VOULEZ-VOUS (1979)
after the transition LP 'the album' , after many recording sessions and songs scraping , Benny and Bjorn didn't find good material to record a new album (putting the balance too much high) , the songs were good but the arrangements were not enough creative for Benny's expectations ,so they decide to go to a trip to Barbados , spending a holiday and listening to american radios (there was no satellite Tv ) the result was a Disco flavored album .
1. As Good As New
opening like a Mozart theme (Eine kleine Nachtmusik) it soon swing to a funky beat and this dramatically change of style (from classical to pop) is reproduced in hits like Gimme gimme gimme ,one night in bangkok and Merano from chess )
it's a very beautiful melody as usual with vocal harmonies ,and five parts in the song with an added part at the end .
all this in 3 mn approximatively !!
2. Voulez-Vous
this went through different arrangement , a mix has been recorded in the american legendary "Criteria" studio (the only time out side Sweden) with musician of the band foxy.the backing track was used in the US remix 12 inch.
the backing track was rerecorded in Stockholm and released in the album .
the song has a Beethoven like flavor ,the synthesizer is prominent contrarily to the US mix .I learned recently that the lyrics which were very obscure to me , deal with the partner-swapping of the seventies ,maybe this is what came across Bjorn's imagination !
3. I Have A Dream
actually that was my favorite when i was a child but since then it seems unlike other ABBA songs to grow old not much better .
the song has a very beautiful intro-bridge greek-like ,but the anthem-like structure of the song make it too long for the three times ,i actually listen to it very scarcely and even made my self edited version by cutting the third verse !
4. Angeleyes
one of my all time favorite;
very energetic and contagious melody ,this reveal like in 'the name of the game' the fourth virtual voice made of Bjorn-Frida blending marvelous and creating a virtual androgynous voice (look at me that way ...)
this is one of ABBA trade mark song like Mamma mia .
it begins with a key board and voice pattern (Mozart-Vivaldi like) then the disco part with three parts melodically and rhythmically .it seems that although it was the A side of the voulez-vous single ,the public preferred the other track but this was also a fact with the 'day before ' single where 'Cassandra' was the favorite on radios .
5. The King Has Lost His Crown
Beginning with a dreamy intro , then the girls go through a crescendo , Frida singing in the lowest key then burst the bridge with a powerful virile energetic blend of the the girls with the male voices , the chorus has been subject of a lot of reworking by Mr Tretow , at one point ,the girls were forced to sing at superhuman effort which lead to alter the range of the recording by altering the speed ,tretow noted that there's a moment where it goes out of tune but it's impossible to hear it (the complete recording sessions of C M Palm)
but Agnetha and Frida had to record many times to give the wanted rendition , this surely is not one of the favourite sessions of the girls ,but the result is splendid !
there's also the middle section with a sort of peplum-like atmosphere to give the "kingdom feeling' !
6. Does Your Mother Know
a pop superb tune with a huge sound that is still update , another more rockier version recorded as a demo and re-rebroadcast in "Abba in Switzerland " the "hunting" solo guitar has been scrapped in the final release ,though it's a very interesting piece it doesn't blend with the lyrics so maybe that's why it has been put off.
7. If It Wasn’t For The Nights
this one is a masterpiece of Disco but in my taste became average with the strings , personally I don't like the strings in Abba in the late recordings made by Anders Eljas though i think that he made a wonderful job on CHESS more later ,but this one and in the demo 'rubber ball man' the strings though perfect have a US flavor made on the most US Disco recordings , in Dancing Queen the strings are very classical but give a higher dimension to the song ! the strings here sound really like strangled chicken (the worst arrangement ) so i do prefer 'the Mike Yarwood' version which is completely without strings and the piano is enough (it plays the future strings notes ) and even the speed is normal (it seems that it has been altered ) the girls voices sound more natural and more elegant !
8. Chiquitita
one of the most beautiful songs of all-time ,delivered majestically by Agnetha , though it has a Latin flavour ,the solo parts sounds a little like Lapp singing ,it has a cold feeling that is exceptional in Latin songs (though Portuguese 'Fado' is very cold ) but there's a theory know that Portuguese Fado sounds like Norwegian folk (maybe the same sorrowful feeling) but as we know ,Lapland is not far away from Sweden so ....
the end is a masterpiece in itself and Benny delivers a Mini sonata !
9. Lovers (Live A Little Longer)
here it seems a pastiche of Disco mainstream but with dramatic strings (here less annoying because they blend more the whole arrangement but still not very inventive)
Frida delivers her alto voice with splendour while Agnetha is excited (Sara from ABBA on TV hears 'I'm exploding')
there's a magical moment ,really magical, after the second chorus ,more clear if you listen with OPS ,where the two girls voices are incredible ,even i think classical trained singers can't do that !
10. Kisses Of Fire
one of the highlights ,and one of the best Abba songs which had deserved a "single" fate !
it begins with a dreamy classical church-choir-like Capella then burst the Rock chorus ,a magnificent transition , everything is perfect and chosen a the perfect moment ,what else to say !
Bonus tracks
11. Summer Night City
the best Disco song ever (excluding DQ wich is more a funky song)
with or without the intro ,it burst or explodes at first ,but the melody and the percussions are incredible !
my absolute favourite , this song could have been a blue print to songs like Aha 'train of thouhgt' or Depeche mode 'enjoy the silence' .
12. Lovelight
epic song about the prince charming who comes deliver the princess who is dying with boredom !
the melody is very folk preluding to the later Benny output ,compared to Oldfield works ,maybe it was an inspiration but 'The Piper' from the next album is surely the inspiration to Oldfield 'To France' !
13. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
the masterpiece of Disco ,N°2 after 'Summer night city',but still a favorite ,the best in the tune is of course the Chinese melody and the actress skills of Agnetha delivering a new 'facette' of her voice up to this point .
you could feel the loneliness and the 'Drama' feeling as if it was a movie ,the middle instrumental section gives an image of 'a night with emptiness and darkness without anyone around'
it could have been sung in Swedish still people would have loved it !
14. Estoy Soñando (Spanish Version of I Have A Dream)
no difference with the original ,Frida is perfect .
15. Chiquitita (Spanish Version)
Agnetha gives the same sorrowful feeling with more power than the original English version .
16. ¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame! (Spanish Version of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight])
this one is as good as the English ,the backing track just like for Dancing Queen is a bit different from the original in percussions and they sound better .
unreleased tracks :
- Dream World
wonderful sugar pop number , one of my absolute fav , makes me think of the Mangas of my childhood !
there's a moment at the end of the chorus where agnetha and frida sound heavenly incredible
( so it can only get be-e-e-etter)
- Voulez-Vous (Extended Remix, 1979 US promo) features the US backing track heavily overdubbed and prominent saxo and ahas !
just an addendum to your collection .
After the Disco-flavoured album ,Abba decide to progress towards pure pop and electro ;though the album featured a major easy listening evergreens ,lay all your love on me is a major blue print to all electropop of the following decade .
the album is the first without Gambian born Malando Gassama , and it's noticeable (his contribution is the most prominent on the sound of Arrival album which sounds very south american in most tracks thanks to his magical Marimbas)
he died in 1999 may his soul rest in peace .
1. Super Trouper
a festive track ,perfect inaugural piece ,a Capella intro almost a psalm-like instantly followed by a more sugar pop track in the vein of 'take a chance on me' with less complexity in the rhythm but more in the melody , very German shlager and Frida leading with a very German singing style everything perfectly to meet the euro-asian taste but not the american !
2. The Winner Takes It All
for most of the world this is the best Abba ,I don't think so ,even if it meets the most unanimity among Abba songs ,this is a masterpiece but not Abba best song ever ,why just because it's very far from the Abba classic sound ,it's most an evergreen French chanson ,everything is perfect but it lacks the "Abba signature" and Agnetha sounds in the chorus as she never did ,she sings too perfectly ,like a Diva ,something very unusual among Abba songs .but all in all it's one of my favourite but not in my Top 20.
3. On And On And On
a perfect tribute to the beach boys ,a certain fusion between electro pop and rock .the live version in the Dick cavett show is far better precisely because it don't feature the synthesiser backing vocals that for the only time in all Abba's catalogue was inessential !
the live version is astonishing with strength !
4. Andante, Andante
an italian pastiche due to the italian feeling of sensuality (the country of love and emotion) this is a metaphore about sexuality just like 'tropical land' and 'Dum Dum Diddle' even unconscionably bjorn had it in mind !
the melody very mature has got splendor arrangements.
by moments you can feel the butterfly passing by , a feeling shared by 'move on' where you can hear the drops of water !
a new version with little difference in Frida's singing and arrangements , more accordion and mandolin with less strings as good as the original release has surfaced on the SINGLES VINYL 2014 box set
5. Me And I
a psychoanalytical song about double persona , the chorus features some notes from Blondie's 'heart of glass' and a part from that the song has a sound very futuristic and had aged very well .
6. Happy New Year
one of my all time favorite songs , Agnetha sounds like Ella Fitzgerald , the song is perfectly crafted and the arrangements are incredible , it's so perfect that even you listen to it backwards , the melody remains perfectly beautiful , it's a very symmetrical tune and the lyrics are prophetic (the gulf war and the satanic years of the late eighties ,early nineties)
7. Our Last Summer
here another french chanson , dealing with an old flirt of adolescent Bjorn !
the idea of the lyrics may have been written for 'Monsieur Monsieur' but they were finally here .
the song is very well built and the arrangements changing completely from a verse to another .
the bridge features notes from the future Chess 'anthem' .
Frida's voice sounds a bit like Piaf in the end at the fading out !
8. The Piper
the song is a completely UFO in the world of pop , featuring in the bridge a 'middle age' melody with latin lyrics ! the voices of the girls have never been so powerful !
the lyrics dealing with the paranoia of a dictator coming soon .
9. Lay All Your Love On Me
one of the best Abba songs , perfect pop , perfect electropop blueprint for all the new wave of the eighties , the lyrics about an old human natural feeling : jealousy , and the difficulty to deal with it !
the synthesizer like pattern in the pre-chorus may seem easy with the actual equipment but at the time of the release (1980) it was a true feat !
10. The Way Old Friends Do
a less favorite but still an evergreen , another anthem like song , recorded only live , the only official song lacking a studio version although the 'Super Trouper' version (different from the Live 79 version featured on the docu DVD) sounds a lot like a studio version overdubbed !
Bonus tracks
11. Elaine
one of the best ABBA songs ever !
dismissed by Mr Andersson to be on a B side !!!
we can guess that there can be more masterpieces dismissed by him in the can (of course ,I exclude the crap 'crush on you')
12. Andante, Andante (Spanish Version)
few differences , the backing track exactly the same , Frida's voice sounds very latin !
13. Felicidad (Spanish Version of Happy New Year)
better than the english , it's the best version , Agnetha has got an incredible harmony with spanish !
THE VISITORS(1981)
futuristic sound , paranoid mood , sad songs (a classic feature of the eighties)
I loved it the first I heard it , although it's not a concept album and the songs very different from each other , it has a homogeneity in the mood , the singing and the inventive tricks of Benny
the melodies are simply incredible , preluding to the masterpieces of Chess and Gemini's (just like that , Another you another me)
1. The Visitors
has the same oriental flavor as Summer night city , Indian melody like Elaine , Frida sounding like a zither , a complex mix of Indian traditional music with techno dance , one of the first world music tracks , they've been exploring every sort of style and this is the kind they succeed in , the harmony of the four voices in the chorus creating the 'paranoia' mood of the lyrics .
russian discidents or afghan refugies ,it's the same !
