A-HA - STAY ON THESE ROADS

In 1988, A-Ha were already on their way to being a one hit 80's wonder and yet somehow, the band survived and continued to progress through the 90's and beyond.  Although they never seemed to capture the media attention and chart success of their first album, subsequent releases were just as good if not better.

"Stay On These Roads" could be considered a large stumbling block in the path of this amazing group.  It sorta flopped in the US but fared better internationally.  Part of the momentum for the album was the inclusion of the theme song from the James Bond film, 'The Living Daylights.

For me, this is an album that's remained consistent over the years.  The songs I love I continue to love and the rest of it hasn't grown on me at all.

Right off the bat you get the title track, 'Stay On These Roads' which is a lovely tune.  The music is dramatic and sweeping.  It seems to soar and Morten Harket's vocals are absolutely divine.  Once again, he sings in his lilting falsetto and reaches something spiritual.  As mysterious and dynamic as the first track is, the 2nd one, 'The Blood That Moves The Body' delivers the first real powerhouse number.  The song has a tremendous build and an incredible vocal arrangement.  There's a brilliant tempo on this number and it holds up quite effectively.  The third track represents the final piece of this album's power trilogy.  'Touchy!' is the pop masterpiece of the trio and gets you moving and tapping your feet along with the beat.  It sounds like something Alphaville would've recorded, but it's still great here.  It's got a beat unlike anything else on the record and it's a high point!

From here on out, the album seems to wander less effectively into some strange areas.  'This Alone Is Love' is a pretty tune, but it doesn't grip you as tightly as the previous tracks.  It's followed by 'Hurry Home' which is a more effective and enjoyable tune.  Next up is 'The Living Daylights' which in and of itself is a force to be reckoned with.  As the theme song to a James Bond film, this will be a tune fans of the Bond franchise will identify with more solidly than with the rest of the album.  I'm not impressed with it at all.  That's kinda the risk you take with a Bond theme song.

'There's Never A Forever Thing' is a minimalist ballad that although Harket's vocals are genuinely pleasing, there's not much to the song.  'Out Of Blue Comes Green' is the next number and I like this song quite a bit although I have to say, it's still not nearly as good as the earlier cuts.  Still, it has a gentle breakdown about halfway through that's nice to listen to.  The guitar playing is a bit generic, but there's a sweetness to the lyrics and the music that's worth mentioning.

The final two tracks are 'You Are The One' which sounds strangely like something trying to be an early 80's pop hit and 'You'll End Up Crying' which is an almost acoustic orchestral piece.  On 'You Are The One', the drum sounds remind me strongly of Roxette and the tempo is so face paced you get swept away and lost in the key changes.  'You'll End Up Crying' is absolutely brilliant and I wish it was up near the front along with the material I feel is stronger and more ambitious.

You hear a huge difference on this album from their previous records.  A-Ha is a band who progress with each album.  They started off a synth pop outfit and morphed into something more adult contemporary and thoughtful.  It's interesting to track this band over the years because their musicianship improves with each record and their writing develops as well.

I find them extremely compelling and even though I'm half and half on this record, I still think it's a phenomenal album and I love the tracks on it I love.  

My final words:  AN EXCEPTIONAL ALBUM FROM A SMART, DEVELOPING BAND!  STILL MORE AHEAD OF THEM FORTUNATELY FOR US.

A-HA - STAY ON THESE ROADS
01. Stay On These Roads
02. The Blood That Moves The Body
03. Touchy!
04. This Alone Is Love
05. Hurry Home
06. The Living Daylights
07. There's Never A Forever Thing
08. Out Of Blue Comes Green
09. You Are The One
10. You'll End Up Crying

A-HA - HUNTING HIGH AND LOW

This is the debut album of 80's pop icons, A-Ha. You get the impression they started off with the idea of conquering the world. As with many Scandinavian acts, A-Ha sang in English. And because it's not their native language, sometimes the lyrics seem odd or strange. Like the first single from the album, 'Take On Me'... It's a play on words from the more accepted slang, "Take me on..." or more appropriately, "I'll take you on..." Still they found a way to make sense even in their odd phrasing and audiences around the world embraced the band. State of the art videos helped fuel the group's success on MTV. In fact, the year 'Take On Me' was released, the video swept the MTV Music Awards in almost every category it was nominated. I think it won something like five. That same year, "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." also won some awards.

