East of the Sun, West of the Moon

For other uses, see East of the Sun and West of the Moon (disambiguation).

East of the Sun, West of the Moon is the fourth studio album by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 27 October 1990 by Warner Bros. Records. Named after a Norwegian fairy tale, the album was something of a departure from the band's earlier radio-friendly sound to a darker, moodier tone. It peaked at number one in the band's native Norway and reached top 20 in various European countries and Japan. It was co-produced by Ian Stanley, formerly of the band Tears for Fears.

East of the Sun, West of the Moon
Studio album by A-ha
Released	27 October 1990 (1990-10-27)[1]
Recorded	1989–1990
Genre	Pop rock
Length	45:48
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Christopher Neil Ian Stanley
A-ha chronology
Stay on These Roads (1988) East of the Sun, West of the Moon (1990) Memorial Beach (1993)
Singles from East of the Sun, West of the Moon
"Crying in the Rain" Released: 1 October 1990 "I Call Your Name" Released: 3 December 1990 "Early Morning" Released: 25 February 1991

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	D+[4]
Melody Maker	(favorable)[5]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Smash Hits

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "symphonic piano grandeur and alternating blues/metal/flamenco/funk additives collapse beneath the bloated synthesizer slush."^[4]

AllMusic wrote: "This is a nicely crafted collection of songs, performed and sung beautifully, with lots of echoes and suggestions tucked into the music. While not an album one can discuss at length, it's an album that's a pleasure to listen to and one that deserves a better reception than the one, unfortunately, that it seems to have gotten."^[2]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
1.	"Crying in the Rain"	Howard Greenfield, Carole King	Chris Neil	4:25
2.	"Early Morning"	Pål Waaktaar, Magne Furuholmen	Ian Stanley	2:59
3.	"I Call Your Name"	P. Waaktaar, Furuholmen	Neil	4:54
4.	"Slender Frame"	P. Waaktaar, Furuholmen	Neil	3:42
5.	"East of the Sun"	P. Waaktaar	Stanley	4:47

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer	Length
6.	"Sycamore Leaves"	P. Waaktaar	Neil	5:22
7.	"Waiting for Her"	P. Waaktaar, Furuholmen	Stanley	4:49
8.	"Cold River"	P. Waaktaar, Lauren Savoy	Neil	4:40
9.	"The Way We Talk"	Furuholmen	Stanley	1:30
10.	"Rolling Thunder"	P. Waaktaar, Furuholmen	Neil	5:43
11.	"(Seemingly) Nonstop July"	P. Waaktaar	Stanley	2:55

• "The Way We Talk" features Magne Furuholmen on lead vocals.

2015 deluxe edition

Disc two

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Early Morning" (early version)
2.	"East of the Sun" (early version)
3.	"I Call Your Name" (instrumental demo)
4.	"Slender Frame" (demo)
5.	"Waiting for Her" (demo)
6.	"Cold River" (demo)
7.	"Trees Will Not Grow on the Sand" (demo)
8.	"Rolling Thunder" (demo)
9.	"I Call Your Name" (NRK live)
10.	"Manhattan Skyline" (NRK live)
11.	"Early Morning" (NRK live)
12.	"Slender Frame" (NRK live)
13.	"Rolling Thunder" (NRK live)
14.	"Sycamore Leaves" (NRK live)
15.	"Crying in the Rain" (NRK live)
16.	"East of the Sun" (NRK live)
17.	"(Seemingly) Nonstop July" (NRK live)
18.	"I've Been Losing You" (NRK live)

DVD: Live in South America

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Sun Always Shines on T.V."
2.	"Cry Wolf"
3.	"I Call Your Name"
4.	"Slender Frame"
5.	"Touchy!"
6.	"Scoundrel Days"
7.	"Rolling Thunder"
8.	"I've Been Losing You"
9.	"Early Morning"
10.	"Take On Me"
11.	"Credits"

Personnel

A-ha

• Morten Harket – lead vocals, backing vocals
• Magne Furuholmen – keyboards, backing vocals, string arrangements (5), second vocals (8, 10), lead vocals (9), harmonica (10)
• Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – guitars, backing vocals, second vocals (4), bass guitar (6, 7, 8), acoustic piano (11)

Additional musicians

• Jørun Bøgeberg – bass guitar (1–5, 9, 10, 11)
• Per Hillestad – drums (1–6, 8–11)
• Chris Hughes – drums (7)
• Martin Ditcham – tambourine (3, 4), percussion (10)
• Phil Todd – saxophone (3)
• David Bedford – string arrangements (7)

Production

• Christopher Neil – producer (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10)
• Ian Stanley – producer (2, 5, 7, 9, 11)
• Nick Davis – recording, mixing
• Haydn Bendall – additional engineer (5, 7)
• Steve "Barney" Chase – additional engineer (5, 7)
• Kim Champagne – art direction
• Jeri Heiden – art direction
• REY International – design
• Just Loomis – cover photography
• Lauren Savoy – inner sleeve photography

Charts

Weekly charts 1990–1991 weekly chart performance for East of the Sun, West of the Moon Chart (1990–1991) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 122 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 23 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 37 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[11] 20 European Albums (Music & Media)[12] 13 French Albums (IFOP)[13] 15 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 6 Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[15] 5 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[16] 20 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[17] 1 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 35 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 16 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 12 2020 weekly chart performance for East of the Sun, West of the Moon Chart (2020) Peak position Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[21] 15

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for East of the Sun, West of the Moon Chart (1991) Position European Albums (Music & Media)[22] 99 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 57

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for East of the Sun, West of the Moon

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[24]	Gold	100,000*
France (SNEP)[25]	Gold	100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[26]	Gold	250,000^
Norway	—	125,000[27]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[28]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[1]	Silver	60,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "British album certifications – A Ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon". British Phonographic Industry. 9 November 1990. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
2. AllMusic review
3. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
4. "East of the Sun, West of the Moon". EW.com.
5. Lester, Paul (1 December 1990). "Albums". Melody Maker. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
6. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1.
7. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 9.
8. "Response from ARIA re: a-ha ARIA chart history, received 22 December 2017". Retrieved 9 December 2020 – via Imgur.
9. "Austriancharts.at – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
10. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1467". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
12. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 46. 17 November 1990. p. VIII. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
13. "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Retrieved 7 February 2019. Select "A-HA" from the drop-down menu and click "OK".
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
15. "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). 9 November 1990. p. 33. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
16. ａ〜ｈａのアルバム売り上げランキング [a-ha album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
17. "Norwegiancharts.com – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
19. "Swisscharts.com – a-ha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
21. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2020. 42. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
22. "European Top 100 Albums – 1991" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 51/52. 21 December 1991. p. 24. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
23. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1991" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
24. "Brazilian album certifications – A-ha – East of the Sun" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
25. "French album certifications – Aha – East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 4 December 1990. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
26. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (A-ha; 'East of the Sun')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
27. "Scandinavia" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 5. 30 January 1993. p. 30. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
28. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('East of the Sun, West of the Moon')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 February 2019.