Hunting High and Low

A-Ha

℗ 1985 Warner Brothers Records 7599 25300

Anyone who dismissed a-ha as a one-hit wonder must have missed out on the band's fine debut, Hunting High and Low. Though the band spawned many further hits across the rest of the world, "Take on Me" exploded in the States and the group never cracked the top of the charts again. It's a shame, because the album contains a handful of songs that nearly match the manic energy and emotional crack of its big hit. Further, it's a cohesive album with smart pace changeups, and it rarely fails to delight or satisfy a listener's need for a synth pop fix. The opening kick is a huge one: "Take on Me" is a new wave classic laced with rushing keyboards, made emotionally resonant thanks to Morten Harket's touching vocal delicacy. It didn't hurt in the era of MTV that the song's video was a hyperkinetic blend of mind-warping animation and filmed footage with a romantic thriller's heart. Harket's hunky physique and cheekbones also didn't hurt the video's chances at heavy rotation. Getting past that video, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is just as thrilling. Starting as a sad ballad, it explodes into something much more, as chugging guitars and operatic synths keep pace with Harket's evocative vocal stylings. If ever a 1980s song qualified as Wall of Sound, "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." would be it. The remainder of the album sees a-ha switching deftly back and forth between dramatic overtures and classic new wave keyboard motifs. "Train of Thought" and "Love Is Reason" are reminiscent of early Depeche Mode or Camouflage, but Harket's rich voice and flair make them purely a-ha. The band explores decidedly European terrain in the theatrical "Hunting High and Low" and dances a pop waltz with the sweet "Living a Boy's Adventure Tale," coming across like a marriage between the Blue Nile and Alphaville. Delightful song snippets "The Blue Sky" and "And You Tell Me" act as frosting on the cake or as glue between the theater and the dancefloor. One can't escape the feeling that Hunting High and Low is a product of the 1980s, but with highs like "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," and no lows in sight, a-ha's debut is a treat worth relishing. — Tim DiGravina.

1. Take on Me (Pal Waaktaar — Mags — Morten Harket) [03:48]
2. Train of Thought (Pal Waaktaar) [04:14]
3. Hunting High and Low (Pal Waaktaar) [03:44]
4. The Blue Sky (Pal Waaktaar) [02:36]
5. Living a Boy's Adventure Tale (Pal Waaktaar — Morten Harket) [05:02]
6. The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (Pal Waaktaar) [05:08]
7. And You Tell Me (Pal Waaktaar) [01:52]
8. Love is Reason (Pal Waaktaar — Mags) [03:07]
9. I Dream Myself Alive (Pal Waaktaar) [03:10]
10. Here I Stand and Face the Rain (Pal Waaktaar) [04:30]

Участие в альбоме:

Magne Furuholmen: keyboards, vocals
Morten Harket: lead vocals
Paul Waaktaar-Savoy: guitar, vocals, keyboards, drums
John Ratcliff: keyboards, vocals

Тексты и видео:

Take on Me

(Pal Waaktaar — Mags — Morten Harket)

We're talking away
I don't know what
I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you
Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, OK?

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But that's me stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.
Say after me
It's no better to be safe than sorry

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Oh the things that you say
Is it live or
Just to play my worries away
You're all the things I've got to remember
You're shying away
I'll be coming for you anyway

Take on me, take me on
I'll be gone
In a day or two

Train of Thought

(Pal Waaktaar)

He likes to have the morning paper's
Crossword solved
Words go up words come down
Forwards backwards twisted round
He grabs a pile of letters from a small suitcase
Disappears into an office
It's another working day

And his thoughts are full of strangers
Corridors of naked lights
And his mind once full of reason
Now there's more than meets the eye
Oh, a stranger's face he carries with him

He likes a bit of reading on the subway home
A distant radio whistling tunes that nobody knows
At home a house awaits him, He unlocks the door
Thinking once there was a sea here
But there never was a door

And his thoughts are full of strangers
And his eyes to numb to see
And nothing that he knows of
And nowhere where he's been
Was ever quite like this
And his thoughts…

And at heart
He's full of strangers
Dodging on his train of thought
Train of thought