Scott 3

Description

Scott Walkers final British Top Ten album was the first to be dominated by his own songwriting. Ten of the thirteen tunes on this 1969 LP are originals; the remaining three, naturally, were written by one of his chief inspirations, Jacques Brel. There are some interesting moments here. Big Louise talks about a hefty prostitute with shocking explicitness for a pop star album of the era. Copenhagen (like much of Walkers 60s work) foreshadows David Bowie. No Last Tango is a particularly vicious Brel song. 30 Century Man is an uncommonly folkish and focused tune for Walker. We Came Through is an oddball cavalry charge featuring one of his occasional forays into Ennio Morricone spaghetti-Western-like production. The tension between Walkers dense, foreboding lyrics and orchestral production is unusual, to say the least. But too often, its too difficult to penetrate Walkers insights through Wally Scotts string-drenched production. It shrouds the lyrics in a fog thats often too syrupy to justify the effort needed to fight through it. ~ Richie Unterberger