a-ha: any fans?

[Trollheart]

One of my favourite bands ever, and probably the first actual "pop" band that I at first grudgingly admitted I liked, then later got totally into their music and loved them. Such a pity they called it a day. Feel free to post your favourite a-ha songs in their memory: here are some of mine...

My favourite a-ha album by a mile is "Analogue", and it has so many good tracks, but I particularly like these two:
A fine blue line

The summers of our youth

Ah hell, I have to include Halfway through the tour!


Then there's "Lifelines", with the brilliant title track

so many other good tracks, but let's move on to "Minor earth, major sky", from which I choose (though it's a hard choice) Velvet. Dodgy video (NSFW); great song.

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

One of my favourite bands ever, and probably the first actual "pop" band that I at first grudgingly admitted I liked, then later got totally into their music and loved them. Such a pity they called it a day. Feel free to post your favourite a-ha songs in their memory: here are some of mine...

My favourite a-ha album by a mile is "Analogue", and it has so many good tracks, but I particularly like these two:
A fine blue line

The summers of our youth

Ah hell, I have to include Halfway through the tour!


Then there's "Lifelines", with the brilliant title track

so many other good tracks, but let's move on to "Minor earth, major sky", from which I choose (though it's a hard choice) Velvet. Dodgy video (NSFW); great song.

A great weakness of mine, absolutely love the first three albums and also dig the American rock posturing of albums 4 and 5. Don't go mad on the newer stuff though.

[Screen13]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

A great weakness of mine, absolutely love the first three albums and also dig the American rock posturing of albums 4 and 5. Don't go mad on the newer stuff though.

I have not heard too much of their music from the last decade (being in the US, its not even promoted much let alone released), but East of the Sun... and Memorial Beach have a place in my collection. #4 was a $1 cut-out find (cassette, now long gone due to over-play) bought during the Winter, about two years after it's release, and it was perfect with my drive home. With #5, I first bought the casingle to Dark Is the Night, then the album, not thinking that I was possibly the only one within at least a 50-100 Miles' distance from anyone else who bought it (it was Grunge Time, and in The Midwest...you know what that means).

The Blood That Moves the Body was the song that sold me on a ha as someone to listen to, although Stay on These Roads was VERY hit and miss. Thankfully, that dollar plus tax I spent on #4 was well spent.

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

One of my favourite bands ever, and probably the first actual "pop" band that I at first grudgingly admitted I liked, then later got totally into their music and loved them. Such a pity they called it a day. Feel free to post your favourite a-ha songs in their memory: here are some of mine...[...]

I remember seeing the "Velvet" video before...singing corpses are hard to forget! ...but I'm realizing I haven't heard many of A-ha's songs, and this will be a good opportunity for me to do so.

The only A-ha song that I can remember off the top of my head is "Take on Me," of course, which I liked since I first heard it on the radio back in the '80s, although I don't think I saw the video until a couple years ago.

My favorite moment in the music begins with the line, "Oh the things that you say," just after 2:30, up through "You're all the things I've got to remember," because it sounds so plaintive with yearning. In case someone hasn't heard that song, here it is:


A-Ha - Take On Me (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

I remember seeing the "Velvet" video before...singing corpses are hard to forget! ...but I'm realizing I haven't heard many of A-ha's songs, and this will be a good opportunity for me to do so.

The only A-ha song that I can remember off the top of my head is "Take on Me," of course, which I liked since I first heard it on the radio back in the '80s, although I don't think I saw the video until a couple years ago.

My favorite moment in the music begins with the line, "Oh the things that you say," just after 2:30, up through "You're all the things I've got to remember," because it sounds so plaintive with yearning. In case someone hasn't heard that song, here it is:


A-Ha - Take On Me (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

Everybody knows that song, its the song that made them famous and also gave them a bad reputation.

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

The only A-ha song that I can remember off the top of my head is "Take on Me," of course, which I liked since I first heard it on the radio back in the '80s, although I don't think I saw the video until a couple years ago.

In case someone hasn't heard that song, here it is:

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Everybody knows that song, its the song that made them famous and also gave them a bad reputation.

That's why I said "someone"...as in only one person! I suspect some people haven't heard "Take on Me," though. It's pretty old.

So what was this bad reputation that you say the song gave the band, and who had the negative views of A-ha? The fact that "Take on Me" made them famous suggests many people liked it at the time.

