Everyone remembers the pencil-sketch video. You know the one—Morten Harket’s cheekbones, the racing motorcycles, the girl being pulled into a comic book. It’s iconic. But here’s the thing: most people treat the a-ha Take on Me album, technically titled Hunting High and Low, as a one-hit-wonder delivery system. That’s a mistake. A massive one.
It’s actually a synth-pop masterpiece.
Released in 1985, this record didn't just happen. It almost failed. Multiple times. If you go back and listen to the production today, you aren't just hearing catchy 80s hooks. You're hearing three guys from Oslo—Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy—who were obsessed with the Doors and Jimi Hendrix, trying to squeeze that organic soul into a digital Fairlight synthesizer.
The Song That Refused to Die
Let’s be real. When people search for the a-ha Take on Me album, they want to know how that specific song became a juggernaut. It wasn't an overnight success. Far from it. "Take on Me" was actually recorded and released three separate times.
The first version? Absolute garbage. It was called "Lesson One," recorded in 1984, and it sounded like a tinny demo with zero soul. It bombed. It didn't even chart. Most bands would have given up right there. They would’ve gone back to Norway and found day jobs. But Pål and Magne knew the riff—that bouncy, high-energy keyboard line—was gold.
They re-recorded it with producer Alan Tarney. Even then, it took the legendary rotoscoped music video directed by Steve Barron to make the world pay attention. Warner Bros. spent roughly $100,000 on that video, which was a fortune back then. It paid off. The song hit Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1985.
But if you stop there, you miss the best parts of the record.
✨ Don't miss: Austin & Ally Maddie Ziegler Episode: What Really Happened in Homework & Hidden Talents
Beyond the Lead Single: The Dark Side of Hunting High and Low
If you drop the needle on the rest of the a-ha Take on Me album, the mood shifts. Fast. It’s not all sunshine and comic books.
Songs like "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." are actually pretty bleak. It’s a song about isolation and the artificiality of fame, wrapped in a massive, operatic synth arrangement. Harket’s vocals here are ridiculous. He hits notes that most male pop stars wouldn't dare attempt without a lot of digital help, which they didn't have in 1985. He has a five-octave range. Five. That’s not a typo.
Then you have the title track, "Hunting High and Low." It’s a ballad, sure. But it’s got this cinematic, sweeping atmospheric quality that influenced bands you wouldn't expect. Look at Coldplay. Chris Martin has gone on record multiple times saying a-ha was one of his biggest inspirations. You can hear the DNA of "Hunting High and Low" in almost every piano-driven Coldplay anthem.
Why the Production Still Sounds "Expensive"
A lot of 80s albums sound like they were recorded in a tin can. They have that thin, gated-reverb drum sound that aged poorly. Hunting High and Low feels different.
Tony Mansfield, the original producer, used the Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) heavily. It was one of the first workstations capable of sampling. While it gave the album a "modern" sheen, the band actually fought against making it too poppy. They wanted grit. They wanted the Doors. What we ended up with was this weird, beautiful tension between Norwegian melancholy and London studio polish.
It’s moody. It’s cold. It sounds like a winter in Oslo, even when you’re dancing to it.
🔗 Read more: Kiss My Eyes and Lay Me to Sleep: The Dark Folklore of a Viral Lullaby
The "Pretty Boy" Stigma
History has been a bit unfair to a-ha. Because they were marketed as pin-ups in Smash Hits and Tiger Beat, serious rock critics dismissed them for decades. They were lumped in with Duran Duran or Wham!, but their music was always much darker and more complex.
If you listen to "Train of Thought," the lyrics are practically existentialist poetry. Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, the primary songwriter, was reading Knut Hamsun and Albert Camus. He wasn't writing "bubblegum" lyrics. He was writing about the crushing weight of time and the fleeting nature of success.
"The sun always shines on TV / Together we will break these chains of love."
That sounds romantic, but the delivery is haunting. It’s about people living vicariously through screens because their real lives are empty. Sound familiar? It’s basically a critique of Instagram culture 30 years before it existed.
The Global Impact (By the Numbers)
We can't talk about the a-ha Take on Me album without looking at the sheer scale of its success.
- Sales: Over 10 million copies worldwide.
- Grammys: They were nominated for Best New Artist in 1986 (they lost to Sade, which, honestly, is fair).
- YouTube: The "Take on Me" video is one of the few from the 80s to surpass 1.5 billion views.
In Norway, they are basically royalty. When they returned home after the album blew up, it was like the Beatles had landed. But in the US, the "one-hit-wonder" label stuck, largely because the American wing of their label didn't know how to market "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." effectively. It hit Number 1 in the UK, though. It proved they weren't just a fluke.
💡 You might also like: Kate Moss Family Guy: What Most People Get Wrong About That Cutaway
Revisiting the Tracklist
If you're going to dive back into this record, don't just shuffle it. Listen in order.
The transition from "Take on Me" into "Train of Thought" is a perfect example of how they lured you in with a pop hook and then hit you with the "Norwegian Blues." "Blue Sky" and "Living a Boy's Adventure Tale" are deep cuts that show off Magne’s keyboard textures. These aren't just filler tracks. They are carefully constructed soundscapes.
And then there's "Here I Stand and Face the Rain." It’s the closing track. It’s heavy. It’s grand. It leaves you feeling a bit exhausted, in a good way. It’s the sound of a band that had way more to say than just "touch me and tell me I'm your girl."
How to Experience the Album Today
If you want to hear what the band actually intended, look for the 2015 Deluxe Edition. It’s packed with demos from the "Naersnes" period—the stuff they recorded in a cabin in Norway before they ever moved to London.
These demos are fascinating. They are rough, acoustic-driven, and sound almost like indie-folk. It proves that the songs on the a-ha Take on Me album were strong enough to survive without the synths. A great song is a great song, whether it’s played on a $50 acoustic guitar or a $30,000 Fairlight.
Actionable Ways to Appreciate a-ha Right Now
Don't just take my word for it. Go do the legwork.
- Watch the "Take on Me" Unplugged Version: In 2017, the band did an MTV Unplugged session. They played "Take on Me" as a slow, haunting ballad. It completely changes your perspective on the lyrics. You realize it’s actually a desperate, slightly sad plea for connection.
- Compare the "Big Three" Singles: Listen to "Take on Me," "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.," and "Hunting High and Low" back-to-back. Notice the vocal range. There is no pitch correction. That is all Morten.
- Check out the 2022 Documentary: If you want the "behind the scenes" grit, watch a-ha: The Movie. It’s surprisingly honest about the friction between the three members. They aren't best friends. They are colleagues who happen to make incredible music together. It strips away the "boy band" image and shows them as the meticulous, often difficult artists they actually are.
The a-ha Take on Me album isn't a relic. It’s a blueprint. It showed that you could take high-art concepts, melancholic lyrics, and "un-pop" sensibilities and turn them into a global phenomenon. Next time you hear that drum machine intro, stay for the rest of the record. You'll realize that the comic book world was just the surface. Underneath, there’s a whole lot of heart and a fair bit of darkness.
Next Steps for the Listener:
Start by listening to the original "Lesson One" demo on YouTube to hear how far the song traveled. Then, move to the Hunting High and Low 30th Anniversary remaster on a high-quality audio service like Tidal or Qobuz. Pay close attention to the bass synth lines on "Train of Thought"—they are surprisingly funky for a bunch of guys from the Norwegian countryside. Finally, watch the 1986 Live in South America footage to see how they handled the transition from studio wizards to stadium rock stars.