Customer Reviews

Letter From Egypt

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Morten Harket steps out from behind A-ha once more for his fourth solo album, "Letter From Egypt". It follows 1996's "Vogts Villa", 1995's "Wild Seed" and 1993's "Poentenes Evangelium". The first and third are Norwegian language, with "Wild Seed" being English language. I have all 4 albums and I feel that "Letter From Egypt" is about the same as his previous three.

I have all of A-ha's albums as well, and while I think Morten Harket has a magnificent voice (always have), I think I prefer the music of A-ha as the backdrop. When Morten is solo he has a tendency to sound maudlin. Like another reviewer said, this cd is all mid-tempo to slow balladry for the most part. There's nothing upbeat like "Take On Me".

The lyrics are, for the most part, good. The music, for the most part, is good, but rather repetitive. Pleasant is the word that comes to mind. Nothing overly memorable or hook driven. "Movies" and "Darkspace" are the first two singles, and "Movies" is pretty good, whilst "Darkspace" is all right. I liked "We'll Never Speak Again", "There Are Many Ways To Die", "With You-With Me", "Letter From Egypt" and "The One You Are".

I give this three stars, and I would give all four of Morten's solo albums three stars. They're all good, but maybe only recommended for hardcore fans like myself. I would give five stars to "Hunting High And Low", "Scoundrel Days", "East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon" and "Minor Earth Major Sky".

I'd like to see Morten Harket experiment more with his music and not play it so safe.

Tracklist for this CD is as follows;

1. Darkspace
2. Send Me an Angel
3. We'll Never Speak Again
4. There Are Many Ways To Die
5. With You With Me
6. Letter from Egypt
7. A Name Is A Name
8. Movies
9. Shooting Star
10. Anyone
11. Should The Rain Fall
12. The One You Are

Morten Harket is the lead singer with Grammy winning Norwegian trio A-ha, and "Letter from Egypt" is apparently his 4th solo album (and the first of which I'm hearing).

More downbeat and acoustic (with ambient flourishes) than the music done by his band, the album has already topped the album charts in his native Norway.

Filled with sombre yet melodic songs with deep lyrics, I was really looking forward to this CD as I'm a fan of Morten's fluid choir boy vocals. While he doesn't repeat the vocal gymnastics he displayed on songs such as "Living a boy's adventure tale" or "The blue sky", he still manages to put his pipes to good use, showing off his falsetto on occasion.

Opening is the longing "Darkspace" (with him singing longingly "You're with me/you're with me"). The brooding "Send me an angel" has dark synths, while the sweeping "There are many ways to die", "With you with me" and "Movies" are delicate ballads.

Other standouts include the acoustic title track, the jangly Waltz-like "Shooting star" the lovely "Anyone", and the tender closing acoustic ballad "The one you are". My favourite track though is the piano sprinkled "A name is a name", a ballad simply beautiful beyond description.

A good album, highly recommended!

I'm going to assume that other hard-core fans have this album, like me, along with everything else borne of the a-ha legacy. If you are new to Harket, please start somewhere else, or get his Nobel Prize Ceremony performance, because this is not very good. It's almost all mid-tempo balladry with very strange, sometimes trite, lyrics. "Heaven's not for Saints", "Forever Not Yours", "Los Angeles", ... none here, and none even close. I just want him to do an album he's capable of, not the one he's comfortable with. This is like Leonard Cohen meets Chris Rhea at a high school poetry reading. I am truly a Harket fan of epic proportions, and I can tell you, aside from Darkspace... and maybe Letter from Egypt, I won't be listening to this again.

This album is such a grower... at first, i thought, well, i like half the songs or so, but the rest are too slow and acoustic. just shows how a cd often needs a handful of plays to get into your brain....so yeah, its a very mellow album, raw and unvarnished at times, great for a rainy day or as background music while youre doing something else. His previous album was very catchy but a bit too slick and polished, this is more substantive and heartfelt. its a much better album than aha's 'foot of the mountain'.

I am absolutelly amazed with Morten Harket's newest solo release. I have been unable to stop listening to it since I bought it as am import. Such a masterful collection of soul searching and spiritual songs. From the opening song, Darkspace, the CD does not disappoint. Of course being a fan of A-ha since the 80's I am very partial to their music and feel a solo cd from Harket is merely an extention of the band. This offering is mellow for the most part, but that does not reduce it's appeal. Harket continues to showcase his incredible voice which seems to be like a fine wine as it gets better with age. If you have liked A-ha in the past you will love this offering. If you don't know who A-ha is then take a chance on this cd.

Morten's voice is always breathtaking but I find some of the songs in the album a little boring. Though just a cover song, Movies is the best in the album for me.

I have been a A-ha fan since my school days. I have all their albums though most of his albums are not available in my city Kolkata,India, I have managed them through amazon.Letter from Egypt is a masterpiece from the genius we all know-Morten Harket. The songs are melodious with rich classy soft background music that gets deeper inside you. With thought provoking lyrics, this album is indeed worth a purchase though for me it was a costly deal worth approx.1500 bucks.
Happy listening!!!!
Onkar,
Kolkata,
India.

I didn't exactly know what to expect when I got this CD and upon my first listen, I thought it sounded like the same song throughout (slow tempo, etc.) Upon further listening, though, I must say that Morten has out-a-ha-ed a-ha, to coin a phrase. "Send Me an Angel" to me is a stand-out track with its bass line, but for one reason or another I have been drawn to "Anyone" as I find myself humming it a lot. Yes, the tempo to the entire album is still a bit slower than I would like, but the lyrics, guitar, and Morten's multi-faceted performance (from low growling to high angelic) make this a great album. The Savoys and Magne F could learn a thing or two from this CD.

Morten simply has the best voice in pop music and can compose wonderful songs as well. He proved this unequivocally on Wild Seed and Vogts Villa (both 5 stars also). Though the latter is in Norwegian the music and singing are of such quality that language comprehension is not required. This album is a lovely and dignified addition to Morten's oeuvre. He brings an integrity and poise to the art of song-craft that make his records an authentic experience. Letter From Egypt offers another opportunity to enjoy again the delicate but sturdy talent of one of our species finest.

Letter from Egypt is an exquisite work of thoughtfulness and care brought to us by one of the most distinctive voices on the scene today. Morten's first solo album was just over twelve years ago, with 1995's Wild Seed, but fate intervened in the years and a-ha regrouped in 1999, producing three albums in the years since. Now, Morten has once again taken the proverbial drivers' seat and shown us his creativity, both as a lyricist and a musician in this solo work. Letter from Egypt seems to be direct follow-up to Wild Seed and after a few listens, one can deduce the spiritual and curious side of Morten as he pushes the proverbial envelope in crafting some beautiful ballads (Letter from Egypt, A Name is a Name, With You - With Me) as well as some decidedly rockable hits (Darkspace, Send Me an Angel, Movies) all along using his voice as an instrument, hitting the highs, finessing the lows and massaging every note inbetween. As with a fine hand-crafted wine, this album has been well worth the wait.