Memorial Beach
| Memorial Beach | |||||||
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| Studio album by a-ha | |||||||
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Publication |
June 14, 1993 |
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| Label (s) | Warner bros. | ||||||
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Format (s) |
CD, record, compact cassette |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
49:33 |
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a-ha , Pål Waaktaar , David Z. |
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Memorial Beach is the fifth studio album by the Norwegian pop rock band a-ha .
history
Memorial Beach was the only album by a-ha to date that, with 722,000 copies sold worldwide, could not break through the million mark. Also in Norway, only 35,000 copies, in the USA about 30,000 copies of Memorial Beach were sold.
As a producer was David Z. committed, who also Kiss by Prince had produced. As backing musicians, bassist Jørun “JB” Bøgeberg and drummer Per Hillestad were hired as on the previous album East of the Sun, West of the Moon .
JD and Jevetta Steele from the American gospel group The Steeles and singer Kathy Wilson provided the background vocals for Move to Memphis and Lie Down in Darkness . Nine songs on the album were composed by Pål Waaktaar. Magne Furuholmen composed Lamb to the Slaughter , and a new version of the already on the Hitzusammenstellung Headlines and Deadlines - The Hits of a-ha represented Move to Memphis , which both have composed together.
Singles
From Memorial Beach three more Top 50 singles were released the band in the UK, Move to Memphis , Dark Is the Night for All and Angel in the Snow . In September, Lie Down In Darkness was released exclusively in the US . The album did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Dark is the Night , the single peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.
criticism
The British music magazine Q gave it four out of five stars, listed Memorial Beach as one of the best 50 albums of 1993, and wrote: "If ever a band deserved reappraisal on the back of an album then it was a-ha!". The Musikexpress rated the album five out of six stars and wrote: “A work from Princen's Paisley Park Studio. The pop artists from Norway found themselves in a warmer climate zone, and not just geographically. Their sound also became fuller, more uniform, more adult. Erotic songs for the international charts. ” WOM magazine used the release of Memorial Beach for a cover story and gave the album the highest rating.
When the album was re-released as a deluxe version in 2015, Rolling Stone awarded 3 out of 5 stars, described the album as a terrific failure by a-ha and slashed the songs Lie Down in Darkness , Between Your Mama and Yourself , How Sweet It Was and inspired the songs Dark Is The Night For All , Locust and Angel In The Snow . Live a-ha should never have been better than in 1994, when they occasionally omitted their hit Take On Me , but to let this courage flow into something new, which a-ha lacked in the studio, is the conclusion of the criticism.
Track list
| Memorial Beach | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | title | Songwriter | length |
| 1. | Dark Is the Night for All | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:46 |
| 2. | Move to Memphis | Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen | 4:22 |
| 3. | Cold as Stone | Waaktaar-Savoy | 8:19 |
| 4th | Angel in the Snow | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:13 |
| 5. | Locust | Waaktaar-Savoy | 5:09 |
| 6th | Lie Down in Darkness | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:32 |
| 7th | How Sweet It Was | Waaktaar-Savoy | 6:00 |
| 8th. | Lamb to the Slaughter | Furuholmen | 4:20 |
| 9. | Between Your Mama and Yourself | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:16 |
| 10. | Memorial Beach | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:36 |
| Overall length: | 49:33 | ||
Deluxe Edition track list
The deluxe edition of the album, released on October 23, 2015, consists of two CDs. CD 1 contains the tracks from the original album in remastered versions as well as two bonus tracks . CD 2 contains demo recordings of nine tracks from the album, the previously unreleased song Bar Room , an alternative version of Dark is the Night for All and five live tracks. The live tracks (tracks 12 to 16) were recorded at a concert on March 17, 1994 at Sentrum Scene in Oslo, Norway.
| Memorial Beach Deluxe Edition (CD 1) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | title | Songwriter | length |
| 1. | Dark Is the Night for All | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:46 |
| 2. | Move to Memphis | Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen | 4:22 |
| 3. | Cold as Stone | Waaktaar-Savoy | 8:19 |
| 4th | Angel in the Snow | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:13 |
| 5. | Locust | Waaktaar-Savoy | 5:10 |
| 6th | Lie Down in Darkness | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:32 |
| 7th | How Sweet It Was | Waaktaar-Savoy | 6:03 |
| 8th. | Lamb to the Slaughter | Furuholmen | 4:20 |
| 9. | Between Your Mama and Yourself | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:16 |
| 10. | Memorial Beach | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:42 |
| 11. | Move to Memphis (extended mix) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 6:39 |
| 12. | Angel in the Snow (acoustic instrumental) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:11 |
| Overall length: | 60:34 | ||
| Memorial Beach Deluxe Edition (CD 2) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | title | Songwriter | length |
| 1. | Dark Is the Night for All (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:29 |
| 2. | Cold as Stone (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 8:32 |
| 3. | Angel in the Snow (demo, vocals: Waaktaar-Savoy) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:25 |
| 4th | Locust (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:35 |
| 5. | Lie Down in Darkness (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:19 |
| 6th | How Sweet It Was (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:50 |
| 7th | Bar Room (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:03 |
| 8th. | Lamb to the Slaughter (demo) | Furuholmen | 3:53 |
| 9. | Between Your Mama and Yourself (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:21 |
| 10. | Memorial Beach (demo) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:50 |
| 11. | Dark Is the Night for All (alternative version) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 3:44 |
| 12. | The Swing of Things (live) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 6:20 |
| 13. | Dark Is the Night for All (live) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 5:08 |
| 14th | Move to Memphis (live) | Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen | 4:40 |
| 15th | Cold as Stone / Sycamore Leaves (live) | Waaktaar-Savoy | 10:08 |
| 16. | Shapes that Go Together (live) | Furuholmen, Waaktaar-Savoy | 4:24 |
| Overall length: | 79:42 | ||