Competition

Competition / Win an a-ha Hunting High and Low super deluxe edition

By Paul Sinclair

Comments

379

SDE has a copy of the a-ha Hunting High and Low super deluxe edition to give away to one lucky reader…

Thanks to our friends at Rhino this superb five-disc deluxe book edition can be yours. It is packed with just about everything you could wish for and features the remastered album, a disc of fascinating demos, a CD packed with remixes, a whole alternate version of the album and finally a DVD with all the promo videos including the classic Take On Me.

How to Enter:
This competition is open to all until noon GMT on Saturday 31 October 2015. To be in with a chance of winning please follow the instructions below:

  • 1. Subscribe to the free SDE weekly newsletter – click here.
  • 2. Leave a comment – What’s your favourite a-ha song and why?

If you already receive the newsletter, then please just leave a comment. The winners will be picked at random and announced via the newsletter on Sunday 1 November 2015. Good luck!

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

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379 Comments

379 thoughts on “Competition / Win an a-ha Hunting High and Low super deluxe edition”

  4. I love the title track, “Hunting High And Low” the best… The keyboards are just a little softer just so you can hear the brilliant orchestration behind Morten Harket’s voice. The song just starts so easily and smoothly and builds up into a full power ballad. “Take On Me” and “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” may have been Top 20 hits in the U.S., but the title track is definitely the best.

  5. ‘Take On Me’: the melody and the ‘riff’ are classic and I love the vocal range on the chorus – starting low on “Taaaaake” then building up and up until the incredibly high “twooooo!” always sends a (good) chill up my spine…..amazing.

    Plus the video was brilliantly parodied/referenced by Family Guy…..’nuff said. :)

  7. I have a love for most of their songs as they’re imprinted on my id for all time, but the one song for me it will always be ‘Living A Boys Adventure Tale’. It was one of the first songs I ever learned how to play for my first ever gig in my first band. The song represented eveything that I had experienced as well as a declaration of starting on the first step to doing the thing I love, being a artist and musician. I was walking in their footsteps while performing it, but it’s a song that is as magical now as it was back then for me taking my first steps into being a musician.

  9. It’s very tough to pick a favorite a-ha song – there are some off every album. However, since we’re talking this particular album, my favorites were Blue Sky and Sun Always Shines On TV. Every song on HH&L was solid though.

  11. For me I think it has to be ‘There’s never a Forever Thing’ from Stay on These Roads. Mainly because it reminds me of a very brief but intense ‘liaison’ in Summer 1992!

  12. Too many good ones to be able to pick just the one, but I’ll go for I Call Your Name. Love the intro, piano chords, then the sax comes in and a-ha rock out. Also love the Aooowww! that’s audible in the fade out, too!

  13. Manhattan Skyline, the change in soft almost ballad like song to loud almost angry song with avant garde notes in the background and back again, it makes you just want to explode

    my wife would say The Sun Always Shines On TV, one of her all time favourites, had to endure it being played on repeat at ear splitting volume for a 45 minute car journey, enjoyed it but it doesn’t compare to the majesty of Manhattan Skyline

  15. My favourite would have to be “The sun always shines on tv”. Such an amazing song and a great video.

    Takes me back to being a teenager and being back at school! I wanted to be Morten! Sad, but true!

  16. he sun always shines on TV – ALWAYS thought it was a better more rocking song than Take on Me…and I also love Cry Wolf – I remember watching the video premiere and thinking that they still had it as a band.

  18. I know “Take On Me” was the breakthrough hit (it only took 3 tries) but I’ll always be a fan of “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” – The previous 2-cd collection of HHAL revealed a few remixes to me that only reaffirmed my affection for the song :)

  25. My favorite a-ha song changes, depending on my mood. “Take On Me” is the song I have loved the longest, since it was the first track I had ever heard by the band, and I have only grown fonder of it through the years. Close contenders would be “Lifelines,” “The Swing Of Things,” and “Foot Of The Mountain.”

  26. How could one chose just one song? A-ha has incredible sound and emotionally moving music.Music that continues to impress an inspire all of their fans and even spans mutiple generations. Their contributions and talent have inspired all of us. If i had to pick one song i would have to say that it was “Crying in the Rain”. The music of a-ha has definitely evolved into a beautiful sophisticated sound. Looking forward to hearing more.

  29. Cliches abound here, but despite the singles being by far the best thing about their overrated and wet-behind-the-ears and even slightly dated international first album (the album tracks almost border on filler or demos), I’d never pick any from it. They were stupid not to release the killer 2 openers from their best 80s album “Scoundrel Days” instead of the almost meaningless ‘Cry Wolf’ (the kind of song a much later triumph like ‘Cannot Hide’ walks all over and then some).

