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Scott 2 (180 Gram Vinyl) | 
 enlarge | Artist: Scott Walker
Label: 4 Men With Beards
Category: Music
New (6) from $14.26
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 98423
Media: LP Record
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 12.2 x 12.2 x 0.2
UPC: 646315115017
EAN: 0646315115017
ASIN: B0010VD7BW
Release Date: December 7, 2007
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| Tracks:
| • | Jackie - Scott Walker, Brel, Jacques | | • | Best of Both Worlds - Scott Walker, Black, Don | | • | Black Sheep Boy - Scott Walker, Hardin, Tim | | • | The Amorous Humphrey Plugg - Scott Walker, Walker, Scott [1] | | • | Next - Scott Walker, Brel, Jacques | | • | The Girls from the Streets - Scott Walker, Walker, Scott [1] | | • | Plastic Palace People - Scott Walker, Walker, Scott [1] | | • | Wait Until Dark - Scott Walker, Evans, Ray | | • | The Girls and the Dogs - Scott Walker, Brel, Jacques | | • | Windows of the World - Scott Walker, David, Hal | | • | The Bridge - Scott Walker, Walker, Scott [1] | | • | Come Next Spring - Scott Walker, Adelson, Leonard |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Originally released in 1968, Scott 2 made it all the way to number one on the UK pop charts, perhaps the strangest number one hit in pop history. Continuing with his orchestral obsession, Scott 2 features over-the-top string and horn arrangements, occasionally veering into dangerously schmaltzy territory. This production style is in drastic contrast to the lyrical content, songs of despair, prostitution, homosexuality, and brutal honesty, indicting the same glamorous and glitzy lifestyle that his baroque pop style emblemizes. Along with many originals Scott 2 features songs by Jacques Brel, Tim Hardin, and Bacharach/David. Deluxe 180 gram vinyl reissue.
Album Description
Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2007.
Album Details
24 Bit Hdcd Remastered Edition of his 1968 Release with Restored Original Artwork.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Art Redeeming Life July 24, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Scott 2 is the second solo album of the legendary musician Scott Walker (a.k.a. Engel). In addition to rendering his sublime voice and impassioned interpretations to three Jacques Brel pieces and others, he also wrote four original pieces for this album: The Amorous Humphrey Plugg, The Girls from the Street, Plastic Palace People, and The Bridge. These songs suggest that Scott is gifted not only with a superb capacity to communicate complex emotions but also with a mind that can observe the social realities of human existence in a realistic manner. (His songs at times remind me of Sherwood Anderson's novel, Winesburg, Ohio.) Most of the selected songs here are not "pretty" in a conventional way (for instance, Come Next Spring, which can be sung in a straightforwardly romantic way, becomes a song of irredeemable loss due to the tragically nuanced delivery of Scott's singing voice); but they definitely engage the listeners' hearts and minds in a profound manner. To listen to Scott's singing voice is to be moved by it. I highly recommend this album to anybody who appreciates complexity and ambiguity of human emotional life.
Amazing music that amazes October 17, 2006
Of Walker's 4 numbered albums, this is consistently the best. From the opening blast of the world-weary Brel epic "Jackie" to the closing tones of "Come Next Spring" this is an album full of musical gems, hidden treasures, and astoundingly tender wonders. I don't know what I love more - the Sinatra meets Wagner swell of "Best of Both Worlds," the lounge-folk of "Black Sheep Boy," or the sheer, mournful beauty of "Window's of the World." This album surges from the ridiculous to the sublime without flinching, all the while carried along by breathtakingly stunning production. The only song that overstays its welcome is "Plastic Palace People," though even that has some memorable moments. The previous album, though good, suffered from pacing/song-selection issues, the later albums, each briliant in its own way, tend to be overly experimental. This is the one (although it's called 2).
 Not his best, but worth getting. August 9, 2006
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Scott 2 features some great songs, but as some other reviews have said, many tracks are mismatched. The cd will feature high moments of craft and lyricism, as in all the Brel covers (naturally), Windows of the World, and Plastic Palace Alice. The other songs are forgettable and just too soupy to get into. Personally, other than the songs listed, I can only recall Best of Both Worlds only for the fact that the opening notes match Dvorak's New World Symphony.
But, though forgettable, the other tracks aren't offensive or unlistenable. And the majority of other songs make up for them to keep you listening to the cd the whole way through. And all serves as a harbinger for great albums to come, namely Scott 4.
Scott moves forward , but some mismatched songs October 29, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
One of the strange things for the Scott Walker fan is that his records make you want to get a bigger sound system .
For me , at least .
You know how some people listen to opera at top volume ?
Scott's early albums can make you want to do that , as there is a similiar thing going on , intensity wise .
The music packs a punch , both sonically and often emotionally . This album has Scott branching out a bit with his own songs , covering Jacques Brel again to fine effect and doing some showbizzy numbers , which must have made some people think of giving him his own TV show , which he later did .
It's like he's fine tuning things and getting further out .
I can only imagine what his listeners thought .
A great album leading toward his later darker work .
Buy this if you want to be challenged and hear different musical possibilities .
Walker really distinguishes himself with this album. May 6, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It is pleasing enough to discover an English speaking vocalist who dares interpret the signature songwriting of Jacques Brell, but to dare take on the master! Well, that is a consummation devoutly to be wished. . .
And yet, here it is! When you first listen to this album I recommend jumping directly to "Next." I am not going to tell you what the song is about, you can discover that for yourself. But here's a hint: glance at the next song, "The Girls From The Streets." Let us just say that this song is a response, of sorts, to "Next." And what is striking is that, side by side, neither song outshines the other. I tip my cap to that.
But Walker moves beyond assuming the mantle of Brell's style (both vocal and written) in "Plastic Palace People." Dare I say that what I thought I heard was the emergence of a voice in pop that was nonpareil? I suppose you can find its "after-shocks" in singers like Nick Cave but has anyone in pop or easy listening matched what we are hearing here? Walker simply puts an almost "beat" spin on this Sinatra/Bennet crooning yet never claims to be better than these icons, merely different. He takes vocal performance in an interesting direction; I almost got the sense that Walker's work on this album was an amalgam of "beat" consciousness, swaggering hipster nonchalance, and a trace of Gershwin -Porter era ditties with their gorgeous lyrics and panoramic tunefullness. But still, all of my pretensions do this music no justice at all. I am merely laboring here out of love.
I don't think you will be disappointed by this record, especially if easy listening and pop music appeal to you and you've a penchant for indulging in both the gothic and the effulgent. Just think Leonard Cohen meets "sunshine pop" or Nelson Riddle and you're on the right track.
Five stars. I'm lovin' this stuff.
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