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a-ha play the Royal Albert Hall, UK promo, US domestic release through iTunes, aftershow UK Things are getting very very busy for a-ha now, as they enter the last 2 months of their final tour. A tour that is ranking as one of the Top tours of the year, has played more countries than any tour for any artist ever. A few special shows right now saw a-ha go to their home of Norway and play a special show where they, backed by an orchestrra played their first two albums in order, this show will also be coming to the Royal Albert Hall for two more shows there. Then its back to the "regular" ending on a high note tour, which will touch a few "odd" spots like Lithuania, Latvia, minsk, and Brussels than hit some spots in France, a run in spain coming up along with a second round of shows in Germany, which will be followed by 10 dates in the UK in November (their second home as they call it) and then rounding it all out with 3 sold out shows in Norway in Oslo as their final dates as a band.
The UK recently released the 25 compilation with a special DVD edition with it, on that were 17 of a-ha's videos, along with 39 of their singles, iTunes in the USA actually chimed in on this, releasing the same cd compilation with a bonus "demo" version of their last single "ButterFly ButterFly" which was done by Steve Osborne, the iTunes version also comes with 11 videos, including their last video for "Butterfly" the collection features almost all 80's stuff, only 1 video from their 2000-2010 work which is unknown by most in the USA. a-ha will have a complete dvd collection of videos released next year, containing all their videos, 40+. Also set to be released post-break are the Royal Albert Shows, a dvd/cd comilation of the final tour, along with more remastered albums and bonus tracks, so the "machine" of a-ha may stop, but the releases are just beginning.
More pics and footage from their amazing aftershow in the UK (see Prince isnt the only one that does aftershows) to come. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Its been a busy week here in the UK.
I just got back from the Royal Albert Hall, for the orchestra performances of the first two albums. The band were decked out in black suits and the orchestra and venue really made it feel special.
The show was brilliant. Its is fantastic when a band play and album in its entirely, in order. My only complaint was that Mags dominated with his keyboards. I would have prefered to have seen him move to piano for this show, as his keys often overshadowed the orchestra on some tracks on the first album.
But the orchestra did good on "Hunting High and Low" and "Sun Always Shines on TV".
But for me, the highlight was getting all on the second album. The orchestra really worked well on every track.
The gem for me was "October" and the icing on the cake was an extended overblown "Soft rains of April". Great stuff.
On Wednesday night I met the band at HMV Mega store, wish them well for the future and then went on to see the HMV private concert at Heaven nightclub. This was unbelievable. They only performed for 35 minutes, but it was acoustically brilliant, loud and sweaty. it was really odd seeing them on a tiny club stage. They torn the place down with "Dream Myself Alive" and "Weight of the world".
To top the week off, I got the new greatest hits, and the remastering is THE BEST I have heard to date. The stuff from the first two albums now sounds SO fresh and deep. The bass is awesome. All remasters should sound like this. Its as is they've re produced the whole mix.
Roll on to next month for the next shows. Its bitter sweet. Its the beginning of the end...... . | |
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Amazing Stuff!! yeah i got the import of the UK 3disc set with the dvd yesterday, great to hear you got to see that Nightclub performance the videos im seeing on Youtube of it are amazing, it is a rarity overseas to have a-ha in a small small venue, most people here in the US dont understand how big they are everywhere else to this day, and bigger than most of the bands they came up with in the early 80's. The Royal albert shows im hoping end up on DVD and i think they will, a-ha, despite ending as a band, is going to embrace what they have done and allow the floodgates to open and let product come out, one of the benefits of NOT having a bitter breakup, but instead having a GRACEFUL retreat. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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AHA?? HAHAHAHAHAHAH
A fookin HA???
this is a joke thread right?? | |
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Why would it be a joke? . | |
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where've you been? lastedecember has been providing us with an unsolicited weekly update on a-ha for years. he's the prince.org wing of the vast worldwide a-ha public relations machine. | |
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at least they still function and have been more relevant in the world than most of what gets posted on this forum. numbers dont lie and i dont see anyone posted on this forum playing the range of concerts they are, i mean when was the last time anyone in Russia or Spain cared about Prince? or whomever "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Mainly because people cant get around the one hit in america (though it was 2, they dont even know that much) they think that the USA is where it all starts and ends, if that was the case then 250 million of the 280million albums QUEEN sold would have to be counted as useless. Thing is that if this was the only they ever had anywhere they would have been done 25 years ago, its that simple, they wouldnt have been able to function through time on that one song. Granted that the song was there biggest, however it wasnt their biggest in all places, it wasnt even a number one in the UK. But what followed were about 25 other singles, 14 of which hit the top 10, 35 million albums sold, 50 million with singles combined, i suggest people utilize their computers and look things up before they thhink they know what they dont know, i mean isnt that what computers are for? "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Guys, jonylawson pulls the same shit in almost every a-ha thread. He's an a-ha troll. He even used the same lame "is this a joke thread" line last time.
