a-ha Albums 1990-92

East Of The Sun West Of The Moon (22.10.90)

The front of the CD insert features a black and white group photo. Inside the booklet are 12 black and white pictures plus song lyrics. The back insert of the CD is black with grey "a-ha" writing, purple rectangle and silver titles. The CD is silver with purple titles and "a-ha" logo (in similar font to that on the front sleeve). The LP has a black inner sleeve with 3 individual pictures and lyrics. The album is produced by Chris Neil, except for * by Ian Stanley.

There were at least two different pressings of the CD available in Germany. Both have a similar sleeve design, but the actual discs differ. The first has the a-ha logo printed using the same font as that on the front sleeve. The second version has the a-ha logo printed in plain purple capital letters. Both versions have the same catalogue number.

Tracks: Crying In The Rain (4:25) / Early Morning* (2:59) / I Call Your Name (4:54) / Slender Frame (3:42) / East Of The Sun* (4:47) / Sycamore Leaves (5:22) / Waiting For Her* (4:49) / Cold River (4:40) / The Way We Talk* (1:30) / Rolling Thunder (5:43) / (Seemingly) Non-stop July* (2:55).

Variations

Germany: Some copies of the German LP come with a WEA product fact sheet with information on the band.

Japan: The CD album comes with a Japanese lyric sheet plus a white, green and red obi strip. The disc varies slightly compared to the European release. The printing on the disc is purple (lighter purple than that used on the European release) except for the track numbers which are in red and the words "East" and "Sun" of the title are in black. On one of the spines, the title is printed in English, on the other it is in Japanese. The promo copy has the text "sample not for sale" (in red) etched around the centre of the disc and a white and red promo sticker on the back insert. Limited numbers of the promo album came with a poster. There was also a "Gatsby" promotional edition of the album which has an orange / red and green obi strip with black and white text. "Gatsby" is printed on the front and spin of the obi strip. The CDs are otherwise identical with the same catalogue numbers.

Best In Brazil (1991)

This Brazilian only release has a colour photo cover. The band shot (Pål, Morten, Mags) is placed on the right hand side of the sleeve, filling approximately 3/4 of the cover. The remainding quarter is yellow. The title in blue with pink trim is placed in the top left corner.

The reverse of the LP is lemon coloured with blue / grey writing and a picture of a-ha in a field. There is also an inner sleeve with three individual large pictures. The reverse of the inner sleeve is yellow with blue / grey a-ha-logo and four pictures of the previous albums.

The CD insert folds out. Inside the insert there is a black and white group photo of the band standing in a field. On the reverse there are three individual colour pictures. The back insert has the colour version of the picture found inside the CD insert on a lemon coloured background. There is also a blue and pink edged "a-ha" logo plus blue titles.

The CD is silver coloured with black titles and "a-ha" logo. The songs on the album are all studio versions taken from the albums.

There are two slightly different pressings of this album. Both have the same catalogue numbers, but the reverse of the sleeves differ slightly - the second pressing has a bar code printed in the bottom left hand corner and has a safety hologram on the front.

Tracks: Stay On These Roads / Touchy! / Hunting High And Low / Scoundrel Days / You'll End Up Crying // Crying In The Rain / You Are The One / The Blood That Moves The Body / There's Never A Forever Thing / Manhattan Skyline.

LP

CD

a-ha en Argentina (1991)

This Argentinian only release has the same front cover as "Best In Brazil" except for the obvious different title in the top left hand corner. The reverse of the sleeve has the tracks written only in Spanish, although they are printed in both Spanish and English on the record itself.

There is also a promo edition of the album which comes with a 12" sized poster. The poster is similar to the front sleeve of the album, but has adverts for the 4 a-ha albums at the bottom. The disc sticker features a black and white WB-logo (rather than the coloured logos which are on the regular album) and has a promo stamp.

Tracks: Stay On These Roads / Touchy! / Hunting High And Low / Scoundrel Days / You'll End Up Crying // Crying In The Rain / You Are The One / The Blood That Moves The Body / There's Never A Forever Thing / Manhattan Skyline.

LP

Cassette

Headlines And Deadlines The Hits Of a-ha (04.11.91)

This compilation album of a-ha hits "Headlines And Deadlines" features 16 tracks including the song "Move To Memphis" which was recorded especially to be included on the album.

The cover of the LP features a colour group-shot (Morten, Magne and Pål) by Just Loomis. The a-ha logo is printed in beige in the bottom right corner with the title in blue and white underneath. The reverse is black with an a-ha picture in the corner as on the "Move To Memphis" single.

The CD has similar cover to the LP. The 6 page CD booklet features pictures used on the packaging of the different single releases on a black background. Further all text is written in beige, white and blue lettering. The reverse of the CD booklet and back insert feature a black and white with green and pink tinge group-shot (as found on the "Move To Memphis" single cover). The back insert also features a beige track listing and other white text.

The actual CD is navy blue with titles and a-ha-logo in beige. Note: Throughout Europe, the disc colour varies, with some being more green/blue in colour.

There was a "Tape Tape" promo cassette produced for "Headlines And Deadline". It comes in a white paper sleeve with the tracks printed in typewriter-face on the front. It is labelled as "The Best of a-ha". Two tracks are missing compared to the regular release "Early Morning" and "Train Of Thought (Remix)". The cassette itself is a regular audio cassette with typed on sticker along the top.

In December 2002, "Headlines And Deadlines" was re-released in the UK. It has the same catalogue number as previous, but comes in a special card slip case featuring a recent band shot (Paul, Morten, Magne).

Tracks (LP): Take On Me (3:48) / Cry Wolf (4:08) / Touchy! (4:38) / You Are The One (remix) (3:47) / Manhattan Skyline (4:51) / The Blood That Moves The Body (4:06) // Hunting High And Low (remix) (3:48) / Move To Memphis (4:18) / I've Been Losing You (4:26) / The Living Daylights (4:17) / Crying In The Rain (4:24) / I Call Your Name (4:53) / Stay On These Roads (4:47) / The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (5:05).

Tracks (Cassette): Take On Me (3:48) / Cry Wolf (4:08) / Touchy! (4:38) / You Are The One (remix) (3:47) / Manhattan Skyline (4:51) / The Blood That Moves The Body (4:06) / Early Morning (2:59) / Hunting High And Low (remix) (3:48) // Move To Memphis (4:18) / I've Been Losing You (4:26) / The Living Daylights (4:17) / Crying In The Rain (4:24) / I Call Your Name (4:53) / Stay On These Roads (4:47) / Train Of Thought (remix) (4:17) / The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (5:05).

Tracks (CD): Take On Me (3:48) / Cry Wolf (4:08) / Touchy! (4:38) / You Are The One (remix) (3:47) / Manhattan Skyline (4:51) / The Blood That Moves The Body (4:06) / Early Morning (2:59) / Hunting High And Low (remix) (3:48) / Move To Memphis (4:18) / I've Been Losing You (4:26) / The Living Daylights (4:17) / Crying In The Rain (4:24) / I Call Your Name (4:53) / Stay On These Roads (4:47) / Train Of Thought (remix) (4:17) / The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (5:05).

Variations

Czech Republic: "Headline And Deadlines" was released in Czech Republic, distributed by POPRON but licensed by Warner Bros. "Poprun" is printed in black letters on a white background in the top left hand corner of the back sleeve, otherwise the sleeve design is similar to the regular release. The code 50 153-2 is printed underneath popron on the disc.

France: In 1996, the album was rereleased in the same case, but slipped inside a unique white carton sleeve sponsored by NRJ radio. On the spine and cover of the sleeve it calls the album "Best Of a-ha". On the front of the sleeve there is a group shot (Pål, Morten and Mags) in the centre. There is something a little bit stange about this photo as Morten has bright green eyes rather than his normal blue ones!

Above the picture there is a large red a-ha-logo, the words "Best Of" in black letters with a red `shooting star' passing through the title. "16 titres" printed in black letters inside a red rectangle in the top right corner indicates the number of tracks on the CD. Below the picture five of the tracks are mentioned and to the right is the NRJ-logo.

The background of the reverse of the sleeve is a red square with a white border and a large black outlined a-ha-logo. The track listings are in white and there is a small colour shot of the "Headlines And Deadlines" album in the bottom left hand corner. The CD inside the packaging is the same as the regular edition of "Headlines And Deadlines" except that the disc is a lighter petrol blue colour with lighter coloured writing.