The Winner's Gonna Take It All: The final...
- Thread starter Remorque
- Start date
My ABBA top 20 would go like this:
20 – One of Us
19 – Ring Ring
18 – Money Money Money
17 – That's Me
16 – Fernando
15 – Lovelight
14 – Under Attack
13 – Super Trouper
12 – Knowing Me Knowing You
11 – Name of the Game
10 – Waterloo
09 – Take a Chance on Me
08 – Chiquitita
07 – Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight
06 – Summer Night City
05 – Voulez-Vous
04 – Eagle
03 – Visitors
02 – SOS
01 – Lay All Your Love On Me
20 – One of Us
19 – Ring Ring
18 – Money Money Money
17 – That's Me
16 – Fernando
15 – Lovelight
14 – Under Attack
13 – Super Trouper
12 – Knowing Me Knowing You
11 – Name of the Game
10 – Waterloo
09 – Take a Chance on Me
08 – Chiquitita
07 – Gimme Gimme Gimme A Man After Midnight
06 – Summer Night City
05 – Voulez-Vous
04 – Eagle
03 – Visitors
02 – SOS
01 – Lay All Your Love On Me
1. Knowing Me, Knowing You
2. Lay All Your Love On Me
3. One of Us
4. When All Is Said and Done
5. SOS
6. Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
7. Take a Chance On Me
8. Dancing Queen
9. Our Last Summer
10. Should I Laugh Or Cry
Is my Top 10. The order changes depending on my mood, and The Day Before You Came and Waterloo could snag 10th from time to time.
2. Lay All Your Love On Me
3. One of Us
4. When All Is Said and Done
5. SOS
6. Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
7. Take a Chance On Me
8. Dancing Queen
9. Our Last Summer
10. Should I Laugh Or Cry
Is my Top 10. The order changes depending on my mood, and The Day Before You Came and Waterloo could snag 10th from time to time.
This is very hard to do.
01. The Visitors
02. Head Over Heels
03. Super Trouper
04. Under Attack
05. When All Is Said & Done
06. Summer Night City
07. Two For The Price Of One
08. Me & I
09. The Day Before You Came
10. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
11. Eagle
12. One Of Us
13. Lay All Your Love On Me
14. Voulez-Vous
15. Chiquitita
16. Should I Laugh Or Cry?
17. On & One & One
18. Take A Chance On Me
19. Cassandra
20. The Piper
01. The Visitors
02. Head Over Heels
03. Super Trouper
04. Under Attack
05. When All Is Said & Done
06. Summer Night City
07. Two For The Price Of One
08. Me & I
09. The Day Before You Came
10. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
11. Eagle
12. One Of Us
13. Lay All Your Love On Me
14. Voulez-Vous
15. Chiquitita
16. Should I Laugh Or Cry?
17. On & One & One
18. Take A Chance On Me
19. Cassandra
20. The Piper
he/him
Not going to attempt to rank them, but these would be in my Top 20:
Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
Merry-Go-Round
My Mama Said
Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
Honey, Honey
Dum Dum Diddle
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Fernando
Happy Hawaii
Crazy World
Angeleyes
Chiquitita
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Me And I
Lay All Your Love On Me
Head Over Heels
When All Is Said And Done
Soldiers
You Owe Me One
Cassandra
Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
Merry-Go-Round
My Mama Said
Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
Honey, Honey
Dum Dum Diddle
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Fernando
Happy Hawaii
Crazy World
Angeleyes
Chiquitita
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Me And I
Lay All Your Love On Me
Head Over Heels
When All Is Said And Done
Soldiers
You Owe Me One
Cassandra
Jumping in the bandwagon
1 - The Winner Takes It All
2 - Summer Night City
3 - Dancing Queen
4 - Lay All Your Love On Me
5 - One Of Us
6 - When All Is Said And Done
7 - Voulez-Vous
8 - Gimme Gimme Gimme
9 - Supertrooper
10 - Thank You For The Music
11 - The Day Before You Came
12 - Our Last Summer
13 - Take A Chance On Me
14 - Mamma Mia
15 - Eagle
16 - Chiquitita
17 - Knowing Me Knowing You
18 - Fernando
19 - I Let The Music Speak
20 - Angel Eyes
1 - The Winner Takes It All
2 - Summer Night City
3 - Dancing Queen
4 - Lay All Your Love On Me
5 - One Of Us
6 - When All Is Said And Done
7 - Voulez-Vous
8 - Gimme Gimme Gimme
9 - Supertrooper
10 - Thank You For The Music
11 - The Day Before You Came
12 - Our Last Summer
13 - Take A Chance On Me
14 - Mamma Mia
15 - Eagle
16 - Chiquitita
17 - Knowing Me Knowing You
18 - Fernando
19 - I Let The Music Speak
20 - Angel Eyes
Never change Hazey. Four underrated gems.
