Hunting High And Low

Boring

huge hit better singing The The i am so skeptical for why this is on 1001 albums, but actually it sounds really fun to drive around to sun always shines on tv actually sounds like the kmfdm stuff that my roommate listens to and you tell me is unlistenable im sorry bad bad electro punk twee is bad i do not understand why this is considered a great album these are some obnoxious melodies

Yeah, I am not a big 80´s fan, I guess. At least not a-ha...of course the released singles are and always will be bangers...But for example Hunting High and Low is just meh to me...sorry a-ha.

Vocals are unbearable, otherwise, there might be a good melody or two in there.

Sure, Take On Me is a great song, but there is nothing else on the album that comes close and as a whole it just washed over me as a mass of bland synth pop.

“Take On Me” has always sounded like it should have been a one-hit wonder. The rest of this record more than confirms that impression. What’s the most apt description of A-ha: a pale and unsophisticated imitation of Roxy Music? A poor man’s Depeche Mode? (Who’d a thunk one would ever find oneself defending Depeche Mode!?!?) While the video, for its originality and quality, might – might – be worth knowing before one passes, one could very peacefully and contentedly pass without knowing this record.

Another 80s album that really hinges on one big song Take On Me is obviously fantastic (as is The Sun Always Shines on TV) and the title track was really nice and an effective change of pace. The rest of the album was really underwhelming though

One hit wonder for a reason...

Starts off with a banger. goes downhill from there.

80s pap. Yeah there a couple of huge singles but its all a bit sham. The lead singer thinks he's a bit Bowie and doesn't pull it off The synth sound is really repetitive. It has a joyful vibe but its not for me. Not that great really. Lightweight. 2

Not bad, but not for me.

Lotsa mid on here. Very grocery store. Mostly shmeh with a standout banger

One hit wonder. What's next? The Mambo No. 5 album? I like Take on Me, but starting off an album with your best song is usually a pretty bad idea. It goes downhill after that and the rest is unmemorable boring new wave - meaningless mumbly lyrics, repetitive synths and uninteresting melodies. The worst offender is "I Dream Myself Alive" where the singer repeats the title phrase like 50 times. I don't know, I wasn't counting. Or paying attention, really. Maybe I just dreamed that up.

i mean take on me is classic but otherwise didn't find it all that interesting

One-hit wonder. They put the hit as the first track on the album so there's not much point in listening to the rest of this album of typical 80's synth-pop.

Having grown up in the 90's, there's something about this particular brand of 80's music that just sounds silly to me, like a joke. "Take on Me" might as well be the flagship song for that. I'd like to think that I'm shaking that preconception, but listening to this album tells me that I haven't yet.

1985. Take on Me

Best Song: Take On Me. Always feels lame to pick the big target as the best song, but it really is the only choice here. So unique, with much more adventurous vocals than the rest of the album. Worst Song: Hunting High and Low. Sounds too much like the song that plays during a movie montage, where the animated protagonist is literally looking high and low for their missing friend. Overall: Coming into this having previously only heard "Take On Me", I honestly expected more. The rest of the album is just this squeaky clean, super-sanitized pop. Also, I don't usually care about the cover art, but the decision to choose this tricep-popping picture is an interesting one.

The two big hits are still great, but the rest wasn't much to my taste.

the beauty of doing this list using youtube is that you get to see the videos. the video for sun always shines on tv is a quintessentially 80s nightmare where the band are playing their song in a cathedral full of mannequins. pulling off all their best 80s moves with the aren't i handsome perma smirk in full flow. can't decide if i love or hate the video, but its left more of an impression than most of the dross on this album.

A tame affair. Decent for mainstream eighties pop but the bar is set very low. Take On Me is an evergreen, entertaining pop hit but the rest of the album is fairly middling. Underwhelming.

This is not an album I needed to hear. Take on Me holds a place in the 80s ear-worm songs, and the video was interesting. The rest of the album feels disconnected, and the title track feels like an unused James Bond theme or like something for Jaws 5 (was there a Jaws 5 already? IDK).

