a-ha podcast | Ranking Highs and Lows

Some more statistics:

If sides A and B were counted separately, the A-side of Scoundrel Days (not very surprisingly) would win, followed by Hunting high and low, East of the sun and Memorial beach.

Scoundrel days suffers from a releatively weak B-side.

The post-2000s albums are much more coherent with regard to the quality of sides A and B, respecively, albeit on a much lower overall level than albums 1-5.

The weakest album side of the 80s and 90s (Stay on these roads side B) is still better than the best album side of the post-2000 albums.

And some sensitivity analyses.

If only the ten best ranked tracks of each album were included, Lifelines would become the best post-2000 album, slightly ahead of Analogue. Of course, there would have been additional improvement potential for Lifelines if some demos from the deluxe editions had made in onto the album instead of the weaker tracks that were actually released.

In any case, FOTM is the weakest album, which may come as a surprise.

When we talk about demos. I have just continued with some statistics to see how the albums would have ranked if demos from the album erwas had been included instead of the weakest album tracks, with the total number of songs on each album remaining unchanged:

These are the results:

Album / Average Position / Avg position with alternative tracks / Improvement %

East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon 32 32 0%
Memorial Beach 40 34 15%
Hunting High And Low 40 34 15%
Scoundrel Days 40 32 21%
Stay On These Roads 58 58 0%
Analogue 81 77 4%
Lifelines 83 74 11%
Minor Earth Major Sky 88 88 0%
Cast In Steel 90 90 0%
Foot Of The Mountain 96 96 0% Memorial Beach (Bar Room 62 instead of Between your mama 120) would improve by 15%, up from 40 to 34 points.

Same for HHAL where The love goodbye 59 and Never Never 57 would replace I Dream Myself Alive 67 and Love Is Reason 109.

Scoundrel days would even improve by 21% from 40 to 32 with Days on end (33) replacing Maybe Maybe (119).

Lifelines would now end up slighlty ahead of Analogue, improving 11% from 83 to 74, as a result of The Breakers 78, To show it how to blow it 85 and Sole Survivor 63 replacing Did anyone approach you? 116, Turn The Lights Down 135 and You wanted more (111).

Finally, Analogue would have reached 77 instead of 81 points (again: the fewer the better), as a result of Case Closed On Silver Shore 76 replacing Birthright 121.

Looking at these weakest songs that could have been replaced by demos/other tracks from the respective eras, I think that the ranking for Between your mama and yourself, Did anyone approach you? and especially Birthright were too low.

Was für eine schöne Abschlussfolge

...und so viele meiner Lieblingslieder auf den vorderen Plätzen.

Zum Glück produziert die Band weiter fleißig neue Songs, so dass es immer wieder einen Grund gibt für ein neues Ranking mit weiteren Geschichten, Anekdoten und viel Witz. Mange tak til Danmark

Es sei euch jetzt ein Podcast-Interlude erlaubt

Ich fand das Ranking auch richtig toll. Endlich eine Würdigung aller Songs, nachdem die Band sich ja seit 2009 gefühlt nur noch an Alben 1+2 und ein, zwei Handvoll immer die gleichen Songs danach zu erinnern scheint.

Quote from Peter

Thanks, that's also partially how we see it. All of us fans probably spend more time thinking about e.g. Lie Down In Darkness than a-ha does If I could wish for one thing - apart from a concert setup without videoclips that determine the length of the songs - then it would be a tour of smaller arenas where it's made very clear to the ticket buyers that "this is NOT a greatest hits show, so if you want to hear Take On Me or even The Living Daylights then this is not the concert for you!".

It will never happen, though.

Oooooh, I second that! I had never thought about the background videoclips issue! That's a good point. Though I think that it is mostly the programming that keeps everything so "tight".

Smaller arenas, more organic sound, what a dream. We would have to go back to the 90s to have that experience, I guess.