ABBA songs were always about people suffering !
2. Head Over Heels
one of Benny's best arrangements , tango with German cabaret (though the two style are very close) , the backing track is so rich that you can extract a dozen songs from it !
Agnetha , of course , delivering those ordinary woman vocals , something that's been criterion at the time . honestly , she did use her complete ability here and in the TDBYC !
that , of course , was not her choice !
3. When All Is Said And Done
Frida gives her 1000% , strong and proud , an atomic rendition never matched by any cover .
it's the best version ever , the backing track featuring a strange mix between Irish folk , Balkan mood , classical violins (Mozart inspired) and techno rhythms , there's a strange duality between the mechanical rhythmic section and the emotional voice of Frida . bombastic !
a missed single in Europe !
the lyrics are a little ambivalent because outside the break up , they could be understood as people oppressed who have to wake up and ask for their rights even if they know they could get only death , and this meaning stick more to the lyrics of the three other songs of the A side !
4. Soldiers
(working title :15:e Oktoberlåten)
one of my all time favorite , Agnetha is crying as never , for the victims of injustice all over the world , the melody is typical ABBA .
the drums provided by Per lindvall (Roger Palm used to give them the best in the early songs )
sort of military march (incredible in an pop album but not with ABBA)
5. I Let The Music Speak
another oddity on the album but what a piece !
Frida delivers one of her best ever renditions , classical , dreamy , strange atmosphere like a old movie OST .
the middle of the song has got a melody that could be on a classical repertoire of Moussorgsky or Borodine !
a twinkling diamond on a see of pearls .
6. One Of Us
all the song is as if it was built around Agnetha's singing plaintive voice , not sad but full of regrets , excelling in this ,she provide a splendid rendition .
reggae flavor with Italian melody , only ABBA can do this.
but the song seems very strong and many covers of it are excellent (Dune , flowing tears)
7. Two For The Price Of One
the only true happy song on this album , only it deals with a dear subject in ABBA's lyrics : solitude .
the vocals of Bjorn perfectly adapted to the song , i could not imagine the girls doing it !
8. Slipping Through My Fingers
one of the finest ballads of the group ever , Agnetha delivers very special vocals , almost childish (we could figure out that it was Linda) , the two voices blend together magically in the chorus , the live 'cavett' version though completely different , is as good , and Agnetha delivers more emotional vocals , the backing track look as it was the early version .
the studio version has got more synthetic arrangements while the live version though acoustic features more sophisticated arrangements .
9. Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
this song has got a multitude pre-versions and demos before it was released , Frida is completely classical but the mood of the song unlike 'the music speak' is modern and even timeless , the clock in the back seems to give it a peculiar atmosphere that makes the track sounding not eighties as 'one of us' or 'head over heels' but timeless and when you hear the other demos (featured on the Deluxe version) you can only praise them for choosing this one retrospectively .
the other demos would have been arranged and mixed so that they can make a special bonus CD , the songs are nearly completed and though have the same melody are completely different :
1) ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, Björn : very gentle ballad , very eighties , sounding like the demo 'Givin' A Little Bit More' on ABBA undeleted .
2) Frida ‘Another Morning Without You’ , a song on its own , a rare emotional bit of Frida 'crying' like Agnetha , this vesrion deserve to be mixed as a new track , very beautiful !
3) ‘Like An Angel Passing Though My Room’ "disco" , Frida and Agnetha
it's not really Disco , more tropical like Hovas vittne , not my favorite cause it's tongue in cheek and don't match the 'grandeur' of the tune !
4) An Angel Passing Through My Room – full band version (Frida leading )
another version worthwhile a release as a mixed number .
5) An Angel Passing Through My Room – full band version, compressed mix
an effort that makes it sound like an alien singing (reminiscence of "calling universe" of the Carpenters !)
6) Like An Angel Passing Through My Room – ballad version
this is an ultimate version sort of naked version , very beautiful arrangement's in the eighties style also worthwhile the release as a complete effort !
all these could simply be released as 'Variations' on the same theme !!!
Bonus tracks
10. Should I Laugh Or Cry (B side of 'One of us')
this is another song that deserve a good place in an album and Mr Andersson put it on a B side !! it's futuristic and has an excellent arrangement , apart from the frida's vocals incredible !
it share an odd fact with Nina pretty ballerina :
it can be noticed even if you play only the bass rhythm line !
11. No hay a quien culpar (Spanish Version of When All Is Said And Done)
same quality as english , Frida more emotioannal and lyrics are more straightforward about the personal relationship !
12. Se me està escapando (Spanish Version of Slipping Through My Fingers)
the definitively best version !
13. The Day Before You Came
a much talked about , debates have been made on it .
but in fact , the song is a big classic and it has the arrangements it deserves , it's perfect and knowing the lyrics , this eighties sound , minimalism and dreary , this is a testimony of an era where tomorrows were uncertain and luckiness only a dream !
the melody gloomy and dark is lifted by Jon Anderson-like vocals of Agnetha , the synthesizer plays a melancholic repetitive pattern close to the 'routine' of the life , the backing vocals operatic giving an echo of hope in this melancholy .
Maybe my number one song with "Money Money Money" (both testify the hard life and struggle as a blues )
14. Cassandra
a beautiful piece Vangelis-inspired probably because of its Greek legend lyrics (Cassandra is the daughter of King Priam whose ancestor Laomedon who was cursed for not keeping promise to the gods who built the battlement around the city of troy , one of the curse was the power of Cassandra to see really the future but nobody believes her and Paris , her brother who kidnapped Helen , spouse of Menelas , and brought destruction to troy)
the melody vocals and arrangements sumptuous as usual .
