..:: audio-music dot info ::..


Main Page     The Desert Island     Copyright Notice
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz


a-ha: Hunting High and Low

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: WEA Records
Released: 1985.06.02
Time:
 34:19
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.a-ha.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2008.08.29
Price in €: 5,01



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Take on Me (Furuholmen/Harket/Waaktaar) - 3:48
[2] Train of Thought (Waaktaar) - 4:14
[3] Hunting High and Low (Waaktaar) - 3:45
[4] The Blue Sky (Waaktaar) - 2:36
[5] Living a Boy's Adventure Tale (Harket/Waaktaar) - 5:02
[6] The Sun Always Shines on T.V. (Waaktaar) - 5:08
[7] And You Tell Me (Waaktaar) - 1:52
[8] Love Is Reason (Furuholmen/Waaktaar) - 3:07
[9] I Dream Myself Alive (Furuholmen/Waaktaar) - 3:10
[10] Here I Stand and Face the Rain (Waaktaar) - 4:30

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Magne 'Mags' Furuholmen - Keyboards, Vocals, Remixing, Producer on [8]
Morten Harket - Vocals, Remixing, Producer on [8]
Pål Waaktaar - Guitar, Vocals, Remixing, Producer on [8]

Tony Mansfield - Producer on [1]-[5],[7],[9]-[10]
John Ratcliff - Producer on [8], Remixing
Alan Tarney - Producer on [6]
Neill King - Engineer
Bobby Hata - Mastering
Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff - Art Direction, Design
Jeri McManus - Art Direction, Design, Cover Design
Just Loomis - Photography
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

1985 CD Warner Bros. 2-25300
1985 CS Warner Bros. 4-25300
1985 LP Warner Bros. 9253001
1985 CS WB 7599253004
2007 CD WEA/Rhino


The first album by the Norwegian trio of singer Morten Harket, songwriter Pal Waaktaar and keyboardist Mags will forever be known as the album that contains the intoxicating "TakeOn Me", one of the most famous and enduring "one-hit wonders" of the '80s. However, HUNTING HIGH AND LOW actually contains a second US Top 40 hit, "The Sun Always Shines On TV". In addition, even after those songs ceased to receive airplay, A-Ha continued a long and successful career in Europe and elsewhere. Besides the two singles, the album contains the haunting title track, "Living A Boy's Adventure Tale", which comes across as a keyboard-heavy Scandinavian version of early U2, and the quirky "The Blue Sky", an arresting showcase for Harket's piercing falsetto. HUNTING HIGH AND LOW shows that there's much more to A-Ha than their memory in commonpop history suggests.



Hunting High & Low, A-ha's first and biggest selling album, contains four UK top ten hits, including "Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines On TV", their only number one hit, which sold 500,000 copies in the UK alone. Arguably the last in a generation of instrument playing and songwriting teen bands, A-ha - like Wham! and Duran Duran - were always far better than they were given credit for, although their lack of enduring crossover success has meant that, unlike, say, George Michael, there has been no widespread re-appraisal of their work. This is unfortunate, because Hunting High & Low is a great album: most definitely not four singles and a bunch of fillers. "Here I Stand And Face The Rain" and "And You Tell Me" in particular are at least as good as the hits. If you liked the singles but had never investigated any further, Hunting High & Low - like the rest of the band's back catalogue - is an undiscovered and underrated gem.

Ronita Dutta - Amazon.co.uk



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 - All Music Guide



Tony Mansfield produced all but three of the tracks on the debut album for A-Ha, a new Norwegian trio. But that doesn't matter-as long as we are assured that all subsequent A-Ha videos are directed and scripted by the same team responsible for the brilliant video adaptation for "Take On Me." Clever intermingling of real and animated images brings the pretty single to life. Musically, A-Ha sticks to the same basic formula that Mansfield has successfully employed for both New Musik and Naked Eyes; i.e. insistent electronic dance rhythms with lightweight synth pop melodies. Top cuts: "Take On Me," "Train Of Thought," "Love Is Reason" and "Dream Myself Alive."

© 2000 CMJ Network, Inc.
 

 L y r i c s


Take On Me

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

So needless to say
I'm odds and ends
But I'll Be
Stumbling away
Slowly learning that life is OK.

Say after me:
"It's no better to be safe than sorry."

