Poetenes Evangelium (09.11.93)

This album is only available in Norway and Sweden (NB: The album was released in Sweden on 17th November 1997, four years after the Norwegian release). It features 12 tracks with lyrics written by Norwegian post-war authors, all sung by Morten in Norwegian. The CD sleeve is a fold-out black digi-pak.

The front has a glossy black and white picture of Morten holding a microphone in one hand and the other drooped over the stand. Morten is positioned down the left hand side of the sleeve. The title plus "Morten Harket" are printed in cream coloured letters (separated only by a thin red line) on a black matt rectangle which is positioned off-centre towards the bottom right corner.

The reverse of the cover is matt grey with the track listings printed in cream coloured letters. Additional text is printed in red in the bottom right section of the sleeve. Inside the digi-pak, album details are printed in cream and red coloured letters. There is a pocket in the centre which houses the 8 page CD booklet. The front of the booklet is black with the title in cream and red letters across the top with a brown and white illustration of a man below. The pages of the booklet are white with lyrics in black and several more black and white illustrations. Text by Håvard Rem is printed on the inside of the cover. On the reverse of the opened out digi-pak the picture of Morten, the same as that on the front cover, is faded to the background with more cream text in the top right corner.

The disc is black with cream-coloured text plus record company logo. The only colour on the disc is a small red line separating the title and "Morten Harket".

The album was also available on cassette. The cover is of similar design to the CD digi-pak, but the printed colours are slightly different (eg. the rectangle on which the titles are printed is brown rather than matt grey). It features the lyrics but not the additional illustrations of the CD booklet. The cassette is transparent / grey with white titles.

Tracks:
Natten (3:16) - Jens Bjørneboe / Hymne Til Josef (5:03) - Inger Hagerup / Salome (3:48) - Jens Bjørneboe / Elisabet Synger Ved Johannes Døperens Død (3:22) - Erik Fosnes Hansen / Fra Templet (2:44) - Georg Johannesen / Hvor Krybben Stod (3:15) - Arnold Eidslott // Rytteren (3:02) - Arnold Eidslott / Sviket (3:55) - Inger Hagerup / Påske (4:02) - Jens Bjørneboe / Den Fremmede (3:30) - Kaj Skagen / Den Fremmede Taler Til Mennesket (3:47) - Kaj Skagen / Engelen (3:58) - Håvard Rem

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Cassette

Wild Seed (04.09.95)

Morten's first internationally released, self written album (with main collaborators Håvard Rem and Ole Sverre Olsen) was produced by Christopher Neil, arranged by Kjetil Bjerkestrand and mixed by Simon Hurrell except "Lord" by Lasse Hafreager, mixed by Truls Birkeland. One track on the album ("Ready To Go Home") is a cover version by W.A.Gold and G.Gouldman. The main musicians featured on the album were Per Lindvall on drums, Eyvind Aarset and Frode Alnaes on guitars, Øivind Madsen on bass and Kjetil Bjerkestrand on bass synth. It is a collection of twelve tracks sung in English language. The album was made in Germany, but distributed for sale in many other countries (both inside and outside Europe). The album was released on 1st September in Sweden.

The cover features an old-style brown and white picture of Morten wearing a waistcoat plus sarong and carrying an old-fashioned type writer. The picture is made to look like he is standing behind a pane of broken glass. In addition, "Morten Harket" and the title are printed in black type-faced letters along orange strips which are placed at angles to each other in the middle of the sleeve.

The CD insert folds out measuring 27½"x4½" when extended fully. The background is a mix of light brown and black with the lyrics printed in black text on groups of white strips. There are 5 small black and white pictures: two shots of Morten, some rope, a typewriter and a rock! The reverse features three brown-tinge black and white pictures of Morten, one of which has the top half missing, and additional black text on some more of the white strips. The CD tray is clear, through which you can see another `old-style' brown and white picture of Morten walking away, but still holding the typewriter. The back insert features another brown-tinge black and white shot of Morten with type writer which has been printed at 90 degrees to the usual orientation. The tracks are printed in black on white strips in the top left corner whilst additional white text is placed down the right hand side of the picture.

The CD is black with all text written in white except for the title which is printed in black type-faced text on white strips.

