Amazon.com essential recordingAnyone looking for the key to Abba's enduring appeal should look no further than "Voulez Vous" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" for their answer. There was an innocence to the Swedish quartet, even when they were singing about one-night stands and the invitations to them. Gold establishes that the band, while appreciated as campy, were actually multifaceted in their execution. "S.O.S." has a raw urgency in its chorus, and "Does Your Mother Know" draws its energy from classic '50s rock & roll. Likewise, you don't have to be Priscilla to swoon over "Mamma Mia" or "Dancing Queen." And when it comes to drama, those soaring vocals on "The Winner Takes It All" turn the song into a bitter anthem of every relationship that has ever fallen apart. The much-covered "Lay All Your Love on Me" is practically epic. --Steve Gdula
REVIEW
ABBA GOLD GREATEST HITS LOVE THIS CD. WE PLAY IT ALL THE TIME. THE PRICE WAS GREAT FOR ALL THE ENTERTAINMENT THAT WE HAVE GOTTEN.
Amazon.comIs there anything that simply screams the 1970s' most indelible pop cultural clichés--the sunny romanticism, perfect vocal hooks, feathered hair, stacked heels, and flared sateen britches--more than the Swedish pop phenomenon Abba? And while many a pundit snootily dismissed them during their prime as some sort of prefabricated aberration, their worldwide popularity peaked somewhere just south of Beatlesmania. Indeed, Abba's music was as finely tooled and crafted as anything to come from a Volvo or IKEA factory--if occasionally more economically potent. This double-disc, 37-track anthology comes neatly on the heels of Mama Mia!, the smash, if unlikely, Broadway show based on the band's hits, and documents every single released by the band's Polar label in their home country as well as key tracks released internationally.
This is the canon from whence the term "Europop" sprang. With a continental sense of vocal neoclassicism, informed by just the right ethnic clichés (and oft wed to the era's insistent 4/4 disco beat) to make songs like "Mama Mia," "Fernando," "Chiquitita," and "Voulez-Vous" work on a global scale, the writing team of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and their respective partners in music and life, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad, developed the seamless, wall-of-sound productions contained herein. The Definitive Collection features a rare single remix of "Ring, Ring" and a 1979 promo-only extended mix of "Voulez-Vous" as bonus tracks, as well as a concise, illustrated history of the band and each track. --Jerry McCulley
REVIEW
Fun, Catchy, Splendid Songs in the best CD Format! ABBA. The name conjures up nostalgic feelings of glittery, sequence-covered costumes, 70s dancing, and clean and catchy pop songs. Who created these genius songs? ABBA. Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andresson, Agnetha Faltskog, and Anni-Frid Lyngstand (they're Sewdish) made up this sensational band.
Most people love the songs. Some people don't. I do. You might not. [...]
But if you do, this is the CD for you. This CD contains 37 pure-gold songs, most of which aren't featured on the much hyped-up ABBA: GOLD CD, which only includes the songs from MAMMA MIA! and a few others. This is the best CD to get, and I completely agree with the reviewer who said: "If you get one ABBA CD, this is it".
Album DescriptionAbba are following in the footsteps of The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson with the Number Ones concept, and we're assuming that the designation applies to charts from around the world. There are 18 songs on the album, but no Abba song ever hit #1 in Canada, 'Dancing Queen' was the only one to do it in the U.S., and seven singles did it in the U.K. So the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners must have made a major impact in a number of non-English-speaking territories. A collection of all the international #1 hits on one CD delivered to the Abba fans.
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GREAT CD !! Bought this CD for my mom. She LOVES ABBA, and after seeing the movie "Mama Mia" I just had to get it for her !!!
She called me at work to thank me with the CD blasting in the background.
My mother is 78 years old !!!!
Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 11/21/2006
REVIEW
classic Abba i have always dug the coolness and laidback vibe of abba and these performances and whatnot take you back and are still fun and the music isstill so good to the ears. they were a group that just hit and they made songs that felt so good to the ear drums. this is a must for Abba fans.
Amazon.comSuper Trouper is generally considered Abba's finest album. The overheated disco flourishes of Voulez-Vous were dropped and the sequencing was very nearly perfect. What's more, silly lyrics metamorphose into things of wrenching beauty. The overall tone is rather somber--the unraveling of the band members' relationships underscores every track--but as usual Abba turn melancholy into uplifting pop music. This digipack version of the 1981 album includes two extra songs. "Put on Your White Sombrero" was recorded during the Super Trouper sessions but was replaced on the album by the title track; it's in the band's Spanish vein and comes with a throbbing synthesizer hook. "Elaine," meanwhile, was the B-side of "The Winner Takes It All" single. An uptempo number, "Elaine" is far from being a throwaway. --Elisabeth Vincentelli
REVIEW
Great album...but poor re-mastering I agree with John (from N.Y.), these 24-bit re-masters of the Abba catalogue were a big letdown. In a side by side comparison, the original discs sounded much better than these. The originals were brighter and plenty full; just like the original album sounded.
