One song opens with a lonely synth line borrowed from the riff that made Take On Me famous. Another begins as a gentle piano ballad, then slams into a hard rock chorus. Both live on the same record, and both came from a Norwegian trio who had just become the biggest pop group on the planet. a-ha called the album Scoundrel Days, and it arrived in the autumn of 1986, forty years ago this year. a-ha released Scoundrel Days on October 6, 1986.
Recording in Wimbledon
The band had a problem: how do you follow a debut that sold millions? Their answer was to move fast and get darker. Recording took place in early 1986 at RG Jones Recording Studios in Wimbledon, England. Most of the production fell to Alan Tarney, the man behind their first two hit singles. But this time the band themselves produced three tracks, including the lead single I've Been Losing You.
The songwriting split tells you something about how a-ha worked. Guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen wrote all the material; singer Morten Harket, the voice and face of the group, wrote none of it. On Scoundrel Days, the instrumentalists were pushing the sound toward something moodier and stranger than the bright synth-pop of their debut.
Synths and hard rock choruses
The instruments themselves became characters. A Roland Juno-60, the same synth behind the Take On Me riff, opens Manhattan Skyline with a sound that feels like a memory. That song begins in a calm F major verse, then Furuholmen and Waaktaar-Savoy stitch on a hard rock chorus in D minor with a snarling guitar riff. It was a patchwork of two writers' instincts, and it became the album's fourth single, reaching 13 on the British chart.
I've Been Losing You led the way, topping the Norwegian chart and climbing to 8 in the UK. It was the album's biggest hit across Europe. Cry Wolf followed and became the group's last single to enter the Billboard Hot 100, landing at 50, while it hit the top five in Britain, Poland and Ireland. Every British single from the record reached the top 20.
Volcano cover and global sales
The album's cover matched its mood. Norwegian photographer Knut Bry shot the band on the Haleakalā volcano on Maui, Hawaii, in 1986. The barren landscape and long coats made the trio look less like teen idols and more like three men standing at the edge of something. Scoundrel Days sold more than 6 million copies worldwide and reached number 2 on the European Top 100 Albums chart.
Critics noticed the shift. AllMusic reviewer Ned Raggett praised the opening two songs as one of the best starting pairs on any album. He singled out the tension in the title track, with Morten Harket's soaring vocal, and called The Swing of Things a melancholy, elegant piece built on a beautiful arrangement of synth and guitar. The record had depth, not just hooks.
Forty years on, Scoundrel Days still sounds like a band refusing to repeat themselves. They kept the synth hooks but let the edges show: a quiet verse that explodes, a drum machine that feels like a heartbeat, a singer who could turn a pop chorus into a storm. The album earned platinum status in several countries and gave a-ha a second act beyond their first hit. It did not chase Take On Me; it walked away from it, toward the volcano.
It did not chase Take On Me; it walked away from it, toward the volcano.