There was a promo edition of the album which comes in a blue and white Warner Brothers sleeve. The top third of the sleeve is white with small light blue "WB Records"-logos while the bottom section is light blue with one large white "WB Records"-logo in the centre. "Morten Harket" is printed in black letters inside a white strip with the title in blue letters on a black strip directly underneath. The tracks are listed in black in the bottom section of the sleeve while the catalogue number, release date and promo details are in black and white letters on respectively white and black strips. The disc is of similar design to the cover with the white sections replaced by silver.

The tracks on the promo CD are in a different order compared to the regular release. The versions of the tracks are all identical to the regular release, except for "Half In Love Half In Hate" (listed as "Half In Love" on the promo) which is different and has a running time of 4:47. This promo was also made in Germany.

The fold out sleeve of the German made cassette is similar to that of the CD insert: The lyrics are again printed on clusters of white strips on one side of the insert, but the five small pictures have been omitted. The reverse features only two of the brown and white pictures of Morten found on the CD packaging, but they are printed in full length. The actual cassette is transparent / grey with white titles.

There is a promo sample cassette featuring five tracks from the album (A Kind Of Christmas Card, Spanish Steps, Brodsky Tune, Tell Me What You See and East Timor). It has a white paper "Tape To Tape" sleeve with black titles and grey wea logo.
There is also an advance promo cassette of the album. Again it comes in a white paper "Tape To Tape" sleeve with black titles and grey wea logo.

Regular: A Kind Of Christmas Card (4:06) / Spanish Steps (4:07) / Half In Love Half In Hate (4:45) / Brodsky Tune (4:23) / Wild Seed (4:48) / Los Angeles (4:26) / East-Timor (4:12) / Lay Me Down Tonight (2:17) / Tell Me What You See (4:50) / Stay (3:29) / Lord (3:46) / Ready To Go Home (4:33)

Promo: A Kind Of Christmas Card / Spanish Steps / Los Angeles / Brodsky Tune / Wild Seed / Tell Me What You See / Lay Me Down Tonight / East Timor / Half In Love / Stay / Lord / Ready To Go Home.

Variations

Japan: The CD comes with the bonus track "A Change Is Gonna Come", cover version of the Sam Cooke song, recorded live at Helgerud church in Norway.

Korea: There is a Korean edition of Wild Seed which contains the bonus track "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (track 1). It has a similar sleeve to the regular European release. This Korean edition is thought to be unofficial.

Taiwan: The disc is made in Taiwan by UFO Group under licence from WEA International Inc. It comes with a white obi-strip with black, orange and pink text. The disc is dark brown with yellow title, track list and information. There is a double sided card inside which features a shot of Morten on one side and adverts for the first six a-ha CDs on the other.

CD

Cassette

Vogts Villa (25.11.96)

This 10-track Norwegian sung album is only available in Norway and Sweden (NB: The album wasn't released in Sweden until 30th July 1999). It was written by Morten, Håvard Rem and Ole Sverre Olsen and produced by Morten and Kåre Chr. Vestrheim. The musicians featured on the album are Geir Sundstøl on guitar, Kåre Chr. Vestrheim on mellotron, Thomas Tofte on bass and Anders Engen on drums. Elisabeth Moberg on backing vocals and Martin Hedstrøm on guitar contribute on the tracks marked with *. The album was released on Norsk Plateproduksjon AS (a sub-unit of BMG) only in Norway. This album features the Norwegian version of Morten's song "Lay Me Down Tonight" and renamed "Vuggevise".

The front of the CD booklet features a blue-toned black and white close-up shot of Morten smiling (by Knut Bry). To the left hand side there is a silver embossed drawing of "Vogts Villa". The title is written in white in the top left corner of the sleeve, with Morten's red printed autograph underneath. These titles surrounded by black outlines of rectangles.

The CD is black with dark grey embossed details of parts of the "Vogts Villa" building. The titles are in white and red, again inside white outlined rectangles and are placed at the top, left of the disc.

This album is again available on cassette, the insert of which is similar to the CD booklet but it does not contain the lyrics. The cassette is transparent.

CD

Cassette

Letter From Egypt (19.05.08)

Morten's second English sung solo album "Letter From Egypt" was released in Norway on 19 May 2008. The cover features a shot of Morten in Morocco, standing just outside a circle of rocks which have red religious symbols painted on them. In the background there is a girl standing by a deserted telephone box and a car on a distant track. Above the picture, morten harket is printed in white hand written letters and the title is in black underneath. The cover is made to look like it has a big crease down the centre.