Hi there,

i just found the time to indulge into the rankings and boy did i enjoy it, thanks a lot!! 😃 Just to have so much a-ha expertise to dive into, and to hear your childhood experiences which kind of matched mine, as i also was around 10 when the a-ha journey started for me.. Pure nostalgia, thanks for a great day! 🥰

Some thoughts, just randomly put together:

Wow i envy you danes for a Radio station that plays driftwood and october! I guess that never happened in the history of austrian radio.. 🤷🏼‍♀️🤭 (I am on your side when it comes to october btw. What a gem!) Speaking of austrian Radio, i never heard any a-ha song in years, not even the old ones, not to mention anything from True North... 🙄

True north - i kind of totally disagree with you guys on THAT ranking 😂 but then, i totally fail at Ranking those 12 songs. I couldnt even name my favourite.. So who knows, maybe it even IS hith 🤷🏼‍♀️🤭

Agree on many of the other Rankings though, not on all of course. Two songs that would have gone notably higher in my ranking would be take on me for obvious and Angel in the snow for personal reasons. But we very much agree on hhal and sd essentials.

I tried to do a Ranking of my own and decided i have to go in "5-packs", i couldnt go for "A" number 1. Totally impossible.

At the peak of their stranger things-hype, my kids asked me for my "Vecna-song" - and thats when my thinking started..

There are a few a-ha songs that would get my mind freed from a psychic upside-down monster 😅 so my top five/Vecna choice would be:

Take on me (yes, any day - lifts my mood, always makes me happy, was the one that got me hooked in 1985,.... No way to get around it, no chance for Vecna 😂), the swing of things (which actually is my favourite, the one i listen to for hours on end, does that make sense?), ive been losing you (couldnt do without it), tsasotv - just epic, and last of my top 5, the soft rains of april.

Second tier would definitely include living a boys adventure tale, i dream myself alive, here i stand and face the rain, scoundrel days and october . I know i am rather basic for my top choices..

But thats another thing about your podcast, thanks so much for already now widening my a-ha horizon, i am learning so much about the other songs and did already dive deep into eotswotm and mems today, and am in the process of (re-) discovering favorites there, those are albums i do know but never really dug deep into - but now i will, and after that, on to the 2000s. Oh the endless treats awaiting me! 😍

I actually am just listening to "trees will not grow on sand" for the very first time, and it just hits me what you guys mean with your feelings about the "what could have been". Even though i think you rather mean the mems- time - but this demo has some serious "Every rose has its thorn" meets late Beatles and 80ies U2- vibes, which to me would be something that indeed could have been a road to explore further..

I also enjoy Mortens deeper vocal range much more than the high pitched falsetto. Who doesnt actually...? I even enjoy him talking much more than jaulen 🤪

Could it be that his and Magnes dislike of this era might just stem from the simple fact that U2 were already there and so they kind of felt like plagiators and hated that? I feel like that could be a reason.

Last but not least, as mentioned above, thanks for the effort and putting all the personal stuff into it. The indoor pool, the Bravo posters, the stories about hearing songs for the first time, the dismissal of Wham! 😅

Because i too was once a girl in the backseat of a car just freaking out when there was an a-ha song on the radio while driving home from some family visit, urging my dad to turn up the Volume, which he did with a smirking sigh, commenting " ah, deine norwegischen Elche schon wieder 🙄".. 😂😂 Precious memories, and as he is a music aficionado who introduced me to some of the finest 60/70ies classics, i am convinced to this day that he also enjoyed the pure youth 80ies joy 😊

I was also a 10 year old girl alone at home around noon, waiting for mum to come home, reading some dubious book about supernatural phenomenons like ufos and returning souls of dead relatives, while listening to the hhal album - up until today, i dream myself alive and here i stand and face the rain evoke an atmoshere of terror in me and transfer me to the old 1986 sofa, at some point not able to get up anymore because i couldnt open my eyes because i was too afraid that the virgin mary or my dead great aunt might float by for a quick visit 😂😬 (i must have enjoyed the thrill though, as it wasn't a one time experience, rather a routine 😂)

You see i also tend to get lost in words and i just wanted to illustrate how relatable and nostalgic it is to hear from fellow fans from that time! ☺️

And, to come to an end, i do not at all remember the precise article, but i think i do remember one main Bravo-Journalist being named Andreas, so maybe that was him also mentioned at that Otto - Verleihung?