    I’d pick anything from “Lifelines”-not just cos no one has bothered with the album at all-a typical approach as it happens to be one of their best album, but especially killer single DID ANYONE APPROACH YOU and TURN THE LIGHTS DOWN and SOLACE and title track. I’d also add THE BANDSTAND, RIDING THE CREST, WHAT THERE IS and MOTHER NATURE GOES TO HEAVEN from another top album, and THE WAKE, FOREST FIRE, MYTHOMANIA and SHE’S HUMMING A TUNE. Also I WISH I CARED and I’LL NEVER GET OVER YOU from another top latter day album. From an earlier album, I’d pick ROLLING THUNDER and I CALL YOUR NAME, SLENDER FRAME and WAITING FOR HER. Then there’s the cool non-album single SHAPES THAT GO TOGETHER and best b-side CASE CLOSED ON SILVER SHORE. All these tracks I’ve highlighted in caps showcase many of A-ha’s main unique calling cards-darkness, beauty, ambiguity, atmosphere, threat, a dash of romance and fulfilment, with a sizeable amount of canvas for you to project a bit of what you want the song to mean to you.

    Great stuff, but I have to pick just a few, I’ll go with DID ANYONE APPROACH YOU, I CALL YOUR NAME, THE BANDSTAND, THE WAKE, RIDING THE CREST, SOLACE and I WISH I CARED. After all, ballads don’t get more beautiful in the world than the likes of SOLACE and I WISH I CARED. A-ha, like Duran continue to do, easily walk all over most of their too often touted early works with much better later stuff.

    1. I’m glad you mentioned ‘Turn The Lights Down’ – I firmly believe that could have been a decent hit in the UK. Great track. The Langer & Winstanley version from the German Lifelines CD single is a gem.

  30. My favorite song is “The Swing Of Things”. Why? I’m a drummer…and I decided to be a drummer since I heard that epic beat in the final chorus. That’s why!

  31. Just one…? I think it will be “Hunting high and low”. Already got the first edition and the 25th anniversay edition, so this one can complete the collection :-)

  33. I think This Alone Is Love.
    Takes me back to 1988 when I bought the album, and everything that happened in my life. (turning 13, falling in love for the first time, etc)

  34. I’m going with ‘October’ – one of a-ha’s weird and unusual meanderings that I wish they would do more often… Morten’s hushed, whispering vocal of the haunting lyrics stuck in my mind at a young age and has never left:

    ‘Dawn awaits a sleepless, English town / Of colored gray / Here I roam the streets without you / As summer fades away / Down in the city at nights…’

    Dammit, Paul Waaktaar-Savoy is a genius.

  37. My favourite a-ha song is Summer Moved On. It heralded their welcome return with the Minor Earth Major Sky CD. Morton’s voice soared, but other gems on the CD – Thought That It Was You and To Let You Win – also encapsulated the magic of a-ha.

  39. Hard to pick just one, but surprisingly to myself even probably Summer Moved On, released in 2000. as the first single from their album Minor Earth Major Sky. Real end of summer, or end of summer holidays sadeness sublimed in that song’s lyrics and melody, and Morten’s voice and high notes are perfect as always. It was the great pick as their comeback song in 2000. after 6 years break. Take On Me for new millenium, 15 years later.

  40. My favorite a-ha track is the 1985 Extended Version of “Take On Me”. I love the introduction, with some of the instruments and the backing vocals beginning, increasing further to the regular song arrangement.

  41. Absolutely “Hunting High And Low”
    Because if I close my eyes and listen.
    I still get the same feeling and see the same inner film as when I first heard it:
    I sit really comfy in a chair and is tugged in a warm
    furry rug on top of a snowy mountain and feel as close as I can
    to be happy.
    Thank you for that feeling a-ha.

  42. a-ha contributed hugely to the musical landscape, not only of the 80s but far beyond. Still, I treasure their sophomore effort Scoundrel Days. And from that album I’ve always liked the moody, jazzy painting that is “October”. Different (without any falsetto) but still quality a-ha imo. Autumn par excellence. Perfectly sequenced after the tearyerking lyrics of I’ve been losing you. And I’m feeling that way ’cause I just got divorced after 23 years.

  48. Would have to be Manhattan Skyline. Can’t explain why but could listen to it on repeat all week. Though Minor Earth Major Sky runs it close purely because it brought me back to A-ha

  49. Possibly Lifeline, although I don’t fully understand the metaphor – I certainly wouldn’t want to endorse any kind of occult link if it was there. I really like the melody, the melancholy lyrics, and the conversational, questioning, chorus. Otherwise Take On Me is musically pretty fabulous, and I’ve long had a soft spot for The Blue Sky.

  51. This entire album plays like a single song to me, as once I drove to Florida from Toronto, the antenna was busted, and I only had one tape in the car.
    #noregrets

  53. I’m a huge fan of a-ha, love all their songs but to choose one would be Scoundrel Days, the title track of the second album. The song is perfect a-ha, powerful awesome vocals from Morten, cryptic lyrics , and a beautiful atmospheric soundscape. It just pips hunting high and low and Living a Boys adventure tale…and Butterfly Butterfly

  56. Sycamore Leaves from East Of The Sun, West of The Moon

    Liked the singles, wouldn’t class myself as a massive fan then heard this and just blew me away! A-Ha go prog! :)

  57. Take On Me…can’t separate it in my mind from what was at the time a groundbreaking music video, making use of the latest production tech to great effect.

  60. It’s hard to choose only one favorite song of a-ha. “Take On Me” of course is one of fans favorite. It took us to know and love a-ha. Scoundrel days, You are the one, Solace, Dragonfly, Nothing is keeping you here…… too many to choose from. My favorite song of new album is Cast In Steel.

  62. “I’ve Been Losing You” – That song blew me away when I first heard it and it remains my favorite to this day. It was so different than anything off the first album. And it was a great lead-in single to their masterpiece LP, “Scoundrel Days.”

    (Also, I really, really love “Analogue.”)

  64. Living daylights (the name is Ha, A-Ha :-)), because it’s a James Bond filmtune en Touchy, because this song reminds me of the ‘CD-show’ on thursday evenings on Dutch radio. They played 2 or 3 tracks from new albums in their full length (1988!!!), recording them with my cassetteplayer.

  72. Entering this competition… Love aha but my favorite track from their best album imo (stay on these roads) is actually:

    You are the one. I love the track and the Justin Strauss remix really was excellent – great chorus, and overall production. 25+ years on it still sounds good and the entire album is one of my absolute favorite of the 80s

    Thanks for the competition, Paul.

    Jon

  79. It’s a bit cliche to say this but THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES ON TV. it’s a perfect reminder of the joy and darkness of the 80’s. Train Of Though may run a close second

  83. Velvet…. Remember first coming across this track in a movie, thought it was such a haunting atmospheric song, so I went out & bought Minor Earth Major Sky the next day!

  85. So many to choose from but push comes to shove “the blue sky” is probably my favourite, why, I especially like the lyrics on this one nice sentiment in short just a lovely song

  87. I was at art college in Wakefield in 1986 when I first heard Take On Me. I loved it especially the video which was quite groundbreaking for its time. Plus the girl Bunty was bang tidy!

  90. I’d have to go with Take on Me, it took a while for me to get it back in the 80’s, but now I really like that one. Plus at the time that was a cool video.

  91. Hunting High And Low, it was the gateway song that got me into the album in the first place. I wasn’t blown away by Take On Me but when I heard HHAL all bets were off. It lead me to check out the rest of the album and I’ve been a fan of theirs ever since…I have also warmed up to Take On Me. ;-)

  94. The 1980’s was a time of transition for all of us, who spent years or decades buying and listening to vinyl records. The CD came along, and it was here to stay. At last, I bought my first CD player. I owned more than a thousand vinyl LPs, 12″, 10″ and 45 RPM singles. The very first album on CD to grace my new, updated sound system, was Hunting High And Low. It could have been The Beatles, The Pretty Things or The Yardbirds; Dusty Springfield, The Marvelettes, The Shangri-Las or Aretha Franklin; Yes, King Crimson, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark or Duran Duran, but a-ha took the honor of First Place. I make a choice that proved to stay true, to this day. My favorite song? Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale
    The debut album from a-ha began my lifelong love affair with the band, their sound, and definitely, their lyrics. This album still sparkles.
    Of all the bright, beautiful and also, sad, longing moments this album provides, Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale is the one that tore me apart, upon the first listen. Those words of broken dreams, a broken heart, a lost man drifting day to day without belonging anywhere, anymore, brought me down. This song brings out emotions in me that are all too real. I can recall a past when the streets found me, night after night, learning how to stay safe, keep warm and eat enough to be alive.
    I’ve come a long way since then. No boy should be kicked out of his home, at 16, just because he’s Gay and not what his father wanted him to be, but I was that boy. I still remember walking the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, through the twilight hours, wondering why my life had to be this way.
    The first time I heard Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale, on my fine stereo system in the comfort of my apartment in Los Angeles, everything hit me at once. The past returned, with poetry, music, and the sad beauty of this eloquent song. I broke down sobbing. I couldn’t stop. That song was meant for the likes of ME, and I related all too well. After hearing it that first time, I played it again. Once more, my eyes were flooding tears and my heart felt an aching need to belong. That song knows my name.
    Select lines that took me back, so far back until the tears in my eyes were washed away, because I dared to dream myself alive, when all felt lost:

