A-HA - 25

“When I was twelve years old I always had 'Hunting High And Low' in my head, and a-ha are still an important band for me“

(Chris Martin, frontman of Coldplay).

“a-ha have always been a misunderstood band. They were seen as a group for teenage girls, but in reality they were very creative“

(Adam Clayton, U2).

“Morten Harket has a fantastic voice, for many years a-ha were our favorite band“

(Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys).

Twenty-six years ago, a young trio from Oslo fronted by singer Morten Harket took over the radio and, above all, MTV airwaves (thanks to one of the best-conceived and best-executed music videos of the entire decade, directed by Steve Barron) with "Take On Me", a single that over the years has become not only their signature song but an absolute must in any self-respecting retrospective of the beloved-and-loathed Eighties. Unfortunately, a large part of the audience chose to stop right there, and critics who often flaunted a misplaced snobbery decided the three musicians weren't to be taken seriously.

Luckily, alongside the devotion of their fans, authoritative endorsements arrived from many fellow artists – including Coldplay (who have performed "Hunting High And Low" live on several occasions), Carl Perkins, and even Leonard Cohen. Their sound was later successfully emulated by Keane and by Novastar on "Never Back Down", and quite a few have pointed out how much "The Sun Always Shines On Tv", a successful single from their debut album, influenced the U2 hit "Beautiful Day" (from "All That You Can't Leave Behind").

"25" is not the first retrospective from Harket, Pål Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen. Back in 1991 there was already a commendable first attempt to gather the best-known tracks from their first four studio albums ("Headlines And Deadlines"), and in 2004 – before the band's move to Universal – Warner released "The Singles 1984 2004", a sort of update of that collection which, however, sacrificed several "minor" singles for the sake of space. But this time Rhino, the label long specialized in anthologies and reissues, has finally put together their definitive anthology, one that makes all previous greatest-hits packages entirely redundant.

Not only have all the singles released from 1985 to today been gathered together for the first time, but there are also a few album tracks (carefully chosen among fan favourites) and a B-side that's now hard to find – all material that showcases the quality and consistency of their songwriting. From their synth-pop beginnings to more mature, always tastefully arranged work, these thirty-nine songs offer a kaleidoscope of melodies and moods, light and melancholic alike – graced by Morten Harket's impeccable voice.

As we said, it's not just "Take On Me". From the debut album, produced by a team that also included veteran Alan Tarney (who played with the Shadows), four other songs have been pulled – "The Blue Sky" being the most surprising choice. The selections from their second record "Scoundrel Days" are excellent too (also included are the title track and "The Swing Of Things", the song that also inspired the title of the book edited by Jan Omdahl, updated and reissued just a few months ago). "The Living Daylights", the main theme from the fifteenth film in the James Bond saga ("The Living Daylights"), appears here in its original version – not the remake found on their third album "Stay On These Roads". Worth noting, on the first disc, is a rare remix of the song "The Blood That Moves The Body", of the fan-favourite "There's Never A Forever Thing", and of an equally unexpected "Slender Frame". There's also room for a fine cover of the Everly Brothers' "Crying In The Rain", taken from "East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon".

The second part contains the lesser-known material, at least in our country. It opens with "Move To Memphis", the unreleased track from the first 1991 anthology, and continues with two songs from "Memorial Beach" – an album that saw a-ha set aside the keyboards, push the guitars to the forefront, and embrace sounds not too far removed from Simple Minds and U2 (back when the latter were kicking off their most electronic decade).

Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch handled the digital remastering of all the tracks, delivering a crisper sound and better instrument separation, and thankfully without overdoing the dynamic compression (though a bit of distortion can be heard in the vocal parts of "Cold As Stone"). "Shapes That Go Together" is the single that broke a silence lasting until 2000, although none of the three had exactly been sitting idle. Indeed, Morten Harket recorded several solo albums, both in English ("Wild Seed") and in Norwegian, while guitarist Pal Waaktaar formed Savoy with his wife Lauren.

Ten years ago came the solid and inspired "Minor Earth, Major Sky", a comeback album that winks at then-current trends – "Velvet" recalls Morcheeba's "Big Calm", while the arrangement of "Little Black Heart" (unfortunately left off "25") has much in common with certain successful William Orbit pop productions. Had the rules been less strict, in place of two of the three singles from "Lifelines" we might have found more enticing songs such as "There's A Reason For It", which sounds as if it could have been penned by Neil Hannon, or the Depeche Mode-esque "You Wanted More" and "Cannot Hide", or even "Turn The Lights Down" – a successful duet with former Bel Canto vocalist Anneli Drecker.

All the singles taken from "Analogue" and "Foot Of The Mountain", their last two records, are present. The former is perhaps their shakiest album ever, with not entirely successful attempts to stay afloat by edging closer to the sound of Coldplay and Travis – who, for their part, appreciated it and returned the favour. Guy Berryman is indeed part of the supergroup Apparatjik alongside Magne and Mew singer Jonas Bjerre, and both he and his bandmate Will Champion contributed to Furuholmen's solo album "Past Perfect Future Tense" (together with Andy Dunlop of Travis). "Celice" (remembered for its controversial video shot in a Berlin brothel) very nearly ended up on the soundtrack of Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code". "Foot Of The Mountain" marks a return to their early sound, and the fitting close to this rich compilation is entrusted to a fine previously unreleased track, "Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)" – for whose video the band once again turned to the very director behind their first worldwide hit... And with that, the circle closes.

a-ha no longer exist today, and this "25" (worth praising for its completeness and its striking artwork featuring a new "aquatic" logo) remains the farewell card of an underrated band, perhaps penalized more than others simply for having been born in the "frivolous" Eighties, yet one that leaves behind some of the finest pages in popular music.

Thirty-nine songs over two and a half hours might make "25" look like an overly ambitious (and even somewhat risky) project, but a mind free of prejudice will recognise that, to paraphrase a line from one of their early hits, "there's more than meets the eye". Beyond the image lies great talent. And a warm, living, beating heart capable of standing up to the cold precision of synthesizers.

P.S. This comprehensive anthology is also available in a "deluxe" edition with a DVD, though its quality leaves much to be desired. Better to go for the "standard" version.

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21/01/2011