The album is available in a digi-pak and in a jewel case in Norway. Both have the same cover design and come with an 8 page "dirty looking and coffee stained" booklet featuring the lyrics and track information. The booklet which comes with the digi-pak has been printed in slightly darker tones. The discs are black with white titles and text. The back cover has a picture of a deserted telephone box in Morocco which has been printed on some folded dirty looking paper. The track list is printed on the bottom left hand side. The inside of the digi-pak features more of the dirty folded paper. The booket is housed in the left hand side of the digi-pak and the disc is held in a plastic transparent tray on the right.

Tracks: Darkspace / Send Me An Angel / We'll Never Speak Again / There Are Many Ways To Die / With You - With Me / Letter From Egypt / A Name Is A Name / Movies / Shooting Star / Anyone / Should The Rain Fall / The One You Are

All tracks are written by Morten Harket and/or Ole Sverre Olsen with music by Morten and/or Kjetil Bjerkestrand, except "Send Me An Angel" written by Ole Sverre Olsen and Tanya; "We'll Never Speak Again" written by Magne Furuholmen with music by Magne and Kjetil Bjerkestrand and "Movies" written by Kåre Vestrheim, Georg Buljo, Hans Jørgen Støp, Thomas Tofte and Anders Engen. The album was produced and arranged by Kjetil Bjerkestrand and co-produced by Morten. Musicians on the album include Morten Harket (vocals and guitar), Kjetil Bjerkestrand (keyboards), Per Lindvall (drums), Jenny Sjo (bass), Frode Alnæs (guitar), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Kjetil Steensnæs (guitar), Gunnar Andreas Berg (guitar), Petur Jonsson (guitar), Helge Norbakken (percussion), Ashild Breie Nyhus (viola), Magne Furuholmen (additional vocals - track 3)

There is a Norwegian 4-track promo album sampler. The disc is white with "Fire spor fra Morten Harket Letter from Egypt Som kommer 19. Mai" printed at the top of the disc and the four tracks: We'll Never Speak Again / Send Me An Angel / With You - With Me / A Name Is A Name" printed at the bottom. The Polydor and Universal logos are printed on the right hand and left hand side of the disc respectively. It doesn't come with a sleeve.

Variations

Germany: The German edition comes in similar packaging to the Norwegian digi-pak, but the track listing differs slightly with "Slanted Floor" in place of "Shooting Star".

Tracks: Darkspace / Send Me An Angel / We'll Never Speak Again / There Are Many Ways To Die / With You - With Me / Letter From Egypt / A Name Is A Name / Movies / Slanted Floor / Anyone / Should The Rain Fall / The One You Are

There is a German promo 6 track acetate EP which comes with a white paper sleeve with black titles. The back of the sleeve features a track list and details. The disc is a regular CD-R with black titles. The title on the CD reads "Letters From Egypt" and the spacing on the cover suggests that the "'s" was removed after printing, so it is assumed that there was a last minute slight change to the title. The disc includes the tracks: Darkspace (You're With Me) / We Will Never Speak Again / There Are Many Ways To Die / With You With Me / Movies / The One You Are.

There is also a German 12 track acetate promo album which comes with an A4 grey Universal Music International Division cardboard waller with 2 page German information sheet and photo.

The CD comes in a slim-line CD case with a German Universal copyright sticker which wraps round and seals the case. The disc is plain with black 'handwritten' printed title at the top and track listing printed in black at the bottom. The disc also includes the Universal and Polydor record labels plus the text "Not For Sale - For Promotion Only".

Israel: The German digi-pak edition (featuring Slanted Floors) was available in Israel. It has a white info sticker on the front in hebrew and a white helicon records on the back.

Malaysia: The Malaysia printed edition appears to be the same as the German edition, but has Manufactured and Printed in Malaysia printed on the disc and an address in Malaysia printed on the sleeve. (TBC that this isn't just the edition produced for Germany)

Russia: The Russian edition comes in a jewel case and has a picture obi-strip with small versions of the two cover pictures on the front and advertising on the back. The album has the same track listing as the German edition and includes "Slanted Floors".

Thailand: The Thailand made edition comes in a digi-pak with a black circular sticker with white and yellow text on the front. The back cover has a white sticker with black text. The track listing is the same as the German edition. There is also a promotional edition without any stickers, but with a hole in the middle and barcode on the back.

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