How do you describe an icon? To be perfectly honest I don’t think anything I can say about this individual truly gives him justice. He’s an amazing, brilliant, creative, diligent, excellent, and fantastic genius. I am talking about the 30 Century Man himself, Scott Walker.
For those not familiar with Scott Walker don’t feel embarrassed at all if you don’t consider yourself a music fan. However, if you’re a music aficionado you should know who Scott Walker is and the impact he has left on music. To be perfectly honest I had no clue who he was until three years ago when I saw a documentary called Scott Walker: 30 Century Man. If you haven’t seen the film already go out and see it immediately!
Scott Walker is a remarkable renaissance man that has been practically unnoticed in the United States as a solo artist. Walker was in the pop band The Walker Brothers from 1964 to 1967, until the band broke up because of artistic differences and pop stardom. During that time, the band produced “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore,” both #1 UK Singles and Top 20 hits in the United States. The band was particularly popular in Europe and the UK during this time.
The Walker Brother’s last album, Images, was a foreshadowing for Walker’ solo albums and gave fans a small glimpse of the direction he wanted his effective, emotional vocal range to go towards. Walker has influenced musical artists like Marc Almond, David Sylvian, David Bowie, Radiohead, Sting, Gavin Friday and The Divine Comedy to name a few. When I discovered David Bowie and Sting were huge fans I knew right then and there I needed to listen to Scott Walker.
Scott Walker released Scott six months after Images was released. Scott was successful in the UK, but practically unnoticed in the US. The album is a unique mixture of covers and original songs that established Walker as a serious, solemn and sophisticated musician. The soulful “boy band” image was long gone.
The album begins with one of my favorite cover songs ever, “Mathilde,” one of three English-translated covers of Belgian musician and songwriter Jacques Brel’s songs. Immediately listeners are hit with loud trumpets and Walker’s sweet, somber voice. More opening tracks should be as attention grabbing as this, but sadly very few actually are.
"Montague Terrace (In Blue)" is the second track and one Walker’s original songs. Although I am not a huge fan of this song, it does seamlessly blend in with everything else. That’s what so remarkable about this album. Even though it’s an album mostly composed of covers, nothing seems out of place and as a matter of fact is pitch perfect.
The songs “Angelica” and “When Joanna Loved Me” are two phenomenal covers. Even though the majority of the songs are covers, Brel’s "My Death" and "Amsterdam" are arguably two of the best found on the album. Walker’s other original songs are "Such a Small Love" and "Always Coming Back to You." It’s such a wide variety, yet balance work of current contemporary covers, English translated songs and original songs that you lose yourself in the music.
Scott Walker was and still remains a pioneer in the music industry. He still continues making music today, but it’s always under the radar. Walker once famously said, “"I've become the Orson Welles of the record industry. People want to take me to lunch, but nobody wants to finance the picture... it's a tough way to work."
If you enjoy Scott Walker, John Cale and Tim Buckley are two other experimental and avant-garde artists that are worth checking out as well.
--Mr. Brownstone
Buy here: Scott
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