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a-ha / Hunting High and Low super deluxe edition unboxing video

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Check out SDE’s exclusive ‘unboxing’ video of the new a-ha Hunting High and Low super deluxe edition which is out today…

Note: Video has no sound.

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Disc: 1
1. Take On Me (2015 Remastered)
2. Train Of Thought (2015 Remastered)
3. Hunting High And Low (2015 Remastered)
4. The Blue Sky (2015 Remastered)
5. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (2015 Remastered) – a-Ha
6. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (2015 Remastered)
7. And You Tell Me (2015 Remastered)
8. Love Is Reason (2015 Remastered)
9. I Dream Myself Alive
10. Here I Stand And Face The Rain (2015 Remastered)

Disc: 2
1. Lesson One (Autumn 1982 “Take On Me” Demo) (2015 Remastered)
2. Presenting Lily Mars Naersnes Demo) (2015 Remastered)
3. Sa Blaser Det Pa Jorden (Naersnes Demo) [2015 Remastered]
4. The Sphinx(Naersnes Demo)
5. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (Naersnes Demo)
6. Dot The I (2015 Remastered)
7. The Love Goodbye (2015 Remastered)
8. Nothing To It (2015 Remastered)
9. Go To Sleep (2015 Remastered)
10. Train Of Thought (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
11. Monday Mourning (2015 Remastered)
12. All The Planes That Come In On The Quiet (2015 Remastered)
13. The Blue Sky (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
14. You Have Grown Thoughtful Again (2015 Remastered)
15. What’s That You’re Doing To Yourself In The Pouring Rain (2015 Remastered)
16. Take On Me (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
17. Hunting High And Low (Demo)
18. I Dream Myself Alive (Demo) [2015 Remastered]
19. And You Tell Me (Demo) [2015 Remastered]
20. Here I Stand And Face The Rain (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
21. Love Is Reason (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
22. The Blue Sky (2nd Demo)
23. Never Never (2015 Remastered)
24. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Demo) (2015 Remastered)
25. Presenting Lily Mars (Rendezvous Demo)

Disc: 3
1. Take On Me (Original 7″ Version 1984) (2015 Remastered)
2. Take On Me (1984 12″ Mix) (2015 Remastered)
3. Stop! And Make Your Mind Up (2015 Remastered)
4. Take On Me (1985 12″ Mix) (2015 Remastered)
5. Take On Me (Instrumental Mix) (2015 Remastered)
6. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (7′ Mix) (2015 Remastered)
7. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Extended Version) (2015 Remastered)
8. Driftwood (2015 Remastered)
9. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Extended Version) [2015 Remastered]
10. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Instrumental) [2015 Remastered]
11. Train Of Thought (7″ Remix) (2015 Remastered)
12. Train Of Thought (U.S. Remix) (2015 Remastered)
13. Train Of Thought (Dub Mix) (2015 Remastered)
14. Hunting High And Low(7″ Remix) (2015 Remastered)
15. Hunting High And Low(Extended Remix) [2015 Remastered]

Disc: 4
1. Take On Me (Video Version) (2015 Remastered)
2. Train Of Thought (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
3. Hunting High And Low (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
4. The Blue Sky (Alternate Long Mix) (2015 Remastered)
5. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
6. The Sun Always Shines On T.V. (Alternate Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
7. And You Tell Me (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
8. Love Is Reason (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)
9. Dream Myself Alive (Early “NYC” Mix) (2015 Remastered)
10. Here I Stand And Face The Rain (Early Mix (2015 Remastered)

Disc: 5 (DVD)
1. Take On Me (1985 Version)
2. The Sun Always Shines On TV
3. Train Of Thought
4. Hunting High And Low
5. Take On Me (1984 Version)
6. Take On Me (1985 Alternate Cut)

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[…] Headline and Deadlines) it’s disappointing to note that the five-disc super deluxe edition of Hunting High and Low is nowhere to be found in the top 100 physical albums three weeks after it entered at number 52. […]

Michael

Tracks 5, 6, 10, 11 on my Disc 2 also have loud crackles/glitches/slow…or are these just in the original demos? And Sun Always Shines on TV on Disc 4 …something seems cursed with this track on my copies!

