There is a moment, in the unforgettable video to a-ha’s 1985 smash hit “Take on Me,” where lead singer Morten Harket serenades his main squeeze in a hand-drawn comic book environment. They look at each other through a pane of glass that turns the rotoscoped images into flesh and blood. The camera pans across the lovers as Harket sings that infectious chorus, and viewers marvel as the images change from pencil-and-paper to real-life actors.

The deluxe reissue of Hunting High and Low, the fantastic debut album by the criminally underrated Norwegian band, is chock full of shiver-inducing moments like in the “Take on Me” video. Twenty-five years on, as a-ha are in the middle of their final tour as a group, Rhino Records has reminded fans what a delight it was to discover them for the first time.

Insanely, after “Take on Me” became a worldwide No. 1 hit, the band’s American popularity almost disintegrated (save for a Top 40 hit from the same record, “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.”). In Europe and South America, they maintained a feverish following, and much ink was spilled in 2000 when they returned to recording after a six-year hiatus. (Fortunately, a-ha made several stops in the States this past May during their “Ending on a High Note” tour.)

In a perfect world, American listeners would have fully realized the brilliance of a-ha through the spectrum of their first record. Not only did it spawn four fantastic singles - “Take on Me,” “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.,” “Train of Thought” and the title track - but it is a record free of filler and overproduction. It takes the Fairlight CMI - easily one of the most ‘80s instruments ever - and yet creates something that doesn’t sound terribly synthetic.

Although the Fairlight gave a-ha its signature sound, the songs would have sounded good on any instruments. Principal songwriter Pål Waaktaar writes more verbose lyrics than most native English speakers, and he couches them in melodies that are at once sweet and ominous (listen to “Beautiful Day” after hearing “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” and tell me U2 didn’t nick part of that song from a-ha).

The set is a boon for collectors, as well: not only does Bill Inglot, reissue producer par excellence, oversee a spectacular improvement in the packaging and sonic characteristics of the album (finally, all the lyrics in the liner notes!), but Hunting High and Low now boasts an extra disc of buried treasures from the vault, including several vinyl-only B-sides and dance remixes, the original single version of “Take on Me” that stiffed upon its original release and demos of not only every song on the original LP but another ten rare or unheard demos.