A-Ha - Foot of the Mountain Album Review

Review of A-Ha's album Foot Of The Mountain

I had no idea A-Ha were still active as a band- this is very surprising. I don't really understand the whole thing, but they're now a little bit like FischerSpooner with a touch of the 80's pop magic that made them so big in the first place. They use synthesizers, whilst playing popular-style music. I think I'll call this combination Synthpop. And it's quite effective, I have to say. First track The Bandstand is very pretty indeed, and although the next two tracks are a little cheesy, it's not the end of the world, because the title track is up next, and it's, well, it's pretty good, not amazing, but I don't hate it after a few listens. There are some real gems on this album, from the aforementioned The Bandstand to the Sigur Ros meets Dream Theater-ballad Shadowside and the surreal final track Start The Simulator. However, it seems a little bit goofy from time to time, and the band seem at their best when they leave the pop conventions behind, slow it down a bit and see what happens.

This is a good CD, it sounds a bit like The Killers occasionally and the band have been honing their trade for a long, long time now, releasing solo albums and generally being very successful. I can't see many tracks on this being played on the UK radio, but already, the title track has hit #3 in the German charts and the album entered at #1. I don't begrudge them their success, but this probably isn't an album I would have bought, although, don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to listen to it a few times.

Conrad Hughes