In this episode of 'a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows' we rank the 10 songs on the album 'Under' by Savoy, the 2nd band by a-ha-guitarist Pål Waaktaar-Savoy. This time you get to hear Jesper and JP being quite offended, Peter the Producer has unwarranted hopes for a shorter podcast, and we mispronounce Frode Unneland in so many ways that it’s almost Guinness Book of Records-worthy. We also tip-toe around well-known music terms, we update you on the story of a clothes brand, and JP recalls the...

In this episode of "a-ha: ranking highs and lows" we’ve ranked the songs from ‘MTV Unplugged - Summer Solstice’ album, which we hope you’ve all had a chance to listen to. Otherwise maybe this episode can serve as an introduction. This time we go shopping for instruments with Mozart, Jesper invents a new superhero, and JP shares opinions about musical arrangements of which he has no clue. We also encounter a large selection of instruments that we give the wrong names. And how many choruses...

In this episode we rank the 25 best live versions of a-ha songs. We’re happy to share a new episode of ‘a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows’ with you as we’re getting into December. Consider it an early Christmas present from us to you. And no, it doesn’t come in another size, colour or shape, but it DOES present our ranking of the 25 best live songs from a-ha, and that’s really a ‘one size fits all’ if you ask us! In this episode JP praises a-ha’s speed metal phase (brief as it was), and Jesper...

In this episode we rank the 11 studio albums by a-ha. Among other things you’ll get a tour through Jesper’s Facebook feed from 2009, Peter sees an escape door standing ajar, and JP provides a status on a t-shirt from the year 2000. We also rank German music magazines, and a-ha wins a questionable contest. And can you buy a girlfriend in a clothing store in Berlin? Jesper also worries about why JP is suddenly quiet (it doesn’t last long – neither the worrying nor the being quiet) and Peter...

In this episode of "a-ha: Ranking Highs and Lows" we're doing a slightly different ranking of a-ha-related songs, more specifically a top 10 of the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) lyrical backstabs between the guys in the band. In other words: which lyrics are verbal knives in another band member's back, and how deep does the knife go? The Ranking Highs and Lows podcast team has never been afraid of doing some major speculations about songs and lyrics, but we take it to the...

In this episode we rank the 25 best songs by Pål Waaktaar-Savoy from his projects outside of a-ha, which thereby is the 2nd part of our top 50 countdown. In this episode you'll be treated to more accents than anyone needs to hear, Jesper re-visits some of his favourite references, Peter the Producer is looking for a way out and JP continues to struggle with even the simplest Norwegian. We also still mess up the pronounciation af Frode's name ("Fruity", "Frough" and "Frood" are among the...

This episode of Ranking Highs and Lows is part 1 of our ranking of the 50 best songs by a-ha guitarist and songwriter Pål Waaktaar-Savoy from his projects outside of a-ha. We're very pleased to announce that we've had the opportunity to ask Pål about some of the songs on our ranking. He was very kind to answer some questions we e-mailed to him, and it's probably safe to say that his answers were better than our questions. However, because of this we'll finally learn where Morten's tour sound...

In this episode we direct our attention to a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen as we hunt for the 30 highs from his solo endeavours and side projects outside a-ha. In this episode you'll hear how Peter has given up on JP and now gives a trusted task to Jesper, we await a concept album about skimmed milk, and Peter and JP are left speechless (if only for a short while) by Jesper’s anecdotes from an Apparatjik concert. We get another one of Jesper’s “I was at work when I first heard this...

In this episode we rank songs from the solo career of Morten Harket, the legendary vocalist of equally legendary band a-ha. And whether you are new to Morten's solo efforts or have listened to all or most of it already this is definitely a podcast for you! In this episode we’ll be discussing the different stages of Morten’s solo career, JP once again tries to give a short summary of something (will he ever succeed?), and we find out if people in Copenhagen actually use stairs at all. And is...

In this episode we rank the 12 songs from "True North" - the latest addition to a-ha's amazing career and song catalogue - from the worst to the best, and we can reveal that the battle for the top spot is close! In this episode we possibly fail at giving a short summary of anything, we praise some drummers, we talk about second cousins and sisters, and it would be surprising if there wasn’t something that sounds more Beatles than The Beatles… We also introduce the concept of a ‘reverse...

In the sixth - and so far final - episode of Ranking Highs and Lows we finally reveal which of a-ha’s 147 songs is the ultimate number one! The superlatives are flying all around us as we count down from 25 to 1, but there’s still room for heavy compromises and disagreements - just like when a-ha makes an album. In this episode we hear about trips to the public swimming pool in the 1980’s, how a trained fan ear may be able to tell different types of rain apart, and how great it is when a...

In the fifth episode of Ranking Highs and Lows we crack the top 50 as we continue our ranking of the 147 a-ha songs from worst to best by counting down from 50 to 26. Here we encounter a song that both of us like but for quite different reasons, we run into some serious compromises and discuss which version of a song is the right one to rank. We also come across some big hits, discuss the importance of the production of a song, find out if there is such a thing as “The Waaktaar-Savoy School...

In the fourth episode of Ranking Highs and Lows we continue our ranking of the 147 a-ha songs from worst to best by counting down from 75 to 51. In this episode we will discuss how many cousins Driftwood actually has, get to know which song made one of us realize at a young age that we were maturing, and which song one of us considers more Beatles than The Beatles. We also discuss whether a certain long-awaited demo lives up to the hype, we hear more about a heartbreak from the early 2000’s,...

In the third episode of Ranking Highs and Lows we crack the top 100 as we continue our ranking of the 147 a-ha songs from worst to best by counting down from 100 to 76. In this episode we see the song quality increase significantly, discover lyrics that may not be considered appropriate in 2021, and find out which song meant a lot to one of your podcast hosts when he was love sick. We also discuss a-ha vs. Savoy vs. Beatles vs. Madonna, we encounter a couple of commercially successful...

In the second episode of Ranking Highs and Lows we continue our ranking of a-ha’s 147 songs from worst to best by counting down from 125 to 101. In this episode we will encounter a couple of singles and possibly a few fan favorites as well, and although we are still in the bottom third of the list we already here start seeing some rather good songs! In this episode we run into the first song on the list from one of a-ha’s 1990’s albums, discuss a poor attempt at recreating the feeling from...

In the first episode of Ranking Highs and Lows you will meet the two fans behind the project, get to understand why we think ranking 147 a-ha songs from worst to best is even a good idea in the first place and of course find out what we think are the 22 most shameful lowlands of a-ha’s otherwise magnificent catalogue as we count down from 147 to 126 on the list. In this episode you will also witness how we break our own song inclusion criteria already from the start and hopefully see how...