It doesn't pay to be both an insomniac and next to a computer with an open iTunes account. Last night, for some odd reason, I could not stop thinking about Scoundrel Days, an a-ha album I absolutely loved way back in 1986. I remember everything about it...buying it at my local Sam Goody back when record stores were all over malls, listening to it over and over on my Sony walkman late at night, finding an odd appeal in the forlorn and soulful sounds of songs like "Maybe, Maybe" and "October."
I'm not sorry I bought it. My iPod is slowly becoming a representation of not only current songs I adore, but all of the ones from my past, too. Some of the things I once liked are too dated now to really find fascinating (Miami Sound Machine's "Conga" just doesn't do it for me anymore), but some still sound as relevant as ever (Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Joy Division...)
When I listened to it for the first time in at least ten years, I felt chills...Scoundrel still does it for me!
When I listened to it for the first time in at least ten years, I felt chills...Scoundrel still does it for me!
This review from allmusic.com's website is the best thing I've seen written about Scoundrel Days:
Review
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. The '80s may be long gone, but Scoundrel Days makes clear that not everything was bad back then.
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. The '80s may be long gone, but Scoundrel Days makes clear that not everything was bad back then.
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