The North Star (Roddy Frame album)

1998 studio album by Roddy Frame

The North Star

Studio album by

Roddy Frame

Released| 21 September 1998
Studio|

* Mayfair, London
* Metropolis, London

Length| 37:32
Label| Independiente
Producer|

* Roddy Frame
* Simon Dawson

Roddy Frame chronology
|  | The North Star
(1998)  | Surf
(2002)

|
|

Singles from  The North Star

1. "Reason for Living"
Released: September 1998

The North Star is the debut album by Scottish singer-songwriter Roddy Frame, released in September 1998 by Independiente. It features the single "Reason for Living", which peaked at number 45 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]

## Background

[edit]

Aztec Camera released their sixth studio album Frestonia in November 1995, marking the end of their contract with WEA. It became the band's least commercially successful release; frontman Roddy Frame opted to go solo and signed with Go! Discs. After a year of no activity, the label had been purchased by PolyGram, and its label head Andy McDonald formed a new label, Independiente. Frame subsequently transferred over to his new home.[2]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllMusic| [3]

The Guardian wrote that Frame has "painted an autumnal landscape of ballads and guitar rockers (if rockers is the right word for these scaled-down little bruschettas of songs) whose attention to detail could be mistaken for blandness."[4]

## Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Roddy Frame[3]

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Back to the One"| 4:01
2.| "The North Star"| 4:04
3.| "Here Comes the Ocean"| 3:23
4.| "River of Brightness"| 4:22
5.| "Strings"| 4:10
6.| "Bigger Brighter Better"| 3:27
7.| "Autumn Flower"| 4:17
8.| "Reason for Living"| 3:16
9.| "Sister Shadow"| 3:38
10.| "Hymn to Grace"| 2:54

## Personnel

[edit]

* Roddy Frame – vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin[3]
* Andy Claine – backing vocals
* Yolanda Charles – bass
* Claire Kenny – bass
* Jeremy Stacey – drums
* Mark Edwards – keyboards, piano, organ
* Luis Jardim – percussion
* Barriemore Barlow – percussion

Technical

* Simon Dawson – engineer, record producer
* Matt Lawrence – assistant engineer
* Gerard Navarro – assistant engineer
* Jon Kelly – mixer
* Andy Green – assistant mixer
* Ellen Nolan – photography

## Chart performance

[edit]

The North Star spent a total of two weeks in the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 55 on 3 October 1998.[5]

Chart (1998)  | Peak
position

|

UK Albums Chart[5] | 55

## References

[edit]

Citations

1. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
2. ^ Thompson 2000, p. 165
3. ^ a b c DiGravina, Tim. "North Star – Roddy Frame | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
4. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (2 October 1998). "Roddy Frame The North Star". Music. The Guardian. p. 18.
5. ^ a b "Chart Log UK 1994–2008 Adam F – FYA". zobbel.de. Retrieved 2 April 2020.

Sources

* Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock. Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion. San Francisco, California: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-607-6.

*[No.]: Number