You can never have enough threads about Scott Walker. One of my all time favourites, from his days as a baroque pop singer to his current albums where he almost sounds like the ghost of a crooner trapped in hell. I don't think there are many that can match the amazing run of albums from Scott 1-4. and of course Til' The Band Comes In is quite nice (and unfortunately quite overlooked) I even made this 'imaginary compilation' for my own Walker Brothers comp of Scott's earlier stuff, even designing the cover to look similar to Scott 1-4. (Mainly because the entire Walker Brothers discography together is just way too inconsistent next to his classic 1965-1969 albums.) Side One 1. "Love Her" 2. "Make It Easy On Yourself" 3. "First Love Never Dies" 4. "I Lost My Girl In The Rain" 5. "You're All Around Me" 6. "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore" 7. "My Ship Is Coming In" Side Two 1. "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" 2. "After The Lights Go Out" 3. "(Baby) You Don't Have To Tell Me" 4. "Young Man Cried" 5. "I Need You" 6. "Another Tear Falls" 7. "Saddest Night In The World" Side Three 1. "In My Room" 2. "Hurting Each Other" 3. "Where's The Girl?" 4. "Living Above Your Head" 5. "Deadlier Than The Male" 6. "Archangel" 7. "Mrs. Murphy" Side Four 1. "Stay With Me Baby 2. "Walking In The Rain" 3. "Everything Under The Sun" 4. "Once Upon A Summertime" 5. "Orpheus" 6. "Genevieve" 7. "Just Say Goodbye" What's your favourite Scott album and song? Later stuff included too of course.
Oh wow at last a proper thread !! Count me in...... I'll dive in shortly cos I'm a bit busy right now......
I mostly prefer 3 and 4 when Walker started to include more of his songs which were astonishingly great.
I've been slowly exploring Scott Walker. There's so much great stuff that I've been savouring it. I can't say a bad thing about those first four solo albums, but the later 'difficult' stuff is pretty good too, if you're in the mood for it. I think he's pretty amazing.
I can't give enough praise to the Nite Flights album. (Or the Nite Flights E.P as I call it, since the first four tracks by Scott are far and away the best on the record!) What's incredible about Scott's best work is just how timeless it is. A song like The Shut Out from 1978 sounds like it could come out today!
The most interesting artist of the last, erm... ever. Since Tilt, he's pretty much out there on his own, it's like he's invented his own genre. Disturbing, hilarious, frightening, bewildering, incredible. His lyrics manage to be horrific and beautiful at the same time. I don't know what he's talking about 90% of the time, but it's still incredibly powerful. "As the grossness of spring rose a tumour balloon to squeak against the window"... holy moly! Soused, his collaboration with Sunn O))), is also brilliant.
My first solo Scott Walker record was this one, purchased in 1984 at a thrift store (a few months later I found a UK copy of Scott in another thrift store).
i re-watched his documentary last week, and then spent the next day playing one through four and nite flights. it's astounding that he was able to do what he did, particularly when he chose to do it. you can get the doc on dvd from netflix... and it was produced by bowie, of all people. what are the odds?
Embarrassed to say I've never heard of him. The only Scott Walker I know is the awful Governor of Wisconsin. I am assuming he's a British artist. Not sure why I've never picked up on him.
He's American, but I can see why some might see him as British. Just like Jimi Hendrix, Scott found fame in the UK after scuffling around in the US music scene for a number of years. I first really got interested in him through reading an entry about him in the Lillian Roxon rock encyclopedia (this was a book that got me into a lot of relatively obscure artists). I'd heard "Make It Easy On Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" but the Lillian Roxon article introduced me to Scott's solo work and I kept an eye out for it...I loved his voice and wanted to hear more. Back in the 70s his records weren't easy to find in the States.
WOW. I always thought he was a BRIT since he never really made it here in the US , at least not like in the UK. I think I may have heard a song or two but can;t believe I never listened to any of his records, even when I worked in record stores through the 1970s. Always thought he was like Anthony Newly.
Scott is one of those artists I've been meaning to explore for years, as what I have heard from him and about him but really suggested that I've been missing out. For various reasons I've somehow put this off until three months ago, when I bought Scott 2, Scott 4 and more adventurously, Tilt. All I can say is that I left buying these way too long - what a voice, and what a talent. Even the "difficult" Tilt, is a good listen and Scott 2 and Scott 4 absolutely essential. Bring on 1 and 3!
The Scott Walker"thing " has always been a mystery to my taste. But to each their own. However, That's not as much of a mystery to me as to what he has done for income over the last 40 years.
Sure is! Send me a PM. On topic, Scott 1-4 are great, I listen to at least one of them once a week. I recently grabbed Nite Flights, and the Scott Walker songs are the best. The rest is completely forgettable, and that's being nice. His 1984 solo album sounds like his newer experimental work with Japan playing the music. It's pretty good for fans of New Wave and/or New Romantic that also like Scott Walker. His newer stuff I could see being an acquired taste.
I wish he had been a little more prolific around the Nite Flights era. Those 4 songs are a great tease for what he was capable of at the time, and a good balance between melody and experimentation.
The Phillips albums are crying out for a deluxe Japan SACD/SHM remastering. Years before these however, Scott was competing with Dick Dale back in L.A.
The run included SCOTT - Scott Walker sings songs from his T.V. series in between Scott 3 and Scott 4 - perhaps not part of the run aesthetically, however I rate The Moviegoer as being up there with his best solo albums (I lose interest after he left Philips).
He's great. I OD'd on 1-4 when I first discovered him 10 or so years ago, so haven't played em much recently. "Climate Of Hunter" is another fave that doesn't seem to get much love. I liked "Tilt" at first but can't really deal with it anymore or any of the other albums that came after.
