It was 1985. You couldn't turn on a radio or look at a television screen without seeing that charcoal-sketch animation. Three guys from Norway—Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, and Pål Waaktaar-Savoy—basically redefined what it meant to be a global pop star overnight. But honestly, if you think A-ha Hunting High and Low is just about a catchy drum machine loop and a high note, you’re missing the actual story. It’s a record born from sheer, stubborn desperation.
Most people forget that "Take On Me" failed. Twice. It didn't just explode out of nowhere. It took three separate releases and a revolutionary music video by Steve Barron to make the world pay attention to these three Scandinavians who had moved to a damp flat in London to starve for their art.
The Sound of A-ha Hunting High and Low
When you sit down and actually listen to the full album, it’s surprisingly moody. It’s not all sunshine and neon. Songs like "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." carry this heavy, operatic weight that felt way more substantial than what most of their "New Romantic" peers were doing at the time. Tony Mansfield produced most of the record, but there was a lot of friction. The band actually felt his production was too "clockwork" and stiff. They wanted something grander.
The title track, "Hunting High and Low," is a perfect example of that tension. It’s a ballad, sure, but it’s got this yearning, almost desperate quality. Morten’s voice does things that shouldn’t be physically possible. We talk about his five-octave range a lot, but it’s the control—the way he moves from a chesty baritone to that crystalline falsetto—that makes the album hold up four decades later.
Chasing the London Dream
Imagine being Pål and Magne in the early 80s. You’re in a band called Bridges. You're playing psych-rock. Then you see Morten Harket singing in a soul band and you realize, That's the guy. They had to convince him to join. Then they had to move to London with basically no money.
They lived in a place called the "Sheriff Road" flat. It was grim. We’re talking about one of the biggest bands in history eating canned beans and shivering through English winters because they were convinced they had the songs. That struggle is baked into the DNA of A-ha Hunting High and Low. It’s why the lyrics feel so isolated. "Train of Thought" isn't a happy pop song; it's a claustrophobic look at the grind of daily life.
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Why the Production Matters More Than You Think
A lot of the 80s sounds dated now. The gated reverb on the drums can feel like a parody. But this album avoids the worst of those tropes. Why? Because the melodies are built on a classical foundation. Pål Waaktaar-Savoy was obsessed with The Beatles and The Doors, but he also had a deep appreciation for classical structure.
Take "The Blue Sky." It’s quirky. It’s got these weird synth stabs. But the chord progression is sophisticated. It’s not just I-IV-V fluff.
- The Gear: They used the Roland Juno-60. They used the DX7.
- The Percussion: It was a mix of LinnDrum programming and live hits.
- The Vocals: Recorded mostly at Warner Bros. Studios and Sarm West.
The legendary "Take On Me" riff was actually something Magne had written when he was 15. It was called "The Juicy Fruit Song" originally. Can you imagine? One of the most recognizable melodies in human history started as a teenage keyboard doodle in a Norwegian suburb.
The Cultural Impact and the "Boy Band" Curse
For a long time, critics treated A-ha like a manufactured boy band. It was a massive mistake. Because they were handsome, the UK press—especially magazines like Smash Hits—focused on Morten’s cheekbones instead of Pål’s songwriting. It drove them crazy.
They were serious musicians. They were introverts. They were actually quite moody guys who were deeply influenced by Joy Division and Echo & the Bunnymen. If you listen to the second half of A-ha Hunting High and Low, you hear that darkness creeping in. "And You Tell Me" is tiny and fragile. "Here I Stand and Face the Rain" is a massive, sweeping gothic pop masterpiece that sounds like a storm rolling in over a fjord.
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The album eventually sold over 10 million copies. It hit number one in Norway (obviously) and top ten in the US and UK. But the legacy isn't just the sales. It's the fact that artists like Chris Martin from Coldplay and Keane’s Tom Chaplin cite this specific record as a blueprint for how to write emotional, melodic pop.
The Remixes and the "Extended" Legacy
If you’re a collector, you know the 12-inch versions of these tracks are where the real magic happens. The extended version of "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." is nearly eight minutes of synth-pop perfection. It builds and builds. It’s basically the bridge between 70s prog-rock and 90s trance.
Alan Tarney was the guy who finally "got" their sound. While Mansfield did most of the album, Tarney was brought in to redo "Take On Me." He understood that the song needed to breathe. He simplified the bassline and let the melody lead. That was the turning point. Without Tarney’s intervention, A-ha might have remained a footnote in Norwegian music history instead of the icons they became.
Misconceptions About the Lyrics
People think A-ha is "light" music. It's really not. Pål’s lyrics on this debut are often about displacement.
- "Living a Boy's Adventure Tale" is about the fear of growing up and the realization that the world is much bigger and scarier than you thought.
- "Dream Myself Alive" deals with escapism in a way that feels almost psychological.
They weren't writing bubblegum. They were writing about the weird, lonely experience of being foreigners in London trying to make sense of their own ambitions.
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A-ha Hunting High and Low in the 2020s
Why does this record still show up in movies and TV shows? Because it captures a very specific type of yearning. It’s not just nostalgia. There is a "widescreen" feeling to the production that modern digital recording often struggles to replicate.
When the band toured the album for its 35th anniversary (slightly delayed by the world shutting down), they played it in full. Seeing those songs performed live revealed how sturdy they are. "Love is Reason" might be the most "pop" thing on there, but even that has a weirdly aggressive synth line that keeps it from being too sweet.
Honestly, the album is a miracle. It’s a miracle that three guys from a country with almost no international pop presence at the time managed to conquer the world with a sound that was both experimental and accessible.
What You Should Do Next
If it’s been a while, go back and listen to the album from start to finish. Don't just skip to the hits.
- Listen on Headphones: Pay attention to the panning on "Train of Thought." The production is much more intricate than the 80s-radio-edit version suggests.
- Watch the 4K Restorations: The music videos for this era were remastered recently. The detail in the "Hunting High and Low" video—the one where Morten turns into various animals—is stunning in high definition.
- Check out the Demos: If you can find the deluxe editions, listen to the early versions of these songs. You can hear the influence of The Doors and more "organic" rock before the synths took over. It gives you a much better perspective on who they were as a band before the fame machine swallowed them.
The record isn't just a time capsule. It's a masterclass in how to balance commercial appeal with genuine artistic integrity. They fought for every note on that disc, and you can still hear the sweat and the cold London nights in the tracks if you listen closely enough.