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

Oh, the things that you say
Is it life 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 on me)
Take me on (take on me)
I'll be gone
In a day...
(Take on me, take on me)
(Take me on, take on me)
I'll be gone (take on me)
In a day... (take me on)
Take on me (take on me)
Take on me (take me on)
Take on me (fades)


Train Of Thought

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


Hunting High And Low

Here I am
And within the reach of my hands
She's sound asleep and she's sweeter now
Than thewildest dream could have seen her
And I watch her slipping away
Though I know I'll be hunting high and low
High
There's no end to the the lengths I'll go to
Hunting high and low
High
There's no end to the the lengths I'll go to
To find her again
Upon this my dreams are depending
Through the dark
I sense the pounding of her heart
Next to mine
She's the sweetest love I could find
So I guess I'll be hunting high and low
High
There's no end to the lengths I'll go to
High and low
High
Do you know what it means to love you
I'm hunting high and low
And now she's telling me she's got to go away
I'll always be hunting high and low
Hungry for you
Watch me tearing myself to pieces
Hunting high and low
High
There's no end to the lengths I'll go to
Oh! For you I'll be hunting high and low


Blue Sky

I find it hard to breathe
As life just eats away
At the faces that surround me
They look tired today

The lady at my table
Doesn't want me here
I just want to talk to her

But would she laugh at my accent
And make fun of me
It doesn't seem like this
Blue sky's here for me

There are no girls in here
As far as I can see
Only pin-up posters
Looking down at me

Watching papercups of coffee
Growing cold before my eyes
All the things I see
That make me realize

I'm in this big world without you
Nothing to my name
I never knew that
Blue sky meant such pain

I'm dying to be different
In the coffee shop
I've lived on borrowed strength
Now my supplies are cut

Though i'm older than my looks
And older than my years
I'm too young to take on
My deepest fears

Oh, I used to be confused
But now I just don't know
Since you left I've been watching
Blue skies come and go


Living A Boy's Adventure Tale

I've fixed my dwelling for the night
Lights in pairs come passing by
where I hide

I need some time now on my own
Leave my loneliness alone
To lick my wounds

Night has found me just in time
to help me close my eyes
one more time

Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways
Living a boy's adventure tale
For so many days
I'm living a boy's adventure tale
Can't escape, if I wanted to
Living a boy's adventure tale
I may be dreaming but I feel awake

I've been lost in so many places
Seeked love in so many faces

A change of weather,
the rain pours down
My head in hands,
pressed to the ground

And where am I supposed to go now

Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways
Living a boy's adventure tale (aah)
Living a boy's adventure tale
a voice I hear
Living a boy's adventure tale
Singing a lullaby for me

Living a boy's adventure tale
Because of you
Living a boy's adventure
Oh you know it's true
Living a boy's adventure tale
In so many ways (aah)
For so many days
I love you. I love you
So many ways


The Sun Always Shines On T.V.

Touch me
How can it be
Believe me
The sun always shines on T.V.

Hold me
Close to your heart
Touch me
And give all your love to me
to me...

I Reached inside myself
And found nothing there
To ease the pressure off
My ever worried mind

All my powers waste away
I fear the crazed and lonely looks
The mirror's sending me
These Days

Touch me
How can it be
Believe me
The sun always shines on T.V.

Hold me
Close to your heart
Touch me
And give all your love to me

Please don't ask me to defend
The shamefull lowlands
Of the way I'm drifting
Gloomily through time
(Touch me)

I reached inside myself today
(Give all your love)
Thinking there's got to be some way
To keep my troubles distant

Hold me
Close to your heart
Touch me
And give all your love to me


And You Tell Me

Please don't hurt me
I have told you
All my love is all i've got
And tomorrow is the day
When I for your sake
I'm coming back

And you tell me
That i don't love you

Trying hard to make you jealous
Trying harder to make you stay
Days are longer
Night are crazy
It's so strange when you're away

And you tell me
That i don't love you

Because I love you
I will show you
All the faces my love can hide
Please
Let me come to you
And stay this time

And you tell me
That i don't love you
Oh you know
That it's just not true


Love Is Reason

My breath was coming fast
And as i make a start
You turn to go
oh, oh

I'll do what you want me to
I'll cry at the thought of the loss of a heart
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason enough

My morals are changing fast
I told you it wouldn't last
You turn and go
oh, oh

I'll be what you want me to be
I'd die at the thought of the loss of your heart
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason
Love is reason enough


I Dream Myself Alive

Dream myself alive
I dream myself alive

But you can't deny
There's something dark
Against the light
All i can say
It doesn't have to be this way

We'll be chasing our tails madly
See days pass like wildfire
Right from the start
I knew this world would break my heart

I dream myself alive
Dream myself alive
I dream myself alive
Break my heart
And dream myself alive

What can it mean
I'm drawing pictures of the sea
Right from the start
I knew this girl would break my heart

Dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
Dream my self alive
I dream my self alive


Here I Stand And Face The Rain

Help me
I need your love
Don't walk away
The dark scares me so

We're nothing apart
Let's stay friends forever
forever

Here i stand and face the rain
I know that nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Trust me
For whom i am
Place all your faith
Into these hands

I got nothing to say
But let's stay friends forever
forever

Here i stand and face the rain
I know that nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Here i stand and face the pain
Of knowing nothing's gonna be the same again
I fear for what tomorrow brings

Here i stand and face the rain
Knowing nothing's gonna be the same
again
Ahhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa
Ahhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


Currently no Samples available!