Foot of the Mountain

Foot of the Mountain
Studio album by a-ha
Publication (s)	June 12, 2009
admission	January - May 2009
Label (s)	Universal Music Group
Format (s)	CD , LP
Genre (s)	Pop-rock , synth-pop , new wave
Title (number)	10
running time	40:45
occupation	Singing : Morten Harket Guitar : Pål Waaktaar-Savoy Keyboard : Magne Furuholmen
production	Steve Osborne, Mark Saunders
Studio (s)	Water music; Beat 360; The Alabaster Room, New York City (USA) Yoga studios; Alabaster Cottage; Malabar Studios; Rainbow Studios (Norway) Real World Studios (UK) Gaga Studios; Boogie Park Studios (Germany)
chronology Analogue (2005) Foot of the Mountain Cast in Steel (2015)
Single releases May 22, 2009 Foot of the Mountain September 21, 2009 Shadowside October 16, 2009 Nothing Is Keeping You Here

Foot of the Mountain ( English for "foot of the mountain") is the ninth studio album of the Norwegian pop-rock band a-ha . It was the last album before the band broke up. It was released on June 12, 2009 and immediately reached number 1 in the German album charts. It also debuted at number 5 in the UK , the highest position on the UK album charts since 1988 with Stay on These Roads . After the band was still successful 25 years after their hit single Take On Me , Harket, Waaktaar-Savoy and Furuholmen decided to break up the band with a concert in the Spektrum Arena in Oslo after their farewell tour in December 2010 .

background

Production of the album began in 2006 shortly after the release of Analogue. In between, the band members also worked on their own projects, which extended the production of the A-ha album. The actual recordings took five months, a relatively short period of time for a-ha. The cover was designed by Martin Kvamme, who was involved in earlier releases of the band as well as partly in their solo releases. Keyboardist Magne Furuholmen describes the album as "an album that combines the key elements that the band defined at the beginning: ascending vocals, synthesizer hooks, languishing lyrics and melodic melancholy."

Track list

1. The Bandstand ( Pål Waaktaar-Savoy , Magne Furuholmen ) - 4:02
2. Riding the Crest (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, Magne Furuholmen) - 4:16
3. What There Is (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, Magne Furuholmen) - 3:43
4. Foot of the Mountain (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, Magne Furuholmen, Martin Terefe) - 3:57
5. Real Meaning (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, Magne Furuholmen) - 3:40
6. Shadowside (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy) - 4:55
7. Nothing Is Keeping You Here (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy) - 3:17
8. Mother Nature Goes to Heaven (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy) - 4:08
9. Sunny Mystery (Magne Furuholmen) - 3:30
10. Start the Simulator (Pål Waaktaar-Savoy) - 5:17

reception

The reviews have been mostly positive. The Times magazine rated the album four out of five stars. The Guardian and The Observer gave three out of five points. Florian Schade from laut.de rated the singles as "instant catchy tunes with a good mood guarantee". Fabio de Feo from cdstarts.de described the album as an “excellent 5-track EP, but only slightly average full album, which fans of the band will still enjoy.” The sound of the album was often with Coldplay, but also with Bands like Depeche Mode and Keane compared.

Foot of the Mountain is the theme song of the series Die Bergretter, which has been running since 2009 .

Chart placements

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	1 (39 weeks)	39
Austria (Ö3)	11 (11 weeks)	11
Switzerland (IFPI)	12 (26 weeks)	26th
United Kingdom (OCC)	5 (6 weeks)	6th
Norway (Nielsen)	2 (17 weeks)	17th

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	NO
2009	Foot of the Mountain Foot of the Mountain	DE3 (20 weeks) DE	AT28 (14 weeks) AT	CH33 (20 weeks) CH	UK66 (3 weeks) UK	NO8 (14 weeks) NO	First published: May 22, 2009
	Shadowside Foot of the Mountain	DE22 (5 weeks) DE	AT73 (1 week) AT	-	-	-	First published: September 21, 2009
	Nothing Is Keeping You Here Foot of the Mountain	DE65 (4 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: October 16, 2009

Awards for music sales

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Germany (BVMI)	platinum	200,000
Russia (NFPF)	platinum	20,000
All in all	2 × platinum	220,000

Individual evidence

1. ↑ dagbladet.no
2. ↑ dagbladet.no
3. ^ Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk
4. ↑ theguardian.com
5. ↑ theguardian.com
6. ↑ laut.de
7. ↑ cdstarts.de
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK NO
9. ↑ Award in Germany
10. ↑ Award in Russia