Scott 4

{{about|the Scott Walker album|the band|Scott 4 (band)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Scott 4 | type = Album | artist = Scott Engel | cover = Scott 4 (Front Cover).jpg | alt = | released = 7 November 1969 | recorded = | venue = | studio = Olympic (London) | genre = {{hlist|Orchestral pop<ref name="Pitchfork"/>|baroque pop<ref name= "Zivkovic 2024">{{cite web|last=Zivkovic|first=Ljubinko|title=Sixteen brilliant Baroque pop albums that make for must-listens|website= AudioPhix|date=November 25, 2024|url= https://audiophix.com/sixteen-brilliant-baroque-pop-albums-make-must-listens|accessdate=March 28, 2026}}</ref> |avant-garde<ref name="newyorker">{{cite magazine |last=Frere-Jones |first=Sasha |title=Struggle Session: Scott Walker's difficult, rewarding career |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/12/10/struggle-session |magazine=The New Yorker |date=December 2, 2012 |access-date=July 15, 2016}}</ref>}} | length = 32:28 | label = Philips | producer = John Franz | prev_title = Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his TV Series | prev_year = 1969 | next_title = 'Til The Band Comes In | next_year = 1970 }} '''''Scott 4''''' is the fifth <!-- one of his solo albums being Scott: Scott Walker Sings Songs from his T.V. Series --> solo studio album by American musician Scott Walker, released on November 7, 1969. The album was released under his birth name, Scott Engel, and failed to chart. Reissues have been released under his stage name. It has since received praise as one of Walker's best works. ==Content== ''Scott 4'' was the first Walker album to consist solely of self-penned songs.<ref name="AllMusic"/> The preceding ''Scott'' (1967), ''Scott 2'' (1968) and ''Scott 3'' (1969) albums had each featured a mixture of originals and covers, including several translations of Jacques Brel songs, which were later collected to form the album ''Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel'' (1981).<ref name="Trouser Press"/><ref name="Pitchfork"/> ''Scott 4'' also features slightly less ornate orchestral arrangements than its predecessors, opting instead for a more skeletal, folk-inspired sound with greater emphasis on the rhythm section.<ref name="AllMusic"/>

The opening track, "The Seventh Seal", is based on the 1957 film of the same name by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://genius.com/Scott-walker-the-seventh-seal-lyrics |title=Scott Walker – The Seventh Seal |access-date=November 12, 2021 |website=Genius.com}}</ref> The second track on side two, "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)", refers to the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The Albert Camus quote, "A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened", appears on the back of the album sleeve.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=Scott 4 |author=Scott Engel |author-link=Scott Walker (singer) |type=LP liner notes |publisher=Philips Records |location=London |date=1969 |id=SBL 7913}}</ref> The quote derives from Camus' essay "Between Yes and No", published in 1958.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-man-apart/ |title=A Man Apart |last=Zaretsky |first=Robert |website=Los Angeles Review of Books |date=July 18, 2012 |access-date=December 28, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/without-god-or-reason |title=Without God or Reason |last=Jensen |first=Morten Høi |magazine=Commonweal |date=January 1, 2021 |access-date=December 28, 2025}}</ref>

Engel said the album tried to "link lyrics by Sartre, Camus and Yevtushenko to Bartok modal lines."<ref name="Harrison" />

==Release and reception== ''Scott 4'' was released by Philips Records on 7 November 1969 in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{multiref2|{{Cite magazine |last=Anon. |date=October 18, 1969 |title=Plus New Discs From: Zager-Evans, Dekker, Herman, Scott, Clodagh, Creedence & Temptations |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-10-18-OCR.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241221152103/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-10-18-OCR.pdf |archive-date=December 21, 2024 |access-date=October 20, 2025 |magazine=New Musical Express |page=11 |format=PDF |via=WorldRadioHistory |quote=Scott Walker's ''Scott 4'', comprising all self-penned compositions, is issued by Philips on November 7. |ref=none}}|{{Cite magazine |last=Anon. |date=October 25, 1969 |title=Scott Changes Name! |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-10-25-OCR.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241228121205/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-10-25-OCR.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2024 |access-date=October 20, 2025 |magazine=New Musical Express |page=10 |format=PDF |via=WorldRadioHistory |quote=This will apply to his new ''Scott 4'' album - which is released in a fortnight. |ref=none}}}}</ref> The album failed to chart and was deleted soon after.<ref name="Trouser Press"/>

It has been speculated{{by whom|date=October 2024}} that Walker's decision to release the album under his birth name of Scott Engel contributed to its chart failure. All subsequent re-issues of the album have been released under his stage name. After being out of print for over 20 years, the album was first re-issued in 1992 on CD, alongside the first CD re-issues of ''Scott'', ''Scott 2'' and ''Scott 3''.

