Lifelines (A-ha album)

Lifelines
Studio album by A-ha
Released	2 April 2002
Recorded	June 2001 – January 2002
Genre	Pop rock, synthpop
Length	61:34
Label	WEA 0927 44849-2
Producer	Stephen Hague, Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley, Martin Landquist, Ian Caple
A-ha chronology
Minor Earth Major Sky (2000) Lifelines (2002) Analogue (2005)
Singles from Lifelines
"Forever Not Yours" Released: 2 April 2002 "Lifelines" Released: 8 July 2002 "Did Anyone Approach You?" Released: 30 September 2002

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
PopMatters	(Good) link
Groove.no	(4/7) link
MusicOMH.com	(Good) link

Lifelines is the seventh album by the Norwegian band A-ha, released in 2002. The album was a Top 10 success in nine countries, and reached number 1 in four of those, selling over 1.5 million copies worldwide .

Singles and videos

• The video for the single "Forever Not Yours" was shot in Havana, Cuba. The video was directed by Harald Zwart (who also directed the "Velvet" video) and the storyline is based on the story of Noah's Ark^[1] and today's celebrities. Look-alikes of Desmond Tutu, Madonna, and Queen Elizabeth II are included, among others.
• The video for the single "Lifelines" features segments from the 1991 short film Året gjennom Børfjord, also known as A Year Along the Abandoned Road. In the short film a camera moves through a small village in Finnmark while the seasons change.

Cover art

The cover for the album was made by Andy Frank during the shooting of Forever Not Yours video in Havana. It is an edited image of Jose Marti Parque Stadium. In the booklet there are also images of old theatre and old American car as well as other views which can be found on the streets of Havana.

Track listing

Standard version
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Lifelines"	Magne Furuholmen	Furuholmen	Martin Landquist, Stephen Hague	4:17
2.	"You Wanted More"	Furuholmen	Furuholmen, Morten Harket	Landquist, Hague	3:39
3.	"Forever Not Yours"	Harket, Ole Sverre-Olsen	Furuholmen, Harket	Hague, Landquist	4:06
4.	"There's a Reason for It"	Paul Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Ian Caple	4:21
5.	"Time & Again"	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	5:03
6.	"Did Anyone Approach You?"	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Tore Johansson	4:10
7.	"Afternoon High"	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley	4:30
8.	"Oranges on Appletrees"	Furuholmen	Furuholmen, Harket	Langer, Winstanley, Hague^[a]	4:16
9.	"A Little Bit"	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Ian Caple	4:10
10.	"Less Than Pure"	Waaktaar-Savoy	Waaktaar-Savoy	Ian Caple	4:13
11.	"Turn the Lights Down"	Furuholmen, Harket	Furuholmen, Harket	Landquist, Hague	4:14
12.	"Cannot Hide"	Harket, Sverre-Olsen	Harket, Landquist	Landquist	3:19
13.	"White Canvas"	Furuholmen	Furuholmen	Landquist	3:27
14.	"Dragonfly"	Furuholmen	Furuholmen	Langer, Winstanley	3:19
15.	"Solace"	Furuholmen	Furuholmen	Ian Caple	4:20

Russian version (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Minor Earth - Major Sky" (ATB mix)				5:47
17.	"Velvet" (De-PHAZZ mix)				3:47

Japanese version (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Differences" (original demo)				2:47
17.	"Hunting High and Low" (Live in Oslo)				7:07
18.	"Manhattan Skyline" (Live in Oslo)				6:14

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• The Russian version of the album contains an introduction spoken by Morten Harket in Russian.

Personnel

• Vocals by Morten Harket
• Keyboards by Magne Furuholmen
• Guitars by Pal Waaktaar Savoy
• Mixed by Michael Brauer, Stephen Hague and Bob Kraushaar (track 8), Stephen Hague (track 11), Carl Michael Herlofsson (track 12), Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (track 14)
• Per Lindvall: drums (tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 & 15).
• Sven Lindvall: bass (tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 13 & 14).
• Jørun Bøgeberg: bass (tracks 9 & 10).
• Anneli Drecker: backing vocals (tracks 1 & 11).
• Martin Landquist: additional instruments (1, 12 & 13)
• Beats por Attila: additional instruments (12)

Charts

Chart	Peak
Austrian Albums Chart[2]	2
Canadian Albums Chart[3]	28
Czech Albums Chart	23
Danish Albums Chart	9
Estonian Albums Chart	1
European Albums Chart	5
French Albums Chart	30
German Albums Chart[4]	1
Greek Albums Chart	9
Hungarian Albums Chart	29
Japanese Albums Chart	99
Latvian Albums Chart	1
Dutch Albums Chart	92
Norwegian Albums Chart[5]	1
Polish Albums Chart	8
Russian Albums Chart	2
Spanish Albums Chart	32
Swedish Albums Chart[6]	21
Swiss Albums Chart[7]	6
UK Albums Chart[8]	67

Certifications

Country Certification Sales/shipments Germany Gold[9] 150,000 Norway Platinum[10] 90,000 Russia 2×Platinum[11] 40,000

References

1. "Aha the netherlands website". 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
2. Austrian Album Chart Cited 26 March 2008
3. "Canadian Album Chart". RPM. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
4. German Album Chart
5. Norwegian Albums Chart, Cited 26 March 2008
6. Swedish Album Chart , Cited 26 March 2008
7. Swiss album Chart page on Start Something in various European charts, Cited 26 March 2008
8. UK Album Chart
9. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank ('Lifelines')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
10. "Norwegian certifications – lifelines" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
11. "Russian certifications – lifelines" (in Russian). National Federation of Phonogram Producers (NFPF).

External links

• Discography site entry for Lifelines at the Wayback Machine (archived May 5, 2003)
• The making of "A Year along the Abandoned Road"
• The official A-ha site