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High Land, Hard Rain [30th Anniversary Edition] Image
Metascore
89

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 11 Ratings

  • Summary: The reissue of the remastered debut release from the Roddy Frame-led band includes a disc of B-sides, remixes, and live tracks.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Feb 21, 2014
    90
    Those who bought the album first time round may well feel tempted by the goodies on offer in the second disc. But for those unacquainted with High Land Hard Rain, or know Aztec Camera only from their 1988 hit “Somewhere In My Heart”, you are in for a treat.
  2. Feb 19, 2014
    90
    High Land, Hard Rain remains a career highlight.... Knopfler’s production has aged reasonably well, but the cover of Van Halen’s "Jump" (a B-side extra) shows how Frame’s perverse streak could have been managed more creatively.
  3. Feb 19, 2014
    87
    It’s a document that is crucial to anyone working to understand the evolution of the UK music scene and a welcome addition to the library of any discerning pop fan.
  4. Feb 19, 2014
    83
    High Land is not only his first statement of intent as a songwriter, it’s his most innovative, his most influential, and his most timelessly vivid. Peaking early can be bittersweet, but the album is all the better for it.
  5. 80
    With newly remastered sound and a second disc of worthwhile rarities including live tracks, remixes, B-sides and the like, even fans would do well to take the plunge on this refurbished, expanded reissue of an album that Frame, despite multiple later attempts both under the Aztec Camera moniker and later his own name, never could build a career on.
  6. Feb 19, 2014
    80
    Get beyond the Phil Collins-into-Peter Gabriel style clarity, and the songs start to take hold.
  7. May 16, 2014
    80
    With this supremely supple and joyous display of early innocence and promise, Aztec Camera showed they already come into their own.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Apr 22, 2014
    10
    OH this beautiful masterpiece. A crucial album in Azetcs catalog. Great recommend this to anyone who likes music. This is the opposite ofOH this beautiful masterpiece. A crucial album in Azetcs catalog. Great recommend this to anyone who likes music. This is the opposite of being forced to read the pile of **** called A Room of One's Own. I had to listen to this to calm the soul as having to read such a drag and repetitive book. This is an album that just takes you away from that state of mind. It takes you away from the no longer applicable to modern day society book or whatever is boring, dragging, or holding you down. Expand
  2. Apr 26, 2014
    7
    Critics generally and Metacritic in particular lose their credibility when an average or above-average release automatically becomes a classicCritics generally and Metacritic in particular lose their credibility when an average or above-average release automatically becomes a classic when it's re-released decades later -- especially if its a box set. C'mon -- 6 of the top 10 releases of 2014 are reissues? Aztec Camera was a middle-of-the-packer in an era when they competed with lots of great new wave bands. This album holds its own, but the upper 70s/low 80s rating it deserved when it was released should hold true today. Expand