Here We Go Then, You and I

Here We Go Then, You And I
Studio album by
Morten Abel
Released11 October 1999
GenrePop
LabelVirgin
ProducerSteve Lovell and Morten Abel
Morten Abel chronology
Snowboy
(1997) 		Here We Go Then, You And I
(1999) 		I'll Come Back And Love You Forever
(2001)

Here We Go Then, You And I is a 1999 album by Norwegian pop artist Morten Abel. It was Abel's second CD as a solo artist. The album went straight to number one on the Norwegian album chart, and sold to double platinum. Among the singles released from the album were the songs "Be My Lover" and "Hard To Stay Awake".

Production

Here We Go Then, You And I followed Abel's 1997 début album Snowboy, which he released after splitting up with his former band The September When. This first solo album was a relative disappointment after the success Abel had enjoyed with The September When.[1] The album was recorded in England, in Lincolnshire, Brighton and London during the winter of 1998. Abel co-produced the album with Steve Lovell while the mixing was done by Lovell and Pete Jones. Later, two tracks were added in Stavanger, Norway.[2] The title of the album is from T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, and appears as a line in the song "Be My Lover".[3]

Reception

The album was generally well received by reviewers; it received six out of six points from Anders Grønneberg in the newspaper Dagbladet. Grønneberg described the CD as one of his best musical experiences so far that year. He called the album Abel's best so far, including the work he had done previously with the band The September When. Grønneberg mentioned musical references such as 1970s disco, David Bowie and Van Morrison, while Abel managed to maintain his musical individuality.[4] Espen A. Hansen, writing for Verdens Gang, was less impressed. Hansen found that Abel had made an album of generally decent quality, but was too afraid to take chances and try new things.[5]

Here We Go Then, You And I went straight to number one on the official Norwegian album chart, where it stayed for four weeks. All together it remained in the Top 40 for 56 weeks – until 2001 – longer than any other of Abel's albums.[6] It sold 147.000 records in Norway, earning double platinum status.[2][7] Abel won the Norwegian Hit Award for best male artist in 2000.[8] The album did not receive the Norwegian music award Spellemannprisen for best pop album that year, a decision that surprised many.[9] It has been said that it was this album that confirmed Abel's position as Norway's "king of pop".[1][10]

Track listing

  1. Hard to Stay Awake – 04:02
  2. Tulipz – 03:59
  3. Don't Forget to Dance – 03:40
  4. Be My Lover – 04:58
  5. The Man with No Shadow – 05:14
  6. Doberman – 04:22
  7. Let the Good Times Roll – 04:43
  8. The Whistler – 04:51
  9. Dad's Girl – 02:46
  10. I Always Thought the World Was Made for Me – 05:32
  11. Tulipz (remix) – 06:45

Personnel

Abel played the guitar and bass on all tracks except "Don't Forget To Dance" and "Be My Lover". There were also various other musicians involved in the recording.[2]

  • Morten Abel – Vocals, various instruments
  • Børge Fjordheim – Percussion
  • Allan Skurtveit – Keyboard
  • Inge Helland – Guitar
  • Kjetil Netteland – Bass

Singles

  1. Tulipz – (August 1999)
  2. Doberman – (November 1999)
  3. Be My Lover – (January 2000)
  4. Hard to Stay Awake – (June 2000)

References

  1. ^ a b Nordal, Paul A. (2 December 2004). "Popkongen oppsummerer" (in Norwegian). Panorama.no. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  2. ^ a b c "Here We Go Then, You And I". Everything Goes For Believers. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  3. ^ The original line is "Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky".
  4. ^ Grønneberg, Anders (9 October 1999). "Med abelsk autoritet" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  5. ^ Hansen, Espen A. (13 October 1999). "Tegn på slitasje fra Abel" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  6. ^ "Here We Go Then, You And I" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  7. ^ Arnesen, Merete (13 December 2006). "Treg start for Abel" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 19 December 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  8. ^ "Morten Abel" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  9. ^ Ose, Bård (11 February 2002). "Morten Abel" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Morten Abel: "Some Of Us Will Make It"" (in Norwegian). Firdaposten. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.