Hunting High And Low
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Album Summary
Hunting High And Low arrived in the fall of 1985, a debut record that felt like it had been beamed in from some other, more beautiful dimension. Recorded in London and Oslo with producers Alan Tarney and Tony Mansfield at the helm, a-ha inked their deal with Warner Bros. and delivered something that the label — and frankly the whole world — wasn't quite prepared for. The synths were lush, the songwriting was achingly romantic, and Morten Harket's voice had that kind of crystalline, stratospheric quality that made grown folks stop what they were doing and just listen. It dropped in Norway in the spring of '85 and hit international markets through the autumn, riding a wave that the 'Take On Me' music video had already set on fire.
Reception
- Take On Me became a global phenomenon, climbing to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1985 and pushing the album into platinum territory across multiple countries.
- The Sun Always Shines On T.V. gave the album a second massive hit, reaching number one in the UK and cementing the record's staying power well into 1986.
- Critics at the time were both dazzled and slightly cautious — some dismissed a-ha as pretty-boy synth-pop, but the ones paying close attention recognized that the songcraft on tracks like Hunting High And Low and Here I Stand And Face The Rain ran a whole lot deeper than the teen-idol packaging suggested.
Significance
- This album stands as one of the definitive documents of the mid-80s synth-pop and new wave movement, sitting comfortably alongside records by Tears for Fears and Howard Jones while carving out its own distinctly Scandinavian, emotionally vulnerable identity.
- The success of Hunting High And Low cracked open the door for Norwegian and broader Nordic pop acts on the international stage in a way that simply had not happened before — it was a genuine cultural breakthrough from outside the Anglo-American axis.
- Living A Boy's Adventure Tale and Dream Myself Alive showcased a cinematic, almost orchestral ambition that separated a-ha from their synth-pop contemporaries, hinting at a band that had far more artistic range than one brilliant single could ever contain.
Samples
- Take On Me — one of the most recognized synth-pop riffs of the 80s, it has been interpolated and sampled across hip-hop, pop, and electronic music for decades, appearing in tracks by artists including A1 and finding its melodic DNA woven into countless productions across multiple generations.
Tracklist
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A1 Take On Me 172
3:46
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A2 Train Of Thought 136
4:11
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A3 Hunting High And Low 116
3:43
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A4 The Blue Sky 113
2:22
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A5 Living A Boy's Adventure Tale 111
5:00
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B1 The Sun Always Shines On T.V. 129
5:06
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B2 And You Tell Me 98
1:51
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B3 Love Is Reason 128
3:04
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B4 Dream Myself Alive 128
3:06
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B5 Here I Stand And Face The Rain 127
4:30
Artist Details
A-ha formed in Oslo, Norway in 1982, brought together by the songwriting partnership of Pål Gamre Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen alongside the otherworldly vocal talent of Morten Harket. These three young men packed their bags and headed to London chasing a dream, and what they found there was nothing short of international stardom — blending synth-pop, new wave, and deeply melodic pop songwriting into a sound that was both of its era and somehow timeless. Their cultural footprint stretches far beyond one iconic music video: a-ha became a symbol of pop music's ability to transcend language and geography, and they remain Norway's most celebrated musical export to this day.
