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Friday 12 November 2010

Forgotten Album Friday #17 - Roddy Frame The North Star

Ropddy Frame was of course more or less Aztec Camera however in 1998 for some reason he decided to drop the Aztec Camera band name probably because of the poor showing of the Frestonia lp, and this was his first solo album.  You will probably have heard the lead track / single Reason for Living which is one of my favouritre Roddy / Aztec camera tracks.



The production on the album is fairly familiar if you like the sound of Aztec Camera with a clean sound typical of his work. The album kicks off with a great track "Back To The One" which sets the tone for an album full of great songs . The North Star, Hymn To Grace, River of Brightness and Bigger, Brighter, Better are all just great Roddy Frame songs.



 
 "Bigger, Brighter, Better" shines with its irresistible hook vand positive lyrics. "Autumn Flower" begins with a piano then carries on with a hypnotic bass line. "Reason For Living" lifts off with the opening bars of Springsteen's "Born To Run" before driving towards a climatic chorus and, finally, "Hymn To Grace" closes the album with the now familiar acoustic farewell. Roddy Frame is in superb form through this album and if you were an aztec Camera fan and this sneaked bye you I would thoroughly recommend this lp.



Key tracks

Reason For Living
North Star
Bigger, Brighter, Better
Back To The One
Hymn To Grace

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting that Norrie. "Reason for Living" is a personal favourite of mine and I loved the live acoustic version. I thought I'd seen them all...haven't seen that one. I've seen Roddy several times both in his Aztec Camera guise and on his solo ventures...in my humble opinion he is a national treasure.

    Now where did I put that copy of High Land, Hard Rain??

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  2. Always an absolute pleasure to get your commnets. As usual spot on Roddy absurdly underrated and Reason For Living is the best of an exceptional bunch of songs he has written....

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