Pretty bland for an 80s pop record

VERY samey

Couple of bangers but i was ready for so much more

“A product of the 1980s, with highs like 'Take On Me' and 'The Sun Always Shines on TV.”

AHA! So My first play of the Norwegian Boy Bands first album. Morton and the boys did themselves proud with their innovative video for "Take On Me" which is no doubt a seminal piece of Mid 80's Euro Pop. The rest of the album... well very much of a muchness in my eyes. The three singles are ok but not one I would have in my collection.

One great, classic. A bunch of pretty basic songs.

Take On Me is a classic of the decade...the rest is not so much. It's not a terrible listen. The singer is pretty good and it's never painful to listen to, but it's just kind of there. In fact it's pretty frustrating. They come so close to making good, memorable songs but just fall short. 5/10. I wish I could give out half stars.

This would not have been my pick for 1001 albums.

I mean, it’s not unlistenable, but there’s a reason I only know of one of their songs even though they’ve made ten albums. Some glimpses of good synth pop, but not nearly enough, and the only great pop is the opening track.

Singles stand out, but after a few listens, I didn't feel much for this one.

Very 80s feel pop

Decidedly 80s flavor, which is tasty in its own right. Opens with Take on Me, which is the only A-Ha song I “know” and I was singing at the top of my lungs, unable to reach any of the high notes, making my dogs howl, but enjoying myself immensely. Train of Thought has a Bowie-Ish feel. Hunting High and Low made me uncomfortable. Boundaries are a good thing, my dude. The rest of the album is 80’s pop synthy ridiculous goodness. Not my jam, but not awful. Very short album at 10 songs clocking in at just over 35 minutes.

Kinda disappointing, TBH. Take On Me is obviously a classic, and I always like the rich orchestration, jazz harmonies, and thought that goes into 80s pop; this is no exception. But none of the rest of the album grabs me. On the very last track I thought they had something, then they got weird and boring. "And You Tell Me" is pretty funny, but at 1:51..... that's not enough to carry the album.

Obviously. Outside of the single this kinda sucks.

Absolutely average

klassisk 80'er, danse

Peak 80's. A mix of slow and fast, upbeat and morose, but "Take On Me" pretty much outshines everything else.

Kolejny popowy material, tym razem z troche innej epoki, z innej lokacji i innego kalibru, bo Hunting High And Low to debiutancki album norweskiej bandy o bardzo orginalnej nazwie dla czleka spoza krainy fiordow, a-ha, plyta z 85, wiec z czasu najwiekszej synthowej epidemii, co czuc na praktycznie calym materiale, ktorego jest 35 minut, chociaz rownie dobrze mozna zapoznac sie z pierwszymi 3 minutami i 45 sekundami i juz wiedziec co, gdzie, jak i dlaczego, bo wlasnie tyle trwa otwierajacy trak take on me, ktory jest wizytowka bandy, a tu ciekawostka jednym z najbardziej popularnych songow z europy w czasach wczesno jutubowych, wiec nie dziwne, ze znam go z katowania stacji radiowych tym wlasnie songiem, bo o ile sam trak ma w sobie cos co mozna nazwac duchem tamtej epoki, tak od strony muzycznej jest to produkcja raczej sredniawa, mam na mysli caloksztalt plyty, bo tak synthowego popu dawno nie slyszalem tutaj, banda troj osobowa, glosny wokal, pan na gitarce i pan od klawisza, do tego drumy z automata, tak samo basior i mamy disko polo pelna geba, co do samego wokalu, to pan Harket brzmi troche jak lidlowy bowie, za co oczywiscie plus, ale ciezko znalezc cos na czym mozna zawiesic ucho na tej plycie, oczywiscie poza openingiem, gdybym mial wskazac traki ktore jeszcze jakos sie wyrozniaja, to bylyby to and you tell me o wiele wolniejszy trak niz reszta materialu, wiec nie jest tak popowo, a kolejnym jest zamykajacy here i stand and face the rain, ktory sampluje z poczatku jakies chorki koscielne, albo tak to przynajmniej brzmi i jakos zmienia sie w ciagu tych 4 minut grania, egzotyczne smyczki i produkcja robia tutaj robote, czego nie mozna powiedziec na reszcie materialu, gdzie na niektorych kawalkach trzeba regulowac glosnosci samodzielnie, na plejaka wrzuce jedynie take on me, jako swoista wizytowke albumu

Take On Me is an all time favorite, but the rest of this album is just boring new wave bs. Sorry, a-ha.