===Critical=== {{music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/scott-4-mw0000468113 |title=Scott 4 - Scott Walker &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |author-link=Richie Unterberger |website=AllMusic |access-date=November 12, 2021}}</ref> |rev2 = ''Pitchfork'' |rev2score = 9.0/10<ref name="Pitchfork">{{Cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18088-scott-walker-scott-walker-the-collection-1967-1970/ |title=Scott Walker: Scott: The Collection 1967-1970 |website=Pitchfork |date=June 20, 2013 |access-date=November 12, 2021}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Trouser Press'' | rev3score = favorable<ref name="Trouser Press">{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=scott_walker |title=Scott Walker |last=Neate |first=Wilson |website=Trouser Press |access-date=July 5, 2016}}</ref> | rev4 = ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev4Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |year=2007 |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th |isbn=978-0857125958 |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref> | rev5 = ''New Musical Express'' | rev5score = favorable<ref name="Coxhill">{{Cite magazine |last=Coxhill |first=Gordon |date=29 November 1969 |title=SCOTT ENGEL GIVES YOU SIMPLER MUSIC |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-11-29-OCR.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250409100922/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/New-Musical-Express/1969/New-Musical-Express-1969-11-29-OCR.pdf |archive-date=April 9, 2025 |access-date=December 28, 2025 |magazine=New Musical Express |page=10 |format=PDF |via=WorldRadioHistory}}</ref> | rev6 = ''Select'' <small>(1992)</small> | rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Perry" /> | rev7 = ''Select'' <small>(2000)</small> | rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Harrison" /> }}<!-- Automatically generated by DASHBot--> In a contemporary review for ''New Musical Express'' published November 29, 1969, Graham Coxhill stated, "''Scott 4'' [...] is released next week, and if there has ever been a better album by a male singer, it certainly hasn't come my way." He concluded, "I don't think Scott has yet found his musical resting place, but to judge by ''Scott 4'', he has outgrown his self-indulgent, two-fingers-to-the-world phase, and at last he's hit on some fine music which a public can enjoy and of which he can justifiably feel proud."<ref name="Coxhill"/>

A writer for ''Observer-Leader'' commented how Engel singing solely original compositions throughout the "exciting" album "creates quite an impact", believing the singer would win new appreciation but also lose fans who preferred his Walker Brothers image, adding: "If you care to sit, listen and accept his preachings, then count yourselves among the new Scott Engel fans."<ref name="Observer-Leader">{{cite journal |title=Will You Be a Scott Engel Fan? |journal=Observer-Leader |date=18 December 1969 |page=10 |url=Pontypridd and Llantrisant Observer |access-date=27 May 2026 |location=Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales}}</ref> Reviewing ''Scott 4'', the ''Sunday Mirror'' believed the change of stage name was irrelevant because "this is the most sincere vocal sound both sides of the Atlantic".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Stage Whispers |journal=Sunday Mirror |date=23 November 1969 |page=29 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/808659695/?terms=%22scott%204%22%20engel&match=1 |access-date=27 May 2026 |location=London, England}}</ref> The ''Lincolnshire Echo'' believed it was stylistically similar to Engel's previous three albums, with impressive vocals over a full orchestral backing, finally characterising the album as "sophisticated pop".<ref>{{cite journal |title=New Discs: L.P. Spot |journal=Lincolnshire Echo |date=13 December 1969 |page=6 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/900940979/?terms=%22scott%204%22%20scott%20walker&match=1 |access-date=27 May 2026 |location=Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England}}</ref>

