expanded AZTEC CAMERA remasters!

HMV has re-priced this morning - Now £9 for each of 6 discs.

 

My Lp also sounds like crap. Cd is a bit better but not great. If Edsel can due for Aztec what they did for the Beat then I will be one happy camper.

 

High Land Hard Rain

I listened and taped Aztec Camera on the John Peel radio show first time around, so I feel no need to buy any LPs (or CDs). Recently the Warner Original Album series caught my attention, so I listened to sound samples and then several compilations. I came to the conclusion that High Land Hard Rain was the stand out by far.
The original CD is available from Amazon UK for 3 pounds or so. This album is a masterpiece and should be in everyone's collection.
I can't comment about sound quality, as I have nothing to compare it to but would be interested in other's comments!!
Regards, Trevor.

 

My original Rough Trade LP sounds great. I don't really understand what you guys want, it's not supposed to sound like Led Zep or something.

 

My copy is a US Sire and it's probably just a bad pressing. Glad to hear the UK sounds decent.

 

Mine is US also, and it sounds like garbage. The pressing itself is fine, but the sound has no life at all. Ditto the CD. Glad to hear there's hope.

 

I have an original Japanese vinyl pressing, and it also sounds quite good. I'm not sure I fully understanding all the complaints about the sound of this album. It's not a slick big budget production, but it's far from terrible.

 

The original George 'Porky' Peckham cut Rough Trade LP is the vinyl to go for. It's not that hard to get hold of.

 

I think there was a Postcard compilation CD in the 90's that had the AC tracks on them, so they have been released once at least on CD, although it's very rare now.

Never happened officially.

 

SIX versions of GMB according to this listing:-

http://www.play.com/Music/CD/4-/34589015/0/Stray/ListingDetails.html

 

I'm glad to see these coming out, but as a long time fan I'm just not sure these are all that necessary for me. I would, however, strongly recommend the Dreamland reissue for the bonus disc of live at Ronnie Scott's. It's a mesmerizing set. It's funny that there's more interest about these here than on the RoddyTalk forum!

 

I, too, am in, definitely. I listed Aztec Camera as one of my Big Six in another thread. I agree with the posters complaining about the sound of "High Land Hard Rain." It's not that it's lo-fi per se. It's that there's no bass whatsoever. But I also think that was, in some respects, intentional. A lot of British pop from that period--The Teardrop Explodes "Kiliminjaro," for instance, and The Psych Furs' "Forever Now" (produced by Todd Rundgren), and the debut Alarm album--sported a thin, treble-heavy sound that was just part of the era. So I'm not sure that will be rectified in the remaster, per se, though I can also imagine there being some improvement. Anyway, I've been waiting for an Aztec Camera reissue campaign for more than a decade, so I'm pleased that this is happening. Next up: Prefab Sprout! (Pretty pretty please?)

 

I bought the album on release on UK Rough Trade, and have always thought it has the worst drum sound of any release by a major artist. I'm not sure how much this can be improved by remastering, but I hope something can be done.

 

Oh thank GOD - I was going to be desperately disappointed if that version of "Mattress Of Wire" wasn't in the bonus tracks. Probably my fave AC track ever.

Now THAT I would absolutely love to hear. "Release" is such a great tune, hard for me to imagine it differently having heard the album version a million times. I wish you knew where that tape was too! I have a well-recorded live show from the "High Land, Hard Rain" at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. I believe they were a three-piece at the time and man, is it great.

 

I'll pick up maybe Love and Stray to start with. Stray will always be in my top 10 but not sure if i need all of those Good Morning Britains

 

Thanks, I probably would have overlooked this one. I've seen Frame live more times than anyone else (Ronnie Scott's included), hence the second disc is a must-have, especially since I missed out on the CD singles from "Dreamland", which came with the Ronnie Scotts tracks.

"Stray" is another winner for me. Always liked the production on that one.

 

The Sire sounds even worse. You can also blame the recording engineers, it was a lo-budget album.

 

I don't think it's entirely fair to blame producer John Brand for High Land, Hard Rain being a low-budget album - that's Rough Trade's fault since they would have controlled the purse strings. Ironically, after High Land, John Brand went on to produce the positively beautiful sounding Before Hollywood by the Go-Betweens, which was also on Rough Trade.

At any rate, I really don't mind High Land's sound. It's not ideal, but it kind of adds to the overall charm. I love how you've got these songs with clean acoustic and jazzy electric guitar, coupled with these drum fills played totally inappropriately on synth drums (particularly on "Walk Out to Winter" and "Pillar to Post"), and I suppose John Brand can be blamed for that!

I can think of many indie pop albums that sound far, far worse, however.

 

Without a doubt. Not only does it add to the charm, it's part of why it's his best album by a country mile.

I don't understand the criticism either. Does anyone honestly think the album would have been better served if it had sounded like Knife? Or even worse, Love?

 

When I bought the album, the others you mentioned had not been released, so it's not that it didn't sound like his other albums. IMO, the drum sound is terrible, due to the use of synth drums, not real. That's been my impression from day one of buying the record on first release. This is no reflection on the songs, which are superb, but they are badly served by the production in general, and the drum sound in particular.

 

Absolutely. "Knife" may sound more professional but it's also kind of dull in that it has that typical muso/Knopfler sound, whereas some of the songs on "Love" are almost rendered unlistenable by the high-budget production. I think Frame's music was more often than not compromised by unlucky production choices, though it's least problematic on HLHR IMO. I reckon a decent remaster could improve things significantly. Fingers crossed!

 

I agree. HLHR, for all its flaws, sounds infinitely better than Love, or any of the albums that came after it. And it really does lend the songs an endearing charm. Talk about awful sound, I agree with ippudo that Love is so slick that it's practically unlistenable. I'll take HLHR's cheesy synth drums and non-bassy bass over Love's studio sterile sound any day of the week.

You might be able to boost HLHR's weak lower frequency with some good mastering, but nothing could help an album like Love.

 

Like I said before, if Edsel can do for Aztec on HLHR what they did for an all digital recording like the Beat's Special Beat Service , you may be pleasantly surprised to find that the "charm" of the current sound you refer to suddenly becomes a distant memory, replaced by a much better presentation of what is already a great album. Fingers are crossed.

 

Hey, I'm all for that. If they can make a good thing markedly better, then I'll be all over it. I will be eager to hear your opinion.

 

Which is kind of odd, given the quality producers and studios involved and the fact that Frame has said he wanted "Love" to sound like "Cupid & Psyche '85". As dated and mid-80's as that album sounds now, there's no denying its stellar production values and I can't think of any other major label album of that ilk ("Back In The High Life", "The Language Of Life") that sounds as bad. Which has led me to believe the real problem might be the mastering. Some small hope. Then again, there's little point in polishing turds like "One On One" and "Everybody Is A Number One".