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

    I’m living a boy’s adventure tale
    Can’t escape, if I wanted to

    I’ve been lost in so many places
    Seen the love in so many faces
    A change of weather,
    the rain pours down

    Living a boy’s adventure tale
    Singing a lullaby for me
    Living a boy’s adventure tale
    Because of you

    Those words along with the rest, in addition to that gorgeous music, rising higher and higher to the skies, lifted my heart and called to me. I’ve followed a-ha for over 30 years now, buying their albums when others in the US passed them by. I’ve remained loyal, because they deserve it. I’m truly grateful to be be here, now, and so thankful that a-ha create music that still inspires me. They always will. I’m a lot older now, but in my heart, I’ll always be Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale, in so many ways…

  97. Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale is my favorite.

    It brings me back to being 6 years old and listening to this album on vinyl (!) back in 85.

    I fondly recall this song the most as it was very other-worldy and it sounded like a fairy tale to my young ears.

    Such a great album that deserves the SDE treatment! :-)

  99. Since I am an absolute remix fan and therefor very keen on this release, I have to say my favourite track is the Extended Remix of The Sun Always Shines On Tv.

  100. Definately Summer Moved On, the way Morten Harket holds the words Stay in the refrains with the small crescendo right afterwards are pretty clever, gives the song its definitve hook and makes it stand out.

  102. “Take on me” : In the Belgian charts shortly after my wedding in 1985,
    beautiful memories…

    I have ordered the box a month ago at WOWHD.nl because it was cheaper (38,59 euro) but I did not receive it. I think I ‘ve lost my money and have no Deluxe edition.

    WOWHD has poor user experience at Trustpilot. So, do not order from WOWHD but follow the links from SDE !

  104. Well, Hunting High & Low so far!!!!, this one is my favorite song of all time, that song brings the most emotional moments of my entire life. The part “I sense the pounding of her heart. Next to mine. She’s the sweetest love I could find”, woaa always blow my mind. It’s very special because it reminds me, my greatest love ever. My wife of course
    This song proves that perfection exists in this earth,
    A special thanks goes to Pål Waaktaar

  111. Lifelines because it came out at a time when my life and me myself were in disarray and it gave me hope that things would get better…and they did

  113. The Sun Always Shines on T.V.
    Because it is an atmospheric song… I just love that melody and the epic feel to it… I don’t know… I can’t explain exactly why, but it is my all time favourite a-ha song… I even prefer this to Take On Me…

  114. I hate picking a best song but as ‘Take On Me’ was the song that got my attention first to this band, that is my pick.
    As others have said, the video for it was also very well done.
    Paul, thanks for this contest, keep up the good work at this site.

  116. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. because it has got the whole package doomed for success : great song, even as a demo or early mix, excellent 12inch versions (1rst ext, 2nd ext version + instrumental) and of course nice video to accompany the soundtrack! What more can you hope for from a song, even from the eighties?

  121. Wow, a great competition and stuck for a fave track as all the Hunting album is great but if I’m pushed then I’d say Out Of The Blue Comes Green!

  125. Butterfly Butterfly is such a beautifully bittersweet song. My six-year-old loves it and doesn’t appreciate the context. She thinks it’s just a song about a butterfly, which I love. We’ve watched the video a lot, and it used to make me tear up without fail, but it’s lost a lot of its poignancy since the band got back together.

  135. “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” because it showed me A-ha had more musical depth than “Take On Me”.
    (Don’t get me wrong, I like ‘Take On Me”,,,it’s just not as grand.)

  138. To pick a a single song is a very difficult task but I might say… “Love is Reason”, from “Hunting High and Low”, for it´s instant grace.

  140. I’d have to say “And You Tell Me” from Hunting High and Low. It’s such a short and simple song, but it’s always stuck with me as a great song.

  143. Just reading all the above song selections hammers home the point that this band is perhaps one of the finest and most accomplished in contemporary music.
    For me though, I absolutely adore the song Dark Is The Night For All from Memorial Beach. The song build up and structure are just heavenly and when Morten Harket sings

    ‘It’s time…yeah, to break free’, I truly am in heaven.

  152. A bot of surprise to myself, but i would go for I’ve been losing you although the first 3 Singles are instant Classics. So different in its Sound.

  153. Difficult one, very difficult. I could go for the obvious one that hooked me from the beginning (well, 1985 when it was reissued); Take on Me. I won’t though.
    I’ll go for The Blue Sky. Whilst it reminds me of the mundane, similar to sitting in a coffee shop, it’s one my most played a-ha tracks.
    I recall a sunny day, in June, going to London for a job interview and sitting in a coffee shop; life imitating art. The song was my earworm for the day; very appropriate. It encapsulated sitting in a coffee shop, on my own, uncertain of the future.