15. Under Attack
a failed attempt to put a happy-to-go song but the heart was not there , ABBA weren't the two happy couples and it transpired on the recordings , sad tracks are quite perfect but joyful pop numbers don't quite succeed , the song of course is a wonderful pop number .
16. You Owe Me One
the B side of Under Attack and of course another mistake , it has the joy and the energy that lacks in the whole album and the TDBYC/Cassandra single , it would have been a hit surely , a proto Depeche mode (Vince Clarck period) track .
I Am The City (unreleased , first on More ABBA Gold) a song that could be on a future album but they split up !
ABBA Undeleted :
- Scaramouche (hard rocker that would suit 'the album')
- Summer Night City (improvisations on piano)
- Take A Chance On Me (billy , instrumental of the song before it became a scat)
- Baby (Agnetha singing Rock me ! the first time you hear a rockier voice of hers )
- Just A Notion (a pretty good song )
- Rikky Rock ’n’ Roller (a good rocker that was released by Jerry Williams)
- Burning My Bridges (early incarnation of the masterpiece hamlet)
- Fernando (tango a demo in swedish , Frida sounds so perfectly at ease that you don't feel it as a demo)
- Here Comes Rubie Jamie
- Hamlet III Parts 1 and 2
part I a heavy metal version
part II Shakespearean version with folk back ground , heavenly voices !
- Free As A Bumble Bee , Beatlesque pastiche about being lazy !
- Rubber Ball Man early version of under my sun , the strings spoil the wonderful rendition of the perfect blending of the girls voices (though Frida's voice is dominating )
- Crying Over You
- Just Like That st graal of ABBA fanhood and surely it's a thrill and a perfect model of what ABBA would come up if they carried on , it's really sublime at every note , every word , a perfect example of what a masterpiece of the eighties should be .
- Givin’ A Little Bit More
- Under my sun , one of my all time favorite pop song , this version is the best , but , as it landed partly on 'under attack' , it was scrapped . the song is far more superior to the late !
when we hear all ABBA's catalogue , we come across one simple conclusion :
a part from the melancholy of the melodies , even the joyful songs hide always some sad feelings
(Super Trouper : how can anyone be so lonely )
major lyrics are about loneliness , suffering of people , in love , war or simply every day situations , it's crazy how could people living in the most fair state in the world (during the seventies ) can be so aware about what people around the world can face (so harmful situations) .
that's not a surprise that it's the n°1 band in the so called 'third world' countries and lands where people suffer from tyranny , injustice etc ....
but positively the songs give hope to those people (there's a hope and don't surrender !; "clearheaded and opened eyed with nothing left untried" )
it seems that Bjorn and Agnetha had a kind of awareness about that (it transpire in their lyrics )
and that's also the explanation about Abba being a favorite along minorities .
lot of fans had also lonely childhood (as i had) or from divorced parents , their music bring sort of consolation to us !
while other bands fantasize about absurd and illogical , Abba bring an opened eye to everyday people and the most simple situations in life to transcend them and envelope them in a luxury box (splendid music with complicated harmonies and arrangements ) and release them as bubble gum pop just like an opera of Mozart or Rossini full of trivia but with such complexity in the performance !
so don't be fooled by the early ugly costumes they wore at the beginning (and media always insidiously focus on that image) but dig in the recordings and you can discover a real treasure .
good articles about abba 's music
after the transition LP 'the album' , after many recording sessions and songs scraping , Benny and Bjorn didn't find good material to record a new album (putting the balance too much high) , the songs were good but the arrangements were not enough creative for Benny's expectations ,so they decide to go to a trip to Barbados , spending a holiday and listening to american radios (there was no satellite Tv ) the result was a Disco flavored album .
1. As Good As New
opening like a Mozart theme (Eine kleine Nachtmusik) it soon swing to a funky beat and this dramatically change of style (from classical to pop) is reproduced in hits like Gimme gimme gimme ,one night in bangkok and Merano from chess )
it's a very beautiful melody as usual with vocal harmonies ,and five parts in the song with an added part at the end .
all this in 3 mn approximatively !!
2. Voulez-Vous
this went through different arrangement , a mix has been recorded in the american legendary "Criteria" studio (the only time out side Sweden) with musician of the band foxy.the backing track was used in the US remix 12 inch.
the backing track was rerecorded in Stockholm and released in the album .
the song has a Beethoven like flavor ,the synthesizer is prominent contrarily to the US mix .I learned recently that the lyrics which were very obscure to me , deal with the partner-swapping of the seventies ,maybe this is what came across Bjorn's imagination !
3. I Have A Dream
actually that was my favorite when i was a child but since then it seems unlike other ABBA songs to grow old not much better .
the song has a very beautiful intro-bridge greek-like ,but the anthem-like structure of the song make it too long for the three times ,i actually listen to it very scarcely and even made my self edited version by cutting the third verse !
4. Angeleyes
one of my all time favorite;
very energetic and contagious melody ,this reveal like in 'the name of the game' the fourth virtual voice made of Bjorn-Frida blending marvelous and creating a virtual androgynous voice (look at me that way ...)
this is one of ABBA trade mark song like Mamma mia .
it begins with a key board and voice pattern (Mozart-Vivaldi like) then the disco part with three parts melodically and rhythmically .it seems that although it was the A side of the voulez-vous single ,the public preferred the other track but this was also a fact with the 'day before ' single where 'Cassandra' was the favorite on radios .
