Music lovers would be hard pushed to find a body of work as impressive as Scott Walker's late 60's album output. This batch of reissues and remasters is largely unnecessary considering they are already available from any self-respecting music store but they coincide rather handily with the recent Walker-organised Meltdown festival.
1968's Scott 2 is not as cohesive as its two subsequent releases, mainly due to him using a variety of songwriters. Therefore the rather camp stylings of the Jacques Brel-written 'Next' and 'Jackie' sit oddly adjacent to Walker's own compositions. A peak is reached on the marvellous 'Plastic Palace People' where the string-laden backing gives way to the singer's baritone; it was a trick that Walker (actually born Scott Engel) was to repeat on his future releases. Special mention should also go to his version of David and Bacharach's 'Windows Of The World'. However, with Walker's own 'The Amorous Humphrey Plugg' and 'The Girls From The Streets' he manage to create an evocative image of 60's low-life, clearly revelling in the bawdy suggestiveness of his own lyrics.