The Hunt is Over 4 Out Of 5 Stars
A-Ha made it big in America exactly one time, with this album and the number one single "Take On Me." The rest of the world kept them at superstar status, with hits continuing through the band's 25 year career. Granted, "Take on Me" is one of the absolute best pop singles of the decade, yet A-ha deserved a better fate in the states than to be known for "Hunting High and Low."
Part of that issue is how the video and the record company obviously thought these Norwegian pretty boys were the next Duran Duran and set about marketing them that way. While much of "Hunting High and Low" does fit the bill of lightweight synth-pop, A-Ha had much more up their sleeves. Songs like "Train Of Thought" had a darker lyric hidden inside the confection, and the title track was a great ballad about lost love. The only other single a-ha pushed into the US Top 40, "The Sun Always Shines On TV," is a dramatically produced song that highlights lead singer Morten Harkett's vocal flair.
The only time the band stumble is towards the end, with "Dream Myself Alive" and "Love Is Reason," which come off as filler synth-pop. They redeem themselves with the emotional closer, "Here I Stand and Face The Rain," which was a harbinger of how much the band would change by the much darker "Scoundrel Days" follow-up and the emotionally deeper album that came yet after. But for sheer pop thrills, "Hunting High and Low" remains a great album, and the remaster sounds terrific.
(Bonus disc contains a batch of so-so unreleased material, inconsequntial demos, with the real treats being disc one's bonus extended mixes of "The Sun Always Shines" and the title track.)
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