Scott Walker - Scott 4 poll

Hero of the War vs. The Old Man's Back Again for me. No weak tracks. The Scott originals on Til the Band Comes in are also Scott 4-caliber.

Haven't voted myself yet but it will probably end up being 'Rhymes of Goodbye'. I've always had a very soft spot for 'The World's Strongest Man' and I am hoping that one won't actually end up being one without any votes.

Un-possible!

On Your Own Again - greatest song under two minutes ever written.

Boychild is where it all started for me - hearing that on the radio in 1991 or so. On Your Own Again is properly devastating though; oddly it's Susanne Sundfør's version I often have in my head.

This is "favourite kid" level of difficulty.

Boy Child. I know people like it, but I've never liked On Your Own Again much, always seemed a bit sub "3" to me.

my brain defaults to old man’s back, which is a good excuse to play the album again

The World's Strongest Man! That woozy bit in the intro always gets me

it's a very good album. my favourite of the four by far. I even luke The Seventh Seal, which a lot of people don't like for some reason.
But the funky bass and rhythm juxtaposed by the graphic Soviet imagery of Old Man takes it.
If it has a weak spit, it's the last three songs. Can't even remember Rhymes Of Goodbye

I prefer early Scott when he's punchy and picaresque rather than gauzy and romantic. never quite got the hang of Scott 3 apart from the amazing 'It's Raining Today' (which is gauzy and romantic done exceptionally well)

Like many of us, I suspect, I got into Scott Walker via Tilt and made my way backwards. I was worried I wouldn't care for his early material because I've never been a huge fan of 60s baroque pop but I absolutely loved 'The Seventh Seal' as soon as it came on. Alas, none of the subsequent songs made a lasting impression, so I'm somewhat surprised to discover that a lot of people dislike the opener.

Do many really dislike Seventh Seal? I actually expected it to be a common fave!

I like it but it's a bit cornball, even for Scott.

some of my favourite songs ever recorded here of which The World's Strongest Man means the most to me

seventh seal is great because it's a belter with a hilarious concept

Rumor has it Max Von Sydow, upon hearing it a couple months ago, dropped dead.

hero of the war is so good, love the acoustic guitar strumming rhythm and the lyrics are poignant, not preachy

Seventh Seal is great, but so is nearly every song on this. DL otm that the last two songs are the weakest, I'm expecting 'Get Behind Me' to rank lowest. Everything before that is totally classic imo. Will have to ponder on this one for a bit.

"Get Behind Me" is fabulous for singing in the car or shower.

It's also not the weakest song on here.

Last 3 songs are great

There's not really a weak track here, although I'd say Angels of Ashes is perhaps not quite as good as the others - a bit derivative of Cohen's Sisters of Mercy?

Actually, I think Susanne Sundfør's version of "Angels of Ashes" is better than Scott's - it gets a bit samey with Scott, but she makes every verse a little different!

Of course, Robbie Williams is pretending he's never heard that one...

knocking the last 3 songs is baffling to me, "Duchess" and "Rhymes" are probably my two favourite tracks on the album, tho it's a very cohesive album. if anything "Hero" and "Old Man" seem the outliers.

otm, it’s between those two for me too

Watched the Muppet movie with the kids and noticed in the credits that there is a Scott Walker in it that plays a dark mercenary type character. I started shouting and bouncing up and down with excitement but it’s a different Scott Walker. Family was confused.

My friends from Wisconsin who are not that into music are probably getting very tired of my annoyance whenever they mention the other Scott Walker.

I completely adore those last three songs myself as well. I went for Rhymes of Goodbye here but Get Behind Me was pleasantly stuck in my head pretty much all day yesterday - will feel sad if it ends up lowest (but I think that feeling will be applied to any song that ends up lowest and/or without any votes).

Not seen it mentioned yet - and bits of it are sub-Dylan doggerrel in some ways - but it's Duchess all the way for me.

