Customer Reviews

Minor Earth Major Sky

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

 

 

A great return of A-ha, a sound like a Est to the Sun West to the Moon but best, especially "Summer moved on"

the album is totally awesome. Not one bad track on it. I have no fav track because they are all good. I highly recommend this album.

A-ha has a gem in Morten Harket whose voice seems to get better with age. The song writing is poignant, lush and perfectly crafted. This is definitely one of my favorite CD's in years.

a-ha. They seem to have come full-circle with this album. The lyrics are wiser, matured with life's experience. I like a-ha quite a bit and I suppose that anyone else who has followed their work will appreciate this album. This album is hardly a product of its time like HUNTING HIGH AND LOW was. HUNTING HIGH AND LOW was very much an 80's album (one of the best) that has transcended that decade and is eternal at least for me. I would call MINOR EARTH MAJOR SKY a product of time. It could only have come about as a result of time and all that implies. Esoteric, perhaps. Listen to `Velvet.' `Velvet' is a whimsical atmospheric piece of sheer beauty. You have to hear it to appreciate this great melodic piece of elegant impressionism. Only a-ha could deliver such a song. Each song on this album is a rare treasure that many of us waited for never really knowing if we were ever to hear from a-ha again. I really had to listen to this album for over a period of a year before I even attempted to write this review. It is hard to put into words what I feel about this album but somehow I think this is their best work.

In this country, a-ha can never seem to escape the one-hit wonder curse of the '80s after "Take On Me" like Kylie Minogue could. This album should prove the critics wrong! The best one ever! I got the title track on the single, which I accidentally confused for the album when I bought that. Even though I finally have this CD, I'm still rallying Warner's U.S. record companies to release it here for other fans' convenience. I first got mine last year through the Z Shop site from the Ukraine. Believe me. You won't be disappointed. It supercedes the U.S. lackluster appeal of "Memorial Beach", which I got out the bargain bin. If you can't wait for a real U.S. release (also for "Lifelines"), you've come to the right place. My first copy is different. It was released somewhere in Eastern Europe, allegedly by BMG and not the usual WEA. I had looked into that. It also had five bonus tracks, one being "Take on Me" as a throwback maybe. Then I was told it was a bootleg, and Ukraine are already facing sanctions for the current music business epidemic. Warner Musik Deutschland sent me the genuine article and I sold the not-so-reasonable fascimile. Danke schoen, Warner!
"Velvet" did see light here on the soundtrack for "One Night at McCool's", but neither that or the move was McCool at the box-office.
Get ready for what we've all been waiting for!

I'm trying to be as kind as possible here. Yes, Harket has an amazing voice. Yes, their first two albums were fantastic and the third was so-so. But after their messy 90s albums, things would never be the same as a-ha limped into Adult-lite-rock territory. This is a shame, because obviously there's talent being wasted. If Savoy's last album was any indication, this new a-ha album could have been great. But, like all of their previous albums (with the possible exception of the beautiful "Scoundrel Days) the band had to bow down to the demands of record companies and music trends. How else would you explain the decade old beats, the limp remake of "Velvet," the metalic production that makes the album sound more 1990 than 2000?

Sigh.

The BONUS TRACK tagged onto this Japanese Import version is just a remix of "Summer Moved On" -- the same remix you can find on the much cheaper single. Save your money so you can buy the single and get the b-side as well.

Minor Album, Major Dissapointment