So…full disclosure …I was listening to copies after they had imported into my ITunes. I just checked the actual discs in all the spots I noticed, and they sound fine. But my discs do have those marks due to the packaging, and I’m thinking that somehow corrupted the burning attempts. Hmmm…and I was all set to write to Rhino…

Michael

Has nyone else who picked this up noticed audio glitches with “The Sun Always Shines on TV” and the beginning of “And You Tell Me” on Disc 1? …admittedly this may have to do with the shoddy slip-disc packaging which did indeed leave marks on several of my discs…[groan]. I really wish they would simply do snaps for releases like these.

OceanBlue

Sorry to ask, but which Super Deluxe edition is this ? The expensive Boxset (190£ now) or the cheapest one (34,99£)?
They’re both labelled as boxset on Amazon !

synth80s

Thanks for the reply, Will_2. Please keep us posted if you form any additional thoughts after more time with the 2 releases.

I’m often skeptical of re-remasters when the previous remaster was recent and already quite good, especially when the source material may not have been recorded on top notch studio equipment to begin with. I love Hunting High And Low and it has a special place in my heart — it was one of the first cassettes I ever purchased as a young teen — but I don’t hold any misconceptions about it being an audiophile masterpiece. I have picked up a few worthy HDTracks remasters/releases, however, so it was worth considering.

Eric

This would be lovely if the stupid design for the (barely there) slots in sharp cardboard didn’t spoil the discs. Still trying to get a copy that hasn’t got them horribly marked. The rest of it is a stunning package. Some of the early demos are definitely for-fans-only!

john

This is now available from hdwow.co.uk for £27.87 with free postage.

Neil

That’s fine if you want to wait at least two months for it as it’s on backorder.

john

Fair enough, just thought someone may be interested…

synth80s

Can anyone comment on the sound quality compared with the 2010 2CD release. I’m actually leaning toward the HDTracks hi-res release as I’d rather have additional fidelity than more tracks, but does it really sound much different?

Will_2

I bought the HDTracks release. It’s a little bit loud and a little bit swishy in some places. I haven’t had a chance to A/B test it with the 2010 release – I only downloaded it yesterday, but my gut feel is that the new hi-def release isn’t an upgrade.

Phil Wilson

Obviously we all know how hard it is to get the details correct in the tracklist! but inside the book The Sun always Shines On TV has the extended version listed as 6.35 and the instrumental as 8.25, on the disc these are the other way round with the extended version being 8.25 and the instrumental being 6.35. At first I thought this was a different extended version to the bonus iTunes one from the last reissue. It’s annoying, and being a data geek, these things annoy me.

Rob

Hi
Yes this set is missing the slow demo of HH&L. Can anyone confirm the rough mix of Tale is the same source on both?

ALL the demos have been reworked. I have the original demos that were ilegally sold. Some of them have instrumental versions. The remasters are missing “you’re so white”. I assume the band did not want to release it.

Koen Kroeze

Great super deluxe-set!

Only a few tracks missing though:
Hunting High And Low (Slow Version), the early 2010 remastered demo of Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale, as well as the 7″ flexidisc edit of Steve Thompson’s extended remix and the special message that was on the same flexi disc as well.

The original 1984 ‘Take On Me’ 7″ omits the first beats…

Neil

Does it mention in sleevenotes for this about (this deluxe edition of HHIAL is the LAST word on a-ha’s landmark breakthrough) like it claimed on the 2010 reissue or can we expect another one in 5 years time ?

Richard Z

Certainly a nice looking set, a beautiful package.
The 4th disc is the most interesting content music wise.
Interesting to hear but for most of the songs I am glad that John Ratcliff remixed them and we got the final album as we know it.

