2000 HDCD Remastered Fontana 510 882-2
Originally released 1969 on Philips, this release 2000 by Mercury Records/Universal Records.
Tracklisting:
01. The Seventh Seal
02. On Your Own Again
03. The World's Strongest Man
04. Angels Of Ashes
05. Boy Child
06. Hero Of The War
07. Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated To The Neo-Stalinist Regime)
08. Duchess
09. Get Behind Me
10. Rhymes Of Goodbye
While brilliant as Scott 3 is (and it is), Scott 4 is really were it's at, it's to me, just about perfect as a record can be. Probably the saddest thing about this album is it's reception the first time around, after the highs of the first three self titled records all landing in the top 5 of the UK album chart, Scott 4 failed to chart at all -even though it barely came six months after 3. Whether this was because of the -although it's truly timeless -music being out of sync with the times (maybe), or Scott issuing it under his real name of Engel (possibly), or for the fact it was released at the same time as Philips issuing the BBC comp of Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series -even though that doesn't actually contain recordings from the show, just studio versions of the covers he performed on it -it's hard to tell (-though i suspect that did sink it).
Regardless of it's bizarre failure to do anything when released (and the subsequent blight on Scott recording career soon afterwards), it really is a superlative piece of work. All Engel originals composed in the most delightful way. From the literal Seventh Seal, the perfect 1:47 running time of On Your Own Again, to the etheral Boy Child, the biting Hero Of The War, the awesomeness of the Old Man's Back Again (that BASS! -Scott's own work!!) to the final uplifting glory of Rhymes Of Goodbye closing the album out, it's just, frankly, a masterpiece. I'll stop gushing now (it'll be no surprise when i say it's probably my favourite album ever), and let the music do the talking.
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