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Hunting High and Low This first work by the transplanted Norwegians (who were living in the U.K. at the time) features some great songs with the New Wave sensibilities that I love so much. It also features some real hits, including the ubiquitous "Take On Me." Most of the rest of the album is a bit darker and more melancholy than that famous, bouncey song, though, so it's not really a good indicator of what the entire album was about. However, "Take On Me" is the first one you hear, so immediately you get a taste of what a-ha thought would be the best pop song. That's probably true, but some of the more artistic songs are even better. For instance, the second song, "Train of Thought" is darker, yet just as dancey, and the title song, "Hunting High and Low" is an absolutely beautiful slow song that goes a long way towards proving my rule about slow songs wrong (that is, that they generally aren't as enduringly good as dance songs.) "The Blue Sky" is more moody, and features the loneliness and ostracism that a foreign national might feel in a strange country. I wonder what this is all about, hmm? "Living A Boy's Adventure Tale" seems to have always been a favorite of the group's, as well as one of the first tracks they wrote. It's also probably my favorite. It has a danceable beat, but the dreamy, haunting, melancholy sounds and fantasy "Hansel and Gretl" lyrics make it more appropriate for listening than for dancing. It features an oboe solo as well, which is very beautiful and atmospheric. Equally good is the much more agressive "The Sun Always Shines On T.V." This is a little more well known, but it's still largely forgotten compared to "Take On Me" which is a shame, because the New Wave sound of it is, in many ways, a much more enduring sound than the pop sounds of "Take On Me." "And You Tell Me" is an experimental song that could never be a pop song, but has a certain naive appeal nevertheless. But the next song, "Love Is Reason," is much more memorable. In fact, it was the b-side for "Take On Me" but I think that it's the equal of that song. It's got a slightly more agressive beat, but it's not nearly as dark as "The Sun Always Shines." Next is "I Dream Myself Alive" which is dreamy yet dark with a driving beat. It's a little less enduring than other songs on the album, and the last song, "Here I Stand and Face the Rain" is also kinda forgetable as a slower song. It also features some guitar work, but the synth work is still beautifully done here. Overall, this is a very, very good disk. I think a-ha was always a little bit mislabeled during the 80s, mistaken for yet another pop band because of "Take On Me." However, Hunting High and Low was actually one of the best New Wave albums of the decade.