Some disapointments, the information included adds a bit more to the story but most of the info you could already read in booklet of the 2010 edition. Some missing tracks like the early mix of “”Living a boy’s ” and I was hoping that the slow demo of “Hunting High and Low” would have been included so this would really be the final complete set. Fortunately Qobuz has a cd quality wav file of the 2010 version of the album including the slow “Hunting High and Low”.
Also the video disc could have been more then just the video’s, most if not all of it I already have.

So it’s not really the complete and final word it could have been but it’s really close and a really fine looking product.

Lolke Heida

There is another difference with the 2CD: the original 1984 version of Take On Me has a different intro. I believe the version on the Super Deluxe is the one from the original 12″. Talking about Take On Me: love to have the video version with the fab (cold) ending on CD.

OceanBlue

This looks amazing !!! I so wish they’d released a Super Deluxe for SOTR and EOTSWOTM, at least !

William

Love the strap line at the end of the video, “For fans who love holding music in their hands.” Funny how CD’s were looked down on when they first came out and yet now we appreciate them so much more than downloads. And these reissues, with added booklets, artwork, posters etc, make them almost works of art.

Paul Edwards

Thanks guys, the descriptions are confusing ‘mix’ becoming ‘remix’ for example!

Craig Hedges

After listening to the cds the dvd is a huge disappointment.
The ‘1985 alternate cut’ is actually the original version of the 1985 video. This is the one that people know in the UK and is the version used on ‘Headlines and deadlines’ in 1991. This video was reedited at the request of Warners in the States as the single began to chart to show more of the band, the main difference is in the 2nd chorus where they used very 1980’s video effects to try and recreate the window effect for shots of Pal and Magne. This version became known as the US version and wasn’t widely available until being released on the ’25’ dvd in 2010.
As this set as been put together in the States by Bill Ignlot (who also put ’25’ together), the US version is being treated as the main video, which is surprising as Bill says he is a huge fan in a new article on a-ha web page and really should know the history of the two versions.
The picture quality isn’t that great either on TOM, the live scenes look very over saturated with colour, Bunty Bailey looks like she’s been lying in the sun for too long. At a running time of around 25 mins they really should have tried to find something else to pad it out as it feels really skimpy after the cds. Did no-one contact Steve Barron to see if there was any material he could add?

Don

PS For a brief time earlier today the box dropped to 39.88 on amazon.com, but now it’s back up to 48.99.

negative1

there are no missing tracks on this, that were on the 2cd version.
this was listed before: Hunting High And Low (Slow Demo Version),
but it should also be on this new boxset, probably under a different name.

Paul Edwards

It’s a wonderful set, beautiful to look at and some great writing in there. The music isn’t bad either!

Anyone know what songs are missing from this that were included on the 2 CD set? I’m struggling with this!

Don

I was prepared to eliminate the 2CD set from my iPod, but yes, it appears there might be a few demos on that set that are not included on the 5 disc set! Very confusing, as the names of some of the songs are different on both sets. Also, for the 2010 reissue, Rhino in the UK offered four bonus downloads that included “Hunting High and Low (Slow Version Demo)” which may or may not be on Disc 3 of the box set. I certainly don’t have all this sorted out yet.

Craig Hedges

Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (Early Version) from (d2 track 5 from 2010) also missing from new set

Karel

Really? Disk 4: 5. Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale (Early Mix) (2015 Remastered)

Michael

That video sold me. HH&L remains one of my favourite debuts of all time and as someone else here said, it is a thing of beauty. Ordering now.

baward

I recognise that RG Jones recording studio (Tarney’s studio of choice in south London in those days) logo inside the front cover.

Griffin

What’s better than milking us the fans 3 times? 2010 the 2-CD set, this 2015 set & the 192/24 and 96/24 files. I bought the 2010 one & pre-ordered this 2015 one! For the price of this 2015 one. They should have included those 192/24 and 96/24 files. I don’t care about those files ;(

It’s sad that some CD’s still don’t get a chance to be expanded with bonus tracks. And some twice in 5 years.

Craig Hedges

If you bought the 2010 double cd and thought you wouldn’t buy this version, I recomend getting this version as all the demos are from the original tapes and sound amazing, absolutely no hiss!
The original Tony Mansfield produced tracks on cd4 are a real surprise, some of the versions are better than the remixed versions on the released album. Esp Living a boys adventure tale and Here I stand and face the rain.