Good night then, and i am looking forward to more episodes of the podcast! 😃

You're very welcome, and thanks too! 😊

And thank you so much for the Info on "Isotope", wow that spooked me out..

The girl lying on the sofa, about same age as i was then, same hair as i had.. The Brueghel painting, which was omnipresent at our household because my dad had brought home some Souvenirs from the Netherlands a few years earlier!! The floating of the woman!!! How could Pål have known!! 😅

Its eerie,to stay within his vocabulary. Only that girl is so much braver than i used to be, never would i have dared to walk around the Apartment.. 😂

This Video will stay with me... i also liked the sound of the song a lot, though it didnt stick to my mind - yet.

That is a great prospect, a ranking of the solo projects, i'll use that as a guide then, too! 😃 It is great that you always start with a snippet of the Songs, so i got a great idea which one might fit my taste. Today i listened to some "Analogue" and quite liked it, some clear Beatles references there ☺️

So again, thank you & the guys so much, you really did some valuable work there, and i am looking forward to more! 👍👍😊

Hi there, thanks again for the work, it is so appreciated! I will sure listen to it, but right now i'm not ready yet for morten and magne, i'm still in the middle of (nothing 😅) exploring a-ha and i am so grateful to this Forum and you & your friends, because i'm doing so because of you all! My top twenty have been quite rattled these past few weeks.. And not only did i rediscover the 90ies, but also really really got to love some of the Analogue and lifelines - Songs. And still haven't really and fully discovered everything. How great it is, and i got to say, 2022 being a year to forget in many aspects, the one big positive thing for me was rediscovering and getting to know more about a-ha's music 💙 thanks for that 🙏🏻 happy new year everybody! I wish you all a great 2023!! 🍀🥂✨😊

Es gibt eine neue Folge vom englischsprachigen (mit dänischem Akzent ) Podcast: "Episode 13: Ranking the albums".

Link

Quote

In this episode we rank the 11 studio albums by a-ha.

Among other things you’ll get a tour through Jesper’s Facebook feed from 2009, Peter sees an escape door standing ajar, and JP provides a status on a t-shirt from the year 2000. We also rank German music magazines, and a-ha wins a questionable contest. And can you buy a girlfriend in a clothing store in Berlin?

Jesper also worries about why JP is suddenly quiet (it doesn’t last long – neither the worrying nor the being quiet) and Peter refuses to revisit old discussions. We also mention The Beatles, because we are under contract to do so, and we talk about the period where being an a-ha fan didn’t come with any perks. We also talk about Wham! And can you like an album better than you like the songs on it?

And of course we rank the albums, interrupt each other, forget about good podcasting techniques, laugh at our own jokes, talk about those formative years and how the relationship with an album can change over time. And we – possibly for the first time in any of the episodes – refrain from speaking Norwegian. So at least that’s solid progress.

As always please do share your thoughts, comments and reactions on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/rankingaha. And if you like what you hear then please recommend the podcast to other fans of a-ha or share it on your own social media. Thanks!

All the best,
JP, Jesper and Peter the Producer

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Übersetzung deepl.com

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In dieser Folge ordnen wir die 11 Studioalben von a-ha.

Unter anderem bekommt ihr eine Tour durch Jespers Facebook-Feed von 2009, Peter sieht eine Fluchttür, die einen Spalt offen steht, und JP liefert einen Status zu einem T-Shirt aus dem Jahr 2000. Außerdem bewerten wir deutsche Musikmagazine, und a-ha gewinnt einen fragwürdigen Wettbewerb. Und kann man in einem Berliner Bekleidungsgeschäft eine Freundin kaufen?