5. The King Has Lost His Crown
Beginning with a dreamy intro , then the girls go through a crescendo , Frida singing in the lowest key then burst the bridge with a powerful virile energetic blend of the the girls with the male voices , the chorus has been subject of a lot of reworking by Mr Tretow , at one point ,the girls were forced to sing at superhuman effort which lead to alter the range of the recording by altering the speed ,tretow noted that there's a moment where it goes out of tune but it's impossible to hear it (the complete recording sessions of C M Palm)
but Agnetha and Frida had to record many times to give the wanted rendition , this surely is not one of the favourite sessions of the girls ,but the result is splendid !
there's also the middle section with a sort of peplum-like atmosphere to give the "kingdom feeling' !
6. Does Your Mother Know
a pop superb tune with a huge sound that is still update , another more rockier version recorded as a demo and re-rebroadcast in "Abba in Switzerland " the "hunting" solo guitar has been scrapped in the final release ,though it's a very interesting piece it doesn't blend with the lyrics so maybe that's why it has been put off.
7. If It Wasn’t For The Nights
this one is a masterpiece of Disco but in my taste became average with the strings , personally I don't like the strings in Abba in the late recordings made by Anders Eljas though i think that he made a wonderful job on CHESS more later ,but this one and in the demo 'rubber ball man' the strings though perfect have a US flavor made on the most US Disco recordings , in Dancing Queen the strings are very classical but give a higher dimension to the song ! the strings here sound really like strangled chicken (the worst arrangement ) so i do prefer 'the Mike Yarwood' version which is completely without strings and the piano is enough (it plays the future strings notes ) and even the speed is normal (it seems that it has been altered ) the girls voices sound more natural and more elegant !
8. Chiquitita
one of the most beautiful songs of all-time ,delivered majestically by Agnetha , though it has a Latin flavour ,the solo parts sounds a little like Lapp singing ,it has a cold feeling that is exceptional in Latin songs (though Portuguese 'Fado' is very cold ) but there's a theory know that Portuguese Fado sounds like Norwegian folk (maybe the same sorrowful feeling) but as we know ,Lapland is not far away from Sweden so ....
the end is a masterpiece in itself and Benny delivers a Mini sonata !
9. Lovers (Live A Little Longer)
here it seems a pastiche of Disco mainstream but with dramatic strings (here less annoying because they blend more the whole arrangement but still not very inventive)
Frida delivers her alto voice with splendour while Agnetha is excited (Sara from ABBA on TV hears 'I'm exploding')
there's a magical moment ,really magical, after the second chorus ,more clear if you listen with OPS ,where the two girls voices are incredible ,even i think classical trained singers can't do that !
10. Kisses Of Fire
one of the highlights ,and one of the best Abba songs which had deserved a "single" fate !
it begins with a dreamy classical church-choir-like Capella then burst the Rock chorus ,a magnificent transition , everything is perfect and chosen a the perfect moment ,what else to say !
Bonus tracks
11. Summer Night City
the best Disco song ever (excluding DQ wich is more a funky song)
with or without the intro ,it burst or explodes at first ,but the melody and the percussions are incredible !
my absolute favourite , this song could have been a blue print to songs like Aha 'train of thouhgt' or Depeche mode 'enjoy the silence' .
12. Lovelight
epic song about the prince charming who comes deliver the princess who is dying with boredom !
the melody is very folk preluding to the later Benny output ,compared to Oldfield works ,maybe it was an inspiration but 'The Piper' from the next album is surely the inspiration to Oldfield 'To France' !
13. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
the masterpiece of Disco ,N°2 after 'Summer night city',but still a favorite ,the best in the tune is of course the Chinese melody and the actress skills of Agnetha delivering a new 'facette' of her voice up to this point .
you could feel the loneliness and the 'Drama' feeling as if it was a movie ,the middle instrumental section gives an image of 'a night with emptiness and darkness without anyone around'
it could have been sung in Swedish still people would have loved it !
14. Estoy Soñando (Spanish Version of I Have A Dream)
no difference with the original ,Frida is perfect .
15. Chiquitita (Spanish Version)
Agnetha gives the same sorrowful feeling with more power than the original English version .
16. ¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame! (Spanish Version of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight])
this one is as good as the English ,the backing track just like for Dancing Queen is a bit different from the original in percussions and they sound better .
unreleased tracks :
- Dream World
wonderful sugar pop number , one of my absolute fav , makes me think of the Mangas of my childhood !
there's a moment at the end of the chorus where agnetha and frida sound heavenly incredible
( so it can only get be-e-e-etter)
- Voulez-Vous (Extended Remix, 1979 US promo) features the US backing track heavily overdubbed and prominent saxo and ahas !
just an addendum to your collection .
AS GOOD AS NEW : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Janne Schaffer String arrangernerrt: Rutger Gunnarsson
VOULEZ VOUS : Drums: Joe Galdo Bass:Arnold Paserio Piano: Paul Harris Guitars: Ish Ledesma, George Terry, Janne Schaffer, Bjorn Ulvaeus Tenor saxophones: Halldor Palsson, Johan Stengard Trombone: Nils Landgren Backing track recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami (thank you Ron and Howard Albert, Tom Dowd, Don Gehman and Scheilan'Sam. Taylor').
