Saturday, April 20, 2002

NME – Greatest Artists of All Time

image from kingloaf.com

New Musical Express, or NME, is a British music magazine. In April 2002, they featured a list of those artists which they said had the biggest impact over the magazine’s first 50 years.

  1. The Smiths
  2. The Beatles
  3. The Stone Roses
  4. David Bowie
  5. The Sex Pistols
  6. Oasis
  7. Radiohead
  8. Paul Weller
  9. U2
  10. Public Enemy

  11. Bez and Shaun Ryder (of Happy Mondays)
  12. The Clash
  13. Nirvana
  14. Elvis Presley
  15. Joy Division
  16. Blur
  17. The Strokes
  18. The Rolling Stones
  19. The Verve
  20. Bob Marley

  21. The Fall
  22. Prodigy
  23. Lou Reed/Velvet Underground
  24. R.E.M.
  25. Frankie Goes to Hollywood
  26. Dexy’s Midnight Runners
  27. Beastie Boys
  28. T-Rex
  29. The Jesus and Mary Chain
  30. The Specials

  31. Manic Street Preachers
  32. Roxy Music
  33. The Pixies
  34. Iggy Pop
  35. Shane MacGowan (of The Pogues)
  36. Primal Scream
  37. Frank Sinatra
  38. Bob Dylan
  39. Blondie
  40. Eminem

  41. Boy George
  42. Madonna
  43. Marvin Gaye
  44. Pulp
  45. Michael Jackson
  46. The Charlatans
  47. Echo & the Bunnymen
  48. The KLF
  49. Neil Young
  50. PJ Harvey

Resources:

Tuesday, April 2, 2002

Aha released Lifelines

Lifelines

A-ha


Released: April 2, 2002


Peak: -- US, 67 UK, -- CN, -- AU


Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK)


Genre: synth pop


Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. Lifelines (7/8/02, 78 UK)
  2. You Wanted More
  3. Forever Not Yours (4/2/02, --)
  4. There’s a Reason for It
  5. Time & Again
  6. Did Anyone Approach You? (9/30/02, --)
  7. Afternoon High
  8. Oranges on Appletrees
  9. A Little Bit
  10. Less Than Pure
  11. Turn the Lights Down
  12. Cannot Hide
  13. White Canvas
  14. Dragonfly
  15. Solace


Total Running Time: 61:34


The Players:

  • Morten Harket (vocals, guitar)
  • Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitar, bass)
  • Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars, drums, percussion)

Rating:

3.333 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)


Quotable: “Their most varied, versatile and multicolored album.” – Amazon


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

Synth-pop trio A-ha first emerged with the international hit “Take on Me” in 1985. They released five studio albums over the next decade before taking a seven-year hiatus. “Time had moved on, things had grown: Magne Furuholmen was working with visual arts as well as music, Pål Waaktaar-Savoy’s Band Savoy had released their fourth album Reasons to Stay Indoors (2001), and Morten Harket had developed a successful solo career and had become a songwriter on his own.” AZ

A-ha wasn’t done yet, though. They returned with Minor Earth, Major Sky in 2000 and followed up with Lifelines two years later. It was “a difference from their last effort yet undeniably a-ha.” AMG The album “proved they were back and brilliant as ever, if not even better.” AZ

“For Lifelines each band member contributed his personal compositions to the album, which finally was produced by six different producers including Stephen Hague, Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley and Martin Landquist. Anneli Drecker gave her beautiful voice to some of the songs. As their most varied, versatile and multicolored album, Lifelines gained international critical respect and went number 1 in Germany.” AZ

“The album begins with a lush ballad -- which is typical a-ha, pastoral with support orchestration – almost like a modern day Moody Blues. You Wanted More also follows this trait, only darker with spiky electronics.” AMG

Afternoon High sketches out ‘70s pastel glory similar to what Tears for Fears were getting at with parts of the Seeds of Love album.” AMG

There are shades of Minor Earth Major Sky in that they keep the sugary neigh pleasant ballads vein to full emotional effect on Turn the Lights Down, Time and AgainCannot Hide opts for a Jennifer Paige ‘Crush’ vibe with George Harrison-style guitar.” AMG

Forever Not Yours served as the lead single from the album and became the band’s eighth chart-topper in Norway. The song’s “pleasant dramatism echoes Darren Hayes’ recent ‘Insatiable.’” AMG


Notes: A deluxe edition included alternate mixes of “Did Anyone Approach You” and “Time & Again.” A 2019 deluxe edition added a second disc of demos.

Resources and Related Links:


Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 9/9/2020; updated 8/9/2021.