Mark Lager, in a retrospective review, wrote that it is "arguably the best album of his career, you can hear from the first notes of the opening track that he was ambitiously and boldly pushing both his lyrics and soundscapes into a stronger terrain. 'Seventh Seal' is an Ennio Morriconesque epic. His lyrics in 'Angels of Ashes' are spiritual and share similarities with Rainer Maria Rilke's ''Duino Elegies''. 'Boy Child' contains celestial, ghostly orchestration. 'Old Man's Back Again' is arguably Scott Walker's most powerful song. David Bowie was heavily influenced and inspired by Scott Walker not only in his deep, baritone vocals but also in his own Cold War contemplations in the instrumentals of ''Low''. On 'Get Behind Me', the soaring gospel choir and sublime orchestrations joined with his own soulful and stunning vocals make this a magnificent masterpiece."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://vinylwriters.com/cinematic-genius-and-haunting-poetry-of-noel-scott-engel/ |title=Cinematic Genius and Haunting Poetry of Noel Scott Engel |website=Vinyl Writers |date=January 2022 |last=Lager |first=Mark}}</ref> Reviewing the 1992 reissue, ''Select'' critic Andrew Perry rated ''Scott 4'' five stars out of five and called it a "total classic", believing the songs to be "grand-scale in their efforts to pin down sheer, sad emotion to beautiful words and music."<ref name="Perry">{{cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Andrew |title=Revies: Re-Issues |journal=Select |date=August 1992 |page=103 |url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/?p=4043 |access-date=27 May 2026}}</ref> Ian Harrison, also of ''Select'', noted how the album contains "barmy, fatalist sublimities" like "The Seventh Seal".<ref name="Harrison">{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=Ian |title=Reviews: Reissues |journal=Select |date=September 2000 |issue=116 |url=https://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/?p=2815 |access-date=27 May 2026}}</ref>

==Legacy== ''Scott 4'' subsequently came to be regarded as one of Walker's strongest works and has been acknowledged in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Scott Walker {{pipe}} Scott 4 (1969) |encyclopedia=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |last=Shade |first=Chris |year=2016 |publisher=Quintessence Editions |location=London |editor-last=Dimery |editor-first=Robert |edition=Updated |page=188 |isbn=9781844038909}}</ref> It was voted number 760 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000).<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book |title=All Time Top 1000 Albums |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Virgin Books |date=2006 |edition=3rd |isbn=0-7535-0493-6 |page=240}}</ref> It has also been praised by the members of Radiohead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ykny5 |title=Ed O'Brien, The First Time With... – BBC Radio 6 Music |work=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627212817/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07ykny5 |archive-date=June 27, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=June 26, 2020}}</ref>

==Track listing== {{track listing | headline = Side one | all_writing = Scott Walker (credited as Noel Scott Engel). | title1 = The Seventh Seal | length1 = 4:58 | title2 = On Your Own Again | length2 = 1:48 | title3 = The World's Strongest Man | length3 = 2:21 | title4 = Angels of Ashes | length4 = 4:22 | title5 = Boy Child | length5 = 3:38 }} {{track listing | headline = Side two | title1 = Hero of the War | length1 = 2:29 | title2 = The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime) | length2 = 3:43 | title3 = Duchess | length3 = 2:51 | title4 = Get Behind Me | length4 = 3:14 | title5 = Rhymes of Goodbye | length5 = 3:04 | total_length = 32:28 }}

==Personnel== *Peter Knight – accompaniment director (1, 4, 6, 7) *Wally Stott – accompaniment director (2, 5) *Keith Roberts – accompaniment director (3, 8–10) *John Franz – producer *Keith Grant – engineer *Adrian Kerridge – engineer *John Constable – design

==Release history== {|class="wikitable" ! Region ! Date ! Label ! Format ! Catalogue |- | United Kingdom | {{start date|1969|11}}<ref name=musicbrainz>{{cite web|url=http://musicbrainz.org/release/06c6ba0d-ae54-4a5b-b4cf-b93490510e70.html | title=Release: Scott 4 |website=Musicbrainz.org |access-date=August 10, 2010}}</ref> | Philips | LP (Credited to 'Scott Engel') | SBL 7913 |- | UK | {{start date|1992|8|3}}<ref name=musicbrainz/> | Fontana | CD | 510 882-2 |- | UK | {{start date|2000|6|5}}<ref name=musicbrainz/> | Fontana | HDCD | 510 882-2 |- | United States | {{start date|2008|2|15}}<ref name=vinylfanatics>{{cite web |url=http://vinylfanatics.com/content/view/267/2/ |title=Vinyl Lovers - New record label? |date=January 3, 2008 |website=vinylfanatics.com |access-date=2010-08-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013125524/http://vinylfanatics.com/content/view/267/2/ |archive-date=October 13, 2008}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2025}} | 4 Men With Beards | LP | 4M152 |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{MusicBrainz release|mbid=06c6ba0d-ae54-4a5b-b4cf-b93490510e70|name=Scott 4}}

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Category:Scott Walker (singer) albums Category:1969 albums Category:Albums produced by Johnny Franz Category:Philips Records albums Category:Fontana Records albums Category:Art pop albums Category:Orchestral pop albums Category:Baroque pop albums Category:Avant-garde music albums