I'm not sure what's more impressive, Harket's astonishing voice or the decades he's been treating us with it, seemingly without loss of range or power...
Shadowside is also my favourite song on this album and one of the best a-ha songs. I was blown away as I heard it for the very first time. It's so difficult to express what I feel when I hear Morten sing like that. It's such a unique state where I feel the need to "crawl" into his voice and want him to never stop singing. I don't know how else to describe it.
“There’s a vocal range of 5 different keys in this song”…said Pal, who wrote it, and few other vocalists would be able to pull it off, but I know what I’m dealing with when I’m writing for a-ha and that I can trust Morten to achieve it”. Morten is just a uniquely gifted singer who has kept amazing and enthralling us with his vocals for near on 40 years! Needless to say another great song, and another favourite one from this album.
My favourite song from the album and one of my a-ha favourite songs on my birthday ! great ! 🙂 I love the dark side of the lyrics and the evolution of the music .
Being a practicing Pagan who has many times stood between the light and dark sides of the faith, craft and tradition I relate to this song deeply and strongly for it is my souls journey and permanent battle to keep on the lighter side of life without anyone's assistance to stay there...
For me Shadowside (2009) , Summer Moved On (1998) and Bumblebee (2022) are the most beautiful songs Paul has ever written - and the most beautiful songs a-ha have released. I guess Paul has one absolute masterpiece up his sleeve every 10-ish years or so 😄
Now your stereo system can't handle a-ha. 😆 Phew, for a moment I thought you had another corrupted file and there was nothing more than the beginning. 😜 One of my favourites on the album, too, mostly because of Morten's singing. Lucca woke up with his high notes. 😁 Another song where Paul seems to address his insecurities in a relationship - obviously, we mustn't think he is always writing about himself, but it's a frequent topic since the beginning of a-ha, when almost all his songs were about his love for Lauren. This version is much better than the shortened (as usual...) single version.
Okay okay…I don’t remember hearing this before. I do like this one. I could listen to it again for sure. Very pleasant and beautiful ❤ I don’t know, I guess part of my thing is his voice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful when it’s the softer and higher pitch for sure. Just feels like after analogue, any deeper voice, any grain, it’s gone. (The Umpf, the bad ass, the grit l)Like he couldn’t do it anymore? To me, hearing the similar kind of voice in all the songs just gets monotonous, if that makes sense? Again, I know that sounds bad, but I miss more of the variety like they had on other albums. Maybe that’s part of my problem too. I mean, this is a beautiful song for sure though. I suck, I know 😂 However, I know this stuff has touched many and that is amazing. ❤
I remember hearing this for the first time at the 'solo shows' at the Royal Albert Hall' in 2008. Blew me away. The arrangement was a little different too - similar to the demo version IIRC.
Hi Matt this track is a firm fave. shadow side was written by Pal for another artists project but the project fell through. Their loss was A-HA’s gain. As this track sees its writer traversing the dark side (the skyggerside), of his soul, candidly revealing that there was a facet to his personality that had the potential to eat away at a relationship. There are 5 different key changes on only Morten could pull that off said Pal. “Pal is quoted as saying when i write for a-ha I know what I have to work with and who I can trust will achieve it vocally. It’s such a shame the review of the live version the sun always shines on tv was blocked I wish RU-vid would target some other band for a change cause a-ha are in their own league and the sun always shines on tv is a classic. Take care and have a great weekend. Catch you on the next one. 😘❤️🇳🇴❤️🏴🇺🇸
love, love, love this track. Is it about relapse ? Is it about impending loss of a secure situation that holds the narrator away from temptation ot just fighting personal demons, an internal dialogue ? It's open enough to be personally interpreted by the listener. The song builds to a swirling cloud of almost blissful release (did he give in to his vice? or decide against it?) Choose your own adventure...
Okay okay…I don’t remember hearing this before. I do like this one, I believe. Very pleasant and beautiful ❤ I don’t know, I guess part of my thing is his voice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful when it’s the softer and higher pitch for sure. Just feels like after analogue, any deeper voice, any gravel, any scratch… it’s gone. (The bad ass, the grit) Like he couldn’t do it anymore? Maybe it was too hard in his vocal chords? To me, hearing the similar kind of voice in all the songs just gets monotonous, if that makes sense? Again, I know that sounds bad, but I miss more of the variety in Morten’s voice like they had on other albums. Maybe that’s part of my problem too. I mean, this is a beautiful song for sure, no doubt, but my brain is like “there is the softer high pitch again..” And I suck 🙈
@@shelld1261 No, you don't suck. I think after a certain point Morten changed vocal coaches and I'm not certain of the timing but I noticed a difference in the gravel in his tone after it. Maybe it was to protect his long term voice... i don't know for sure but i hear it too.
