Customer Reviews

25: Very Best of

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A-ha has been tops on my favorites list of bands since 1985 when "Take on me" topped the charts here in the U.S. I was even fortunate enough to see them live in Toronto in 1986 right after "Scoundrel Days" was released. I've followed them through good albums and not so good albums but overall they have always delivered the magic that made them stand the test of time. I was very sorry to hear of them breaking up this year and going their separate ways. It has been an amazing run to say the least. It is really a shame that the U.S. couldn't appreciate them for more than that one first hit. Most people I talk to about A-ha only remember "Take on me" and the video for it. Talk about an underrated band! They matured and changed so much over the past 2 1/2 decades. Glad I didn't just buy the single for "Take on me" and forget about the rest of the album! "Hunting High and Low" was my very first CD some 500 ago!

This final "hits" collection is really a must have for A-ha fans or anyone looking to experience their releases in one collection. I loved the story of how they came to be and the trip through time, from then to now, that was included in the liner notes. It was nice to see a couple of different versions of the songs included on here as I have virtually all of them on CD somewhere or other already. Even though I have all of their previous albums I still wanted to get a copy of this one for myself just to have as a final farewell.

Thanks for 25 great years of music!

This band came along in a time not that long ago (1980's) where music was busting apart due to the video revolution that brought acts worldwide into our homes. Music was so carefree and challenging then, A-ha captured America with their Take on Me single and especially the video which is one of the top 10 greatest to this day. A-ha were so much more than that slice of teen pop which it got relegated towards. I found their first collection such a wonderful piece of music perfection, mature and soaring sounds, I couldn't believe what a talented group of musicans and the vocals of Morten Harket blew me away much like some of my favorites from years earlier, The Beatles & Moody Blues for example. Sure the girls loved those bands to but radio was different then and shut these guys off in the states just as quickly as they embraced them. 25 really showcases all the sides of this adventureous band, I especially like their last song Butterfly, it sums so much up. They've made so many stunning songs(especially throughout the 2000's return) you'll find sprinkled through out this collection(and so many more that didn't make it) This band was influenced by many great bands as Depeche Mode comes to mind with Butterfly, Butterfly. I wished they had broken threw with radio but radio in the states sucks bigtime and leaves little room for real talent, its all manufactured fake gimmics that run the show, I will miss these talented guys from Norway but all you have to do is put this new cd collection on and remember how they use to make music. I hope you still can collaborate with each other over the years and keep expanding your muse, peace a-ha

This is a wonderful collection of a-ha's music over their 25 years. Anyone who is a fan of them, must get it.

My favorite song on the cd is "take on me" but the whole cd is full of good songs. A-Ha has 25 years worth of really good music and this cd really does cover most of the best.

Disk One includes five songs from "Hunting"; five from "Scoundrel" ; six from "Roads"; and four from "Sun/Moon". Disk Two includes four each from "Beach" and "Earth/Sky" and three each from Lifelines; "Analogue" and "Mountain."

Disk Two also includes a-ha's official theme song to the Paralympics '94 [Shapes That Go Together] and a new, final song [Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)].

For comparison, the "Definitive Singles Collection" has 17 songs (compared to 39 here) and none from the last two albums.

Disk Three on this Deluxe Edition: the DVDs
40 Take On Me (1985
41 The Sun Always Shines On T.V.
42 I've Been Losing You
43 Manhattan Skyline
44 Stay On These Roads
45 Crying In The Rain
46 Dark Is The Night For All
47 Move To Memphis
48 Shapes That Go Together
49 Angel In The Snow
50 Summer Moved On
51 Minor Earth Major Sky
52 Lifelines
53 Did Anyone Approach You?
54 Velvet
55 Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)
- and -
56 Take On Me (1984 Version Bonus Video)

I've been a longtime a-ha fan since 1985 and "Take On Me"...saw their farewell tour in NYC in 2010, "ending on a high note" indeed. Before the tour, Rhino/Warner finally released in the US their 2004 compilation "Singles 1984-2004", which was fine, but as this was the farewell tour, and I heard a compilation/boxset would be released covering their whole career, Warners and Universal stuff combined, and here it is..."25", in 3 versions, the standard 2CD, a Japanese 2CD set with a completely different...fan-selected...tracklisting, and this, the Deluxe triple consisting of the standard 2CDs and a DVD of 17 vidclips...that's the one I purchased, as I had no a-ha on DVD, and this looks like a companion piece to the "Headlines & Deadlines" DVD, as most of the clips on it are post-1991, with standards and rarities and a missing clip from earlier, including the new vidclip of their final single "Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)".

Before I start, 2 questions...why "25" is not being released in the US at all??? Is it because of unavailability of licensing of tracks from their 2 Universal albums "Analogue" and "Foot Of The Mountain"??? Is this because of this reason that Rhino/Warner released (finally and late??) in the US the 2004 comp "Singles 1984-2004"??? Otherwise, why release that when knowingly "25" was ready to go?? And speaking of those 2 albums, why were there NO CLIPS from those albums on the DVD??? They have the songs, why no clips?? Strange.

