Abba [Original recording remastered]

The music world has certainly been a duller place without the magnificent four.
'ABBA' the second official Abba album was originally released in the UK in 1975 and the World certainly was waiting for this release. Classic tracks that have become so well known, 'S.O.S' and 'Mamma Mia' two of the most memorable hits of all time make their first appearance here. Can you ever imagine the charts of the 70's without the sparkle and glamour of ABBA. Their music is just timeless and these classics will surely never be forgotten. One of the hidden gems is the fantastic 'I've Been Waiting For You' which was delegated to the 'B' side of 'So Long'. This track was released as a single in Australia and would have been a worldwide number 1 if released in 1975. This specific track highlights the wonderful vocals of Agnetha, who was only in her early 20's at the time. Excellent guitar work (shades of 'My Sweet L'Iord' guitar sections here). A couple of earlier singles appear here too. 'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do' is reminicent of 50's style swing band music and is a treat to the ears. Soaring harmonies which lift your spirits at any time of the year. This must have been played at many wedding parties during the 70's. 'So Long' is the only single that did not chart in the UK and was in keeping with the 'Glam Rock' style at the time. The DVD shows both Anni-Frid (Frida) and Agnetha performing a strange style of dance in sections of their performance of this song. Dancing was not a strong point of the ladies, but they certainly were entertaining and you cannot keep your eyes away from the screen. I have this CD now in seven different formats (including 3 boxed sets) and this is worth every penny for the DVD alone. Seeing ABBA in Australia is wonderful and it is lovely to see all four members appearing so happy in their lives at that time. The packaging is back to the plastic cover (no sticky labels this time). Wonderful songs, wonderful memories of the mid 70's. Add this album to your collection... you won't regret it. How about a release of 'I've Been Waiting For You' in 2012 ?

ABBA's second UK album (their third Swedish/European album) represents a concerted step up the evolutionary ladder and shows more care and work than the group's previous outings. About half the album's material is up to what most people would define as "ABBA quality."

Following two chart-shy singles (`So Long' and `I Do, I Do'), `SOS' finally - and deservedly - returned ABBA to the UK Top 10 after an 18-month hiatus. The group reluctantly issued `Mamma Mia' as a fourth single but were rewarded with their second UK No.1 hit. These solid gold classics stand out from the rest of the material on this eponymous album.

Where the preceding albums had been cheery hodge-podges of catchy tunes, dodgy lyrics and insane genre-hopping, `ABBA' feels much more like an album. The famous hits aside, the lovely "I've Been Waiting For You" comes close to `classic' standard. Bizarrely issued as the B-side of "So Long" it features terrific singing and an enormously melodic chorus that would surely have become a huge hit at the time.

Elsewhere, songs like `Hey, Hey, Helen', `Rock Me', `Tropical Loveland' and `Man In The Middle' are probably only inches away from greatness. Beefier production and stronger lyrics could have made a huge difference. If `Bang-A-Boomerang' sounds like a Eurovision outtake, that's because it IS a Eurovision outtake. Written for labelmates, Svenne & Lotta, it finished third in the Swedish heats for the 1975 Eurovsion. Recognising the strength of the tune (but not the silliness of the lyrics), ABBA recorded their own version and even went so far as to shoot a video for it.

The bonus audio tracks are no big deal but, as with most of ABBA's "deluxe" editions, the real treats are reserved for the accompanying DVD. A hits-laden Australian TV special (watched by more people at the time than watched the moon landing, fact nerds) rubs shoulders with scenes from a Swedish TV special and a handful of BBC TV appearances. The pussycat costumes and the shambolic choreography cement the innocent and kitsch image that the group would later struggle to shake. But it all makes for very charming viewing.

The entire package is classily assembled and features decent liner notes. This is a treat for die-hard fans and possibly a worthwhile curiosity for the more casual consumer.

It was with much hesitation that I ordered a copy of this latest release in the Abba albums deluxe edition series.
The last three efforts (Voulez-Vous,Super Trouper & The Visitors),save for their dvd's were very underwhelming to say the least.Especially The Visitors where a very heavy handed approach to the remaster seemed to rob the album of it's dynamic range and glorious digital soundstage.Why these three albums were deemed to need a remaster again for their respective deluxe reissues is not clear.Some fans didn't like the Henrik Jonsson masters first released in the 2005 box set "The Complete Studio Recordings".These masters were also used for the "Number Ones" compilation as well as the Deluxe Edition reissues of Arrival and Abba,The Album.Others like myself thought they were pretty good sounding masters.Whatever digital masters you prefer,it's irrelevant for their self titled third album.Unlike his work on "The Visitors",which I still have great difficulty listening to,Erik Broheden's master for "Abba" sounds as fresh as the first time I heard it(and this is it's fifth digital master if my memory is correct).There are no new/unreleased tracks however this new master for cd is an unexpected bonus I must say.
Five stars for the audio!

Onto the dvd,which is the main reason why an Abba fan would want to rebuy this album (again!) Just like the dvd with The Visitors Deluxe,the audio for this dvd has been mastered in low quality Dolby pro-logic 2.0(think fake surround sound),if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup,most of the music will come through the centre channel.Why oh why would you release a music dvd in this bland and outdated audio format.If you can set your bluray or dvd player to downmix Dolby to PCM,I suggest you do so for this dvd.At least you'll get music out of your main left & right speakers.I took off a star for the very poor quality of the dvd's audio.

Finally making it's official release is the long sought after "Abba In Australia" tv special.Recorded in Oz right in the middle of Abba mania,it's unfortunately the overseas version of the show with all the local content such as studio interviews removed resulting in the beginning of some songs being cut off.They have replaced some cuts with location spots of the band holding various Australian wildlife and introducing songs but other edits are very abrupt and you get the feeling of a very disjointed show.While I'm disappointed that it's not the version shown on television in Australia,something is better than nothing and there's some great performances to playback including fan favourite "So Long".Whilst it's NOT the same tv special that I,along with millions of other Australians watched when first broadcast,it's a good re-edit of this locally produced programme.The rest of the dvd is made up of Abba's three segments from the "Made In Sweden - For Export" show and two very rare live/remixed performances of "SOS" and "Mamma Mia" for the BBC.Live Abba in any form is always enjoyable and the two songs released here are very good.This is followed by two period tv advertisement spots for "The Best of Abba",an Australian only release and "Greatest Hits" plus an international sleeve gallery.

Summing up there's some great content on the dvd and in my opinion we now have the best digital master of this "Breakthrough Album".Content wise,it's one of the best releases in Abba's Deluxe Edition series it just a shame about the lo-fi audio used to encode the dvd.
Thanks Abba.."....So Long,See Ya Honey!"