Aha released East of the Sun, West of the Moon

First posted 1/18/2009; updated 9/12/2020.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon A-ha

Released: October 22, 1990 Peak: -- US, 12 UK, -- CN, 122 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.06 UK, 0.06 world (includes US and UK) Genre: synth pop

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Crying in the Rain (10/1/90, 13 UK) Early Morning (2/25/91, 78 UK) I Call Your Name (12/3/90 44 UK) Slender Frame East of the Sun Sycamore Leaves Waiting for Her Cold River The Way We Talk Rolling Thunder Seemingly Nonstop July Total Running Time: 42:46 The Players: Morten Harket (vocals, guitar) Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitar, bass) Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars, drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.500 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)

About the Album: The synth-pop trio best known for the international 1985 hit “Take on Me,” showed they deserved to be taken more seriously. “This is a nicely crafted collection of songs, performed and sung beautifully, with lots of echoes and suggestions tucked into the music…It’s an album that's a pleasure to listen to and one that deserves a better reception than the one, unfortunately, that it seems to have gotten.” AMG The album, with a title taken from a Norwegian fairy tale, was co-produced by Ian Stanley, formerly of Tears for Fears. than “the band’s earlier radio-friendly sound” WK on hits like the aforementioned “Take on Me” and “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” and songs from the 1988 Stay on These Roads like “Touchy!” and “You Are the One.” Still, the “darker, moodier tone” WK of East of the Sun isn’t a complete surprise. The Norwegian trio had hinted at more serious work, especially on their sophomore album Scoundrel Days on songs like the title track and “Manhattan Skyline.” In Norway, the album was a-ha’s fourth consecutive #1, led by their cover of the Everly Brothers’ Crying in the Rain. The song was the band’s sixth #1 song in Norway. In the UK, it was a top-20 hit. Follow-up singles I Call Your Name and Early Morning didn’t chart in Norway, but were minor hits in the UK. The Way We Talk is an album highlight. At only a minute-and-a-half, it’s the shortest song in the trio’s catalog. It features a faraway sounding voice accompanied by a moody piano, an interesting departure from the band’s typically more synth-heavy sound.

Resources and Related Links: A-ha’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG Steven McDonald, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia

a-ha “The Way We Talk” released

The Way We Talk A-ha

Writer(s): Magne Furuholmen (see lyrics here) Released: October 22, 1990 (album cut) First Charted: -- Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.06 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The new wave group a-ha formed in Norway in 1982. The trio consisted of singer Morten Harket, guitarist Paul Waaktar-Savoy, and keyboardist/guitarist Magne Furuholmen. Their 1985 debut album Hunting High and Low produced the U.S. #1 single “Take on Me” and was followed up by top-20 hit “The Sun Always Shines on TV” (despite often being said to be a one-hit wonder). Of course, those were the band’s only two top-40 hits in the U.S. However, in their native Norway, A-ha was far from a one-hit wonder. That debut album generated four top-10 hits, including the #1 songs “Take on Me” and “Train of Thought.” Their sophomore album, 1986’s Scoundrel Days, produced three more top-5 hits, including “Cry Wolf” and the #1 song “I’ve Been Losing You.” The former was the group’s only other chart entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (#50). The next album, Stay on These Roads, produced twp more #1 songs in Norway – 1987’s “The Living Daylights” (the theme song from the James Bond movie of the same name) and the title cut from the album. In 1990, East of the Sun, West of the Moon gave the band another #1 hit with their cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Crying in the Rain.” All told, a-ha has racked up nine #1 hits and another nine top-10 hits in Norway as of this post. The song from that latter album which became my favorite, however, was “The Way We Talk.” It has the lilting quality of a slow jazz number, feeling like it could noodle along for ten minutes or so, despite a mere minute-and-a-half run time. It wasn’t a single and wasn’t even sung by the band’s usual vocalist, Morten Harket, but by keyboardist and guitarist Magne Furuholmen. Those first four albums made me an a-ha fan and convinced me how criminally underappreciated they were in the United States. The showcased a bounty of shouda-been hits and above-average album cuts that won me over. East of the Sun, West of the Moon marked the moment I became hooked. I knew I was likely to buy everything they released from that point on – which I have. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for A-ha Related Links: First posted 9/3/2022.