a-ha – Scoundrel Days (1986) Vinyl LP Record
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Product Description
Track Listing
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Album Introduction
Scoundrel Days is the second studio album by a-ha — Morten Harket, Pål Gamst Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen — released in October 1986 on Warner Bros. Records and produced by Alan Tarney, who had also produced the band's debut Hunting High and Low (1985) and its global smash Take On Me. The album reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 1 in Norway, and spawned three UK Top 20 singles: I've Been Losing You (No. 8), Cry Wolf (No. 5) and Manhattan Skyline (No. 13). Where Hunting High and Low had been defined by the euphoric pop of Take On Me, Scoundrel Days revealed a darker, more atmospheric and musically ambitious side of the band — Waaktaar's songwriting drawing on a more cinematic and emotionally complex palette, and Harket's voice given more demanding and dramatically varied material to inhabit. The album is widely regarded by collectors and fans as a-ha's finest work, and its combination of melodic precision and atmospheric depth has given it an enduring appeal that the more commercially obvious debut has not always matched.
Stand-Out Tracks
- I've Been Losing You — The album's lead single and one of its most immediately powerful and emotionally intense tracks; a driving, atmospheric pop song with a lyric of romantic guilt and a vocal performance from Harket that demonstrates the full dramatic range of his extraordinary voice. UK No. 8.
- Cry Wolf — The album's most immediately energetic and rhythmically compelling single; a driving, synth-driven pop track with a hook of complete commercial precision and a production that captures the band's ability to combine electronic sophistication with melodic directness. UK No. 5.
- Manhattan Skyline — One of the album's most cinematically ambitious and atmospherically distinctive tracks; a slow-building, orchestrally influenced pop song that gives the album one of its most emotionally expansive and sonically impressive moments, and demonstrates Waaktaar's growing ambition as a composer. UK No. 13.
- Scoundrel Days — The title track and the album's most tonally distinctive opening statement; a driving, guitar-led track that announces the album's darker and more rock-influenced direction from the very first note, and gives the record one of its most immediately striking and memorable moments.
- Soft Rains of April — The album's most atmospheric and emotionally restrained closing track; a quiet, piano-led song that brings the album to a conclusion of genuine delicacy and gives Harket the opportunity to demonstrate the more intimate and vulnerable side of his vocal personality.
Record Details
- Artist: a-ha
- Title: Scoundrel Days
- Year: 1986
- Label: Warner Bros. Records
- Catalogue No.: WX 62
- Format: Vinyl LP
- Pressing: UK original pressing
- Genre: Synth-Pop / New Wave
- Decade: 1980s
- Barcode: 075992550116
Condition
Condition: VG+/VG+ — see our Condition Grading Guide.
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