Surprisingly good... (Minor Earth Major Sky - A-Ha)

Member Name: dreamerz

Product:	Minor Earth Major Sky - A-Ha
Date:	10/05/01 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stylish, contemporary moden pop

Disadvantages: A little over long, Production occasionaly swaps the songs

Now I remember A-ha as a kid in the 80s from thier classic singles 'Take on Me' and 'The Sun Always Shines on Tv' and I may have well danced very drunkenly to them in more recent times but I never expected them to produce an album of this calibre in 2000!

Having almost completely exorsised the cheese of yesteryear this is a modern and stylish exersise in adult pop. Kind of cross the epic tendancies of the Verve, with some of the pop suss of Robbie Williams. As a more recent comparison think Andreas Johnson's Glorious.

The production is extremely slick and creates an impressive soundscape, although at times it seems to be compensating for slightly thin melodies. Despite this there are some excellent songs here, including the epic title track and the pretty 'Velvet'.

There is a slight ghost of Gallagher-esque pilfering going on here however. The introduction to 'Velvet' is distintly familar to Verve fans whilst 'The Company Man' thieves the riff from 'Wonderwall' a little too blatently.

However, this is a remarkably assured and competent album from a trio of men you would think long past their sell by date. Although a few of the tracks outstay their welcome by a few minutes there is much here to admire and enjoy. A cautious recommendation not just to A-ha fans (who no doubt have already bought it) but to the world at large.

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