He/Him
2 - Voulez-Vous - 1979
Average: 7.9728
#2: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
#7: Voulez-Vous
#11: Summer Night City
#18: Chiquitita
#20 (tie): Angeleyes
#20 (tie): If It Wasn't for the Nights
#23: As Good As New
#30: Kisses of Fire
#33 (tie): Does Your Mother Know
#46 (tie): Lovelight
#46 (tie): The King Has Lost His Crown
#65: Lovers (Live a Little Longer)
#71: I Have a Dream
#84: Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton / On Top of Old Smokey / Midnight Special
Highest scorers:
@SecretsOfFatima - 9.2143
@Gotnomoretosay - 9.1429
@haps - 9.0357
Lowest scorers:
@cityofdoomsday - 5.7143
@dancingwithmyself - 5.8571
@JonBcn - 6.8571
My average: 7.9643
Your second highest ranked ABBA album is the band's sixth overall, Voulez-Vous. Seeing as it had only lost three songs (well, two if we don't count the Summer Night City b-side) before the top 50 is what probably helped its placing here...
Recording for the album was to start in March 1978 at the band's own Polar Studios and these sessions would be the first the band would work on in their new studio. The band were at the height of their success, fresh off the success of hits like The Name of the Game and Take a Chance on Me, a hit at the box office with ABBA: The Movie and a successfully completed promo tour.
Behind the scenes things weren't all as rosy though... It was no huge secret that Agnetha and Björn were having marital problems, Frida was distancing herself from the other band members opting for time on her own and our favourite writing team was having trouble coming up with songs they thought were good enough... Only two songs were completed during these early sessions, namely Lovelight and Dream World, the first getting b-side status and the second only seeing a commercial release during the 90s revival...
So the boys opted to travel to Miami instead and immerse themselves in the club scene and eventually retrieved their mojo. They created uplifting melodies, went with more complex production techniques and tried to get Anna and Frida to challenge themselves on the vocal front, resulting in wonderful harmonies, fantastic solo performances, but also a clunker here and there... Lovers (Live a Little Longer), I'm looking at yew.
The album was eventually released in March 1979, more than a year after they started recording it. It spawned four successful singles and went on to become one of their best-selling albums, reaching number one in Belgium (YATH!), The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Norway and their native Sweden and even reached the top spot on the Japanese album charts.
In the United Kingdom it was yet another chart-topper for the band, with the album reaching the top 5 in Australia, the top 10 in Canada and also went on to become a top 20 hit in the United States.
To me, it's definitely not the extreme change in sound people were saying it was at the time, but it does indeed feature lots of strings, American influences, more keyboards and dance elements. And isn't that what we here at PopJustice want from our music? We want to sing and dance and bop and twirl... (We'll forget for an instant that I Have a Dream exists.)
Was it ABBA jumping on the bandwagon? Maybe.
Is it thoroughly enjoyable as a total package? Absolutely!
So grab your leotards, ghewls and get down to it!
Average: 7.9728
#2: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
#7: Voulez-Vous
#11: Summer Night City
#18: Chiquitita
#20 (tie): Angeleyes
#20 (tie): If It Wasn't for the Nights
#23: As Good As New
#30: Kisses of Fire
#33 (tie): Does Your Mother Know
#46 (tie): Lovelight
#46 (tie): The King Has Lost His Crown
#65: Lovers (Live a Little Longer)
#71: I Have a Dream
#84: Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton / On Top of Old Smokey / Midnight Special
Highest scorers:
@SecretsOfFatima - 9.2143
@Gotnomoretosay - 9.1429
@haps - 9.0357
Lowest scorers:
@cityofdoomsday - 5.7143
@dancingwithmyself - 5.8571
@JonBcn - 6.8571
My average: 7.9643
Your second highest ranked ABBA album is the band's sixth overall, Voulez-Vous. Seeing as it had only lost three songs (well, two if we don't count the Summer Night City b-side) before the top 50 is what probably helped its placing here...
