Rocktrospectiva: The Fairly Good "Stray" Turns 35

Released on 4 June 1990 "Stray" was the fourth album by Scottish group Aztec Camera, released in June 1990 on WEA in the UK and on Sire Records in the US, the album spawned two singles "Good Morning Britain" & "The Crying Scene".  Stray was praised for its diversity of songs and styles, and for the assured nature of Roddy Frame's lyrics which had been considered the weak-point of some of his earlier material.  

Also its understated production was also received positively, particularly coming after the group's previous album Love, which sold well in the United Kingdom but had been criticised by some for being too sanitised and glossy.

Aztec Camera's 1987 "Love" rose to number 10 after the success of its singles. "How Men Are", "Somewhere in My Heart" and "Working in a Goldmine" all reached the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, with "Somewhere in My Heart" reaching the highest at number three, this prompted the career of the band and by 1990, the band's line-up consisted of frontman Roddy Frame, bassist Paul Powell, drummer Frank Tontoh and keyboardist Gary Sanctuary. 

This powered the released of "Stray" which was among Roddy Frame's most assured and diverse collections of songs, unlike previous Aztec Camera albums, there's not one unifying style to the disc, and the variety makes Stray one of Frame's better collections. From the assured rocking pop of the singles "The Crying Scene" was the closest thing Aztec Camera ever got to a US hit single and "Good Morning Britain" a rousing collaboration with Mick Jones of the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite, to the cool, other highlights were Chet Baker-ish cocktail jazz of "Over My Head," Frame covers the waterfront, but it's the quartet of songs that constitutes the second half of the album that impress the most, then you had "How It Is," "The Gentle Kind," "Notting Hill Blues," and the tender acoustic closer "Song For A Friend," which were a loosely connected cycle mingling folk, soul, and pop in varying proportions. 

 

The lyrics on Stray are the first that stand up to Frame's remarkable melodic sense. The simple, low-key production by Frame and Eric Calvi also retreated from the unfortunate excesses of both Love and its misbegotten Mark Knopfler-produced predecessor, Knife. Certain critics considered this effort as Roddy Frame's best album.cool jazz guitar licks and piano melodies, maybe the most inventive and durable Aztec Camera album a little bit leaner and more melodic with some fine jazz-inflected numbers."

 

Stray Track List:  

 

1. Stray

2. The Crying Scene

3. Get Outta London

4. Over My Head

5. Good Morning Britain

6. How It Is

7. The Gentle Kind

8. Notting Hill Blues

9. Song For A Friend