SCOTT WALKER

SCOTT WALKER
BOY CHILD:
THE BEST OF 1967-1970 (1990)
320 KBPS

I'll admit Scott Walker is an acquired taste. Here 60's MOR meets the avant-garde. Walker's songs have all the big brass & string production of a vintage Bacharach tune, saddled with lyrics that are closer to Leonard Cohen than Hal David.
Vocally, he comes across like a reluctant Vegas crooner with the heart of Ingmar Bergman sliding off his sleeve. Sinatra or Bobby Darrin with a serious case of literary pretention. If you ever thought The Seventh Seal needed a theme song, you'll find it here. The Plague takes Albert Camus' novel & sets it to a moody dance groove. The results are more winning that you think.
Elsewhere, Walker corners the market on manic-depressive waltzes. Bedsit rainy sundays, carosels & after-hours boulevard ennui are some of Walker's tradmark fare. Among the most effective are Montague Terrace, Copenhagen & It's raining Today.Girls From The Streets takes its cue from Jaques Brel and on Time Operator he comes off like an existential Sinatra.
Most of what Walker's cult status is based on is here. There's always room to quibble, but this is truely a "best of" in my book. Granted, Walker's lyrics can can be a bit too pretentious for their own good. His brand of purple prose isn't for everyone & combined with decidedly dated production values, some songs come off as unintentionally hilarious. Plastic Plalace People being a case in point. But when all is said & done, it's Walker's rich, eerie baritone that lures you in. You could shell out for the poorly packaged Mercury box set, or pick this up. Truth be told, outside of buying Scott's I-IV, this is all you need of his classic years.

1. Montague Terrace (In Blue)
2. Such a Small Love
3. The Plague
4. The Amorous Humphrey Plugg
5. The Girls from the Streets
6. Plastic Palace People
7. The Bridge
8. It's Raining Today
9. Copenhagen
10. Big Louise
11. We Came Through
12. The Seventh Seal
13. On Your Own Again
14. Boy Child
15. The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)
16. Angels of Ashes
17. Prologue
18. Little Things (That Keep Us Together)
19. Time Operator
20. Epilogue, the War Is over (Sleepers)

SINGS JACQUES BREL (1990)
320 KBPS

As a bonus, I give you this short album of Jacques Brel's covers by Scott. He was, in my humble opionion, the only one to come close the emotional intensity of Brel's singing. Whatsmore, it's a nice complement to the compilation above as it covers the same era.

1. Mathilde
2. Amsterdam
3. Jackie
4. My Death
5. Next
6. The Girls and the Dogs
7. If You Go Away
8. Funeral Tango
9. Sons Of