It's Raining Today: The Scott Walker Story (1967–70) | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | October 15, 1996 | |||
Genre | Pop rock | |||
Length | 58:12 | |||
Label | Razor & Tie | |||
Producer | Johnny Franz | |||
Scott Walker chronology | ||||
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It's Raining Today: The Scott Walker Story (1967–70) is a compilation album of songs by the American-born British singer-songwriter Scott Walker, released on October 15, 1996, on Razor & Tie. The album consists of seventeen songs taken from Walker's first five studio albums, and was Walker's first solo album to be released in the United States. [1] Marshall Crenshaw compiled the album's tracks and spent a year and a half convincing Razor & Tie to release it. [2] [3]
In a review of It's Raining Today for The New York Times , Neil Strauss wrote, "Though the collection may seem schmaltzy to the casual listener, further exploration unveils an indelible, melancholy beauty, with each track a rigorously orchestrated excavation into a different recess of human despair and loneliness." [4] Writing in Pitchfork in 2004, Scott Plagenhoef wrote that the compilation was "far too Spartan and scattershot to be recommended". [5] Wilson Neate wrote in Trouser Press that the album "...isn’t quite as solid an introduction as Boy Child , but it does offer a marginally stronger selection of tracks from 'Til the Band Comes In ." [6] Robert Christgau gave the album a C− grade, describing Walker as "...Anthony Newley without the voice muscles, "MacArthur Park" as light-programme boilerplate, a male Vera Lynn for late bloomers who found Paul McCartney too r&b." [7]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Village Voice | C– [7] |
All tracks are written by Scott Walker except where noted.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Big Louise" | 3:12 |
2. | "Jackie" (Jacques Brel, Gerard Jouannest, Mort Shuman) | 3:22 |
3. | "The World's Strongest Man" | 2:20 |
4. | "It's Raining Today" | 4:01 |
5. | "Montague Terrace (In Blue)" | 3:28 |
6. | "Through a Long and Sleepless Night" (Mack Gordon, Alfred Newman) | 4:11 |
7. | "Next" (Jacques Brel, Mort Shuman) | 2:50 |
8. | "The Seventh Seal" | 4:56 |
9. | "Plastic Palace People" | 6:06 |
10. | "Rosemary" | 3:24 |
11. | "The Old Man's Back Again (Dedicated to the Neo-Stalinist Regime)" | 3:42 |
12. | "Joe" (Ady Semel, Scott Walker) | 3:41 |
13. | "Lights of Cincinnati" (Tony Macaulay) | 3:21 |
14. | "Cowbells Shakin'" (Ady Semel, Scott Walker) | 1:05 |
15. | "Thanks for Chicago Mr. James" (Ady Semel, Scott Walker) | 2:17 |
16. | "Little Things (That Keep Us Together)" (Ady Semel, Scott Walker) | 2:19 |
17. | "Joanna" (Tony Hatch, Jackie Trent) | 3:57 |
Total length: | 58:12 |