I thought about doing this post in the HLHR poll I just started, but then thought the topic would deserve a thread of its own.
I think most people who are familiar with their work will agree that Frame never managed to top his debut. "High Land Hard Rain" is just a strong sequence of great pop songs, with his voice still sounding innocent and great and also a classy and very interesting combination of acoustic guitars and electronic drums.
But then, how about the rest of his output?
Even though he has never managed to top his debut, I would say he has had his moments later on to. And personally I would particularly like to mention two albums.
"Love" is their biggest album by commercial terms, and contained at least two hits. The biggest of which, "Somewhere In My Heart" was actually the reason why I discovered there was a band called Aztec Camera and they were actually quite good, and the rest of the singles are great too, even though the rest of the album may be somewhat more patchy.
Still, the hidden gem in their catalogue is 1993's "Dreamland", produced by Ryuchy Sakamoto. "Dreamland" has a sequence of songs almost as strong and flawless as the debut. production-wise it is very different though, following the trend from "Love", sort of a "hi-fi-album" with lots of sonic details, possibly "overproduced" in some people's eyes. Still, if you want to check out Aztec Camera beyond "High Land Hard Rain" (and the "Jump" cover, which I don't like but I know lots of others do), I would say "Dreamland" is the place to start.
So there, is some stuff to be searched out there. Just don't expect it to be on level with "High Land Hard Rain". Obviously, it isn't.
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 8 October 2007 21:21 (seventeen years ago)
I love "The Crying Scene" and think "Somewhere in My Heart" ranks with their/his very best.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 8 October 2007 21:24 (seventeen years ago)
"Somewhere In My Heart" is a great song that would have sounded even better with acoustic guitars, synth drums and a 17 year-old Roddy Frame singing lead vocal. :)
― Geir Hongro, Monday, 8 October 2007 21:26 (seventeen years ago)
Geir picks Roddy's two worst albums to stump for, how surprising. Destroy _Love_ and _Dreamleand_ - utterly useless overproduced busy crap. Not that the SONGS are particularly bad but the setting just ruins them.
Search _Knife_ and _Stray_ for a solid set of tunes that, while not a 10/10 like HLHR are a solid 8/10 with great peaks.
The real hidden gem and best thing he ever did is a series of EPs of an acoustic/piano show he did at Ronnie Scott's in 1991. All the best songs from his first 5 albums stripped to their beautiful core. And the Dreamland tracks are revealed to be beautiful. He also released a similar show from 2005 as a mail-order only item from his website.
He's put out 3 very good solo albums this decade, though I'm not drawn to them like the first 2 AC albums.
― Mr. Odd, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 10:56 (seventeen years ago)
Nothing wrong with proper production.
"Knife" and "Stray" I feel don't hold up, mainly because of the tunes not being good enough.
And all acoustic arrangements is just too boring, which is why I don't cope with current Roddy Frame.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 11:01 (seventeen years ago)
somewhere in my heart and good morning britain were the first aztec camera songs i heard, and i loved them both at the time, but i'm now of the opinion that roddy is a bit of a shit lyricist and i don't care for the production on any of the albums from love onwards
― electricsound, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 12:27 (seventeen years ago)
Love was quite good, from what I can remember, but Knife really suffered from a severe case of Knopflerization (not a good thing, as far as I'm concerned). Haven't heard anything since.
― JN$OT, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 12:38 (seventeen years ago)
The only tracks I remember from Knife are "Still on Fire" and "All I Need is Everything," both of which were pretty good.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 13:10 (seventeen years ago)
Also: rather surprised to know that "The Crying Scene" is AC's biggest American hit (college charts, natch).
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 13:13 (seventeen years ago)
The title track was also great (although possibly a bit too long). The rest didn't hold up at all though. One of the most disappointing sophomore albums ever.
― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 9 October 2007 21:03 (seventeen years ago)
imho Roddy's second solo album, Surf, is the late high-water mark of his career, though I sympathize with fans who can't stomach the Sulky White Guy With Nothing But ProTools, An Acoustic Guitar, And An Ex-Girlfriend schtick. He seems to pen his finest lyrics when he's either bitter or morose, so it's a shame (for me) that he hasn't been miserable at many points over the past 25 years.
― hawth, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 05:06 (seventeen years ago)
He is a great songwriter no matter what backing he uses, but I prefer more "finished" arrangements.
The bass guitar, acoustic guitars and electronic drums-approach of the debut works just fine though. Also because I like the way his voice sounded then better than the deeper and more mature voice it developed into.
― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 10 October 2007 10:21 (seventeen years ago)
One of my favorites of all time. I even like the cheesy stuff like Frestonia and Love (even though I realize it's actually kind of bad in an overproduced way — always good lyrics though).
Knife is that the album that I will argue, with lots of loud flourishes in my voice and gyrating hand gestures, is the greatest and most important thing he's ever done. It's a masterpiece. 'Course I wasn't there at the time to be disappointed.
Really loved his run of solo albums (though I don't know why he stopped making them). Sure, they were a lot of more no-nonsene MOR in their approach, but I think that's maybe what he needed all along.
Wrote this in a write-up on his solo albums three years ago on my blog and I still agree with it:"Probably infamous for his inconsistency by the time he released the North Star, I find it more than a little ironic that he waited until he was releasing albums under his own name to get completely and truly dependable. Aztec Camera's catalogue is notoriously up and down, to the point that, by the time he released the North Star, nobody but the hardest of hardcore were paying any attention. And that's a shame because the (so far) three albums he's released under his own name have been —maybe a bit surprisingly— undeniably good and consistent."
Truly one of the most resonating songwriters of the new wave era (and beyond).
― Austin, Friday, 5 April 2013 03:34 (twelve years ago)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy3VtM7wKFMThis, just beautiful
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Friday, 5 April 2013 22:01 (twelve years ago)
Why'd they put the audio from the studio version over it?
― Austin, Friday, 5 April 2013 22:10 (twelve years ago)
the recent new wave polls (mostly by bee ok) made me check the archives and, if i'm not totally incompetent at searching, none of the aztec camera albums have been polled. i think we all know what would win an overall albums poll, but was wondering if there's any interest in doing the individual albums?
― "Don't ask me, I just work here." (Austin), Friday, 30 May 2025 12:33 (three months ago)
Worth a shot, the first 2 are in my pantheon.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 30 May 2025 13:00 (three months ago)
The first was polled:
What's the best track on "High Land Hard Rain"?
― Kim Kimberly, Friday, 30 May 2025 14:53 (three months ago)
zero votes for "back on board" means we should do it again because i would've voted for it
― gestures broadly at...everything (voodoo chili), Friday, 30 May 2025 14:57 (three months ago)