Recording for the album was to start in March 1978 at the band's own Polar Studios and these sessions would be the first the band would work on in their new studio. The band were at the height of their success, fresh off the success of hits like The Name of the Game and Take a Chance on Me, a hit at the box office with ABBA: The Movie and a successfully completed promo tour.
Behind the scenes things weren't all as rosy though... It was no huge secret that Agnetha and Björn were having marital problems, Frida was distancing herself from the other band members opting for time on her own and our favourite writing team was having trouble coming up with songs they thought were good enough... Only two songs were completed during these early sessions, namely Lovelight and Dream World, the first getting b-side status and the second only seeing a commercial release during the 90s revival...
So the boys opted to travel to Miami instead and immerse themselves in the club scene and eventually retrieved their mojo. They created uplifting melodies, went with more complex production techniques and tried to get Anna and Frida to challenge themselves on the vocal front, resulting in wonderful harmonies, fantastic solo performances, but also a clunker here and there... Lovers (Live a Little Longer), I'm looking at yew.
The album was eventually released in March 1979, more than a year after they started recording it. It spawned four successful singles and went on to become one of their best-selling albums, reaching number one in Belgium (YATH!), The Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Norway and their native Sweden and even reached the top spot on the Japanese album charts.
In the United Kingdom it was yet another chart-topper for the band, with the album reaching the top 5 in Australia, the top 10 in Canada and also went on to become a top 20 hit in the United States.
To me, it's definitely not the extreme change in sound people were saying it was at the time, but it does indeed feature lots of strings, American influences, more keyboards and dance elements. And isn't that what we here at PopJustice want from our music? We want to sing and dance and bop and twirl... (We'll forget for an instant that I Have a Dream exists.)
Was it ABBA jumping on the bandwagon? Maybe.
Is it thoroughly enjoyable as a total package? Absolutely!
So grab your leotards, ghewls and get down to it!
He/Him
3 - Super Trouper - 1980
Average: 7.8297
#1: The Winner Takes It All
#5: Lay All Your Love On Me
#14 (tie): Super Trouper
#27: Our Last Summer
#32: On and On and On
#33 (tie): Me and I
#40: Happy New Year
#44: The Piper
#51: The Way Old Friends Do
#59: Elaine
#66: Andante, Andante
#82: Put On Your White Sombrero
Highest scorers:
@WhipperSnapper - 9.2500
@tylerc904 - 9.0833
@P'NutButter - 9.0000
Lowest scorers:
@cityofdoomsday - 5.2500
@dancingwithmyself - 6.5000
@VivaForever - 6.5471
My average: 8.0833
Super Trouper is eventually placed as your third favourite ABBA album ever here on PopJustice. It actually only has one real stinker on it and that was an unreleased track up until their 1994 box set Thank ABBA for the Music, so I'm extremely happy this made the top 3.
Recording for the album began in early 1980 after a very successful album campaign, a world tour and way too many personal problems between the four band members. Agnetha and Björn had finalized their divorce, Frida and Benny were experiencing problems in their marriage, the girls had all but estranged themselves from each other and Benny and Björn had no idea where to go musically. Their previous album had been a bit of a jump on the disco bandwagon and both of the boys were feeling as if they had sold out. But there was one thing Benny had remembered from those recording sessions... Don't be afraid to use more of those keyboards.
So Benny persuaded the band to go for a more progressive, adult sound, that was very synthy and, in places, clubby. So while he was focussing on getting the album to sound exactly like he wanted, Björn stepped his fucking bussy up on the lyrics department, with songs such as The Winner Takes It All, On and On and On, Me and I and The Piper being lyrical highlights in their entire discography.
The album went on to hit the top spot in Belgium (KWEENZzzz... last one, I promise), Germany, Norway and their native Sweden, was a top 5 hit in Australia and New Zealand and reached the top 10 in Canada, Italy and Japan.
