''Wild Seed'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

and first English-language album by

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

pop singer

Morten Harket Morten Harket () (born September 14, 1959) is a Norwegian vocalist and songwriter, who is the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha. A-ha has released 10 studio albums to date, and topped the charts internationally after their breakthrough ...

. The album was released on 4 September 1995 through

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. After

a-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

went on a hiatus in 1994, Harket began recording ''Wild Seed'' with British record producer

Christopher Neil Christopher Neil (born 1948) is an Irish-born British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. He has produced records for A-ha, Amazulu, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Cher, Dollar, Edyta Górniak, Gerry Rafferty, Jennifer Rush, José C ...

, who previously worked with the band on their fourth studio album, ''

East of the Sun, West of the Moon ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon'' is the fourth studio album by Norwegian new wave 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 e ...

'' (1990). ''Wild Seed'' charted at number one in Norway and at number 89 in the United Kingdom. It has since sold 160.000 copies in Norway.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Caroline Sullivan of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' commented, "The A-ha frontman's solo debut reveals that, all this time, a poet's soul dwelt beneath that camera-pleasing exterior. Harket's brooding balladry calls to mind

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

and his sultry like, with a touch of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

in his low voice on 'Brodsky Tune'. If he's not as gifted a lyricist, he's got a lovely grasp of the rhythm of language." Myles Palmer of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' praised ''Wild Seed'' as an "excellent solo debut" on which producer

"frames Harket's appealing voice between chunky drums and spacey synthesisers, uses the guitar cleverly, and proves that good production is all about what you leave out". Ryan Gilbey of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' was negative in his review, writing, "If A-ha was his

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

then ''Wild Seed'' is his ''

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 ''Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1'' is the second solo studio album by the English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 3 September 1990 by Columbia Records (Epic Records in the UK). The album was Michael's final album of all-new materi ...

'', a collection of aching ballads which cover everything from tortured love to painful longing. Not a lot of ground. Even less when sung over music which belongs in a lift, despite the majesty of Harket's voice."

Track listing

*"Brodsky Tune" lyrics from the poem "Bosnia Tune" by

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

, chorus by Morten Harket. *"Lay Me Down Tonight", "Tell Me What You See" and "Stay" are based on a Norwegian poem by Håvard Rem.

References

1995 albums Morten Harket albums Albums produced by Christopher Neil {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub