The Winner's Gonna Take It All: The final...

D

Deleted member 312

Game is certainly unusual, and although I love it I think it was weird choice for lead single for The Album when they had the (admittedly inferior but much more single-sounding) Chance and glorious Hole In Your Soul on there.
 
D

Deleted member 312

Possibly, although I definitely read somewhere (Bright Lights?) that the Australian record label wanted Soul as the lead single, but were overruled and they went with Game instead.
 
WhipperSnapper

WhipperSnapper

Remorque said:
Seaux...

Are people ready to be making a little pronostique about how the top 20 will look like?
Click to expand...

20. Money, Money, Money
19. Fernando
18. Chiquitita
17. Lay All Your Love On Me
16. Waterloo
15. The Day Before You Came
14. Summer Night City
13. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
12. One of Us
11. Angeleyes
10. Mamma Mia
9. Super Trouper
8. Voulez-Vous
7. When All Is Said and Done
6. The Winner Takes It All
5. SOS
4. Take a Chance on Me
3. The Visitors
2. Dancing Queen
1. Knowing Me, Knowing You.
 
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D

Deleted member 26234

I love The Name of the Game especially the Frida parts. Money Money Money should definitely stay, Knowing You Knowing Me would be a very very deserving winner. The Day Before You Came and One of Us could leave now if I had a say, well more than one say in this rate ... ¶
 
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D

Deleted member 312

One Of Us
Summer Night City
When All Is Said And Done
Angeleyes
SOS

These are my five favourites left now my 11 has been ousted. Watch them be the next five songs eliminated!
 
Remorque

Remorque

He/Him
20. - a tie​

'...Last night I was taking a walk along the river and I saw him together with a young girl and the look that he gave her made me shiver, 'cause he always used to look at me that way...'
- Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad in Angeleyes-

ABBA+Album+Covers+(42).jpg


Frida looking fucking radiant here.

Average: 8.6522
Highest score: 18 * 10.00 - @Uno @haps @Scoundrel_Days @constantino @bichard @idratherjack @Terminus @Gotnomoretosay @VivaForever @DJHazey @tylerc904 @WhatKindOfKylie? @Mikey1701 @CasperFan @funkyg @WhipperSnapper @SecretsOfFatima @Hudweiser
Lowest score: 1 * 3.00 - @cityofdoomsday
My score: 7.00

Written and recorded in 1978 during one of the sessions for the Voulez-Vous album, Angeleyes was eventually released as the fourth song on its parent album. Never one of Benny's faves as he deemed it too old fashioned and dated at the time of release, he was adamant it wouldn't be released as a single... The record company actually thought otherwise and released it as a double A-side with Voulez-Vous in the United Kingdom (ultimately reaching the top 3 over there) and Jamaica and the song was released as a stand-alone single in Argentino too. Different regions got it as the b-side to other singles (As Good As New in Argentina, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) in Peru and I Have a Dream in South Africa), so it did eventually get some kind of single release in some kind of form.

The song features the girls singing in harmony about a man who's quite the playboy, making girls fall in love with him through looking into his angeleyes, but then deceiting them by playing games with them. Relatable feeling, gherws?

I do love this song, but it just doesn't hold up as well to some of their classics or deep cuts from various albums... It just never really struck a chord with me as much as with some of you, but I'm not going to deny that the melody here is one of the smoothest the boys have ever written, with the girls delivering on the harmony department, sounding fucking flawless.

Let that melody be the thing that a lot of you praised here...
While Filippa yells "What a melody!" and P'nutbutter goes all surfer-y on us with "Those melodies dude...", we have constantino praising "These fucking HOOKS! Yet another fantastic discovery thanks to this rate. Their harmonies really are second-to-none.". Yath, sis! It's still as delicious as ever that some of you found discoveries while scoring these songs!
Mina states it's "Another dark song with a happy melody...I wonder how much was autobiographical.". You don't think Björn saw Agnetha somewhere on a date with some kind of love rat, do ya? Our girl would never.

Hudweiser simply sent in an "I just love this." and who could actually blame him?
SecretsOfFatima calls it a "Classic, a worthy companion to Voulez-Vous on the double A-side single.", while bichard thinks "This will forever remain in the shadow of the title track of the album, but that is such a travesty since this song basically epitomises everything that is ABBA. The melody, the driving backing track, those harmonies... This is the ultimate ABBA song in many respects.".
To WhatKindOfKylie? it's just "A shame in a way how the UK were the only ones to get this as a single, and even then it would have to share billing with Voulez-Vous! The most 'traditional' ABBA song from the Voulez-Vous album, and fabulously so. The verses and choruses alone are the stuff of pop perfection.". Being paired up with one of their best, most club-friendly tracks ain't a negative feat for me though...

One Stop Candy Shop just goes "Ah-ha-ha.", whereas TrueBeliever is reminded of another simple line from the song, calling it a "Wonderfully uplifting song, especially after the dreadful I Have a Dream. Love the “no, no, no, no, nooooooooo” bit. It’s a perfect slice of vocal heaven.".

OF COURSE poor ol' Sprockrooster would still have some kind of controversial opinion up his sleeve this top 20... He thinks this is "Average. Nothing bad. Nothing exciting either.", yet the following people disagree...
VivaForever thanks "fuck this song isn't as jaw-droppingly underrated on here as it is in the rest of the world." and for tylerc904 this is one of his "go-to examples for 'songs where the verses are better than the chorus', though the chorus is fabulous. I just love those urgent, wistful verses. Should have HANDS DOWN been a single over I Have a Dream.".

Angeleyes was left off of ABBA Gold for reasons unbeknownst to all of us, yet the above one was included and that's something a lot of you couldn't fathom...
To idratherjack it's "One of their all time bops! It's criminal that this was left off Gold and hardly anyone knows of its brilliance. Easily Top 10 ABBA for me." and it annoys CasperFan "that this was left off ABBA Gold (and The Singles album before it)- an almost forgotten single, overshadowed by its flip side, but was always one of my favourites. Love the opening and vocals.".

Let's end with Mikey1701 who lays it the fuck down.
"Considering that this one of ABBA’s most successful songs in the United Kingdom, it’s strange to think that it was never included on Gold, although its presence on the far superior More ABBA Gold is one the (many) highlights of the collection. The 1-2 punch of Summer Night City and this scalped me as a child and still continues to do so. There are days when I think that this is ABBA’s most instant track. Right from the first second this hits you and never lets up- those harmonies are fucking incredible. On an album that dabbles in disco and funk, Angeleyes is the purest pop track and one that is undeniably 'ABBA'. Your faves could never.".

No, they couldn't.



Unfortunately the song was never performed or promoted in any way, shape or form, so you're stuck with the cover versions for now...

German europop collective E-Rotic covered the song for their 1997 ABBA tribute album Thank You for the Music...


...and Abbacadabra released their Hi-NRG version of the song in the late 90s as well.


American alternative rock band The Czars covered the song on their 2006 album Sorry I Made You Cry.
​
 
D

Deleted member 312

Well what a fucking double-edged sword. My 11 is now top 20 (by the skin of its teeth), but another absolute favourite falls. Angeleyes is far superior to Voulez-Vous in my view, but I'm sure I'm in the minority.

Also, aren't all four band members singing in unison/harmony on Angeleyes (especially the verses)? I've always thought I could clearly hear the boys as well.
 
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