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Sings Jacques Brel | 
| Artist: Scott Walker
Label: Spectrum
Category: Music
List Price: £5.99
Buy New: £2.98
You Save: £3.01 (50%)
New (23) Used (7) from £2.69
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 3108
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 042283821224
EAN: 0042283821224
ASIN: B0000075YF
Release Date: May 16, 1995
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Mathilde | | • | Amsterdam | | • | Jackie | | • | My Death | | • | Next | | • | Girls And The Dogs | | • | If You Go Away | | • | Funeral Tango | | • | Sons Of |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
The nine songs collected here all made their first appearances in the late 1960s on Scott Walker's first three solo albums. In these contexts, Walker's readings of Jacques Brel's songs loomed as rather obvious signposts on the route Walker was trying to negotiate--the always treacherous path from teen idol to serious artist. Here, however, they hang together well as a discrete collection of sympathetic and often glorious interpretations of a great songwriter by a great singer. The Belgian-born Brel flourished in the Paris of the 1960s. His songs were strange, sordid little narratives populated with dissolute characters--the drunken sailors in "Amsterdam", the depraved pop icon who narrates "Jackie"--and it is likely he would have languished in terminal obscurity until his death in 1978 had Walker not become so besotted with his work. Walker's lachrymose vocals were the ideal vehicle for Brel's vignettes, and Brel's influence resonated, through Walker, to artists including Marc Almond (who also recorded an album of Brel's works, called Jacques), Roxy Music and The Divine Comedy. --Andrew Mueller
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Bargain musical genius September 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
At under 4.00 this has to be the bargain of the year if not the century.
Scott Walker does a great job of interpreting Jacques Brel's songs - my only complaint is that there are not enough of them.
I love all of the tracks some of which have been covered by other artists such as David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Dusty Springfield & Judy Collins all of whom have done a great job.
However this is the only English language compilation that I know of.
Scott may not have the soul of Jacques but this is a good effort and well worth the money.
 A creditable effort October 22, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
OK, so it's not the real thing. I personally prefer the real thing (see my review of 'Quand o'n n'a que l'Amour'), but sometimes it's more relaxing to listen to the songs in English translations. Brel does not translate well in to English. Most translations are either so literal that the English sounds stilted, or so far from the original that the meaning and atmosphere are lost or changed completely. But as far as performances of Brel songs in English go, those on this album are good. Scott Walker seems to have a genuine love of and feeling for these songs. Of course, you could take individual songs and say: well, so-and-so does that better. For example, I think that Walker's rendition of 'Next' isn't a patch on the one by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and I found that his 'Amsterdam' wasn't quite seedy enough for me. But taken as a whole, this colection is good. Walker's voice is strong (though it lacks the biting edge of Brel's own) and the backing arrangements are very punchy. His performances of 'Mathilde' (what a perfect blast of noise and emotion to open the album!) and 'Jackie' are particularly stunning and faithful to the spirit of the originals. He injects real caustic irony into 'Funeral Tango', and 'Sons Of' is just so beautiful. If you only want one album of Brel songs sung in English, this would be a good choice, but do give the man himself a listen too.
A creditable effort October 21, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
OK, so it's not the real thing. I personally prefer the real thing (see my review of 'Quand on n'a que l'Amour'), but sometimes it's more relaxing to listen to the songs in English translations. Brel does not translate well in to English. Most translations are either so literal that the English sounds stilted, or so far from the original that the meaning and atmosphere are lost or changed completely. But as far as performances of Brel songs in English go, those on this album are good. Scott Walker seems to have a genuine love of and feeling for these songs. Of course, you could take individual songs and say: well, so-and-so does that better. For example, I think that Walker's rendition of 'Next' isn't a patch on the one by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, and I found that his 'Amsterdam' wasn't quite seedy enough for me. But taken as a whole, this colection is good. Walker's voice is strong (though it lacks the biting edge of Brel's own) and the backing arrangements are very punchy. His performances of 'Mathilde' (what a perfect blast of noise and emotion to open the album!) and 'Jackie' are particularly stunning and faithful to the spirit of the originals. He injects real caustic irony into 'Funeral Tango', and 'Sons Of' is just so beautiful. If you only want one album of Brel songs sung in English, this would be a good choice, but do give the man himself a listen too.
Even better than the real thing! May 16, 2004
7 out of 15 found this review helpful
In my mind I believe that Scott Walker is one of them angels that just happen to walk the Earth by some weird and peculiar accident.
I heard Jacques Brel and I can tell you that Scott's versions of his songs are miles better, sung with swagger and feeling even Brel never possesed.Buy it!!
 Not the real thing... March 15, 2004
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
Sadly, it's the translations that let this record down; too often Mort Schumann's renderings of Brel's words sound rather clumsy, forced and often irrelevant (If You Go Away doesn't really have anything to do with Ne me quitte pas I'm afraid). The orchestration too is slightly disappointing - here the songs have a slightly sugary sheen that ends up sounding rather Hollywood, lacking the dramatic austerity of the originals.All this doesn't take anything away from Scott Walker himself - his performances are never less than electrifying. It's the songs that work best in translation that are most successful - My Death is eerily dramatic, and Amsterdam casts a powerful squalour. But sadly, this doesn't rank alongside Walker's best work - go for Scott 4 or Climate of Hunter. And as for Brel - do not accept any substitutes, go go go straight for the real thing. Walker is by far the best English-speaking Brel impersonator - it's a pity the renderings of the songs don't quite match up. But then again, you have to concede it's a pretty difficult task...
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