It was yet another chart-topping album in the United Kingdom and eventually reached the Billboard 200 top 20.
While The Visitors is definitely their most difficult album overall, Super Trouper has always seemed to be somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster and confusing in a way. It's quite a diverse collection of songs about heartbreak, flirting, sensuality and melancholy. Their personal feelings were poured into all of these tracks and it's a fucking shame they couldn't reconcile personally as we all know where their partnership was going.
Listening to it know, it's making me quite emotional...
Average: 7.8297
#1: The Winner Takes It All
#5: Lay All Your Love On Me
#14 (tie): Super Trouper
#27: Our Last Summer
#32: On and On and On
#33 (tie): Me and I
#40: Happy New Year
#44: The Piper
#51: The Way Old Friends Do
#59: Elaine
#66: Andante, Andante
#82: Put On Your White Sombrero
Highest scorers:
@WhipperSnapper - 9.2500
@tylerc904 - 9.0833
@P'NutButter - 9.0000
Lowest scorers:
@cityofdoomsday - 5.2500
@dancingwithmyself - 6.5000
@VivaForever - 6.5471
My average: 8.0833
Super Trouper is eventually placed as your third favourite ABBA album ever here on PopJustice. It actually only has one real stinker on it and that was an unreleased track up until their 1994 box set Thank ABBA for the Music, so I'm extremely happy this made the top 3.
Recording for the album began in early 1980 after a very successful album campaign, a world tour and way too many personal problems between the four band members. Agnetha and Björn had finalized their divorce, Frida and Benny were experiencing problems in their marriage, the girls had all but estranged themselves from each other and Benny and Björn had no idea where to go musically. Their previous album had been a bit of a jump on the disco bandwagon and both of the boys were feeling as if they had sold out. But there was one thing Benny had remembered from those recording sessions... Don't be afraid to use more of those keyboards.
So Benny persuaded the band to go for a more progressive, adult sound, that was very synthy and, in places, clubby. So while he was focussing on getting the album to sound exactly like he wanted, Björn stepped his fucking bussy up on the lyrics department, with songs such as The Winner Takes It All, On and On and On, Me and I and The Piper being lyrical highlights in their entire discography.
The album went on to hit the top spot in Belgium (KWEENZzzz... last one, I promise), Germany, Norway and their native Sweden, was a top 5 hit in Australia and New Zealand and reached the top 10 in Canada, Italy and Japan.
It was yet another chart-topping album in the United Kingdom and eventually reached the Billboard 200 top 20.
While The Visitors is definitely their most difficult album overall, Super Trouper has always seemed to be somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster and confusing in a way. It's quite a diverse collection of songs about heartbreak, flirting, sensuality and melancholy. Their personal feelings were poured into all of these tracks and it's a fucking shame they couldn't reconcile personally as we all know where their partnership was going.
Listening to it know, it's making me quite emotional...
He/Him
As I'm getting quite the fucking feels typing out this last one, I want to take the opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who has participated, has helped me through what was a fucking appalling year emotionally, has joined in on the discussion and all of your patience. I couldn't have done it without you.
So with this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To us............
.......and to ABBA!
So with this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To us............
.......and to ABBA!
he/him
Another story of this rate's impact:
My parents (who love their music) said I needed to watch the film Mamma Mia! now that I knew all the songs, so I watched it with them this weekend. WHAT AN INSTANT CLASSIC! The performances of my 11 "Honey Honey" and "The Winner Takes It All" were especially thrilling. Also the scenes with "Does Your Mother Know" and "Dancing Queen" made me appreciate the songs more considering the scores I gave them in this rate. We're now planning to go to the new film this year at the theater with the surround sound and all. It should be amazing.
My parents (who love their music) said I needed to watch the film Mamma Mia! now that I knew all the songs, so I watched it with them this weekend. WHAT AN INSTANT CLASSIC! The performances of my 11 "Honey Honey" and "The Winner Takes It All" were especially thrilling. Also the scenes with "Does Your Mother Know" and "Dancing Queen" made me appreciate the songs more considering the scores I gave them in this rate. We're now planning to go to the new film this year at the theater with the surround sound and all. It should be amazing.