE-DOBBA-DUP DWEE-DOBBA-DUP DWEE-DOBBA-DUP --Duchess...perhaps a bit basic relative to other tracks but it's quite pleasant. relaxing --Get Behind Me...we got some bass! feel good rocker --Rhymes of Goodbye...this one's a little melodramatic

Another "fine" album. Not really my thing, but easy to listen to.

Better than I expected. Walker is a strong singer and a couple of tracks really worked for me. Best tracks were The Seventh Seal, The Old Man Is Back, and Get Behind Me.

Poor man's Neil Diamond

It can be a little schmaltzy for me. Kind of feels like he’s mocking my me maybe. Then every now and then one like Duchess lands well. Not bad!

Now this one snuck up on me!! I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. The writing was great, the music was even better. And I should’ve known it would be good because brother just named it after himself, he said there wasn’t else that needed to be explained.

A nice collection of songs. I don't recall if this is our first album by this artist, but I like it. Dad mentioned not liking his voice, but I don't mind it as much. If anything, it's more the dragging cadence of his singing than the tone of voice that might bother me a little. I don't love the slow songs, but they are also executed in a way that strikes me as the right way to do it: a very full instrumental that includes a grandiose string section. The melodies are well written. I think we all agreed that Hero of the War was the best track, and a very good one at that. The track after that has a great bass line panned all the way to the left, and Get Behind Me has a catchy chorus. I'm feeling a strong 3 to a light 4

Glad to hear this one. Mostly unfamiliar to me, although I do remember hearing about him at some point in the last decade or two, and I think listening maybe to a few songs (or possibly a CD from the library, or online?), at some point. AI helped me remember why "Duchess" sounds familiar: it's been covered by Neko Case (and others, but it's Neko's version I'm familiar with). This one is going to be between a 3 and a 4, and, as so often, the biggest obstacle, for me, is his voice/singing. Not that I hate it; just don't love it. It's an interesting album, for sure, with ambitious orchestration; well worth hearing, and wouldn't mind coming back to it again, at some point (but probably not repeatedly). Think I'll go with a high 3.

His vocal style reminds me of the guy from Dead Can Dance. It's not quite to my liking but I do quite like the accompaniments so this was a decent listen (helped by using my box speakers at home). I think I heard a Koto on one of the songs? Cool if so. The lyrics were generally intriguing too. I saw the Bergman film he was inspired by in the first song, in my Kierkegaard class at college. So I guess there are elements that made me consider coming back, despite not loving the slow croony stuff. My favorite was the upbeat "Hero of the War"

Chill

Das Album versucht hier, das Summen und die gedämpften Vokalflächen als mystische Tiefe zu verkaufen, aber meistens klingt es schlicht nach musikalischem Leerlauf. Die Songs schweben, ohne je wirklich zu landen, und das „langweilige Summen“ zieht sich wie ein grauer Nebel durch das Album. Handwerklich sauber, emotional aber erstaunlich unbeteiligt.

This is a sort of musical subgenre that I was unaware of. Esoteric crooner? Big band on acid? Whatever it is the curtains don’t match the carpet. The music is predictable and canned but the songs are meandering musings with lyrics like, “they’ll blind you with their wings wrapped in flame” and “his mother called him Ivan, and then she died”. The effect is bizarre and incongruous.

Hard to know what to do with this one. Certainly not a style I’m into, but it wasn’t like Coldplay-bad.

..

I was gonna rate it something good because "the old man's back again" was actually some damn good music but the i understood that the man would be the same guy who killed so many people and stole 2 damn villas from my grand grand parents and i didnt like so much the song no more

voice as instrument

The sort of thing that comes on old reruns of Top of the Pops and makes you wonder what the fuck people in the late 60s and early 70s were doing. And then you remember that old people brought singles back then. Not really my thing. It's not terrible, but is rather uninteresting

nah dude

The fourth Scott Walker album.

Some ok ballads and a mix of funk within, but overall just not wowed.

I liked this more than I thought I would - as with Simon and Garfunkel, the songs do actually have things to say, and the arrangements are indeed often pleasingly intricate for a pop album. I like a lot of Divine Comedy, and I can hear the traces of that future (and a past of music hall crooners) in this music. I particularly liked the light and shade in Hero of The War and The Old Man's Back Again, but I'm a sucker for cheerfully melodied bleakness. It's a baroque pop album with a little rock, country, psychedelia and folk in there. It doesn't always work, but it's almost all at least a bit interesting. He wrote it, he sung it, and he chose that. I'll forgive a lot for that, even though the pacing is often a little slow for me. Split between a three and a four, but I'll give a three because it's patchy.

I felt like I was watching the end credits of many 60s movies, his album just gives off that vibe.

Imagine if Scott Walker and Joni Mitchell got stuck on a desert island. Decades could go by and the two of them would still be making things up to go on and on about.

Thought I was gonna like this until the vocals hit. Reminded me a lot of Nick Cave, the very affected style which I really dislike. Arrangements were cool.

TIL Scott Walker has only brought bad things to this planet

Knew a guy who's favorite artist was Scott. Never really got it at the time. But this album is pretty amazing. It feels a little Cohen in lyrical ambition, but with a little more musicality, at least for my taste. The arrangements are rich and the range of styles is a fun ride. Sounds a little like a more sophisticated Neil Diamond - especially Get Behind Me.

You call tell that this guy is just completely full of himself on this record, flexing his wobbly, often irritating baritone. It is going to take more than some nice reverb and some strings to make this record more enjoyable, because I found it pretty hard to take seriously. There are better records to spend your time with than this guy’s twinkling silly ballads.

This was great. I've never heard of the guy before, but will definitely checkout more, including his collab with sunn!

Una voz muy linda y un sonido bastante interesante. Me gusta más que Elvis a pesar de que suenen tan similares.

It was overhated

Not much I ended up enjoying on here.

High 2. What even was that?

Scott has the perfect voice for crooning and croon he does!

Mellow, relaxing. Typical 60"s crooner. Nothing groundbreaking, but still very good

Yuck. Melodramatic shite and a creepy ass voice.

Such a great voice and sensibilities, but these songs didn't do a whole lot for me.

Бро

This dude is ripoff Frank Sinatraa, just listen to him instead. No songs were offensively bad, and the album as a whole was very uninteresting. There were no tracks that stood out to me, and the album cover is just okay. Best song: The World's Strongest Man. Worst song: Rhymes of Goodbye. Will not be listening again.

Imagine you’re starving, you go to your favorite restaurant and order chips - and that homemade salsa you absolutely love - Then the waiter brings your lettuce chips and ketchup dip.

A dull experience, Scott 4 by Scott Walker does not have much going for it. Vocals are uninspired and monotone while trying to be deep. It is clear why this album failed to chart, with a lack of hits or even enjoyable songs. Scott fails to meet expectations in every aspect, except for production. The instrumentals would be a redeeming quality as many of them are simultaneously grand and elegant, but they are overlooked and overshadowed by the aforementioned vocals.

I feel like this is an album that either you get it or you don't. I don't know that I quite get it. Scott is a good singer, and I'm sure his lyrics are deep and full of meaning, but I just don't know if I'm interested enough to delve deeper.

His voice is really nice, but honestly all of the songs felt pretty forgettable. highlights: the old man's back again (dedicated to the neo-stalinist regime)