  154. “Hunting high and low” ’cause of its epic sound.
    I remember how disappointed I was when I bought the LP and found that my favourite part (the strings bridge) was different. :-)

  164. As much for why and when as for the great song itself.

    The Living Daylights – Driving to a horrible business meeting in snow through Leicestershire, very sunny – early 1991. It came on the radio, made me smile.

  167. Take On Me is my favourite a-ha song as when I hear it I’m reminded of its excellent ground-breaking video, and also of the brilliant spoof of this video by Harry Hill for BBC Children In Need!.

  169. I’ve liked Driftwood (The Sun Always Shines On T.V. b-side) ever since I first heard it more than 25 years ago. Maybe the best thing about buying the Japanese 45 R.P.M. Club CD e.p. – although the remix of The Sun Always Shines On T.V. is no slouch, either.

    Driftwood is a bit jazzy/funky, despite being 110% synthpop – I’ve not heard a piece of music like it since. Very strong lyrically and beautifully sung. Also, the lyrical imagery gives you a mental picture that stands freshly and excitingly apart from the standard pop song.

  171. My favourite song of A-Ha (It’s a difficult choice – there are so many good ones) has become “The Living Daylights”. The Single and the Extended Version. The song combines two things. First it’s typically A-Ha and the second It keeps the standard of a good Bond-song alive.

  178. My favourite would be The Swing of Things – a highlight from what is for me the best album they released. It is all minor key epic widescreen Scandinavian beauty.

  183. Cry Wolf – the video was out of this world, actually like a fairy tale, the production of the song, with the background vocals in another dimension and finally the synth bass, pure pop music.

  185. My favourite song is “I´ve Been Losing You”. It has these really menacing sounding verses and changes to a wailing, romantic melody in the chorus.

  188. One of my favorite albums of the 80’s…own the original cd but would be more than thrilled to own this fabulous deluxe set….those who can afford it buy it! I have heard nothing but great things from friends who have already purchased the deluxe reissue!

    1. Actually, “Take on Me” is not their only U.S. hit, contrary to what most people think. “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” peaked at No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. (“Cry Wolf”, their third and last Hot 100 hit, reached No. 50). For some reason, most radio stations have forgotten about “T.V.” and think of “Take on Me” as being their only hit (like much of the U.S. public). I haven’t heard “T.V.” on U.S. radio since its initial release. It’s strange how some “hits” are forgotten and get little to no airplay.

      And to answer the question at hand, “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” is my favorite a-ha song. I prefer the Steve Thompson mixes, however. But, please don’t pick me as a contest winner (not that I expect to win anyway) because I already own this beautiful box.

    2. Who cares about that? The stupidity, elitism and self-congratulation and narrow-mindedness of the US means nothing here. Of course no one who isn’t a bleeding Yank is going to get more than “one hit”. America don’t care about anything other than their own bull-though I notice now these days there’s nothing worthwhile from anyone anywhere (we’ve no music scene any more) they’ll taken any old rubbish from Adele to Oasis, to Spice Girls and One Direction. Which works, I guess, as their as awful as their own Britneys, Rhiannas, Katy Perrys and Maroon 5’s!

  196. Fave track is “Lifelines”. I loved it from the beginning and popped it on a mix-tape for a friend, who mistakenly thought it was the new Alison Moyet track at the time. That just made me love it more.

    1. Alison Moyet sounds like Morten Harket! I’ll never get over just how stupid people are. I suppose he mixes up Annie Lennox with George Michael, Bryan Adams with Neil Tennant and the Bangles with bleeding Bananarama!

  200. IT WILL BE EASY TO SAY “TAKE ON ME”

    BUT I HAVE ALWAYS LIKE THE LITTLE SONG

    …AND YOU TELL ME – ALSO USED AS B-SIDE OF THE “TAKE ON ME”1984 SINGLE-RELEASE

    WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE SONG IT`S A LITTLE CATCHY
    POP-SONG LESS THAN 2 MIN LONG AND IT STILL SOUNDS LONGER THAN 1:52

    AND THIS ONE ARE ON MY TOP 5 SINGLE B-SIDES OF ALL TIME

  201. I do not really have a favourite A-Ha song because they are all great in their own kind of way but I do love “Summer Moves On” simply because it is brilliant (I could listen to it over and over and over).

  203. Lifelines is my all time favourite. The lyrics, the composition, the string section, absolutely wonderful. While I adore the released tracks from Hunting high and low I do love listening to ‘Here I stand and face the rain’ due to once again due to the lyrics and composition. <3

  204. “Hunting High And Low” – emotionally Morten’s vocals run from an almost whispered vulnerability to a determined dynamism that, for me, connects unlike any other a-ha song.

