My Review of Analogue
What can be said about a-ha that hasn't already been said? They're one of the biggest bands in the world, and yet they're one of the most unappreciated groups out there.
Analogue is unlike any of their previous works. It doesn't boast the Synth-Pop pizzazz of Hunting High And Low, or the subdued, experimental rock of their albums from the early '90s, and it shares very little in terms of their releases from 2000 and 2002. In this album, a-ha has become an enigmatic entity, infused with a wistful dreaminess and a melancholic disposition.
"Celice" is probably the only true connection a-ha has in this album with their past works. I can certainly imagine it belonging to Minor Earth Major Sky (as well as Ron Howard's "The Da Vinci Code," but that's just wishful thinking). "Don't Do Me Any Favours" has an angst-driven a-ha at work, and it was the first song that I adored (after "Celice") right off the bat. Coupled with its short-lived Limp Bizkit-feel towards the end, I would love to see it as a video just for the sake of seeing what the guys do with it. "Cosy Prisons" is a wonderful track with powerful, poignant lyrics, but I am the first to admit that it took me awhile to get acclimated with its nature; now it's an a-ha favorite. The title track could easily be the best song on the album. I prefer "Holy Ground" over "Birthright" (I'm a sucker for a happy a-ha -- case in point, I'm a fan of the videos for "Touchy!" and "You Are The One"), but "Birthright" is better suited for the purposes of a single, and I have no problem with that. "Over The Treetops" is a trippy song that would have you believe that a-ha hails from the '60s, and you'll soon find yourself chanting, "Over the treetops fly birds in the sky / Over the treetops high / High in the sky."
The second half of Analogue sports songs of a slower nature on a grander scale. "Halfway Through The Tour" is a fun song, but after the lyrics break away and the moody, solo playing kicks in (the song is nearly seven-and-a-half minutes long), the album dives into a pensive and introspective territory, very much devoid of bouncy frills. Unfortunately, some songs appear to blend into one another: where does "A Fine Blue Line" end and "Keeper Of The Flame" begin? It'll take many listenings to answer that question. "Make It Soon" hosts the tenure for a-ha's hardest-sounding performance, perhaps ever, and it's fantastic. The champion of the latter half of the album is "White Dwarf" with its symbolic rhetoric and dream-like atmosphere. "Summers Of Our Youth" duped me into thinking that it was Morten singing all along, that is, until my brother slapped me into realizing that it was Mags taking a chunk of the song for himself. A pretty nice balance is the result.
What keeps this album from being a five-star knockout? Well, I would've enjoyed one or two more faster songs, especially towards the second half. The addition of "Case Closed On Silver Shore" (a B-side to the single for "Analogue," and a song I strongly contend as the sequel to "I've Been Losing You") would have been a spectacular thing, indeed.
No one can detract from the fact that a-ha has produced a great album. However, be prepared to listen to it a LOT of times before you finally "get" it. You must allow these tracks to grow on you. They are not overnight infatuations like "Take On Me," but once you become firmly enchanted by what those Scandinavian crooners have to offer, you will realize that you have unearthed something magical.
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Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 1:29 pm