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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frida and Agnetha 'Shining', 7 Jan 2009
Once 1992's Abba Gold Compilation had reawakened so much interest in the supergroup that it was clear it would die away again (and now they are finally being recognised for the massive impact they have had on everyone from genuine talents to the sickening and excreable X-Factor rubbish, it was obligatory that some interest be fed for the owners of those Abba voices and then the stuff that they did before, during and after Abba folded. Of course this compilation focuses on the post ABBA tracks, more likely to be of interest to the average person, not least for the English vocals. Bizarrely though, the people seem of the impression that Agnetha's stuff is more the ticket then Frida. Absurd and quite categorically wrong!
To be honest, Agnetha's songs get in there first, but I've had this cassette since I was 16 and it's the Frida songs that have grown in stature over the years. Unsurprising as Frida was always more gutsy, more willing to throw herself into the songs and not afraid of letting the world in on her heartache, yet never becoming the victim. Agnetha has two lively ones, the sunny, funky 'The Heat Is On' and the winning 'I Won't Let You Go' but the rest are merely filler. Agnetha's stuff is sadly a little too simple, no body there, no blood or guts, just by-the numbers lovesongs at little variance of each other and rather anaemic melodies and simplistic structures hat do lack excitement, sweet though they are and listenable of course, but set against Frida's-well she lacks. The first Agnetha song keeps pace with Frida's quality, but then the rather wispy, twee 'You're There', Frida's already beaten her by following the punchy, angsty 'I Know There's Something Going On' with the swirling majesty of experimental non-chorus folk-rocker 'To Turn The Stone'. Snide, sarcastic B-side 'That's Tough' and incredible title track from second album Shine are other Frida standouts and it's just aswell as the song order is swapped between them continuously, as I, Abba fan that I am, would probably hardly listen to Agnetha's at all. It's a fun collection, true, but Frida does have a glitch-moment-not her fault but the rather insidous old man Collins ballad she shares with the horribly overrated 'singer' and ant-sized, big-headed serial divorcee Phil Collins does stray into rather 'bleurgh!' territory. Still, if the album can be divided, Frida's part would get 9/10, Agnetha 6.5-7/10.
Certainly get it at this price if you must, it certainly beats other things you might have your eye on, but you might want to get solely for Agnetha-Frida is so good that you really should get yourself her solo work, certainly Something's Going On from 1982 and Shine from 1984.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Chalk & Cheese (but worth the low price), 15 May 2000
By A Customer
There is only one real selling point for fans: this album marks the first appearance on CD for three B-sides ('You're there', 'That's tough' and 'Turn the world around'). Otherwise, this compilation only barely works. The alternation between Frida's rockier tracks and Agnetha's MOR/pop tunes wears thin almost straight away. Obviously, the easy way around this problem is to programme all the Agnetha tracks together and all of the Frida tracks together. On the plus side, there are some great tracks. OK, so some of them have aged better than others. Frida's 'I know there's something going on' and 'I got something' still pack a punch, whereas 'Shine' has 1984 written all over it. Agnetha also has a couple of gems in 'Wrap your arms around me' and 'Just one heart'. They're of their era but still sound good. On the other hand, 'I won't let you go', sounds like a mediocre Eurovision entry. (I can hear the Agnetha fans reaching for their guns as I type). And what happened to 'Can't shake loose'? This would have been a much better compilation if three things had happened. (1) Frida's singles were always different to the album versions and none of them have appeared on CD to date. Ditto, the 7" edit of Agnetha's 'Wrap your arms around me'. Those of us who already have the albums on CD would have paid a lot more for this album if they'd included these elusive mixes. (2) Both Agnetha and Frida have enough material in the form of singles, B-sides and unreleased tracks to make this a double album. Or even two separate albums. (3) The album cover: WHAT were you thinking! Five-year-olds should not be employed as graphic artists. A decent cover (with plenty of photos) will help the fans part with their money... Fans of Agnetha's music woud be better served by her recent compilation 'That's me'. Frida fans, however, are STILL waiting for a compilation album.
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3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Clumsily done, but enjoyable, 8 Jun 2004
OK, so I pressume you know something more about ABBA than most people do and you think you should start exploring their solo works with this compilation. Well, you could... But in my personal opinion, the cheap mix of A/F songs ruins the mood because of Frida tracks that tend to be way too slow and uninspired like That's Tough and I Got Something. On the other hand, Agnetha tracks sound cheerful and don't aspire to alternative heights and they really sound refreshing (except for the unexplainable The Heat Is On). I Won't Let You Go and Wrap Your Arms Around Me should have been tracks 1 and 2 cause they are the highlight of this compilation. Also, You're There and We Should Be Together sound pretty good too. But it's the Frida part that takes some getting used/in to. But it will work if you ever decide to listen to this album more than once. I did.
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~ Agnetha Faltskog
~ Frida
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~ Agnetha Faltskog
~ Agnetha Faltskog
~ Agnetha Faltskog
