Minor Earth Major Sky (stylized as Minor Earth | Major Sky) is the sixth album by Norwegian synthpop band a-ha, released on 17 July 2000 by WEA.

Background and release

Following the release of a-ha's fifth studio album, Memorial Beach (1993) the band decided to go on a hiatus. In 1998, the band was invited to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Paul Waaktaar-Savoy had written "Summer Moved On" especially for this performance. They also performed "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.". This performance was a-ha's comeback into the world of music and the band decided to return to the studio.

Almost the entire album was remixed by producer Niven Garland at the record company's insistence to make it more radio-friendly for the band's German market.

"Summer Moved On" (edit), "Minor Earth Major Sky" (remix) and "Velvet" (edit) were commercially released as singles. "I Wish I Cared" was an Internet download single, accompanied by an internet-only music video—one of the first of its kind.

A-ha (stylized as a-ha; Norwegian pronunciation: [ɑˈhɑː]) are a Norwegian band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket (vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards) and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars). The group initially rose to fame during the mid-1980s after being discovered by musician and producer John Ratcliff, and had continued global success in the 1990s and 2000s.

A-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album, Hunting High and Low, in 1985. That album peaked at number 1 in their native Norway, number 2 in the UK, and number 15 on the US Billboard album chart; yielded two international number-one singles, "Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on TV"; and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. In the UK, Hunting High and Low continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, after their fifth studio album, Memorial Beach, failed to achieve the commercial success of their previous albums, the band went on a hiatus.