The edition, released in 2010 by Rhino Records , serves as a definitive tribute to a-ha's "difficult second album". Originally released on October 6, 1986, Scoundrel Days was the follow-up to their massive debut, Hunting High and Low , and saw the Norwegian trio—Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar-Savoy, and Magne Furuholmen—pivot from "bubblegummy" synth-pop toward a darker, more atmospheric, and guitar-driven sound. The Core Album: A Darker Evolution
: Remixes like the "Extended Remix" of "Manhattan Skyline" and the "Extended Version" of "I've Been Losing You" provide the era-appropriate "hand-edited" remix experience. aha scoundrel days remastered and expanded upd
The plan was narrow as a knife. They would hijack a municipal broadcast—one of the old "public service" frequencies that still hiccupped in the dead of night—and play the day across the neighborhood. The child's ribbon, encoded as an audio trigger, would call any listener who'd lost that home to the riverbank. People would respond in pieces. Some would cry. Some would deny. Some would come forward, and the net of recognition would catch the family back into itself. Scoundrel Days Remastered and Expanded The edition, released
There was a different kind of remastering they could do together. Not polishing the edges, but expanding the day itself—placing it back into the world where it belonged. Scoundrel proposed a swap: he would broker its return, stitch it into the ledger as a living day, not a commodity—rebroadcast the memory so the family could choose it back. The plan was narrow as a knife
The opener originally felt slightly muffled. In the remaster, the reverberated piano and Harket’s whisper-to-crescendo vocal are separated perfectly. You can hear the room tone.
The 2010 remastered and expanded of a-ha's sophomore album, Scoundrel Days , is widely regarded by critics and fans as the definitive way to experience the band's transition from "bubblegum" pop stars to serious, atmospheric songwriters. Critical Consensus & Musical Shift
This isn't just a polish. The edition adds a second disc (or digital album) of rare and unreleased material, including: