A-ha - Scoundrel Days (1986) (vinyl Lp) - €10,00

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Scoundrel Days is the second studio album by Norwegian band a-ha, released on 6 October 1986 by Warner Bros. Records.

The songs were composed by Pal Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen; the band's vocalist Morten Harket did not contribute to the songwriting as he had on their first album. 

Waaktaar and Furuholmen also self-produced three of the record's tracks, "I've Been Losing You", "Maybe Maybe", and "Soft Rains of April".

Scoundrel Days was recorded in England in early 1986 at RG Jones Recording Studios on Beulah Road in Wimbledon, South-West London. 

The record was mostly produced by Alan Tarney, who had produced the band's singles "Take On Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V." in the previous year, and it was engineered by Gerry Kitchingham.

While not quite as strong as the band's debut, Scoundrel Days is still a-ha succeeding as a marketed "pretty boy" band which can connect musically and lyrically as much as any musical sacred cow. 

The opening two songs alone make for one of the best one-two opening punches around: the tense edge of the title track, featuring one of Morten Harket's soaring vocals during the chorus and a crisp, pristine punch in the music, and "The Swing of Things," a moody, elegant number with a beautiful synth/guitar arrangement (plus some fine drumming courtesy of studio pro Michael Sturgis) and utterly lovelorn lyrical sentiments that balance on the edge of being overheated without quite going over. 

Although the rest of the disc never quite hits as high as the opening, it comes close more often than not. 

A definite downturn is the band's occasional attempts to try and prove themselves as a "real" band by rocking out, as on "I've Been Losing You" -- there's really no need for it, and as a result they sound much more "fake," ironically enough. 

Other songs can perhaps only be explained by the need to translate lyrics -- "We're Looking for the Whales" isn't an environmental anthem, and neither is "Cry Wolf," but both also don't really succeed in using nature as romantic metaphor. 

When a-ha are on, though, they're on -- "October" snakes along on a cool bass/keyboard arrangement and a whispery vocal from Harket; "Maybe Maybe" is a quirky little pop number that's engagingly goofy; while "Soft Rains of April" captures the band at its most dramatic, with the string synths giving Harket a perfect bed to launch into a lovely vocal, concluding with a sudden, hushed whisper.

Side one

1.  Scoundrel Days - 3:56

2.  The Swing of Things - 4:14

3.  I’ve Been Losing You - 4:24

4.  October - 3:48

5.  Manhattan Skyline - 4:52

Side two

1.  Cry Wolf - 4:05

2.  We’re Looking for the Whales - 3:39

3.  The Weight of the Wind - 3:57

4.  Maybe, Maybe - 2:34

5.  Soft Rains of April - 3:12

A-ha

• Morten Harket – lead and backing vocals
• Magne Furuholmen – keyboards, bass and drum programming, backing vocals
• Pål Waaktaar – guitars, drum programming, backing vocals

with:

• Graham Prescott – strings 
• Leif Karsten Johansen – bass guitar 
• Michael Sturgis – drums 
• Øystein Jevanord – drums 

Production

• Alan Tarney – producer, mixing
• Magne Furuholmen – producer 
• Paul Waaktaar – producer 
• Gerry Kitchingham – engineer
• John Hudson – mixing
• Jeri McManus Heiden – art direction, design
• Kim Champagne – design
• Knut Bry – photography

Notes

Release: 1986

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Synth-pop

Label:   Warner Bros.

Catalog#   925501-1

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00