This collection and its companion (More Abba gold) contain all the essential Abba songs, although they omit some of my favorite album tracks. The biggest hits are generally to be found here, including Dancing queen (a number one in Britain, America and many other countries), Knowing me knowing you, Take a chance on me, Mamma mia, Super trouper, The winner takes it all, Fernando, The name of the game and Waterloo - all of which hit number one in Britain. Abba were much less successful in America, mainly because they did not put much effort into promoting themselves there.
Among the other great songs here, I have a dream was number two in Britain for a month (behind Pink Floyd's Another brick in the wall) and was later covered by American gospel singer Cristy Lane.
Most of Abba's songs are upbeat, even when they are singing about sadness, except for The winner takes it all. In that classic song, the emotions are laid bare, perhaps because their own marriages had already ended. Contrast that with Knowing me knowing you, which is also about a relationship break-up, but is more philosophical.
I was never wildly enthusiastic about Chiquitita or Gimmie gimmie gimmie, but it may be because I had such high expectations of Abba at the time those records were released. Still, they were top three hits in Britain, so obviously a lot of people enjoy them.
This is one of the strongest compilations available of my favorite pop group's music.