I like ABBA. I had Gold like everyone else (and maybe the soundtrack to Muriel's Wedding), but that's about it. So it was fun to listen to all of these albums in a row and hear many interesting songs that I had never heard before. The popular thinking is that their albums getting darker and weirder as they go. That may be true, but it's only barely noticeable. The shift is almost completely invisible if you only listen to the pop hit singles, which are scattered throughout all the albums (except the last one). The songs surrounding the known hits are weirder, cheesier, and campier, with some ill-advised delving into more rocking songs, more songs where the guys sing, and even some reggae-tinged numbers. But that awkwardness is part of the appeal, right? We were all listening a little ironically in the 90s, right? The fact that founder Bjorn Ulvaeus started his career in a folk-skiffle group is not easily forgotten while listening to some of these tunes. So they weren't all great, but they were quirky and fun to hear. I might even happily label some of it "glam" for a bit, but they abandon that for more direct pop; sometimes the ballads get a bit dreary, even irritating. Still - there are often interesting keyboards (What is that- harpsichord?) and some clever studio-work. "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me" are timeless pop classics. Their greatest hits collections always charted far more than any individual album. They really are a pop hit band.
Besides the obvious influences from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, and a bunch of Swedish pop, they interestingly claim to have been unfluenced most by Dr. John! They only have eight proper albums plus a live album. They are great at making a perfect pop song. But you know what they are not great at? Naming albums. I've never understood the massive appeal of "Waterloo" as a hit, but it was the most famous song/band ever to win the Eurovision song contest (where one of the ABBA couples originally met). Still, it hardly seems to capture any sort of thematic unity that would justify it being that 2nd album's title. The first album is also named merely after the single, their first as ABBA, "Ring Ring." Their third, not first(!), album is called ABBA, which make no sense; it's not like they reinvent themselves or their sound on it. Their fifth album is called The Album, which is again super-weak because it's just another collection of songs not unlike any of their other albums. Give your work a title, people!
One of my favorite songs in their whole catalog is "Gimme Gimme Gimme." It's a great disco number but just electronic enough to vaguely foreshadow today's pop. Interestingly, just like "Fernando," it was the new song included on one of their many compilations, but it hit big. It sounds like Britney or Madonna or whatever passes for that today. Madonna actually substantially sampled it, and it has been covered numerous times, perhaps most notably by total ABBA-rip-offs the A-Teens, but also by some metal bands like Therapy? It might not have instant familiarity of "Dancing Queen" or "Take a Chance on Me," but it has aged very well. It's on Vvoulez-Vous, which is their most disco album. It's also the album where they finally get some THUMP, so that is appreciated; I tried to listen to the best versions available, but the early records seem poorly mixed by today's standards, with too much treble and everything blending together. I get that they're going for the Wall of Sound; sometimes it works, but other times not so much.
The heavily-disco period is also the era when they release their one live album, which is interesting but not superb. The audience seems small and not very into it, although they do warm up eventually. I'm not sure why the crowd chose "Money Money Money" to start clapping along, when that's a song that slows down, starts back up, then slows down again! They also try to clap along to "I Have Dream," which is not easy either because there's one measure with 5 beats- and a children's choir. I couldn't believe it when the guy says, "Do you want to hear that song again?!" and then, yes, they play the song again. (Interesting side note: in the UK, "I Have a Dream" was held off from the No. 1 spot by Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall - Part II," which also features a children's choir.) It's also awkward to hear them sing songs about their own divorces in front of everyone. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" is brutal in context, but maybe that's part of what makes them an international spectacle. That and their jumpsuits. And the stage banter is stilted and weird. Sample lines: "I want to introduce you to someone...The blonde one!" and "Do you like our band?" The final songs and encores are well-selected and prove they know what they are doing.
Oddly, they seem to pull back a bit on their subsequent album Super Troupers, which might be their weakest (thematically and musically), except that it has the sorely underappreciated "Happy New Year." Add it to your NYE list now.
The final album The Visitors gets interesting. It sounds a bit prog-rocky. This spaceyness was hinted at earlier, such as in the instrumental bit that opens the non-single mix of "Gimme Gimme Gimme." Indeed, at points the last album sounds like (good) Genesis. It is far more political and personal than anything they had done before. It could have been an intriguing album by another band, but it was not well received by ABBA fans (and understandably so). There's no real hit on it, though "One of Us" is the forgettable single.
The influence of this band looms large in the pop vocal world of the 80s, 90s, and even through today. Even bands like the Foo Fighters like them, with Dave Grohol once telling NME, "I like loads of crazy-ass, dissonant, distorted rock ‘n’ roll, but I also love The Bee Gees and Abba, bands whose pop choruses get bigger and bigger. I love anthemic choruses, that overwhelming feeling of release that you can connect with.” He added: “So whenever I thought I had a big enough chorus for a song, I would use that as the pre-chorus and then I would try and write something even bigger, like they did." There's also a band called GABBA that plays ABBA songs as though they were covered by The Ramones! ABBA certainly left their mark on Puffy Ami Yummi, as just one other example. Both bands are multilingual too; ABBA did well in Latin America and recorded a number of songs in Spanish, in addition to English and their native Swedish. With their global success, they are rightfully one of the best-selling artists of all time. They seem to be much bigger everywhere besides America, Australia and Scandinavia for example. I don't even want to talk about Mamma Mia!,but it happened. What I do want to hear about, is their rumored comeback in the next year with a new "digital entertainment experience." They are in their late 60s now. Bring it on. And I say, Thank you for the music.
P.S. I'm not sure if "Dancing Queen" ever made it on our wedding playlist, but "I Do I Do I Do" certainly did.
There may have been multiple glasses of beer spilled during the table dance as well. True recollection is foggy, but events did occur.
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