Not a fan. Classic 80s music that I don't like aka new-wave.

1.75

A bit weird, not really full of bangers

wasn't that great - seems like all 80s bands were one hit wonders. an extra star just for take on me which is great tbf

Inoffensive to the point of being boring.

Take On Me is an all-timer, the rest of the album didn’t do much for me.

It’s got the meme song Enjoyed some instrumentals But it’s not for me.

an old friend once told me that his fiancee's favorite band was a-ha and I laughed before realizing he was serious and they were planning a trip to europe to see them play live. this was like 2003. the marriage didn't work out but do you really want to marry someone whose favorite band's best album mostly just sounds like songs Duran Duran didn't think were good enough to release?

It was ok nothing grear

What you expect aha to sound like.take on me then a bunch of soft rock? 5/10

A-ha's debut showcases sharp synths, Harket's range and a wide variety in sounds, which convinces me of the quality of this record and it's significance in a period when synth pop went through it's highest commercial success. However, I have already had my fair share of this style when I finish listening to Take on Me. Train of Thought slows down the tempo gigantically, and Hunting High and Low is a ballad too cheesy for me. Something I experience quite a few times with synth pop, is that the vocal mixing is very inconsistent and causes a distracting experience between tracks. Because I enjoy the subtlety of the synths on the Blue Sky, I feel this record deserves a 2/5.

Definition of one hit wonder I guess. One hit on this album and the rest of the songs are garbage.

There's some great music on here - by which I mean "Take on Me", mostly. And some other good moments I guess, but it's a 37 minute album I'm impatient for it to end only halfway through.

Boring overall. Better synthpop exists (flock of seagulls anyone?)

1. ICONIC 10/10 2. pretty cool 6.75/10 3 gooood 7/10 4. kinda boring 4/10 5. i give up

Impossible to be a teen in the 80s, as I was, and not know 'Take On Me' (and have a grand ol' time attempting the high notes in the chorus!). Admittedly, I honestly don't remember ever hearing any other song by them. I just listened to this album now and I can say with all certainty I didn't miss anything. Just too 80s-synth-pop for me without enough in it to keep me interested. Was right for the time, I know, and it's not bad, it's just utterly dull to me as a listener.

So habe ich mir Depeche Mode immer vorgestellt, ohne es je gehört zu haben. Nix für mich.

Meh

Def an unnecessary one hit wonder album

Grand

There's a reason why you only know one song from this album...

Meh.

Obviously Take on Me is a classic. The Sun Always Shines on T.V. is decent but the rest of the album is pretty forgettable. 5/10

Definitely a classic, but I'm not a huge fan of their brand of synth pop. Too much MIDI, not enough substance.

I was never a fan of their radio hit(s), but I tried to give this a chance. Nope, tapping out - Same vapid '80s synth pop...

A couple good tracks. Most of it below average

piola

Sooooo 80s. Some very famous songs...but it‘s just not my thing.

I listened.

This is going to sound harsh, but recognize I can see why they are a one hit wonder in America. Too soft and slow for me.

The most typical dodgy 80s album

I didn’t listen to this and I don’t intend to

My hopes were high on seeing this and ‘Take on Me’ is a great opener. Track two wasn’t for me, but i was safe with track three i thought as i vaguely remember‘Hunting High and Low’ from my youth. Turns out i was wrong and sounded as dated and crap as the track before it. Other than ‘The Sun always shines on tv’ the rest of the album is just dated pap.

Of all the infinite things to do with the money and studio time this took to produce, this is what you make? Even “Take On Me” can’t save this one.