On the other hand, these 24-bit discs sound slightly muddy and the high end (which includes acoustic guitars and cymbals) are flat or dead sounding thanks to the no-noise solution. My advice, is to save your money and keep your old discs.
Very disappointed in this DVD In a nutshell - A lot of useless, boring "FILLER" and very
little "CONCERT". Only diehard ABBA fans should purchase
this DVD; those fans who can't get enough of ABBA in any way,
shape or form. Those who want to sit back and enjoy a
"concert" on DVD should shy away from this piece of work.
Amazon.comFor those who love Abba (and if you're reading this, chances are you do, even if you don't know it yet), Abba: The Definitive Collection represents a happy, joyous compilation of the Swedish supergroup's numerous videos. Granted, they all seem to have been filmed on the same soundstage (even the firelit "Fernando"), but they retain their appeal and infectious charm. Fans can thrill to these vintage clips, which provide an opportunity to rediscover who was the most natural in front of the camera (Agnetha), who was the best dancer (Anna-Frid, a.k.a. Frida), who was the most demure (Benny), and who was the worst lip-syncher (Bjorn--always Bjorn). Lassé Hallstrom, later an Oscar®-nominated filmmaker, directed most of the early videos, and it shows in their natural, no-fuss style; it wasn't until Abba tried to make the jump to '80s-style electronica that they faltered in both style and content. In addition to old standbys like "Waterloo" and "Take a Chance on Me," don't pass up the light-years-ahead-of-its time "The Day Before You Came," or the live performance of "Dancing Queen" (in period costume!) at the Royal Swedish Opera. To this we say: Thank you for the music--and the videos! --Mark Englehart
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I love it. I love this group. I'm glad a DVD version of their songs is available. I bought this for my mom first, but then I decided to get my own copy as well.
ABBA, The Movie By far the best of the ABBA shows I have seen on video. Both Agnetha and Anni-Frid were on the top of their game. Outstanding! I loved the show.
Amazon.comAbba's 1981 swan song is appropriately touched by intimations of loss; The Visitors certainly contains nothing as breezy as "Does Your Mother Know." Far from the listless meanderings of a group on its way out, however, the album is alive with emotion and creativity. The title track fuses a melody reminiscent of the Beatles Indian explorations with a smartly done synthesizer arrangement typical of the disc asa whole. (They could've been the Human League!) Similarly moody cuts like "Soldiers" and "One of Us" help make this that rare thing, an Abba record suited for lonely late nights. This 24-bit remaster boasts four bonus cuts, including the final singles "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack," in addition to improved sound quality. --Rickey Wright
REVIEW
Edgy ABBA? Yeah, a bit, and a great final studio album..... I have 2 ABBA albums, the box set Thank You for The Music, and this one. I really like this one, their final album (I doubt there will ever be a reunion). It has a lot of sadness in it (the romantic liasons in the band were coming apart by this time), and it gives the songs a dark edge to them, something that is noticably missing in other ABBA albums. I love the title track. It's one of my favorite ABBA tracks with an edge of darkness to it, yet it's still a great pop song. Head Over Heals and One of Us are great pop ABBA classics, and I love the closer (at least on the original album ) Like an Angel Passing Through My Room. It's a sad, sad lullaby song, a worthy closer to ABBA's darkest album. This reiusse has The Day Before You Came and Under Attack, which was ABBA's last single (A-Side and B-Side). I love both those songs, and I'm glad this edition has them. Obviously, if you're an ABBA completist, you have to have this one, but those who are even slightly interested in ABBA should pick it up too.
Thank You for the Music ABBA! Well I recentley purchased this box set and I was happy. My only two complaints are about tracks on this box set.
Complaint #1:
They say they have put every track on here ever released by ABBA. This is NOT true. It does NOT contain "Arrival", "Dum Dum Diddle", "Bang-A-Boomerang", "My Love, My Life", "Lovelight (Original Version)", "The Name of the Game (Long Version)", "Move On", tracks from their Spanish album "Oro: Grandes Exitos", "Intermezzo No. 1", "Ring Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal)", any tracks from the Ring Ring album (aside from "Ring Ring", "Merry-Go-Round", "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)and "Santa Rosa") so many of the tracks that ABBA released is NOT on here so it is NOT all of ABBA's singles (first to last) they leave many good ones out.
Complaint #2:
This box set remixes Lovelight and shortens The Name of the Game. Most people like the ORIGINAL version of Lovelight and the ORIGINAL version of The Name of the Game. Aside from this the box set is well worth your ABBA pleasure...