@@UnhandyCandy280 I also imagine his voice could have changed a bit. Even with certain songs you hear him sing through the years, his voice can sound a little different each time. I have heard from a few people who sing that sometimes the lower deep sounds are harder to do or harder on your vocal chords. I would have thought the opposite, but hey, I can believe it. I wish it worked the other way. 😋I mean, I am not even remotely some professional singer or musician. What do I know?🤷🏻♀️ To me though, it’s so cool to read how these different songs touched people. I love that. I wasn’t a huge fan of True North, but when they popped up songs on their RU-vid channel, I would love to just read the comments. So many people going through hard times, people who lost loved ones. All those people being touched by the music, well… That and just how many really nice people there were, leaving such sweet comments to wish others well. Many tears from me 😭💖 It’s amazing how they do that. I see it in comments all the time where someone said A-ha saved them in a difficult time. So cool ❤
@@shelld1261 I think I've got a couple of those comments on here too. It is amazing to see how a song can cheer you up or calm you down, laugh, cry, see things from above or inside out.... and that same song can have no effect whatsoever on some... but those people are just dead inside and that's a scientific fact. I'll go sit on the naughty step now.
@@UnhandyCandy280 Come on now, you're being terrible. hahaha! Well, the people who don't like EOTS and MB are dead inside, true. Besides that though, it's all good. 😂😂😂
Another favourite song to add to the list then Matt! 😉 It’s a great song, although I remember the single version being cut badly. The emotion of the song was lost a bit without so much build.
The second single release of the album, although in some countries it was the third. Heavily edited and trimmed down for the single, some might say butchered. It's also one of my favourites from the album.
Hey Matt. I love your reaction and take on this song. It is a deep and self reflective song to me. Your right. Morten is an Angel not of this realm. On a personal note. Would you consider listening and giving feedback on amateur recordings? If so I would like to share my rendition of “hurt” (Johnny Cash) with you. I never do covers. My own stuff and my own take on other hits with my own touch that I feel still stays true to the original. All acoustic and just organic. If not no worries. Thanks again for wonderful reviews!
I think that "Shadowside," which I always try to call "Shadowtime" because of the Siouxsie and the Banshees song (I only say that because I almost typed Shadowtime just now). I think "Shadowside" might be referencing Carl Jung's concept of the shadow a little bit. It may not be direct. It could be a play on the term "dark side" like in "Star Wars." There's a Tool song called "46 and 2," which is fully about the Jungian shadow. "Shadowside" doesn't seem to deal with the same concepts though, so I've more or less decided that's not what it's directly about. Fantastic song though. It's one of those that feels like only a-ha could write.
I'm about to start reacting to Siouxise and the Banshees (some of their material was made available to me recently). As far as I know, I've never heard them.
@@mattsnider2667 I wish I still had contact with my former co-worker, Brandon. I would tell him to show up for those Siouxsie and the Banshees reactions. Maybe he'll find you on his own. One could hope. I benefited from his collection. I had "Tinderbox" and "Peepshow" and a couple of singles, but he recorded eight 90-minute cassettes for me of their work. So as you would say, "Shout out to Brandon" for my Bashees knowledge. I think you'll enjoy them and I think you'll know a couple of their songs. The Weeknd sampled "Happy House" and a few other songs have been sampled. And a lot of their stuff has ended up in movies and TV.
Eu estou bem! Finais que se alongam para nos transportar para outra dimensão música magnífica. Excelente A-HA! E... graças ao google tradutor! 😉 I agree! Endings that stretch to transport us to another magnificent musical dimension. Superb A-HA! And... thanks to google translate! 😉😁🎶
@@pedrogappalli4489 Minha língua Monther é o francês. Eu percebo o português como uma língua mais difícil e complexa do que o espanhol ou o italiano (que eu entendo um pouco)... Um baita desafio de aprender! Acho que as línguas latinas têm um som muito bonito! Imagine a música Hunting High and Low cantada em português pelo Morten... Nossa! Tenha um ótimo dia! 😊
