10 Most Frontloaded Albums In Rock History

While some of these albums are front loaded by virtue of poor structuring or artistic choices, the Walker Brothers’ final record is top heavy almost by necessity. The 1978 release took an experimental approach and saw each member of the group in turn writing a chunk of the songs. One of the members is Scott Walker; the other two are not.

Accordingly, and unsurprisingly, Scott’s selection is a great deal stronger than the rest of the record. “Shut Out” and “Fat Mama Kick” bridge the gap between the Walkers’ torch songs and Scott’s increasing taste for the dramatic. The title track is brilliant, soaring art pop, inspired by Bowie’s Berlin period and later inspiring Bowie himself, who’d cover the song. And the deeply sinister “The Electrician” serves as a taste of things to come for Walker, who’d turn to the truly bizarre the next decade.

While Gary Leeds and John Walker contribute some solid material - Leeds’ "Den Haague" in particular - the rest of the album doesn’t come close to Scott’s opening tunes, in turn workmanlike or striving for the same distinctive weirdness that came effortlessly to Scott. It’s a great collection of music that opens the album, but there’s little that could follow in its wake.