Now, as for the 2CDs, I say SHEER perfection...remastering and song selection, the right versions ("Move To Memphis 1991", "The Blood That Moves The Body 1992"), many of their best non-single album tracks ("Scoundrel Days", "The Swing Of Things", "Slender Frame") AND non-album singles (the 1991 "Move To Memphis", "Shapes That Go Together", the new "Butterfly Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)")!!! It's like the whole of the 2CDs was made to order for me, as if I was contacted and consulted in putting this together...sheer perfection and a clearcut way to explain to in-the-dark Americans why a-ha MATTER and got the shaft in American media, that they were unfairly tagged a 1-hit wonder joke, and are clear innovators of beautifully epic, intricate, dark, melancholic, widescreen pop that clearly influenced bands like Coldplay and Keane, and that even U2 tipped their hats to this groundbreaking Norwegian trio in "Beautiful Day", a nod to their 1985 #20 pop hit (in the US belying their 1-hit-wonder status here) "The Sun Always Shines On TV", one of their best (if not their very best) songs...sheer perfection.

As for the DVD...it's meant to be a post-"Headlines & Deadlines" companion piece...and for the most part, it's awesome, with most of the clips post-1991, with a few classic clips and rarities like alt-cuts of their 1990 Carole King/Everly's cover of "Crying In The Rain" which has the band in it mostly, and the original 1984 clip of "Take On Me", interesting and cool...but it all stops with the clip of "The Sun Always Shines On TV", wow, whoever did that should be fired pronto!!! They used the wrong music track (the album version, not the single version) and had the music and video track badly jumpcut right when Morten starts to sing/mime...REALLY bad...and no excuse as the "Headlines & Deadlines" video/DVD did not have this problem...THEN what's really weird/odd is after the clip ends, it goes into the US National Anthem and video as if it's an end of a broadcast day in the 70s, the TV is about to go off the air into static, with US scenery and a US flag in the middle of the screen!!! Like, HUH??? Where did they get THAT??? And why is it on an a-ha DVD...a NORWEGIAN band????? Was it an American nationalist, is it a druggy sign of things to come???? Is this an alien invasion??? Am I here?? It sorta mirrors the 1969-era moon exploration clip of "Minor Earth Major Sky", with the US flag-planting, but in all the wrong ways. Totally surreal and kinda funny, but completely WRONG and misplaced. Whoever was responsible should be fired, immediately. Then, the print of "Take On Me" was possibly damaged, as for a splitsecond, the closeup of Bunty Bailey's face in the opening scene post-animation was either worn or had some dirt on the print, but it's only a quick splitsecond, no biggie...and the clip of 1986's "I've Been Losing You" (missing from "Headlines") had all-over-the-place editing...horrible job but that was prob the original vidclip. I'm just happy the 1991 clip of "Move To Memphis" is on there, perfect and untouched...that clip is pure sex...the hot girl, water, S&M imagery, plastic...pure sex...even the guys had that mood going on, Morten in Elvis mode, long hair and all.

So overall, 4 stars...docked a star for the bad editing botch job on the DVD...everything else was perfect...not sure if Rhino will be able to fix the DVD, but I doubt it.

THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BEST OF A HA. GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION IF YOU ARE A FAN.IT INCLUDES ALL OF THEIR HITS.FROM THEIR FIRST HIT TAKE ON ME,TO THEIR VERY LAST SONG BUTTERFLY,BUTTERFLY(THE LAST HURRAH).FROM 1985 TO 2010. THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO REMEMBER A HA. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE YEARS OF MUSIC. YOU WILL BE MISSED!!!

I HAVE BEEN A BIG A-HA FAN EVER SINCE THEY STARTED OUT IN 1984 I HAD THEIR FIRST ALBUM ON CASSETT WHEN IT CAME OUT IN 1985 I STILL HAVE THAT CASSETT BUT NOW I HAVE ALL OF THEIR STUFF ON CD, THE REASON I BOUGHT THIS COLLECTION IS BECAUSE IT COMES WITH A DVD WITCH FEATURES ALL OF THEIR VIDEO'S THIS COLLECTION IS A MUST HAVE FOR ANY A-HA FAN IF YOU LISTEN TO THE SONG SUMMER MOVED ON YOU WILL HEAR MORTEN HARKETT HOLD A NOTE FOR MORE THAN 20 SECONDS FOR WITCH HE HOLDS THE WORLD RECORD FOR. A-HA HAS REMASTERED TWO OF THERE FIRST ALBUMS HUNTING HIGH AND LOW AND SCOUNDREL DAYS BOTH ALBUMS COME WITH 2 DISC'S.

Unbelievable, being from the US, there isn't much a-ha merchandise over here, but that hasn't stopped me from
being a huge a-ha fan. I have loved a-ha ever since their debut over here. I hate that their success over here was short lived. Finding this cd on amazon was like finding buried treasure. It is packed of some of the best songs I have ever heard. And now thanks to this cd I have a new favorite a-ha song, "Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah)". Such a sweet song, and what a perfect song to send them off on their separate ways. I will truly miss a-ha, but this is a wonderful compilation of their work to remember them by. Hurrah!!!!!!

This double cd compilation contains all the great a-ha songs of their 25 year career. Of course a few may have been missed, but that would entail a much bigger cd set. A-ha went out "Ending on a High Note" and I still love the band, will forever.