Scott 2 [Remaster]

Performer: Scott Walker
Producer: Peter J. Olliff; John Franz; Cally (Reissue)
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: This remastered reissue of eccentric singer Scott Walker's 1968 release SCOTT WALKER features "Jackie," "Best Of Both Worlds," and "Plastic Palace People." Personnel: Scott Walker (vocals). Audio Remasterer: Simon Heyworth. Arrangers: Peter Knight; Reg Guest; Wally Stott. SCOTT 2 represents the axis of the singer's career. Somehow Scott Walker (by now writing under his given name, Engel) carved himself a commercial as well as critical success just as the pop star's existential angst assumed the upper hand. As with predecessor SCOTT (1), the fascination with Jacques Brel is evident in the inclusion of three of the Belgian's songs. "Next" is as shockingly graphic as "The Girls and the Dogs" is comic, but most instantly identifiable is "Jacky." This UK-banned hit single and leadoff track heralds the record's arrival at bawdy, breakneck speed. The Brel influence smothers one of SCOTT 2's four Engel originals, "The Girls from the Streets." For all its grandeur, the song feels like homage. No such accusations can be leveled at "Plastic Palace People" or "The Amorous Humphrey Plugg," where Scott's writing begins to flower, his voice assuming a towering poise and distinction. The whole of SCOTT 2 is lent weight by the wildly inventive arrangements of Wally Stott, Peter Knight, and Reg Guest. One or two MOR covers aside, the combination of vocals and orchestration is magically evocative.

Q (9/00, p.131) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Walker and arranger Wally Scott find their own voice on [this album], a luminous, orchestral and mystical take on the Jack Jones school of crooner..." Q (p.44) - "In one of pop's more remarkable reinventions, Scott Walker went from being a lust object for teeny-bopper girls to existential balladeer..." Mojo (Publisher) (8/00, p.97) - "...Resonates with the riches of the last great days of the pop narrative. The pop song rarely aspired to such literacy after this....forged in the white-hot glare of the pop process....[with] superb orchestrations..."

Noel Scott Engel, better known as Scott Walker, was born in the US, but found fame in the UK as a member of the Walker Brothers, who became teen pop idols in England in the 1960s. After the group's demise, Walker's darker, artier side eventually came to the fore, and he began a quirky solo career that encompassed Jacques Brel covers, moody, saloon-singer crooning, and avant-garde tendencies. He became the quintessential cult figure, inscrutable and highly influential, though after the '70s his works were few and far between.

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