This record was surprisingly complex and interesting in more ways than one. Usually with synthesizer bands of this period you could categorize them in a couple ways... There was one musician who was trained and knew what they were doing or a band member who had a distinct ear for sound... A-Ha seem to have both. There's a hint of classical composition in certain songs and an innate feel for electronic sound. It's on par with or better than most of the synth groups of the time. But the distinct power of A-Ha is probably Morten Harkett's vocals. Morten has a resonating soulful voice. In one instance he can sound like a Vienna Choirboy singing sweetly in angelic tones too high for human ears and in the next, he can deliver a powerful soul stirring bombardment of orchestral proportions. It's the juxtaposition of his delivery that sets the group apart and gives them such an unparalleled sound. He emotes his lyrics.

There's a lot of ambitious swelling on this album. Songs with big, big natural progressions. For this kind of music, that's a rare quality. The only fault I can find with this record is the English translation of certain lyrics. I realize at the time if you wanted to be successful in countries worldwide you basically had to sing in English. But that's not the case anymore and it's a shame A-Ha didn't sing in their native tongue. It would've been nice to hear it.

Ok, I've gone on enough. Although I like certain songs on this record more than others, for the most part, the entire disc is enjoyable from start to finish. It's worth picking up and certainly a great addition to any collection. My final words: AN EXCITING START FOR AN OVERLOOKED BAND.

A-HA - 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

A-HA - EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON

If you think all the way back to the mid-eighties, you might remember A-Ha. They were one of those little synth pop groups that were sprouting up everywhere on the heels of the New Romantic or New Wave movement. What set them apart from other bands was the almost angelic quality of Morten Harket's vocals. His range seemed endless! Taking advantage of his vocal flexibility, the group wrote highly catchy melodies with sweeping scales and dramatic builds. In addition to decent songwriting, A-Ha's record label pumped money into state of the art videos for the band's singles. On the backs of firm promotion and a quality product, they topped the charts a few times and then dropped off the radar becoming just one of many background noise bands throughout the decade.

What makes them even more interesting is their tenacity and how they survived to continually release albums, even today. Listening to A-Ha is like watching a child learn to play an instrument. In the beginning, they were a sweet little synth band, tinkling away on their keyboards. One could credit a producer with creating the full sound they had on their first album. Each subsequent record shows more and more musical diversity and an ever present metamorphosis that we see more fully realized here on 'East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon'. They ended the 80's as one of the more remarkable New Wave acts and started the 90's completely revamping their image.

From the opening lines of 'Crying In The Rain', a Carole King cover, you can hear the difference. Gone are the layered keyboard motifs and to the fore come guitars and piano. This move away from synth pop isn't as much a move away from an unpopular musical form as it is a progression of musicians learning and developing over time. It's actually fascinating to listen to this record. When we first met them, A-Ha were a group of boys out to win the world. With this record, they're more seasoned and mature.

With 'Early Morning', the band moves from the subdued cover of 'Crying In The Rain' to a more urgent but also relaxed number. The rhythm is set by the melody repeating a fast paced scale over and over. Harket's vocals are incredibly expressive on this number. The adult contemporary nature of this record is everywhere. 'East Of The Sun' is also powerful and focuses more heavily on Harket's lower range vocally than most other songs. He doesn't spend a great deal of time on the higher end for this record, and yet his move towards the lower half of his range is just as calming and stimulating as previous efforts.

My favorite tracks on this album are 'Sycamore Leaves', 'Rolling Thunder', 'Early Morning', 'Cold River' and 'East Of The Sun'. But even those songs I'm not hugely fond of are enjoyable to listen to. The disc has a wonderful flow and easy listening quality making it perfect to play in the background or sing along with in the truck.

Put it in, turn up the volume and be shocked that this is the same band that gave us 'Take On Me'. My final word: DARING.

A-HA - EAST OF THE SUN, WEST OF THE MOON
01. Crying In The Rain
02. Early Morning
03. I Call Your Name
04. Slender Frame
05. East Of The Sun
06. Sycamore Leaves
07. Waiting For Her
08. Cold River
09. The Way We Talk
10. Rolling Thunder
11. (Seemingly) Nonstop July