Jesper macht sich Gedanken darüber, warum JP plötzlich so ruhig ist (es hält nicht lange an - weder das Sorgen noch das Ruhigsein) und Peter weigert sich, alte Diskussionen wieder aufzugreifen. Wir erwähnen auch die Beatles, weil wir vertraglich dazu verpflichtet sind, und wir sprechen über die Zeit, in der man als a-ha-Fan noch keine Vergünstigungen bekam. Wir sprechen auch über Wham! Und kann man ein Album besser mögen als die Songs darauf?

Und natürlich bewerten wir die Alben, unterbrechen uns gegenseitig, vergessen gute Podcasting-Techniken, lachen über unsere eigenen Witze, sprechen über die prägenden Jahre und darüber, wie sich die Beziehung zu einem Album im Laufe der Zeit verändern kann. Und wir verzichten - möglicherweise zum ersten Mal in einer Folge - darauf, Norwegisch zu sprechen. Das ist also zumindest ein solider Fortschritt.

Wie immer bitten wir Sie, Ihre Gedanken, Kommentare und Reaktionen auf unserer Facebook-Seite unter http://www.facebook.com/rankingaha mitzuteilen. Und wenn euch gefällt, was ihr hört, dann empfehlt den Podcast bitte an andere Fans von a-ha weiter oder teilt ihn auf euren eigenen sozialen Medien. Vielen Dank!

Alles Gute!

JP, Jesper und Peter der Produzent

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Ich habe gerade angefangen zu hören (bis Platz acht). Sehr cool, einmal mehr...

Ich habe auch anhand nochmal in die Statistiken oben geschaut, hatte ich fast vergessen 🙂

Bei FOTM stimme ich voll zu - für mich ist der einzige herausragende Track "Start the simulator", der Rest ist vernachlässigbar.

Ich würde auch zustimmen, dass Lifelines - insgesamt - etwas stärker ist als MEMS, trotz der Schwäche einiger Songs.

Bei Cast in Steel vs. MEMS bin ich etwas anderer Meinung als Ihr. Ich denke, MEMS ist stärker als CIS, weil der Titelsong und Mary Ellen wirklich erstklassig sind, gefolgt von einigen anderen guten Songs (The sun never shone that day, You'll never get over me und, nun ja, das überproduzierte Summer moved on. Auch Barely hanging on und Little black heart sind nicht allzu schlecht. Ja, I won't forget her ist eine Katastrophe ist und ich finde, dass Thought that it was you und To let you win nicht a-ha sind (zumindest nicht im Vergleich zu dem, was sie in den 80ern und 90ern abgeliefert hatten).

Cast in Steel hingegen liegt bei mir aktuell wohl doch hinter MEMS, weil es keinen Song hat, ohne den ich nicht leben könnte. Vielleicht She's humming a tune, vielleicht Goodbye Thomson, aber insgesamt denke ich, dass diese beiden herausragenden Stücke nicht die Klasse von MEMS (dem Song) erreichen.

Andererseits sind Objects in the mirror, The Wake und Living at the end of the world wirklich schlecht, und Forest Fire ist ein Desaster, bei dem man sich vor Scham verstecken möchte. Noch schlimmer als I won't forget her (wie Ihr ja auch festgestellt habt).

Quote from Peter

Thanks a lot for another (thorough) listen 😊 Hopefully the remainder of the episode will be interesting as well even if there are fewer and fewer albums to predict the rating of.

Actually, I think all what comes now are really good to very good albums, and I am really curious how you have ranked these.
I would say that, on average, TN, Analogue, SOTR and HHAL are a bit weaker than MB, EOTS and SD, but I find it really difficult to judge.

What is clear is that none of these albums contains any track one should be ashamed of, in contrast to the four albums on the bottom of your list.