ABBA

Eric Generic

Eric Generic

I was just thinking I should compile my own multi-disc anthology, but then realised I've got that boxset with all the studio albums plus the bonus disc, which was going for a tenner in HMV a couple of years ago.
 
letuinmybackdoor

letuinmybackdoor

I got that albums box set for a tenner as well! I'd never heard 'As good as new'! Now it's one of my absolute favourites, it's a really different sound for them as well. can't say I've listened to any of their pre-arrival albums though.
 
Hudvar

Hudvar

Arrival was their 'arrival' to pop perfection.

The first three albums are patchy, but the 1976 Greatest Hits album had most of the good material.

The only problem with the Thank You for the Music box is that they put the edited version of The Name of the Game on there rather than the superior 5 minute original.

My anthology is ordered weirdly, based mainly on the Readers Digest 'Best of ABBA' set from 1980 (sorry it's long):

CD1
I Am the City
When All is Said and Done
Thank You for the Music
He is Your Brother
SOS
Waterloo
Voulez-Vous
Hole in Your Soul
Tiger
If It Wasn't for the Nights
Knowing Me Knowing You
The Winner Takes it All
I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do
Bang-a-Boomerang
The Day Before You Came
Another Town Another Train
Rock n Roll Band
Honey Honey
The Visitors
Mamma Mia

CD2
Cassandra
Eagle
Ring Ring (1974 Remix)
Happy New Year
The Name of the Game
When I Kissed the Teacher
Put On Your White Sombrero
Money Money Money
One Man One Woman
So Long
Dancing Queen
Folk Medley
Kisses of Fire
I'm a Marionette
Dum Dum Diddle
Soldiers
My Love My Life
Get on the Carousel (Live)
Why Did it Have to be Me?
Fernando

CD3
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
Summer Night City
Angeleyes
Head Over Heels
Tropical Loveland
As Good As New
Hey Hey Helen
Rock Me
Lovers (Live a Little Longer)
I've Been Waiting for You
Chiquitita
You Owe Me One
King Kong Song
Take a Chance on Me
Does Your Mother Know
My Mama Said
The King Has Lost His Crown
Slipping Through My Fingers
What About Livingstone?
I Have a Dream

CD4
I Let the Music Speak
Our Last Summer
One of Us
Andante Andante
Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)
People Need Love
Super Trouper
That's Me
Move On
Under Attack
Elaine
Lovelight
Dream World
The Piper
Should I Laugh or Cry
Lay All Your Love on Me
On and On and On
Me and I
Like an Angel Passing Through My Room
The Way Old Friends Do
 
rashidhk81

rashidhk81

I love the Voulez Vous album. Especially "Lovers Live a Little Longer". I also never had much love for "I Had a Dream". Frida is definitely my favourite if I had to choose. Adore Agnetha though!
 
Macsun

Macsun

I love Frida too. Such a beautiful voice. She was give some great songs to sing towards the end of the band.
 
Karl Siniak

Karl Siniak

Undisco_Me said:
With ABBA, I'd like a 2 or 3 CD best of in chronological order - that would be perfect.
Click to expand...
ABBA - The Definitive Collection 2CD set has been available for a number of years now. It was basically a reimagined version of "The Singles: The First Ten Years" but featured many more songs using all the space on the CDs. The 3CD Deluxe Version features The DVD with all the music videos too.

I re-adjusted the tracklist for my own iTunes album to include all the 1982 recordings...

Disc 1:
1. People Need Love
2. He Is Your Brother
3. Ring Ring
4. Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
5. Waterloo
6. Honey Honey
7. So Long
8. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
9. SOS
10. Mamma Mia
11. Fernando
12. Dancing Queen
13. Money, Money, Money
14. Knowing Me, Knowing You
15. The Name Of The Game
16. Take A Chance Of Me
17. Eagle
18. Summer Night City

Disc 2:
1. Chiquitita
2. Does Your Mother Know
3. Voulez-Vous
4. Angeleyes
5. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
6. I Have A Dream
7. The Winner Takes It All
8. Super Trouper
9. On & On & On
10. Lay All Your Love On Me
11. One Of Us
12. When All Is Said And Done
13. Head Over Heals
14. The Day Before You Came
15. Cassandra
16. I Am The City
17. Under Attack
18. You Owe Me One

I don't really agree with the '82 singles appearing on The Visitors re-issue as they were a part of a whole new stage of the ABBA story, and so I'd rather see them released together on an album like the above, maybe a Deluxe Edition of "ABBA - The Singles" with the original artwork. Then "The Visitors" Deluxe Edition should feature new bonus tracks, maybe outtakes and alternate versions as well as the Spanish language versions of songs like previous Deluxe Editions have.
 
Macsun

Macsun

After reading all about the different remastered versions of their work. I think it's time for me to buy their remastered albums.
 
tylerc

tylerc

I own ABBA (the self titled) and then Arrival-Visitors remastered.

I hate that ABBA Gold is so much lower, sound wise, than the rest of them.

I still need to get The Album and then maybe the other two early albums.
 
Eric Generic

Eric Generic

tylerc904 said:
I hate that ABBA Gold is so much lower, sound wise, than the rest of them.
Click to expand...

It was released in 1992, so I'm guessing they're still using the same master, whereas the reissued albums were a few years after that (CDs got louder around 1996).

I always hated that my copy of Gold has the track markings slightly off, so you get a snippet of the song before and lose the last second if you program the CD.
 
Hudvar

Hudvar

The original Gold has some edited tracks as well, Name of the Game (again) and Voulez Vous was also cropped, then they scissored The Visitors for More Gold.

If I could change one thing in their career, it would be that they completed a proper studio album in 1982. I think they wrote enough but B&B were too 'perfectionistic' to finalise much of it.
 
stimpy586

stimpy586

Yes! A whole album of stuff similar to The Day Before You Came and Should I Laugh or Cry probably would have been the greatest album ever. If only we could finally get a proper full-length version of Just Like That too.
 
Hudvar

Hudvar

I've got a bootleg of the various full length versions but the quality is quite ropey.

Bjorn Again did a respectable cover version.
 
tylerc

tylerc

Listened to Arrival today and just wanted to stop in and say how much I love Happy Hawaii. It's just so fun!

I cannot rank Arrival, Voulez-Vous, and the self titled one. Visitors and Super Trouper are rightfully in the top 2 places
 
Eric Generic

Eric Generic

Macsun said:
After reading all about the different remastered versions of their work. I think it's time for me to buy their remastered albums.
Click to expand...

Don't! As part of a long-held aim to finally compile a proper chronolgical ABBA singles/singles-ish (!) collection using the best quality tracks available, I decided to test the same songs from the remasters with the Gold/More Gold counterparts. Dear god, what a shock. I had assumed the remasters would be better every time, but honestly they are not. Mostly they've just turned the sound up, distorting the top end and creating a harsher version of the music. I suppose growing up with the originals, that warmer 70s vibe, means I'm more inclined towards older mastering but the actual evidence in the visual audio files can't hide what they did with the remasters. They distort way too much, and sound quit harsh.

I'm glad I kept hold of my Gold/More Gold CDs now, as I ended up using those versions 99% of the time.
 
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