Paul English

Looks nice but I wish box sets would have each disc in its own digipack or jewel case. I’d gladly pay the extra.

Don

Mine will be waiting for me when I get home! Can’t wait. Sadly my copy of Cast in Steel still has not found its way from Germany to Colorado, but this will MORE than make up for it in the meantime. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to this way more than the new album.

Mark

Then I pity you because the an album of new material is going to be way better than an overrated older album-their most dated and a rare one where the singles are the best things on it. A-ha are one of those groups where their post-“stardom” material is overall far better than how they used to be-for maturity and life experience and age gives you other things to write about. And at least we’ll never get another ‘Blue Sky’, ‘Love Is Reason’, ‘Dream Myself Alive’, ‘And You Tell Me’, ‘Cry Wolf’ and that bleeding ‘Between Your Mama And Yourself’, plus all the weird ditties never heard before on this-things like ‘Planes In From The Quiet’, ‘Presenting Lily Mars’ and the like. What a WEIRD way for a group to start. No wonder they stayed hidden…until now. Hardly unearthing the holy grail is it?

Ronen

Love this, can’t wait for mine to be delivered! By the way, just found out that HDtracks now offers the 2015 remaster in both 192/24 and 96/24. I guess now we know what happened to the initially-discussed hi-res that suddenly disappeared from the final track list of the super deluxe box. Shame.. But hey, at least it’s available, one way or another. Still, I do have to say that not including it on the DVD is a missed opportunity (to put it very mildly).

Philip Treijtel

I went to pick up my copy yesterday here in Rotterdam. Very nice packaged with lots of info on the story behind the album and group coming together. Haven’t come round to listen to the mastering yet

Eric

Everyone stop tempting me!

Nick

Thanks so much for posting thid video. My copy was pre-ordered but not yet dispatched from Amazon as far as I know so it was great to be able to see the book. This is a great collection. I was impressed with the 2 disc set back in 2010 but this is really nice.

Barrie Sillars

a-ha are not my thing, but there is no denying that this package is a thing of beauty. It is so gratifying to see record labels putting this amount of effort into producing these well presented sets. Who said physical media was dead??

Mark

Well it is for most decent singers and bands that matter. Again I point out the poor packages that Kim Wilde and Bangles have got-even Duran Duran, and others like Sandra, Alphaville, Voice Of The Beehive and China Crisis that haven’t even got the remastered treatment, despite being well into their 30th decade for most. One rule for some, another for others…

Trash

Got mine today (actually somehow managed to order two copies so will have to send one back).

A tip for those worried about the packaging – with packages like this I usually put the CDs into Nagaoka Antistatic CD sleeves and then put them into the CD slots – really helps to protect the CDs.

Charles

Nice tip, thanks.

Andyboy

Got mine today, it’s a great set
Would have loved it to be in a box with the vinyl album and perhaps a 7″ of the original release TOM, along the lines of Suede Dog Man Start recent SDE. All good nonetheless

Charles

Just got Amazon notification that its arriving today! Looking forward to this one. I understand what Francis was saying though, it was the same with the EBTG remasters and the Big Star box set (v.1). That was my fear with this one when I saw the initial pictures. I really dig the mini box style like the TFF, Simple Minds and Commotions sets. Oh well, just have to be careful.

Kiki

For these I found the soultion : The japan INNER SLEEVE FOR MINI LP !
You can easily foind them on ebay (for example). I already protected all the edsel casebound I bought…

Francis

Lovely packaging but the CDs have to be removed so carefully as not to mark them. The same problem was had with the recent “Megarama” Remixes Set. There is nothing worse than having to slide CDs out of their packaging to play them whilst trying to avoid scratching them and covering them in fingerprints.

Bliss

Well one worse thing that comes to mind is not getting these kind of releases at all. Think about that for a second.

I love the book like packages, and I hardly ever take the cds out anyway. All the pictures and essays look amazing.