I HAVE A DREAM : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars: Janne Schaffer Björn ulvaeus Choir: International School 0f Stockholm Choir directed by Kerstin FeistANGELEYES : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Mike Watson Guitars: Janne Schaffer Björn ulvaeus String arrangement: Anders EljasTHE KING HAS LOST HIS CROWN : Drums: Rolf Alex Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars: Lasse Wellander, Bjorn Ulvaeus Oboe Jan Risberg String arrangement: Anders EljasDOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Mike Watson Guitars: Bjorn Ulvaeus Tenor saxophones:Lars O. Carlsson, Kajtek WojciechowskiIF IT WASN'T FOR THE NIGHTS : Drums: Ola Brunkert Percussion: Malando Gassama Bass: Mike Watson Guitars: Janne Schaffer, Bjorn Ulvaeus String & horn arrangements: Anders EljasCHIQUITITA : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars: Lasse Wellander, Bjorn Ulvaeus Banjo: Bjorn Ulvaeus
SUPER TROUPER(1980)LOVERS : Drums: Ola Brunkert Percussion: Malando Gassama Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars: Lasse Wellander, Bjorn Ulvaeus String arrangernent: Rutger Gunnarsson Backing track recorded at Marcus Music Studio, Stockholm.KISSES OF FIRE : Drums: Ola Brunkert Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars: Lasse Wellander, Bjorn Ulvaeus Keyboards and synthesizers: Benny Andersson. Produced by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studio, Stockholm. Engineered by Mlchael B. Tretow. Album cover, photographed at Alexandra Disco, Stockholm. Photo by Ola Lager (front). Photos inner sleeve by Anders Hanser/Premium Publishing, Ola Lager/Polar Music Int'l, Bengt H.Malmqvist/Premium Publishing, Tobjorn Calvero/Premium Publishing.
After the Disco-flavoured album ,Abba decide to progress towards pure pop and electro ;though the album featured a major easy listening evergreens ,lay all your love on me is a major blue print to all electropop of the following decade .
the album is the first without Gambian born Malando Gassama , and it's noticeable (his contribution is the most prominent on the sound of Arrival album which sounds very south american in most tracks thanks to his magical Marimbas)
he died in 1999 may his soul rest in peace .
1. Super Trouper
a festive track ,perfect inaugural piece ,a Capella intro almost a psalm-like instantly followed by a more sugar pop track in the vein of 'take a chance on me' with less complexity in the rhythm but more in the melody , very German shlager and Frida leading with a very German singing style everything perfectly to meet the euro-asian taste but not the american !
2. The Winner Takes It All
for most of the world this is the best Abba ,I don't think so ,even if it meets the most unanimity among Abba songs ,this is a masterpiece but not Abba best song ever ,why just because it's very far from the Abba classic sound ,it's most an evergreen French chanson ,everything is perfect but it lacks the "Abba signature" and Agnetha sounds in the chorus as she never did ,she sings too perfectly ,like a Diva ,something very unusual among Abba songs .but all in all it's one of my favourite but not in my Top 20.
3. On And On And On
a perfect tribute to the beach boys ,a certain fusion between electro pop and rock .the live version in the Dick cavett show is far better precisely because it don't feature the synthesiser backing vocals that for the only time in all Abba's catalogue was inessential !
the live version is astonishing with strength !
4. Andante, Andante
an italian pastiche due to the italian feeling of sensuality (the country of love and emotion) this is a metaphore about sexuality just like 'tropical land' and 'Dum Dum Diddle' even unconscionably bjorn had it in mind !
the melody very mature has got splendor arrangements.
by moments you can feel the butterfly passing by , a feeling shared by 'move on' where you can hear the drops of water !
a new version with little difference in Frida's singing and arrangements , more accordion and mandolin with less strings as good as the original release has surfaced on the SINGLES VINYL 2014 box set
5. Me And I
a psychoanalytical song about double persona , the chorus features some notes from Blondie's 'heart of glass' and a part from that the song has a sound very futuristic and had aged very well .
6. Happy New Year
one of my all time favorite songs , Agnetha sounds like Ella Fitzgerald , the song is perfectly crafted and the arrangements are incredible , it's so perfect that even you listen to it backwards , the melody remains perfectly beautiful , it's a very symmetrical tune and the lyrics are prophetic (the gulf war and the satanic years of the late eighties ,early nineties)
7. Our Last Summer
here another french chanson , dealing with an old flirt of adolescent Bjorn !
the idea of the lyrics may have been written for 'Monsieur Monsieur' but they were finally here .
the song is very well built and the arrangements changing completely from a verse to another .
the bridge features notes from the future Chess 'anthem' .
Frida's voice sounds a bit like Piaf in the end at the fading out !
8. The Piper
the song is a completely UFO in the world of pop , featuring in the bridge a 'middle age' melody with latin lyrics ! the voices of the girls have never been so powerful !
the lyrics dealing with the paranoia of a dictator coming soon .
9. Lay All Your Love On Me
one of the best Abba songs , perfect pop , perfect electropop blueprint for all the new wave of the eighties , the lyrics about an old human natural feeling : jealousy , and the difficulty to deal with it !
the synthesizer like pattern in the pre-chorus may seem easy with the actual equipment but at the time of the release (1980) it was a true feat !
10. The Way Old Friends Do
a less favorite but still an evergreen , another anthem like song , recorded only live , the only official song lacking a studio version although the 'Super Trouper' version (different from the Live 79 version featured on the docu DVD) sounds a lot like a studio version overdubbed !
Bonus tracks
11. Elaine
one of the best ABBA songs ever !
dismissed by Mr Andersson to be on a B side !!!
we can guess that there can be more masterpieces dismissed by him in the can (of course ,I exclude the crap 'crush on you')
12. Andante, Andante (Spanish Version)
few differences , the backing track exactly the same , Frida's voice sounds very latin !
13. Felicidad (Spanish Version of Happy New Year)
better than the english , it's the best version , Agnetha has got an incredible harmony with spanish !
On And On And On (Full Length Version)
features a third verse that gives more effect on the track.
features a third verse that gives more effect on the track.
