a-ha's 'Hunting High and Low,' 'Scoundrel Days' 2CD reissues

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Slicing Eyeballs, May 7, 2010.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Slicing Eyeballs

    Slicing Eyeballs Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
  2. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    Any info on who did the mastering job on these? I'm very hopeful as these have been in need of a remaster for ages. 28 unreleased tracks is nothing short of amazing! Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (the writer/guitar player) said that some of the demoes are even better than the final versions.
     
  3. leshafunk

    leshafunk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moscow, Russia
    gotta buy it!
     
  4. chiagerald

    chiagerald Forum Resident

    Location:
    Singapore
    Looks awesome! :)
     
  5. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    I thought this is a OHW ? Only joking great band !
     
  6. Slicing Eyeballs

    Slicing Eyeballs Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Don't know. The press announcement I got doesn't say.
     
  7. musicmax

    musicmax New Member

    "The Sun Always Shines On TV" made #20 US and they had 8 songs hit the Top Ten in the UK (including 4 off of HHaL).

    The "hit" video version of "Take On Me" may be the best video ever made but there needs to be a high-quality release of the original... it's not on either of their 2 DVD video comps.
     
  8. Keim

    Keim Hangin' here from the start

    Location:
    Moscow
    Looks like I'll be spending some $. Always liked A-ha. Vastly underrated.
     
  9. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    At last! I've seen the odd add/due to be released notice in Record Collector appear every now and then for a few years now for a 2 disc of Hunting..
     
  10. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    Wonder if they are going to follow up these two..
     
  11. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    These releases were assembled and remastered by Bill Inglot.

    As I'm a newbie in the mastering/reissue world I had to research a bit and found that there are some strong opinions regarding his work and not all positive. Seems to have calmed down a bit lately though..

    What I have been thinking about the standard CD of Scoundrel Days is that it sounds a bit "thin". It might have been the time it was made as well (not exactly smoking jazz recorded live in a room in the 50's). It was 1986 after all, but my wish is that the sound could be a bit more present and alive. Since it seems like Mr. Inglam is a treble fan should I be worried?

    Edit: Wasn't Inglam also fired from Rhino back in 2007? He's now involved in these Rhino reissues. What happened?
     
  12. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident


    Edit: Any feedback on this?
     
  13. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Good news - seems like the release date for the two has been brought forward (in the UK at least) to 28th June according to amazon.co.uk
     
  14. ferdinandhudson

    ferdinandhudson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Skåne
    Looks like I'll be ordering from the UK then. One Scandinavian online store has them listed, as imports only, with a price tag of about €55 a piece... :rolleyes:
     
  15. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
  16. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    they are being priced right inline with SHM-SACD's! :D
     
  17. jymy

    jymy Senior Member

    Nice, the bonius tracks include demos/early versions for the complete albums
     
  18. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Yeah, I like the idea of a complete album in alternate form. I'm not too bothered about Soundrel Days - not keen on the album and can't recall much about the bonus tracks - although strangely I'm interested in the last five or six live tracks as I heard one of them on the b-side to the Manhattan Skyline 12".
     
  19. LarsO

    LarsO Forum Resident

    I think I'm going for Scoundrel Days first. Better album and more variations in the bonus tracks even though Hunting High And Low has more unreleased songs. Hope I can find it with decent price as my economy is tight these days...
     
    bru87tr likes this.
  20. Galley

    Galley Forum Resident

    I ordered both directly from Rhino, $22.48 each.
     
  21. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Bad news, seems like the release date has been pushed back to 6th July. Or maybe not. The amazon uk listings are a bit odd at the mo with two different issues of both albums at different prices (Rhino and Warner UK) all of which containing 2 CDs IIRC.
     
  22. ferdinandhudson

    ferdinandhudson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Skåne
    Amazon UK like their double listings, it has happened before and then it was Rhino as well.
     
  23. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Well I hope the cheaper edition I pre-ordered of Hunting is the one they stick with!
     
  24. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    Well they're out in the UK! Released yesterday and thanks to some good efficiency at amazon and Royal Mail my copy arrived today.

    I like it. Soundwise nothing seems to be amiss, although I am most familiar with this album from a time when I loved music and knew virtually nothing about recording and mastering, which for me can taint things sometimes. I probably bought it on vinyl in 1986 before Scoundrel Days came out I think. I can still remember where and for how much though! Some keyboard sounds seem to have a bit of wow but I suspect that is just how it was. It does not sound squashed (and if you're the sort that fancies a look at a waveform you may be pleasantly surprised too.) I've got a couple of the vinyl somewhere, but I'm not in a hurry to compare (except for maybe And You Tell Me.) The acoustic guitar in Here I Stand and Face The Rain sounds really good. There seems to be an extra layer of depth in some tracks that I don't recall - some of the percussion on Dream Myself Alive for example. Mind you, I was never that keen on the track and listened to it more when I was unconcerned about these things. Sleeve notes are interesting and informative to the point that I would have liked to have read more. Lyrics are present for the original album, original album (and maybe the rest, I don't know) are taken from original master tapes.

    Despite what the notes suggest, it's not necessarily the final word as there is stuff missing (Take on Me 12" mixes for 1st and 2nd releases, second 12" mix of Sun Always, Instrumental of Sun Always... and flexi-disc US Remix of Sun Always - can't think of any others) and there was some room to cram most of them on.

    That said, in my opinion it is a really nice job and I'm grateful to those who worked on it, and to those who allowed us to hear the extra material.
     
  25. Mike the Fish

    Mike the Fish Señor Member

    Location:
    England
    PS: Lesson One (early demo of Take On Me) is not for the faint hearted!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine