MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice

MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice is a live album by the Norwegian band a-ha, released on 6 October 2017 as part of the MTV Unplugged series. It was recorded live at the Harbour Hall at Ocean Sound Recordings in Giske, Norway, on 22 and 23 June 2017.^[2]

MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice
Live album by A-ha
Released	6 October 2017 (2017-10-06)
Recorded	22–23 June 2017
Studio	Ocean Sound Recordings, Giske, Norway
Label	Polydor We Love Music
Producer	Lars Horntveth A-ha Martin Terefe
A-ha chronology
Time and Again: The Ultimate A-ha (2016) MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice (2017) True North (2022)
Singles from MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice
"This Is Our Home" Released: 8 September 2017 "The Sun Always Shines on TV" Released: 15 September 2017 "The Living Daylights" Released: 22 September 2017 "Take On Me" Released: 29 September 2017

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number six on the UK Albums Chart with 6,982 units sold in its first week, becoming A-ha's seventh top-10 album in the United Kingdom.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are produced by Lars Horntveth, except "Take On Me" produced by A-ha and Martin Terefe.

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"This Is Our Home" (previously unreleased)	Magne Furuholmen	5:05
2.	"Lifelines"	Furuholmen	5:18
3.	"I've Been Losing You" (featuring Lissie)	Paul Waaktaar-Savoy	5:05
4.	"Analogue (All I Want)"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen, Max Martin	4:44
5.	"The Sun Always Shines on TV" (featuring Ingrid Helene Håvik)	Waaktaar-Savoy	4:28
6.	"A Break in the Clouds" (previously unreleased)	Waaktaar-Savoy	4:54
7.	"Foot of the Mountain"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen, Martin Terefe	5:27
8.	"Stay on These Roads"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen, Morten Harket	6:18
9.	"This Alone Is Love"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen	6:07
10.	"Over the Treetops"	Waaktaar-Savoy	6:43
11.	"Forever Not Yours"	Furuholmen, Harket, Ole Sverre-Olsen	4:07

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sox of the Fox"	Waaktaar-Savoy	7:18
2.	"Scoundrel Days" (featuring Ian McCulloch)	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen	4:56
3.	"The Killing Moon" (featuring Ian McCulloch)	Will Sergeant, Ian McCulloch, Les Pattinson, Pete de Freitas	5:55
4.	"Summer Moved On" (featuring Alison Moyet)	Waaktaar-Savoy	5:30
5.	"Memorial Beach"	Waaktaar-Savoy	4:32
6.	"Living a Boy's Adventure Tale"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Harket	5:36
7.	"Manhattan Skyline"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen	5:48
8.	"The Living Daylights"	Waaktaar-Savoy, John Barry	5:49
9.	"Hunting High and Low"	Waaktaar-Savoy	5:57
10.	"Take On Me"	Waaktaar-Savoy, Furuholmen, Harket	4:14

Notes

• "Sox of the Fox" was originally recorded as "The Vacant" on the 1980 album Fakkeltog^[4] by the band Bridges (previous band of Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Magne Furuholmen and for whom the former was its lead singer at the time).
• "Killing Moon" is originally from Echo & the Bunnymen's album Ocean Rain (1984).

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice.^[5]

a-ha

• Morten Harket – vocals
• Magne Furuholmen – upright piano, harpsichord, celesta, acoustic guitar, flute, backing vocals
• Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – acoustic guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Alison Moyet – vocals on "Summer Moved On"
• Ian McCulloch – vocals on "Scoundrel Days" and "The Killing Moon"
• Lissie – vocals on "I've Been Losing You"
• Ingrid Helene Håvik – vocals on "The Sun Always Shines on TV"
• Lars Horntveth – acoustic guitars, resonator, lap steel guitar, vibraphone, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone
• Morten Qvenild – upright piano, harpsichord, harmonium, dulcitone, Fischers mandolinette, autoharp, kokles
• Even Enersen Ormestad – bass
• Karl Oluf Wenneberg – drums, percussion, bells, bass xylophone
• Madeleine Ossum – violin, backing vocals
• Emilie Heldal Lidsheim – viola, backing vocals
• Tove Margrethe Erikstad – cello, backing vocals
• Lars Horntveth – arrangement on all tracks except "Take On Me"
• Martin Terefe – arrangement on "Take On Me"
• Anders Tjore – co-arrangement on "I've Been Losing You", "The Sun Always Shines on TV", "This Alone Is Love", "Summer Moved On" and "Manhattan Skyline"

Technical

• Lars Horntveth – production on all tracks except "Take On Me"
• A-ha – production on "Take On Me"
• Martin Terefe – production on "Take On Me"
• John O'Mahony – recording, mixing
• Henning Svoren – recording
• Marcus Forsgren – recording (demo sessions)
• Greg Calbi – mastering

Artwork

• Max Dax – liner notes
• Justin Loomis – photography
• Matthias Löwenstein – artwork, cover
• Season Zero – artwork, cover

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2017) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[6] 14 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[7] 93 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[8] 35 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)^[9] 99 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[10] 98 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[11] 3 Greek Albums (IFPI)^[12] 23 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[13] 14 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[14] 4 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[15] 76 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[16] 20 UK Albums (OCC)^[17] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2017) Position German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[18] 72

References

1. allmusic
2. . a-ha.com. 4 May 2017. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
3. Jones, Alan (13 October 2017). "Official Charts Analysis: Liam Gallagher debuts at No.1 with more than 100,000 album sales". Music Week. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
4. Lyrics FAKKELTOG by Bridges
5. MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice (liner notes). A-ha. Polydor Records. 2017. 00602557929508.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
6. "Austriancharts.at – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
7. "Ultratop.be – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
8. "Ultratop.be – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
9. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 41.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
10. "Dutchcharts.nl – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
11. "Offiziellecharts.de – a-ha – MTV Unplugged – Summer Solstice" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
12. . IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
13. "Norwegiancharts.com – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
15. "Spanishcharts.com – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
16. "Swisscharts.com – a-ha – MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
18. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 2017" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 29 December 2017.