Put On Your White Sombrero
Frida sings here alto range like she never done before and at a moment the two sound like angels , even the song is not a masterpiece , the harmony vocals are !SUPER TROUPER : Drums Per Lindvall Bass Mike Watson Guitar Janne Schaffer Percussion Åke Sundqvist Acoustic Guitars Björn Ulvaeus Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny AnderssonTHE WINNER TAKES IT ALL : Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Mike Watson Guitar Lasse Wellander Percussion Åke Sundqvist Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny Andersson String arrangements Rutger Gunnarsson Songwriter Article Anatomy of a hit The Winner Takes It All
ON and ON and ON : Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Janne Schaffer Saxophones Lars O. Carlsson,Katjek Wojciechowski, Janne Kling,Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny AnderssonANDANTE ANDANTE : Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Lasse Wellander Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny AnderssonME and I : Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Lasse Wellander Percussion Ake Sundqvist Acoustic Guitars Björn Ulvaeus Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny Andersson
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Janne Schaffer Acoustic Guitars Björn Ulvaeus Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny Andersson
OUR LAST SUMMER: Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Lasse Wellander Percussion Åke Sundqvist Acoustic Guitars Björn Ulvaeus" Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny AnderssonTHE PIPER: Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Lasse Wellander Acoustic Guitars Lasse Wellander & Björn Ulvaeus Flutes Janne Kling Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny AnderssonLAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME : Drums Ola Brunkert Bass Rutger Gunnarsson Guitars Lasse Wellander Keyboards and Synthesizers Benny Andersson Photographer LARS LARSSON
THE VISITORS(1981)
futuristic sound , paranoid mood , sad songs (a classic feature of the eighties)
I loved it the first I heard it , although it's not a concept album and the songs very different from each other , it has a homogeneity in the mood , the singing and the inventive tricks of Benny
the melodies are simply incredible , preluding to the masterpieces of Chess and Gemini's (just like that , Another you another me)
1. The Visitors
has the same oriental flavor as Summer night city , Indian melody like Elaine , Frida sounding like a zither , a complex mix of Indian traditional music with techno dance , one of the first world music tracks , they've been exploring every sort of style and this is the kind they succeed in , the harmony of the four voices in the chorus creating the 'paranoia' mood of the lyrics .
russian discidents or afghan refugies ,it's the same !
ABBA songs were always about people suffering !
2. Head Over Heels
one of Benny's best arrangements , tango with German cabaret (though the two style are very close) , the backing track is so rich that you can extract a dozen songs from it !
Agnetha , of course , delivering those ordinary woman vocals , something that's been criterion at the time . honestly , she did use her complete ability here and in the TDBYC !
that , of course , was not her choice !
3. When All Is Said And Done
Frida gives her 1000% , strong and proud , an atomic rendition never matched by any cover .
it's the best version ever , the backing track featuring a strange mix between Irish folk , Balkan mood , classical violins (Mozart inspired) and techno rhythms , there's a strange duality between the mechanical rhythmic section and the emotional voice of Frida . bombastic !
a missed single in Europe !
the lyrics are a little ambivalent because outside the break up , they could be understood as people oppressed who have to wake up and ask for their rights even if they know they could get only death , and this meaning stick more to the lyrics of the three other songs of the A side !
4. Soldiers
(working title :15:e Oktoberlåten)
one of my all time favorite , Agnetha is crying as never , for the victims of injustice all over the world , the melody is typical ABBA .
the drums provided by Per lindvall (Roger Palm used to give them the best in the early songs )
sort of military march (incredible in an pop album but not with ABBA)
5. I Let The Music Speak
another oddity on the album but what a piece !
Frida delivers one of her best ever renditions , classical , dreamy , strange atmosphere like a old movie OST .
the middle of the song has got a melody that could be on a classical repertoire of Moussorgsky or Borodine !
a twinkling diamond on a see of pearls .
6. One Of Us
all the song is as if it was built around Agnetha's singing plaintive voice , not sad but full of regrets , excelling in this ,she provide a splendid rendition .
reggae flavor with Italian melody , only ABBA can do this.
but the song seems very strong and many covers of it are excellent (Dune , flowing tears)
7. Two For The Price Of One
the only true happy song on this album , only it deals with a dear subject in ABBA's lyrics : solitude .
the vocals of Bjorn perfectly adapted to the song , i could not imagine the girls doing it !
8. Slipping Through My Fingers
one of the finest ballads of the group ever , Agnetha delivers very special vocals , almost childish (we could figure out that it was Linda) , the two voices blend together magically in the chorus , the live 'cavett' version though completely different , is as good , and Agnetha delivers more emotional vocals , the backing track look as it was the early version .
the studio version has got more synthetic arrangements while the live version though acoustic features more sophisticated arrangements .
9. Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
this song has got a multitude pre-versions and demos before it was released , Frida is completely classical but the mood of the song unlike 'the music speak' is modern and even timeless , the clock in the back seems to give it a peculiar atmosphere that makes the track sounding not eighties as 'one of us' or 'head over heels' but timeless and when you hear the other demos (featured on the Deluxe version) you can only praise them for choosing this one retrospectively .
the other demos would have been arranged and mixed so that they can make a special bonus CD , the songs are nearly completed and though have the same melody are completely different :
1) ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’, Björn : very gentle ballad , very eighties , sounding like the demo 'Givin' A Little Bit More' on ABBA undeleted .
2) Frida ‘Another Morning Without You’ , a song on its own , a rare emotional bit of Frida 'crying' like Agnetha , this vesrion deserve to be mixed as a new track , very beautiful !
3) ‘Like An Angel Passing Though My Room’ "disco" , Frida and Agnetha
it's not really Disco , more tropical like Hovas vittne , not my favorite cause it's tongue in cheek and don't match the 'grandeur' of the tune !
4) An Angel Passing Through My Room – full band version (Frida leading )
another version worthwhile a release as a mixed number .
5) An Angel Passing Through My Room – full band version, compressed mix
an effort that makes it sound like an alien singing (reminiscence of "calling universe" of the Carpenters !)
6) Like An Angel Passing Through My Room – ballad version
this is an ultimate version sort of naked version , very beautiful arrangement's in the eighties style also worthwhile the release as a complete effort !
all these could simply be released as 'Variations' on the same theme !!!
