Customer Reviews

Lifelines Pt.2

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Most a-ha singles (particularly stuff before Major Earth, Minor Sky) were, well, disappointing. Not because of the additional material, but because of the lack of additional material. After the single we were just left with other album tracks, or "remixes" that were just the song with the vocals removed. There were exceptions, like the concert recordings on the "Shapes That Go Together" single, the remixes of "Major Earth Minor Sky" and "Summer Moved On," the extras on various Japanese eps, and the interesting demo and amazing live stuff on the single to "Forever Not Yours." But looking at their total output, singles have been a tad boring.

With the Lifelines singles so far, it looks like a-ha have finally gotten around to doing singles the right way. New material gets included, or demos, or rare versions, and quality remixes. This one is a revealing contribution to a-ha's body of work, and I especially like Magne's comments about the tracks. His remarks nicely sum up the tracks, but here are my further contributions.

"Solace" is one of my favourite tracks from Lifelines, and I enjoy the remix well enough, though the original is far better in my opinion and really nails the emotional content of the song. The remixed music is too scattered and divorced from Harket's voice. The "You Wanted More Remix" sounds barely different and so is a bit of a bland listen, but it's interesting to see how things evolved or what decisions were made. That's the point, as Magne writes. Still, the slight differences in the music hint at the possibility of another version. I think Harket could have changed the vocal melody a bit and made the version more interesting and a whole lot catchier. Having an edit of the album version of "Lifelines" is neccessary for the song's single, perhaps, but boring. (An edit of a good song is always wrong!) This cd's other unheard-of versions, remixes, or demos, really make it interesting listening. The original version of "Dragonflies" is included. The music is different as well as the vocalist. It is a folkier version and sounds a lot sweeter and more vulnerable with Magne's voice. I like the album version, but this version is getting more frequent listens recently. The "Lifelines" demo is nice, too. It has a lazier feel and you hear Anneli Drecker's contributions much more clearly. Also, the words are a bit different. I don't think I like the "Turn The Lights Down" version as well as what made it onto the album, but like most of the other tracks, it is a worthwhile, interesting listen.

In short, this one reveals more of their talent and is that nice extra "shot" for those of us who crave more even 2 days after the album comes out! I hope they continue to release this sort of single.

Part One of this set (a remix cd) is also worth it, too, for the "Console" and "Millenia Nova" remixes.

"Lifelines" is the second single from the album of the same name. It is available in two versions. The green one contains 4 remixes of "Lifelines". This (red) one contains other mixes of 4 album tracks and "Lifelines" demo version. The songs were given to different producers. In the end, the band had several mixes of the same song to choose from. This is our chance to hear the mixes that they left out of the final album cut and to get some clues about the decision process. I hope they will keep adding the same type of "b-sides" on their next singles because it is valuable material to fans.

The already classic "Lifelines" edit version is shorter than the album version but basically nothing has changed in the orchestration. Track two is "Solace" produced by Tore Johansson, slightly more electronic than the album version. I find it more evocative and melancholic. Track three is the original version of "Dragonfly" as recorded by Magne Furuholmen for the Norwegian movie "Oyenstikker" (which means dragonfly). Magne's voice is weaker and less assured than Morten Harket's, but with the light, stripped down orchestration, which is more folk than pop oriented, it adds to the fragility and tenderness of the song. Magne released it as a solo single in Norway some months ago.

Track four is "Turn the lights down" produced by Langer and Winstanley. The producers pushed in a more country direction. Anneli Drecker's voice is crystal-clear on this version that I like very much. I find it less sugary. Track five is "Lifelines" demo. It has all the defects a demo can have, but you can already feel where the song is going. For fans it is interesting to see how a song sounded like when it was born and compare with the final product... The last track is Stephen Hague version of "You wanted more", which sounds close to the album cut, but has a less abrupt ending. I think I would have chosen this one! It seems Morten Harket thought his voice sounded better on the mix that ended up on the album. It is one of the things you learn from the short liner notes Magne wrote for this maxi single.