The second LP on the shelf is a-ha "Scoundrel Days". Like their first album, I own the 2015 180g remastered version but unlike "Hunting High and Low", this pressing sounds pretty good. The title track "Scoundrel Days" heralds the arrival a less 'synth' sound for the band and hints at a happy middle ground between pop and rock. "The Swing of Things" is impressive both lyrically and musically but sounds a little under produced to my ears. We hear some 'real' drums on "I've Been Losing You" and you can definitely hear the band moving more to their natural 'rock' tendencies. The synths and drum machines soon return with the twee oom-pah oom-pah of "October" - not unpleasant but hardly epic. The epic tag has to be reserved for "Manhattan Skyline" which follows next. The guitars come to the front of the mix here but there is more than enough DX7 Koto and string sounds to keep synth pop fans interested. A fantastic track.
Side two delivers another single in the form of "Cry Wolf". I remember when this track came out and I wasn't too impressed; it sounded like the band were catering to a record company request for a radio hit. To me it sounds forced. Next up is "We're Looking For Whales" which is lyrically a bit weird and sounds like an Emulator had just landed in the studio. "The Weight of the Wind" has an impressive chorus but is otherwise nondescript. The album feels like it is petering out with the sugary "Maybe Maybe" which features some vocal trills that almost made me laugh out loud. The coup-de-gras is delivered by "Soft Rains of April" which ambles along for 3 minutes without really doing anything and then ends abruptly. All in all, a-ha's second album isn't bad, but I can understand why I have only played this record once before. 3/5