Not for me. 1/5

No

No emotional connection for me. Mwh

Not for me

Take On Me Hunting High and Low The Sun Always Shines on TV

Siempre digo que lo peor de ser hortera es serlo y no saberlo. Pues hay algo peor: ser hortera, no saberlo y además ser aburrido (una estrella porqué Take on me, yoquesé)

viva suecia

This is what the real 80’s sounded like. You may think us teens were listening to cool and moody Smiths and Joy Division albums. And we were but turn on the radio during the day or watch a music tv show (there was no MTV back then). It was wall to wall garbage like this. Or watch some horrid American movie starring Michael J Fox or Tom Cruise and there’d be a scene of them running or skateboarding or just being arrogant and drum beats and synth stabs would accompany them while Huey Lewis or Simon Le Bon or Morten Harket butchered meaningless lyrics. I had forgotten what a half-assed rotten singer aha had. Garbles every line then goes falsetto for now reason. The hits - Take on Me, Sun Shines on TV are as excruciating as I recall them. But there’s a real drop off from the hits to the rest of the tracks. Do you remember the Most Mysterious Song On the Internet? A song so unloved it go one play on German radio then forgotten, well it sounds like an Aha filler track.

Guy has impressive vocal range, the first song is a classic, and the rest can’t live up to those aspects and it’s generally a generic synth-pop blur of unmemorableness.

10/10

Wow, I did not expect this to suck so much

80's synth pop, everything I don't like 1/29/2026

++: And You Tell Me +: Train of Thought, Here I Stand and Face the Rain +-: Take On Me, The Blue Sky, Living a Boy's Adventure Tale, The Sun Always Shines on T.V. -: Hunting High and Low, Love Is Reason, I Dream Myself Alive 3,3/10

One hit wonder albums should not be on this list at all! Ugh. BTW Spotify has absolutely fucked this up using multiple sources for the tracks with different mastering levels. The singles are loud, the album is quiet. Take On Me is pretty all time as a single but the rest of this album is generic sounding and boring mid 80's new wave afterbirth.

A one-hit wonder new wave band from the 80s? Amazing. Put it on the list boys! As you know, the only thing that qualifies a new wave album's placement here is existence. Starts off with this catchy but annoying Take On Me. I've had to put up with hearing this song since the 90s when I started watching Much Music in Canada because VJs loved the music video. Then a bunch of whiney new wave sop follows. Even compared to other new wave this is terrible. To cap off the album, they did an instrumental version of their one hit, because I guess they realize that's the only reason people bought this album anyway. 1/5

a-ha glad i never bought the album. Cant beleive i wasted my time listening to this one

Take on me is an all timer! The rest of the album tho

I tried to give it a two, but the truth is I just didn’t like it.

Truly could not wait for this to be over

Made it through 2.5 songs, then started skipping around. True 80s synth schlock, I was too bored to finish. Take on Me is too overplayed to even appreciate on its own terms at this point.

1,3/5

That was awful.

One hit song, but not for me

Posted: No Hunting.

80s synth pop = boring and lifeless. This album fits the mold...

The sort of music I avoided at the time, and would still prefer to avoid now. One good tune and a lot of chaff.

They’re a one hit wonder and they don’t deserve to be on this list. And the one hit I didn’t like back then and I still don’t like.

Not my flute of chanpagne

Unfortunately a one-hit wonder.

1. take on me - 2 2. train - 1.5 3. hunting - 1.5 4. blue - 1 5. tale - 2 6. zun - 1.5 7. me - 1 8. love - 1 9. dream - 1 10. rain - 1.5

Maybe this is a you had to be there thing but I only liked "Take on Me"

This album sucks. Apart from 2 great songs the others are generic songs from the 90s era of that genre.

Knowing me, Elliot Roberts, knowing you, a-ha. A-ha! I hated this. Even Take on Me couldn’t save this album. It’s like an alien tried to make 80s music and did a shit impression of the worst parts.

Dull mainstream 80s synth pop from a glorified boy band. A waste of 37 minutes I’ll never get back.

Verschrikkelijk. Vindt Take on Me niet eens goed, dus dan is de rest ook gene vetten he

Apart from take on me every now and then. Blegh. This is the worst. Nothing the like to here.

