Everything Under The Sun [Box set, Original recording remastered]

This is how box sets should be. Unlike the Scott Walker 'Five Easy Pieces' box set with its begrudging and slightly stingy tracklisting, the Walker Brothers 'Everything under the Sun' box set does `what it says on the tin' compiling the entire Walker Brothers discography from both their Sixties heyday and their Seventies reunion days and then some. Thus we get first time on CD appearances for a couple of B-sides plus the jewel in the box set's crown - 12 previously unreleased Sixties Walker Brothers songs. And that's a big plus for the dedicated, as unlike virtually all their contemporaries, the Sixties Walker Brothers have never had their unreleased studio recordings exposed to the world either through bootleggers or by officially sanctioned record company release - until now.

For those not in the know, the Walker Brothers Sixties discography is pretty much essential listening for all Scott Walker fans or fans of Sixties music period - comprising not just the killer hit singles `The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore', `My Ship Is Coming in' and `Make It Easy on Yourself' but a disparate wealth of riches besides, including Scott Walker penned classics such as `Archangel' and `Mrs Murphy' and stunning performances on non-originals such as `In My Room' and `Where's the Girl?'. The Walker Brothers Seventies reformation is much more of a mixed bag veering from the sublime to the frankly ridiculous, but it culminated in Scott Walker's return to form with the masterful and at the same time uncompromising quartet of songs he submitted for the group's final album 'Nite Flights'. Of course absolutely everything is here including some great John tracks (`I Can't Let it Happen to You' or `The Ballad') and some great Scott tracks (well most of them actually) at a price that constitutes nothing less than a bargain.

But back to those unreleased tracks, these range from creditable cover versions (Bacharach and David's `Let the Music Play' previously recorded by the Supremes, Wilson Pickett's `In the Midnight Hour' and James Brown's `I Got You (I Feel Good)'), to Scott Walker singing standards (never a bad thing especially when they are as good as `The Shadow of your Smile') to four tracks that even the compilers have been unable to find composer credits for (are any of them Scott Walker compositions?), of which `Hang on for Me' a gothic pop masterpiece is the most wonderful. With the 12 unreleased songs effectively amounting to a whole new previously unheard Walker Brothers album, some fans will probably be playing nothing else for months.

The only complaints with the box set would be minor niggles, hardly jeopardising a five star rating. There are three different versions of `The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' on the track list, but not a word of explanation as to why, or what differences to listen out for. The packaging whilst obviously intended to look very Sixties isn't as classy as the Walker Brothers very classy record legacy deserves. Mark Paytress's sleeve notes are great, but not as in depth as might be hoped for - never mind there's a recently published book that includes a track-by-track commentary on the Walker Brothers entire discography also available on Amazon (clue: search for `Scott Walker' or `Lewis Williams' under books!!!)

If you're a Walker Brothers fan then you simply have to own this box set. No question.
The documentation is flawed. Particularly bad are the recording details, so you are given no clue as to where the 13 'previously unreleased' tracks that make up the second half of the third CD, including the alternative take of The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore) [sic] come from, which is annoying and clumsy.
The notes are a bit gushing, but manage to keep enthusiasm from running away with the whole thing...
All in all, this is a damn fine set but obviously, considering its scope, aimed at hardcore fans.

Everything under the sun is a really great collection of the Walker Brothers music. If you are a fan I would heartly recommend this