Aha released Minor Earth, Major Sky

Minor Earth, Major Sky A-ha

Released: July 17, 2000 Peak: -- US, 27 UK, -- CN, 169 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: synth pop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Minor Earth Major Sky (7/10/00, --) Little Black Heart Velvet (9/14/00, --) Summer Moved On (5/22/00, 33 UK) The Sun Never Shone That Day (9/21/00, --) To Let You Win The Company Man Thought That I Was You I Wish I Cared Barely Hanging On You’ll Never Get Over Me I Won’t Forget Her Mary Ellen Makes the Moment Count Total Running Time: 58:42 The Players: Morten Harket (vocals, guitar) Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitar, bass) Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars, drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.667 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “A-ha's sixth studio CD came seven years after their previous album, Memorial Beach, and in that time it seems that a-ha mellowed out. They do not seem to have concern about attracting the youth/dance market, but instead seem to be focusing in on how to make perfect middle-of-the-road pop songs with ‘90s technology. This is not a criticism, as it produces several fantastic songs, such as Little Black Heart and the wonderful I Wish That I Cared. These, and many others, are full of catchy, beautiful melodies and Morten Harket’s vocals are near perfect as usual; his voice has not lowered one octave since their debut.” AMG “The one problem with this CD is the relative sameness to some of the music. The tempos do not change a great deal, and by the end the songs seem to run together. More variety would have been beneficial. However, in terms of production, this is as close to perfect as a CD can get, and the lyrics keep things interesting throughout. Overall, a good album, and one that fans will enjoy.” AMG “On its release Minor Earth, Major Sky was an instant number one, platinum awarded success in Norway and in Germany. Gold discs came in Austria, Spain and Switzerland. The title track Minor Earth, Major Sky and Velvet followed Summer Moved On as singles, the latter hitting No. 1 in Norway and top-10 in Germany.” AZ “The deluxe version of Minor Earth, Major Sky is more than just another reissue of a hit album, with demos, early versions and alternate mixes. Disc two amounts to an entirely new take on the album. Early versions of the title track ‘Minor Earth, Major Sky,’ ‘Velvet,’ ‘Summer Moved On’ and the enormous powerful version of The Sun Never Shone That Day as well as other takes that did not make it on the final cut reveal the sparkles of songwriting and the process of an idea becoming a hit. Four live-performances in Oslo taken from their 2001 tour prove the grandeur of an a-ha live performance.” AZ

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for A-ha AZ Amazon AMG Aaron Badgley, All Music Guide Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/18/2009; updated 8/9/2021.