Nah

Cheap empty plastic. Nothing here holds up after multiple listens. Take On Me is annoying.

1/5 yawn

Dorking away tweets from shite football clubs piss me off so much that I now hate A-ha for that sole reason

Not for me

Pretty lame outside of 'Take on me'

Highlight: Take On Me. In a nutshell: still looking The opening track is an eternal classic. The rest of the album was so-so. I found myself comparing the band to Simple Minds, Tears For Fears and ABC. Overall: 1/10

I got this the day Trump won a 2nd term. To be honest - Take On Me sounds like something he would play at one of his rallies and “white man dance” to. That is the high point of the record and it’s the first track. So. . .

I was very curious about this album, because who the heck doesn’t like “Take on Me”? But that was the first song and after that it was pretty much all downhill from there. Completely unremarkable, which was kind of disappointing. One of the songs was enjoyable, but I don’t remember which one 🤷‍♀️ Another album from this list that I won’t be listening to again 🙄

Ummm. I mean. Why?

Calling an album by a one-hit-wonder one that you must hear before you die is certainly a choice.

Ah, no.

Really??? Best things about this are the single, Take On Me & the excellent photo by Just Loomis used on the cover. But, sorry, I tried to listen to the whole album but fell asleep.

When I have to turn up and turn down the volume between songs, you know you mixed your album like shit 1.5/5

pish

Help! I'm trapped in the 80s! "Take on Me" is a classic. The rest is unlistenable. Epitome of a one-hit wonder.

They knew take on me was the hit. The only hit. They put it first to make it easy for people to play on vinyl. One good song.... one star.

Woof, barely made it through this. It's what teenagers in the 80's thought would be cool, and maybe it was at the time, but it has aged very poorly.

This is just.... not good. At all. Even take on me sounds so much worse than I remembered.

Not for me

One song take on me. Love the last of us version.

Dear God that was awful. After the first track (Take on Me) it got painful.

Known song was Take on Me I also liked The blue sky Didnt really like the synth 80's pop aspect of this album or band 1.5

I didn’t even like Take On Me

Orribile!

Take On Me is decent but the rest is pretty bad. I even like synth and couldn't get into this. The vocals absolutely suck.

I'll admit, I didn't hate it as much as I expected. Still, not into the synth pop. Take On Me reminds me of being a hungover 17 year old working at Sobeys on a Sunday morning.

The first song is a classic. I spent a fair amount of time listening to Take On Me trying to decide if I had never heard it before whether I would like it or not. I could never quite decide. Either way, I do enjoy that song and it makes for a great opener. The rest of this album is synth pop trash.

"Take on me" is quintessential 80s synth pop and likely the only reason this is on the list. That doesn't make it good and reconfirms that 1985 is possibly the worst year in music history

The song you know is the one you know for a reason.

I guess this album was big at the time, but I have always considered a-ha to be one hit wonders, and there's nothing on this record that changes that for me. Maybe it's that new wave is just so out of my wheelhouse that I don't understand the context, but it's not doing it for me. It seems strange to me that this is on this list.

My tried and tested formula for any album where I know the singles by heart (Achtung Baby or Eliminator for example) of not playing the singles and seeing how strong the rest of the album is has badly let me down here. I deeply dislike the singles and the album tracks do nothing to change my mind. Saving grace: at least it's quite a short album. But still shockingly mediocre (And You Tell Me is shockingly awful) and a model for everything that was bad about 80s production. There's no end of the badness here. (Not even started on the lyrics). Is this really the thousand and first best album ever made?

Take on me should have been a single

I liked the video when I was 9 years old. I think I had the 45. Couldn't get past the 2nd track 2/5

No thanks.

Not super into this.

This was fucking awful. God the 80s was awful.

A slog of a listen - songs tend to drone on without soul or purpose, meandering through with plenty of annoying synths and vocal accents but no substance to speak of

Made me listen to take on me unironically and not my favorite genre

Aburrido, escuchas la primera canción y después te echas a dormir una siesta.