Artist: Scott Walker
Album: Scott 2
Year: 1968
Scott Walker sang in a group called The Walker Brothers (noteworthy because nobody in the group was related, and none of their surnames was actually Walker), and had some reasonable success in the UK in the teen idol realm. At some point Scott decided to go solo, and made a sequence of four theatrical chamber-pop albums at the end of the 1960's. This one, obviously, is the second in the sequence. Fifty-ish albums from now, we'll take a look at Scott 4.
I absolutely love Scott 2. Walker is one of my favorite vocalists of all-time and this is the album that I think best shows off his voice. So many songs here are highlights, not least of which are three Jacques Brel covers: "Jackie," "Next," and "The Girls and the Dogs." My preference of those is the last of the three, an ode to the fickle nature of the fairer sex.
My absolute favorite two songs on this album are ones that are at diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum. "Black Sheep Boy" is a quiet little folk song with a great melody and a velvet-smooth delivery from Walker. "The Girls from the Streets" is bombastic and theatrical and perhaps a little dirty, foreshadowing the chamber-pop music of the 1990's with bands like The Divine Comedy (whose Neil Hannon is a hardcore Walker devotee) and Pulp.
I'm going to call this one indispensable. Everyone should hear Scott Walker. Why he isn't more of a household name is a mystery to me. Great songs, great voice. Fantastic.
Rating: Indispensable
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