    Compositionally, it was uniquely ambitious for the era – the cinematic sweep, the flute/synth interlude, the tension, the punctuating strings, the major chord at the end in a minor key.

    Sublime & timeless, 30 years on.

  213. My favourite would have to be one of their new ones, Cast In Steel. A song with a beautiful sound that only a-ha could ever make. Morten’s vocals are on incredibly fine form too.

  222. My favorite a-ha track, if I have to pick just one, may just be “Nothing is Keeping You Here.”

    Not only is it a gorgeous track with a majestic melody and tasteful production, but this track came to me during a particularly troubling period for me. I felt stranded in a bad relationship and feeling like my wheels were spinning in the mud. Something about the restlessness in the lyrics and the uplifting sound of the music struck a chord. It made me realize I needed to run from the darkness in order to soar. So, I did. And things are completely awesome in my corner of the world now.

    One of the few life-changing songs I’ve come across in my life. Many thanks to a-ha for the inspiration.

  224. “Under The Makeup” from the new album Cast in Steel. All of the years of internal band politics have forged into a haunting piece of pop perfection. A heartfelt plea for honesty, transparency and wanting to strip things back to a simpler time.

  227. “Here I Stand and Face the Rain”. I’d just moved to a new city in August 1985, and feared I’d made a tremendous mistake in moving 2,000 miles for a new chapter in life. This album had just come out that summer and was in heavy rotation for me. Every time this last song on the album played, it would evoke immense heartache for what I’d left behind. “Here I stand and face the rain, I know that nothing’s gonna be the same again, I fear for what tomorrow brings”. Eventually I came to love the city, and I’ve been here 30 years now.

  229. Stay On These Roads -> a song that definetely has it all, great arrangement, superb atmospheric synths + excellent vocal by Morten. The true beauty of A-Ha is perfectly displayed with Stay On These Roads.

  234. It’s got to be “The Sun Always Shines On TV”. I used to play it again and again on the jukebox in my local…must have driven people mad.

  235. “Cosy Prisons” – because the lyrics ring so true. Really love the outro with Morten singing “So if you’re careful, you won’t get hurt, but if you’re careful all the time, then what’s it worth?”.

  236. Wow so many greats over the years to choose from but I’m gonna have to go with “Summer moved on” great vocals and music from a-ha and for me holds great memories of driving in USA with the top down on those long hot summer nights.
    thank you superdeluxe

  240. I hate to pick the obvious tune, but Take On Me is my pick as well. I was a suburban teenager who was mostly into heavy metal at the time this came out, and I distinctly remember being taken away by both the song and the video. Been a fan since. Love these reissues.

  244. As the first hit in the US by a Norwegian band, Take On Me is the sentimental favorite for this Norwegian-American. And it’s a fantastic song no matter where it’s from.

  245. So many great songs by A-Ha and my all-time favorite is “Summer Moved On” and my favorite from this CD would be “Hunting High And Low”. The reason “Summer Moved On” is because Morten Harket, the lead singer, holds the European record for the longest note held in a Top 40 pop song. He sustains a voice note for 20.2 seconds (8 measures) which is incredible!!!

  246. Wow! Difficult to pick just one, but I would have to go for ‘Take On Me’ as it is (arguably) the nearest thing to the perfect pop single.

  248. One of these: “The Blue Sky”, “Stay On These Roads”, “Lifelines”. Also love “The Bandstand” and “What There Is”. Thank you, Paul Sinclair.

  249. Scoundrel Days. Its just a song that has to be played VERY loud over and over again.. I spent many may hours in my bedroom doing just that.

  250. My very first 12″ was ‘train of thought’. I loved the beginning where the train is leaving and the song gets this extra bassline. Morten on a discobeat.

  251. Angel in the Snow. From the criminally underrated Memorial Beach, encapsulates all that is great about a-ha; one of the great pop voices singing a beautiful, haunting melody, with that pervasive sense of aching melancholy that is so uniquely theirs.

  258. Sorry, I know many don’t like it, but I just love “Touchy”, because it has this uplifting beat and melody, and I just feel good every time I hear it!

  263. Well hard thin to do: Choosing a best a-ha song ?! there’s so many ! Concentrating on “Hunting High and low”s period , I would probably choose “Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale” ! Wonderful song, with Morten ‘s High voice and the hi-NRG synthesizer .. I kept singing this song for months after getting the album, so…

  265. “Living A Boys Adventure Tale” is perhaps not an obvious choice but Morten sings the song with such emotion, he sounds so vulnerable, which is what makes this such a great track.

  266. Take On Me. Radio Luxembourg used to do a competition, you had to forecast the top 3. I won an amazing sleeveless C & A T shirt for forecasting Nikita, Take on Me and something else were the top songs.

