Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: a-ha
Label: Universal Music Group
Release: 2017
Rating: 4/5
»MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice« is a double live album from Norwegian synth-pop/pop rock heavyweights a-ha, a band we’ll remember above all for their unforgettable hits of the eighties. The show captured on this double-disc document comes from the famous trio’s acoustic gig in the summer of 2017 at Harbor Hall, on the Norwegian island municipality of Giske. It also stands apart from the usual a-ha live releases because it includes first-ever performances of two songs nobody had heard before, »This Is Our Home« and »A Break in the Clouds«, plus »The Killing Moon«, a wonderfully fitting cover of »Echo & the Bunnymen«, and »Sox of the Fox«. The latter is a cover of Bridges, the original band of two a-ha members, guitarist/drummer Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and keyboardist/guitarist/bassist Magne Furuholmen. Before they started the a-ha story with singer Morten Harket, the two of them were the lead singers of that band in the early eighties.
This acoustic recording, the first of its kind in a-ha’s story so far, also features some great vocal duets between Harket and his guests, such as English singer Alison Moyet on »Summer Moved On«, English singer Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen) on »Scoundrel Days« and »The Killing Moon«, American singer Lissie on the evergreen »I’ve Been Losing You« and Norwegian singer Ingrid Helene Havik on the hit »The Sun Always Shines on TV«. It all ends, as you’d expect, with the ‘hit of all hits’ from a-ha, »Take On Me«, the song that back in 1985, thanks in no small part to its groundbreaking video, rocketed them to the top of the pop rock heap of the day.
The first acoustic live album in a-ha history is a fascinating listen for anyone curious how their biggest hits and some newer material sound in versions for acoustic guitar and piano. The individual performances come out quite differently in their acoustic outfits, some more successful than others; the bigger, more bombastic rock hits from the eighties occasionally lack their old ‘juiciness’, and some of them sound rather bare in acoustic form, at times almost bleak, while the more ballad-leaning, slower-tempo numbers, unsurprisingly, come out noticeably better. Overall, though, the whole recording leaves a very good impression, and you can hear at every turn that the legendary trio, guests included, had a blast with every single performance.
Line-up
Morten Harket – vocals
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – acoustic guitar and backing vocals
Magne Furuholmen – piano, acoustic guitar, flute and backing vocals
ADDITIONAL MUSICIANS:
Lars Horntveth – acoustic guitar, resonator, lap steel guitar, vibraphone, bass clarinet and soprano saxophone
Morten Qvenild – piano, harmonium, autoharp, harmonium and kokle
Even Ormestad – acoustic bass guitar
Karl Oluf Wenneberg – drums, percussion, bells and bass xylophone
Madeleine Ossum – violin and backing vocals
Emilie Heldal Lidsheim – viola and backing vocals
Tove Margrethe Erikstad – cello and backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Alison Moyet – guest vocals on “Summer Moved On”
Ian McCulloch – guest vocals on “Scoundrel Days” and “The Killing Moon”
Lissie – guest vocals on “I’ve Been Losing You”
Ingrid Helene Håvik – guest vocals on “The Sun Always Shines on TV”
Production
Lars Horntveth, a-ha and Martin Terefe
Track list
CD1:
1. This Is Our Home
2. Lifelines
3. I’ve Been Losing You
4. Analogue (All I Want)
5. The Sun Always Shines on TV
6. A Break in the Clouds
7. Foot of the Mountain
8. Stay on These Roads
9. This Alone Is Love
10. Over the Treetops
11. Forever Not Yours
CD2:
1. Sox of the Fox
2. Scoundrel Days
3. The Killing Moon
4. Summer Moved On
5. Memorial Beach
6. Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale
7. Manhattan Skyline
8. The Living Daylights
9. Hunting High and Low
10. Take On Me