I prefer "Take on Me" to the more mellow songs by them that I've heard. For example, I was a little disappointed by the slow ballad sound of many of the songs in this thread because I'd expected and hoped for more fast-paced, dynamic pieces similar to "Take on Me." I'll have to listen to more, because I don't know their music well enough yet to tell how their style changed over time or from song to song.

EDIT: I just listened to "The Sun Always Shines on TV" because I didn't know if I'd heard it before, and I found out that I do recognize it. I definitely prefer "Take on Me."

[Trollheart]

Vegangelica (I used to think your name was VENGangelica --- pictured some sort of avenging angel!) if you want to read more about a-ha and hear some of their best music you should check out the profile I did on them last year in my journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1128140 ---pretty in-depth, and worth a read, if I say so myself!

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

I remember seeing the "Velvet" video before...singing corpses are hard to forget! ...but I'm realizing I haven't heard many of A-ha's songs, and this will be a good opportunity for me to do so.

The only A-ha song that I can remember off the top of my head is "Take on Me," of course, which I liked since I first heard it on the radio back in the '80s, although I don't think I saw the video until a couple years ago.

My favorite moment in the music begins with the line, "Oh the things that you say," just after 2:30, up through "You're all the things I've got to remember," because it sounds so plaintive with yearning. In case someone hasn't heard that song, here it is:


A-Ha - Take On Me (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

[Trollheart]

I think what US means is that "Take on me", despite the fact that it's a great pop song, is sort of more towards the lower end of what they went on to achieve musically, but like many bands they got pigeonholed as being "that band who wrote that song", and people probably consider them one or two-hit wonders, despite the fact that some of their other songs did well. As he says, they did move away from pop later and into a gritter, more dark area, swapping pop for rock, and the fact that most people's image of a-ha is that one song restricts them in many people's minds. It's a phenomenon I like to call "The Albatross syndrome", and which I'll be exploring in depth soon in my journal (plug, plug!)

As for faster, heavier songs, try these:

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I think what US means is that "Take on me", despite the fact that it's a great pop song, is sort of more towards the lower end of what they went on to achieve musically, but like many bands they got pigeonholed as being "that band who wrote that song", and people probably consider them one or two-hit wonders, despite the fact that some of their other songs did well. As he says, they did move away from pop later and into a gritter, more dark area, swapping pop for rock, and the fact that most people's image of a-ha is that one song restricts them in many people's minds. It's a phenomenon I like to call "The Albatross syndrome", and which I'll be exploring in depth soon in my journal (plug, plug!)

Hole in one and spot on. When the average Joe here thinks of a-ha he usually thinks of "Take on Me" "Cry Wolf" and "Touchy" which were poppy singles aimed at people buying commercial pop, especially teenage girls. He won't realize that the band had a very different side to them as well.

[VEGANGELICA]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Vegangelica (I used to think your name was VENGangelica --- pictured some sort of avenging angel!) if you want to read more about a-ha and hear some of their best music you should check out the profile I did on them last year in my journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1128140 ---pretty in-depth, and worth a read, if I say so myself!

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I think what US means is that "Take on me", despite the fact that it's a great pop song, is sort of more towards the lower end of what they went on to achieve musically, but like many bands they got pigeonholed as being "that band who wrote that song", and people probably consider them one or two-hit wonders, despite the fact that some of their other songs did well. As he says, they did move away from pop later and into a gritter, more dark area, swapping pop for rock, and the fact that most people's image of a-ha is that one song restricts them in many people's minds. It's a phenomenon I like to call "The Albatross syndrome", and which I'll be exploring in depth soon in my journal (plug, plug!)

As for faster, heavier songs, try these:

Thank you, Trollheart, for the music suggestions, the description of A-ha's reputation as only a pop group even though they evolved into more, and the information that you cover A-ha's music (and soon the "Albatross syndrome") in your journal. I'll look!

(VENGangelica...an avenging angel! I like it. I'd noticed your unique spelling in the past and appreciated your attempt to spell my "name," even if you used an extra letter. "Just don't call me late for dinner!" )

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Hole in one and spot on. When the average Joe here thinks of a-ha he usually thinks of "Take on Me" "Cry Wolf" and "Touchy" which were poppy singles aimed at people buying commercial pop, especially teenage girls. He won't realize that the band had a very different side to them as well.

Heh heh...since I was a teenage girl when I first heard and liked "Take on Me" and I didn't realize that the band had a very different side to them, I'd say you have described me well: the average Joe(anne?).