a-ha "Foot of the Mountain" (2009)

Foot of the Mountain
release date: Jun. 19, 2009
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]

Track highlights: 1. "The Bandstand" - 4. "Foot of The Mountain" - 6. "Shadowside"

10th studio album release by a-ha. I came across it by chance, and despite the fact that I never really liked the band, this isn't bad. Actually, I think this is clearly their best album ever. Here, they show how technically good musicians they are. The style is still synth-pop but not at all like their releases in the 80s. It's a contemporary multi-layered sound, and it's less blue-eyed pop.

a-ha "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" (1990)

East of the Sun, West of the Moon
release date: Oct. 22, 1990
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,58]
producer: Christopher Neil, Ian Stanley
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: Norway

4th studio album by a-ha is another pop / rock album with stress on pop. To me, it's much the same output as Danish band Michael Learns to Rock - another band I never really understood. It's music loaded with piano, keyboards, saxophones and vocal harmonies, and music without any distinction, I think. It bores me, and I'm on the verge to delete this album from my collection, 'cause why on earth do I keep it?
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

a-ha "Stay on These Roads" (1988)

Stay on These Roads
release date: May 3, 1988
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]
producer: Alan Tarney
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "Stay on These Roads" - 2. "The Blood That Moves the Body" - 6. "The Living Daylights"

3rd studio album release by a-ha released nearly two years after Scoundrel Days is exclusively produced by Alan Tarney.
Stylistically, the trio sticks to the soft side of pop / rock, and with this the production side has improved considerably.
The result is imho an album that's better than I thought back then. Here you'll find some fine songwriting and well-played instrumentation. a-ha always represented nicely composed music and they are instrumentally skilled musicians. The music is not really my style and taste but this is not bad, I just can't listen to it for that long but both the title track for the 007-film, "The Living Daylights" and the first track are truly fine songs. Without rising high in my ratings, I think, this album is easily their so far best.

a-ha "Scoundrel Days" (1986)

Scoundrel Days
release date: Oct. 6, 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Alan Tarney, Mags, Pål Waaktaar

label: Warner Bros. - nationality: Norway

2nd studio album by a-ha released one year after the debut - and this time co-produced by Magnus Furuholmen and Pål Waaktaar of the band.
The album contains fine vocal harmonies and well-executed compositions but it doesn't really help me when I find it tedious in the long run. It's hard to tell just what lacks 'cause these guys know how to play their instruments - they are kinda original, aren't they? The "but" part is somewhere in what's not really interesting, "fine fine, yes but... I just don't really find it that good." In the days when they were around I think, I thought of it as "music for girls", mostly. I know that sounds stupid but it must be that it never really appealed to me, so I had to categorise it along with bands like Culture Club and Take That stuff and hearing it some 30 years later doesn't really change my feelings about it - so there you have it.
I can't really recommend this.

a-ha "Hunting High and Low" (1985)

Hunting High and Low [debut]
release date: Oct. 28, 1985
format: digital (2015 remaster - 30th Anniversary Edition)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: John Ratcliff; Tony Mansfield; Alan Tarney (1, 6)

label: Warner Bros. / Rhino Records - nationality: Norway

Track highlights: 1. "Take on Me" - 3. "Hunting High and Low" - 6. "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." - 10. "Here I Stand and Face the Rain"

Studio album debut by Norwegian trio a-ha consisting of lead vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist and main composer Pål Waaktaar, who's also credited for drum programming and backing vocals, and bassist & keyboardist Magne Furuholmen. The album was originally released on Warner Bros. and John Ratcliff is main producer on all tracks (aside from also mixing and playing additional keyboards), Mansfield is producer on seven compositions, and Tarney on two.

Didn't they just make it to all the little girls' bedrooms back then... I thought it was too slick and cheesy, too much happy-go-lucky without sufficient original content and the music completely failed to interest me then. Today, it's very much what has been labelled 80s pop music, and tracks #1, 3 and 6 are the soft pop songs you'll find on compilations alongside Duran Duran, Madonna, George Michael, Cindy Lauper and the like - basically music I never really bothered listen to. I think, the band owe much of their success and widespread popularity to video director Steve Barron, who stood behind the highly original pencil-sketch animation music video to "Take on Me".

This album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", which I really find a bit hard to understand as I basically see the album as interesting but also as a somewhat generic pop album without much new to offer.