On topic, I'm anxiously awaiting my "Butterfly, Butterfly" single to be shipped from Amazon. Like "Nothing Is Keeping You Here," I prefer the Osborne remix. "Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind." ~ Clive Davis | |
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its an interesting version, they added it on the iTunes version of 25 along with 11 videos, i rather the lyrics from the single version because they are a little more final, the Osborne version with slightly different lyrics dont have that ring of finality to it. Both are really good though, i actually like the Verison of "Nothing" that is on the 25 disc, which is actually the video version, to date there are 4 versions of that song "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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looking at the tracklisting on itunes - why nothing from "analogue"? * * *
Prince's Classic Finally Expanded The Deluxe 'Purple Rain' Reissue http://www.popmatters.com...n-reissue/ | |
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pn the dvd u mean? "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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lastdecember said:
pn the dvd u mean? No, he means on the album. I noticed that as well. Not even the title track is there. "Whitney was purely and simply one of a kind." ~ Clive Davis | |
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True i missed that since i bought the import and the uk version. I thought it was strange that on the bonus UK dvd that "analogue" didnt even have a video on it, considering Analogue was a Top10 single there, but again the DVD was an afterthought from Rhino, and not really an official thing, that will be coming sometime next year. BUT i do know that from reading the "swing of things" book that the band didnt really have alot of "unity" or memories about "Analogue" the album. Not that i think that is why it got skipped on the itunes version, i actually think it may have to do with licensing, RHINO is part of warner which is where a-ha were worldwide from 1984-2004, for Analogue they shifted to Universal however there was NO universal distribution set up here in the states, the Foot of the Mountain stuff is under Universal but also the AHA network company which is their own imprint, so that would explain the usage of that stuff, but i think for Analogue to be used in the USA there is some licensing problems because there never was a deal here set up. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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yeah that makes sense
looks like i will have to get the import version after all * * *
Prince's Classic Finally Expanded The Deluxe 'Purple Rain' Reissue http://www.popmatters.com...n-reissue/ | |
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yeah originally i got the version issued in Norway and Germany since that shipped first, but then the UK got the one with the dvd this week so i got that too, and from the states i just bought the Steve Osborne Mix though i had it on the single cd. The "Swing of things" book is something to invest in though i have to say, if you have/like them and know their work, its amazing to hear their accounts of how the whole process has gone from day one till now, very honest stuff. "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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what a silly statement-same could be applied to mingus,miles,withers,j dilla etc
AHA? im sorry it just makes me laugh-getting all het up over...............AHA!!!
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Says the dalek. . | |
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Yeah i mean the truth is there and anyone can search what they have done over 25 years if they have the mind too, but i understand that its easier to just dismiss them or lump them in with the likes of Flock of Seagulls or whatever. But theres no way anyone/artist can sustain a career on the basis of one song, it just cant be done and hasnt ever been done, you cant exist 25 years travel the world constantly, have 9 albums have solo works, and props from your peers like the Pet Shop Boys and u2, a-ha is deeper than the one song, but its rare that people dig deeper than what they are fed.
Off topic did you catch the "video" on YouTube of their 45 minute interview in Canada for the radio, its just been uploaded on video, excellent, great interview but an educated interviewer "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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Haven't heard it. I'll check it out. . | |
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who doesn't like take on me?! hoe could someone not love that song?
not familar with anything else though. he can hit the notes that cutie. i love that music video  i don't wear a cross?!!? i wear a prince symbol     I When Prince's cum dries, diamonds are formed.    no one tops prince in concert! | |
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Got tickets for the extra extra concert in Oslo Spektrum Nov 30th with a-ha today, and I'm really lookin forward to it. They have an impressive catalogue of solid songs, so it's gonna be a memorable night! All good things must come to an end.. Aka Mister T at moquake.com | |
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Yeah im going to the 3 final shows in Oslo, its actually my first trip ever out of the USA, so i had to make this trip when it was announced, being my favorite group for many reasons, i had to be there at the end, got to see the NYC shows dead center right in front and that was possibly the best concerts i have ever seen for any artist! "We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F | |
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