a-ha [2005] Analogue

[01] Celice
[02] Don't Do Me Any Favours
[03] Cosy Prisons
[04] Analogue
[05] Birthright
[06] Holy Ground
[07] Over The Treetops
[08] Halfway Through The Tour
[09] A Fine Blue Line
[10] Keeper Of The Flame
[11] Make It Soon
[12] White Dwarf
[13] The Summers Of Our Youth



amg: The Norwegian band a-ha had never really been away, so the 2006 album Analogue was hardly a comeback but a continuation of their 20-plus years of hitmaking. If anything, it was a return to form after the disappointing Lifelines album. The opening track, "Celice," was released in Europe only and featured Morten Harket's trademark falsetto vocals over a beat driven song. Pål Waaktaar's fuzzy guitar dominates "Make It Soon" but Analogue is mainly a very laid-back album, only a few of its 13 tracks are up-tempo in the style of their classic era "Take on Me," and most of the tracks are piano led, melancholy ballads including "Cozy Prisons," "Birthright," "A Fine Blue Line," and "The Summers of Your Youth." Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young lends his backing vocals to the tracks "Cozy Prisons" and "Over the Teardrops" and makes the harmonies on the latter song sound almost like one of CSN&Y's own. Halfway through the album comes the track "Halfway Through the Tour," a synth-beat number over seven minutes long. It's a strange song which appears to finish at the standard three-minute mark but then continues for a further four minutes as a flute instrumental with echoes of "Nights in White Satin." The first single to be released in the U.K., "Analogue (All I Want)" became their first Top Ten single since 1988's "Stay on These Roads".
(amg 5/10)

a-ha [1985] Hunting High And Low

[01] Take On Me
[02] Train Of Thought
[03] Hunting High And Low
[04] The Blue Sky
[05] Living A Boy's Adventure Tale
[06] The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
[07] And You Tell Me
[08] Love Is Reason
[09] I Dream Myself Alive
[10] Here I Stand And Face The Rain



amg: 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.
(amg 8/10)