Stay on These Roads
Stay on These Roads is the third studio album by Norwegian band A-ha, released on 3 May 1988 by Warner Bros. Records. Six singles were released from the album.
Stay on These Roads | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 3 May 1988 | |||
Recorded | 1987–1988 | |||
Studio | RG Jones (Wimbledon, London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:36 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Producer | Alan Tarney | |||
A-ha chronology | ||||
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Singles from Stay on These Roads | ||||
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Recording
A Synclavier, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Yamaha DX-7, Roland D-50, and Roland Juno-60 or Roland Juno-106 synthesizers were used in the recording of this album, as was a Yamaha RX-5 drum machine.
Release and reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Number One | [3] |
Q | [4] |
Record Mirror | [5] |
The album peaked at number 148 on the US Billboard 200. It was another big hit by A-ha internationally, selling over 4 million copies worldwide. Stay on These Roads achieved Platinum status in Brazil and Gold in the UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany and Double Platinum status in France. It reached number two in the European top-100 albums sales chart.
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said "in the U.K., the album became the group's third straight to peak at number two, though it charted for a shorter period than the first two albums, and there were four Top 25 hits—the title track, 'The Blood That Moves the Body,' 'Touchy!,' and 'You Are the One'." Also included was a re-recording of A-ha's 1987 theme from the James Bond movie The Living Daylights, which, in its single version, was a U.K. number five that missed the U.S. charts.
Lead single "Stay on These Roads", number one in Norway, was a hit across Europe, including top-five showings in the UK, France, Austria and Ireland and top-ten chartings in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Stay on These Roads includes three more hit singles, "The Blood That Moves The Body", "Touchy!" and "You Are the One", though a final single, "There's Never a Forever Thing", was released only in Brazil.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy; music composers listed below.
- Side one
- "Stay on These Roads" – 4:45 (Furuholmen, Harket, Waaktaar)
- "The Blood That Moves the Body" – 4:06 (Waaktaar)
- "Touchy!" – 4:34 (Furuholmen, Harket, Waaktaar)
- "This Alone Is Love" – 5:15 (Furuholmen, Waaktaar)
- "Hurry Home" – 4:37 (Furuholmen, Waaktaar)
- Side two
- "The Living Daylights" – 4:47 (Barry, Waaktaar)
- "There's Never a Forever Thing" – 2:53 (Waaktaar)
- "Out of Blue Comes Green" – 6:42 (Waaktaar)
- "You Are the One" – 3:51 (Furuholmen, Waaktaar)
- "You'll End up Crying" – 2:06 (Waaktaar)
2015 Deluxe edition
- Disc 1
- "Stay on These Roads" (2015 Remastered)
- "The Blood That Moves the Body" (2015 Remastered)
- "Touchy!" (2015 Remastered)
- "This Alone Is Love" (2015 Remastered)
- "Hurry Home" (2015 Remastered)
- "The Living Daylights" (2015 Remastered)
- "There's Never a Forever Thing" (2015 Remastered)
- "Out of Blue Comes Green" (2015 Remastered)
- "You Are the One" (2015 Remastered)
- "You'll End up Crying" (2015 Remastered)
- "Stay on These Roads" (Extended Remix)
- "You Are the One" (12" Remix)
- "The Living Daylights (Extended Version)
- "The Blood That Moves the Body" (Extended Remix)
- "Touchy!" (Go-Go Mix)
- Disc 2 - Demos & Alternate Versions[6]
- "Stay on These Roads" (Early Version)
- "The Blood That Moves the Body" (Demo)
- "Touchy!" (Original Mix)
- "This Alone Is Love" (Demo)
- "You Are the One" (Early Version)
- "Cold River" (1987 Demo)
- "Hurry Home" (Demo)
- "I'll Never Find Streetful City" (Demo)
- "The Living Daylights" (Demo)
- "There's Never a Forever Thing" (Demo)
- "Out of Blue Comes Green" (Alternate Mix)
- "You'll End up Crying" (Demo)
- "You Are the One" (Alternate Version)
- "Touchy!" (Demo)
- "Umbrella" (Rendezvous Demo)
- "Thus Ended Our Love Affair" (Demo)
- "There's Never a Forever Thing" (Acoustic Version)
- "Evitar" (Demo)
- "You Are the One" (Demo)
- "Sail On My Love" (Writing Session)
Personnel
A-ha
- Morten Harket – lead and backing vocals
- Magne Furuholmen – keyboards, bass and drum programming, backing vocals
- Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – guitars, strings, bass and drum programming, backing vocals
- Contributions to the recording of the album: Steve Sidwell, Ben Robbins, Anne Dudley, Randy Hope-Taylor, Øystein Jevanord, Kick Horns.
Production and Technical
- Alan Tarney – producer
- Gerry Kitchingham – recording engineer
- John Hudson – mixing
- Jeri Heiden – art direction
- Just Loomis – band photography
- Stuart Watson – "still life" photography
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
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Certifications and sales
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[28] | Platinum | 470,000[29] |
France (SNEP)[30] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Germany (BVMI)[31] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Netherlands (NVPI)[32] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Norway | — | 85,000[33] |
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[34] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[35] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[36] | Gold | 100,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
References
- Allmusic Review
- Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
- "Review: A-ha — Stay on These Roads (Warners)". Number One. No. 287. London: IPC Magazines Ltd. 14 December 1988. p. 36.
- Q Review
- O'Toole, Lesley (7 May 1988). "33 - Album Reviews". Record Mirror. p. 31. ISSN 0144-5804.
- Stay On These Roads (Deluxe Edition) por a-ha (in Brazilian Portuguese), retrieved 8 June 2021
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 13. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- "Austriancharts.at – a-ha – Stay on These Roads" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8699". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – a-ha – Stay on These Roads" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Eurochart Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 21. 21 May 1988. p. 24. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
- Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Retrieved 19 January 2019. Select "A-HA" from the drop-down menu and click "OK".
- "Offiziellecharts.de – a-ha – Stay on These Roads" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). 19 August 1988. p. 44. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
- "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 24. 11 June 1988. p. 77. ISSN 0006-2510 – via World Radio History.
- "Charts.nz – a-ha – Stay on These Roads". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Norwegiancharts.com – a-ha – Stay on These Roads". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
- "Swedishcharts.com – a-ha – Stay on These Roads". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Swisscharts.com – a-ha – Stay on These Roads". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- "a-ha Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "1988 Year End Eurocharts – Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 51/52. 1 January 1989. p. 30. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
- "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1988" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- Book : Top 50, Top D'Or 89, Filipacchi éditeur, janvier 1989, page 81.
- "Brazilian album certifications – A-ha – Stay on These Roads" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
- de Almeida, Carlos Heli; Lima, Eduardo Souza (27 February 1989). "Na Praça da Apoteose". Tribuna da Imprensa (in Portuguese). No. 12150 – via National Library of Brazil.
- "French album certifications – Aha – Stay on These Roads" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (A-ha; 'Stay on These Roads')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "Dutch album certifications – A-ha – Stay on These Roads" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 7 February 2019. Enter Stay on These Roads in the "Artiest of titel" box.
- "I en egen klasse" [In a separate class]. Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 5 December 1998. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 924. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
- "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (A-ha; 'Stay on These Roads')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- "British album certifications – A-ha – Stay on These Roads". British Phonographic Industry. 5 May 1988. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
External links
- Lyrics
- Tour of 1988-1989, in German