Sometimes wonder why it took me years to buy the 1967-70 albums. Were they that hard to find in the '90s? I got the Fontana "Boychild" compilation on LP in early '92 (which only had 14 tracks; the CD had 20, so I missed out on Angels of Ashes, On Your Own Again... and It's Raining Today ffs!), and the "Sings Jacques Brel" comp on CD about a year later. Then there was "Tilt". But it wasn't until the remastered CDs came out in 2000 that I filled in the gaps. Pretty sure Fontana had reissued everything once already in the early '90s (apart from 'Til The Band Comes In, which made a brief appearance on CD on another label). I even bought my Dad the Fontana Walker Bros comp! Never did ask whether he rated Orpheus and Archangel as much as the hits.

They were pretty much impossible to find in the 80s, and I don't think they were much easier to find in the 90s. It's kind of weird given that the first 3 sold in enormous quantities that you never came across them 2nd hand or in charity shops - suggests people held on to them?

From "4" onwards, forget it. Annoyingly, "Lines" and "No Regrets" were bargain bin regulars.

I'd love it if they somehow reissued the first side of Til The Band with the first four songs of Nite Flights as a single unit. stylistically dissimilar but much loved in equal measure.

Yeah, I was pretty thrilled when "Nite Flights" got a reissue about 15 years ago. You can stop after track 4, though. Someone made me an MP3 comp of all the '70s MoR Scott, but it doesn't really get any better than the handful of nuggets that made it onto the "Five Easy Pieces" boxset (a fiver from HMV a few years back!).

If he'd recorded just ONE more of his own songs for TTBCI that would have been enough for an album - a short album, true, but "4" is only 32 and half mintues long. It is the same format as "3", with 10 originals and a group of covers at the end... but, no comparison when it comes to the covers!

Even without the covers, TTBCI is still a step down from 4, good though those songs are.

Maybe, it has a slighly cut price feel about it but I absolutely love some of the songs on TTBCI.

I didn't think the "covers" were that bad, anyway. Like you say, "3" had the same format. Just, not Brel.

no one has mentioned "angels of ashes" wtf

that into boy child is the peak of the record

otm

Record is all peak.

voted "Boy Child" after another listen but yeah "Dutchess" is maybe my second choice!

Not seen it mentioned yet - and bits of it are sub-Dylan doggerrel in some ways - but it's Duchess all the way for me.

― Vanishing Point (Chinaski)

the walker brothers' version of "love minus zero" is so awful!

Just listened to the whole album there, "Get Behind Me" is awesome and "On Your Own Again" is the weakest song by some distance.

i think i already voted for 'hero of the war' but 'get behind me' has been the one stuck in my head since listening again

I don't think they were much easier to find in the 90s.

iirc 1 and 2 weren't so difficult to find then. it was 3 and 4 that you'd never see and it was only when they were reissued on cd in 92 that I was able to finally get those ones.

Yes, I think you're right, 4 in particular.

Record is all peak.

this is the sign that needs to be repeatedly tapped

Maybe it was my own reluctance not to double up on stuff. I bought Eno's "More Blank Than Frank" comp in the late-'80s, and someone taped "Warm Jets" for me, and that sufficed for *years*, even though the 1973-77 LPs were out there. (If I was so frugal, how come I'm so broke now, huh?)

I didn't think the "covers" were that bad, anyway. Like you say, "3" had the same format. Just, not Brel.

Well there's five of them for a start, that's at least two too many. I could certainly do without hearing "What Are You Doing With the Rest of Your Life" for one.

Yeah, there is that. I'm just thankful "it's over" isn't the Roy Orbison song, after Michael Caine

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

That was tough. I ended up voting for "The Seventh Seal" because for a long time it was the only song I could get into. The rest took a while to click. I'm aware it's kind of... pretentious, but it's a great opener that pops into my head a lot.

Nice results. Love the fact that every song got at least one vote and 'first place' is shared by three tracks.

Yeah, the results fit the record imo. Nothing's left behind.

Get Behind Me is a little left behind. I do think it's a great song and it's been on my mind a lot over the last week. At least it still got one vote.

I guess one more vote would make it number one on that distrib chart

Rhymes was seriously robbed here. Consider it as 5, not 4.