Bonus tracks
10. Should I Laugh Or Cry (B side of 'One of us')
this is another song that deserve a good place in an album and Mr Andersson put it on a B side !! it's futuristic and has an excellent arrangement , apart from the frida's vocals incredible !
it share an odd fact with Nina pretty ballerina :
it can be noticed even if you play only the bass rhythm line !
11. No hay a quien culpar (Spanish Version of When All Is Said And Done)
same quality as english , Frida more emotioannal and lyrics are more straightforward about the personal relationship !
12. Se me està escapando (Spanish Version of Slipping Through My Fingers)
the definitively best version !
13. The Day Before You Came
a much talked about , debates have been made on it .
but in fact , the song is a big classic and it has the arrangements it deserves , it's perfect and knowing the lyrics , this eighties sound , minimalism and dreary , this is a testimony of an era where tomorrows were uncertain and luckiness only a dream !
the melody gloomy and dark is lifted by Jon Anderson-like vocals of Agnetha , the synthesizer plays a melancholic repetitive pattern close to the 'routine' of the life , the backing vocals operatic giving an echo of hope in this melancholy .
Maybe my number one song with "Money Money Money" (both testify the hard life and struggle as a blues )
14. Cassandra
a beautiful piece Vangelis-inspired probably because of its Greek legend lyrics (Cassandra is the daughter of King Priam whose ancestor Laomedon who was cursed for not keeping promise to the gods who built the battlement around the city of troy , one of the curse was the power of Cassandra to see really the future but nobody believes her and Paris , her brother who kidnapped Helen , spouse of Menelas , and brought destruction to troy)
the melody vocals and arrangements sumptuous as usual .
15. Under Attack
a failed attempt to put a happy-to-go song but the heart was not there , ABBA weren't the two happy couples and it transpired on the recordings , sad tracks are quite perfect but joyful pop numbers don't quite succeed , the song of course is a wonderful pop number .
16. You Owe Me One
the B side of Under Attack and of course another mistake , it has the joy and the energy that lacks in the whole album and the TDBYC/Cassandra single , it would have been a hit surely , a proto Depeche mode (Vince Clarck period) track .
I Am The City (unreleased , first on More ABBA Gold) a song that could be on a future album but they split up !
Musicians: Drums: Ola Brunkert, (on Soldiers and The Visitors Per Lindvall). Percussion: Ake Sundqvist. Bass: Rutger Gunnarsson. Electric and acoustic guitars: Lasse Wellander. Acoustic guitars: Bjorn Ulvaeus. Keyboards and synthesizers: Benny Andersson. Flute and clarinet I Let The Music Speak Jan Kling. Mandolins One Of Us: The Three Boys(Björn Ulvaeus, Lasse Wellander and Rutger Gunnarsson) Produced by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Digitally recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm. Engineered by Michael B. Tretow. cover photos by Lars Larsson at Julius Kronbergs Atelje, Skansen, Stockholm. Photos inner sleeve by Anders Hanser/Premium Publishing, Anders Hanser/polar music int’l, Per Kagrell Pressens Bild, Polar Music Int’l.
ABBA Undeleted :
- Scaramouche (hard rocker that would suit 'the album')
- Summer Night City (improvisations on piano)
- Take A Chance On Me (billy , instrumental of the song before it became a scat)
- Baby (Agnetha singing Rock me ! the first time you hear a rockier voice of hers )
- Just A Notion (a pretty good song )
- Rikky Rock ’n’ Roller (a good rocker that was released by Jerry Williams)
- Burning My Bridges (early incarnation of the masterpiece hamlet)
- Fernando (tango a demo in swedish , Frida sounds so perfectly at ease that you don't feel it as a demo)
- Here Comes Rubie Jamie
- Hamlet III Parts 1 and 2
part I a heavy metal version
part II Shakespearean version with folk back ground , heavenly voices !
- Free As A Bumble Bee , Beatlesque pastiche about being lazy !
- Rubber Ball Man early version of under my sun , the strings spoil the wonderful rendition of the perfect blending of the girls voices (though Frida's voice is dominating )
- Crying Over You
- Just Like That st graal of ABBA fanhood and surely it's a thrill and a perfect model of what ABBA would come up if they carried on , it's really sublime at every note , every word , a perfect example of what a masterpiece of the eighties should be .
- Givin’ A Little Bit More
- Under my sun , one of my all time favorite pop song , this version is the best , but , as it landed partly on 'under attack' , it was scrapped . the song is far more superior to the late !
when we hear all ABBA's catalogue , we come across one simple conclusion :
a part from the melancholy of the melodies , even the joyful songs hide always some sad feelings
(Super Trouper : how can anyone be so lonely )
major lyrics are about loneliness , suffering of people , in love , war or simply every day situations , it's crazy how could people living in the most fair state in the world (during the seventies ) can be so aware about what people around the world can face (so harmful situations) .
that's not a surprise that it's the n°1 band in the so called 'third world' countries and lands where people suffer from tyranny , injustice etc ....
but positively the songs give hope to those people (there's a hope and don't surrender !; "clearheaded and opened eyed with nothing left untried" )
it seems that Bjorn and Agnetha had a kind of awareness about that (it transpire in their lyrics )
and that's also the explanation about Abba being a favorite along minorities .
lot of fans had also lonely childhood (as i had) or from divorced parents , their music bring sort of consolation to us !
while other bands fantasize about absurd and illogical , Abba bring an opened eye to everyday people and the most simple situations in life to transcend them and envelope them in a luxury box (splendid music with complicated harmonies and arrangements ) and release them as bubble gum pop just like an opera of Mozart or Rossini full of trivia but with such complexity in the performance !
so don't be fooled by the early ugly costumes they wore at the beginning (and media always insidiously focus on that image) but dig in the recordings and you can discover a real treasure .
good articles about abba 's music