  279. I would choose ¨I’ve been losing you¨ album version. It has a clear power and drive, which also showcases the band’s composition style: Paul wrote it and his guitar style is present, Morten sings beautiful and varied, while Magne does add his keyboard layers. The instrumental parts are intruiging, and shows some very good session playing. Including some brass. Always wondered how the how the album version should sound like when extended. Programming the album and 12¨ version consecutively, does indicate some, although I do prefer the mix and punch of the album version.

  282. The extended version of “The sun always shine on T.V”. The beat given in the intro by the bass drum, the keyboards sound and the crescendo that conduct to the song.

  283. My favourite a-ha track has to be Sun Always Shines On TV.
    Love playing this at maximum volume. So good to get all the recent mixes and extended versions.

  285. Living A Boys Adventuretale because of its floating and almost ethereal backingtrack, as if it brings you deep in trance to your own dreams of adventure

  287. The live version of “I Wish I Cared”. Not that it’s the best song they’ve ever done, but singing it as a duet turns the dynamic of the song on it’s head. Genius.

  289. Apart from TSASOTV, my favourite is in fact Nothing To It, which I first heard on the 2010 remaster of the album. A fantastic catchy song, better than the songs their European contemporaries were having number one hits with and they threw it in a drawer! I often like to imagine what the first album would have been like if the first version of Take On Me (which perhaps controversially I prefer to the hit version) had been the hit. I’m sure Nothing To It, Dot The I etc would have taken pride of place.

  291. There are so many excellent A-ha songs its hard to pick one. If im making myself a compilation CD and I want an A-ha song on it I usually pick ‘Waiting for Her’ from ‘EOTS,WOTM’ in 1990. As swansong (before the reformation) I also cannot stop listening to Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurah) whenever I am in a a-ha mood. As far as the new album is concerned the title track ‘Cast In Steel’ is a classic A-ha sounding tune with great lyrics and Morten’s voice sounding better than ever. Sadly will be very surprised if we get any more new releases from the boys from Norway. I think CIS will be there last LP of new material. The best group of the 80’s – A-ha – You Are The Ones!

  292. oooh that’s tough to pick one but after narrowing it down to Hunting High and Low + Stay on These Roads I have to choose the later because of the subliminal vocals that Morten put into that song.

  293. “The Sun Always Shines On TV”.
    Because it came as such a surprise after the lightweight poppiness of ‘Take On Me” – which everyone [me included] assumed summed up everything A-ha were capable of.
    It’s still electronic pop, but it’s darker, more dramatic, and brilliantly produced and arranged. Like any number of great Depeche Mode songs from the same era, it hasn’t dated; it’s a standout of the decade.

    1. Stuff Depeche Mode. Try Duran Duran, Kim Wilde, Alphaville, Sandra, Bangles, China Crisis, Crowded House, and OMD instead-people who actually made great albums and aren’t being remembered as being something they’re not, though it goes without saying Dep Mode were at their best-as a SINGLES band at the most-in the 80s. They’ve barely done anything worthwhile since and their massive overblown gas cloud of noxious unending acclaim escapes me-and wish it would!

  295. Living a Boy’s adventure tale. Because reminds me of the time of hunting high and low original release. It was an important period for me. Cant wait to hear the demo in the new box

  297. Difficult choice, but I’d say “Train Of Thought” is my favourite, particularly the 12″ version. It’s a perfect example of a synthpop song that just gets your spirits up if you’re feeling a bit under the weather. Should have a warning sign though, “If played in a car, speed limits may be violated”.

  300. My favourite is the Dub version of “Train of Thought”, because the exploratory, abstract dub mix style fits so perfectly with the song’s subject matter. Rather than just being an extended instrumental, the remix itself wonders off on it’s own train of thought, taking the listener to some rather odd but very interesting sonic places.

    It would be particularly nice to win a copy of this box set, because as far as I know it’s the only place (apart from a horribly rare Japanese compilation) that you can get my favourite A-ha track on CD.

  302. Sun Always Shines on Tv. It’s a combination of the deep heartache in the ” close to you heart ” and then the pure adrenaline rush as the strings ramp everything up leading to the final verse. Beautifully produced and performed.

    1. And that would be her first choice in a decade where brilliant songs were offered up 100 a minute-and 1986 had many of them. I personally feel it’s their worst choice for an 80s single. The album it’s from’s first two should have been taken off instead! Silly A-ha. And over a decade later, a song like ‘Cannot Hide’ did the whole lupine approach a lot better. But there you go.

  305. The title track Scoundrel Days. Essentially a 4:00 minute mini-epic that epitomises the angst, drama and Scandinavian tristesse of the band. The idiosyncrasies and motifs of the band are presented with a clear, defining urgency. The gloomy existentialism and quiet desperation of TSASOT is condensed and elaborated upon in Scoundrel Days, digging deeper into the various dark realms of the human condition. Permeated with uneasy sensations of paranoia, resentment, urban alienation and human estrangement, the song transcends its depressing themes in the chorus, “That Love goes Free”, before eventually collapsing with a final primal scream as the protagonist races through the “lies and hating” into some kind of metaphorical ascension, cue the final fifth verse;
    “I reach the edge of town
    I’ve got blood in my hair
    Their hands touch my body
    From everywhere
    But I know that I’ve made it
    As I run into the air”
    Suggesting the only – or ultimate – escape from his private hell is to transcend the boundaries, limitations. “As I run into the air” – interpretation of death perhaps. The ultimate escape is death. Stark, desperate and uncompromising.

  309. You Are The One (7″ Remix)
    Both uplifting, full of hope and deeply sad. Like every truly great pop song. Over the top production and a good-bye both to ‘the one’ and the 80s synth-sound. The next single would bring quite a change of mood and style.

  310. I’ve Been Losing You, from Scoundrel Days. Musically and lyrically it is brilliant…I love the couplet, “I can still hear our screams competing/You’re hissing your esses like a snake”

  318. My favorite A-ha song is The Sun always shines on TV because it fills me with strenght everytime I hear it. Its, more than 8 minutes, 12″ versión is one of my all-time favorite extended mixes.

  322. Take On Me ….. And why? Not only is it a fantastic 80’s anthem which lights up the dancefloor at every play….. The video was next level. I remember people on my street were gutted they missed it on a popular tv show …… I had it taped and litterally had a house full of neighbours for days, watching it again and again. Thank god for scotch Tapes!!!!

  328. “Stay On These Roads” for me – Morten’s best vocal; along with the stunning arrangement make it a timeless classic – to my ears – that still sounds as good as it did back in 1988.

  330. The Sun Always Shines on TV and Butterfly, Butterfly are strong contenders, but my favorite would have to be Lifelines (Console Remix). I have a lot of great memories connected to that one.

  331. My absolute favorite A-ha song is very hard to pick, since there’s quite a few of them (There’s never a forever thing, Waiting for her, Hunting high and low, I’ve been losing you, Dark is the night for all – etcetera). But growing up with their music, and having the songs of the first three albums shape my taste in music (Hunting high and low was the first record I bought), I must say that my favourite is East of the sun – the highlight of their 1990 comeback album (and what an album that was). So powerful having them back and listening to a brilliant album. And the song is so epic and beautiful, in all it’s stripped down setting. Melancholy at its best. Cheers.

  336. My favorite A-ha song is East of the Sun, because it represents a special era for the band: they were no longer just a pop/techno band, they were recognized as true musicians with a great album. And the song is amazing.

  342. “Here I stand and face the rain” has to be my favourite. It stands out to me as track that should have been a single, showing a different side of the band.

  344. It’s “Take on Me,” of course, because that’s the song that introduced me to the band. Great video, and the song is as fresh today as it was 30 years ago.

  345. Talking about ‘Hunting High And Low’ tracks my favourite one is a ‘Blue Sky’ definitely. I always loved A-Ha flirting with synths and especially this track – moving and quirky comparing to its more straightforward companions.

  347. My favorite A-Ha track is Train Of Thought because it has the electronic vibe from the 80’s but with a dark feeling we are not accustomed with A-Ha ! This song is synth, electro, dance LOVE IT !

  348. I don’t know much by this band, only Take on me. I see a lot of people are enthusiastic about this reissue, so this would be an opportunity to really get in touch.

  349. My fav is “I’ve been losing you”. I was a teenager when it came out and it just explained so much of the beginining of relationships phase.

  352. Hunting High and Low ;-)
    This is my favorite a-ha song. Why? It has it all! The calm ballade parts, the big shifts, crescendo, full rock and last but not least – Excellent LIVE with thousands of fans at a Big Stadium ;-) Thank you a-ha – See you further on up the Road!

  353. Angel In The Snow. The moment I heard this I fell in love with it. It’s simple lyrics, simple melody and just gorgeous. Morten’s vocals are so light and subdued. It’s the highlight of their best album for me and is in my top 3 songs of all time.

  359. Thanks for this competition. My favorite A-Ha song is definitely Scoundrel Days. It really shows the beauty of Morten Harket’s voice and how high he can sing.

  363. The Swing of Things….because it is the most different thing I’d ever heard when it first came out & was so far from TAKE ON ME I feel the band could have gone at that point with live drums & such an intense song structure…

  367. Very difficult to pick just one but if i was pushed i would pick Summer Moved On as it was a brilliant comeback single after them being away for so long.

    1. Lots of songs – but going with “don’t do me any favors”.. Because it expressed some thought I had when I was going through s tough time a few years back

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