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Post by gary on Feb 21, 2023 10:14:37 GMT
Sorry, this may have been discussed before. Do we know why Benny considers Money, Money, Money unsuitable for the Voyage show? I always thought that he had a high opinion of the song.
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Post by gary on Feb 17, 2023 19:06:39 GMT
That’s pretty good. How many have there been now, and how many more are there to come?
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Post by gary on Feb 12, 2023 9:13:07 GMT
There are seats available in January 2024 (and maybe other months) for £21.50. Prices of £100+ are more than I would want to pay but £21.50 is a bargain, surely? As far as I know, all seats have good views.
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Post by gary on Jan 28, 2023 18:14:03 GMT
Much of my favourite music is from the 1970s, with some from the 1960s and 1980s. That’s mainly because of my age, I guess. But all of my favourite songwriters from that time lost their talent a long time ago. David Bowie’s and Elton John’s, for example, fell off a cliff in the early 1980s and mid 1970s respectively. Benny and Bjorn, though they have declined, held my attention for longer.
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Post by gary on Jan 28, 2023 18:00:07 GMT
Tinneke, I completely agree. The production and arrangements on Voyage simply don’t compare with those on, say, The Album, where every aspect is perfect. I did have some initial reservations about the vocals, but I think I was wrong.
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Post by gary on Jan 28, 2023 9:12:52 GMT
Truedogz, I am one of the people who do not think very highly of the Voyage album. But I agree with your last paragraph. If Voyage has improved ABBA’s reputation, that’s great. And there is probably some truth in saying that Voyage did not meet my ‘preferences and expectations’, although I think my low opinion of Voyage compared with other ABBA albums results more from the decline in Benny and Bjorn’s songwriting ability.
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Post by gary on Jan 19, 2023 23:32:58 GMT
Amazing how opinions differ, but it would be pretty boring if they didn’t! I think the worst thing about GGG (apart from the title 😉) is the long instrumental break, which adds nothing to the song. But I can see about the song pulsing with energy. I guess I’m just not so keen on ‘disco ABBA’ (except Summer Night City). I prefer ‘pop ABBA’ and ‘ballad ABBA’.
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Post by gary on Jan 19, 2023 17:54:41 GMT
^ Definitely leave DSMD as it is. It’s a nice intro.
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Post by gary on Jan 19, 2023 8:48:15 GMT
Yes, the intro to Gimme Gimme Gimme is one of the very best ABBA ‘bits’, maybe even the best ‘bit’ of all. The rest of the song is a bit average by ABBA’s standards. The verse and the chorus are both a bit uninspired, and I’ve never liked the title. It sounds cheap, if that makes any sense. Still, the song has more than stood the test of time.
Is this thread becoming the go-to thread? 😉
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Post by gary on Jan 16, 2023 9:21:21 GMT
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Post by gary on Jan 15, 2023 11:34:55 GMT
I wonder why When All Is Said And Done and The Visitors were chosen as the singles in the US?
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Post by gary on Jan 14, 2023 16:25:28 GMT
There may be other factors, but I think the main reason for the downfall was simply that the last three singles weren’t good enough. I’m not saying they are bad songs, just that they’re not good singles. None of the three would even have been considered as singles five or six years before, when they were at their artistic and sales peak. Under Attack is B-side material, and Head Over Heels and The Day Before You Came are album tracks.
BTW, Under Attack spent four weeks at number 26, although one of those was a ‘repeated’ week.
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Post by gary on Jan 14, 2023 11:25:25 GMT
That sounds like a must. And it’s on in Brighton in May!
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Post by gary on Jan 6, 2023 20:26:14 GMT
Yes, that’s not bad at all. And Take A Chance On Me is quintessential!
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Post by gary on Jan 6, 2023 11:23:51 GMT
Alan, you handled it fine. I didn’t understand Johnny’s message to gazman. Nothing gazman said was remotely offensive.
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Post by gary on Jan 3, 2023 23:24:54 GMT
Was Voyage the third best seller (after Ed Sheeran and Adele) for 2021? I can’t remember. If it was, that’s an amazing achievement and nothing can change that. It was third in the UK. Not sure about world sales.
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Post by gary on Jan 1, 2023 15:54:05 GMT
Hard to argue against SOS. Fast bits, slow bits, totally catchy, and the best vocal ever by the best female singer ever! And it made me a fan, for what it’s worth…
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Post by gary on Dec 31, 2022 11:20:47 GMT
Yes, it would be Knowing Me, Knowing You for me as well. There are others that come close, particularly Dancing Queen, but KMKY is perfect, and has everything that is wonderful about ABBA. They were at their songwriting peak at the time of Arrival and The Album.
Slightly contradicting that, I always thought that the two consecutive singles of Fernando and Dancing Queen were quintessential ABBA. One fast, one slow, the sales pinnacle of their career, and both sublime tunes.
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Post by gary on Dec 26, 2022 23:35:19 GMT
Johnny, I think the similarity between Knowing Me, Knowing You and Cecilia is one line only. The line in KMKY is ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You it’s the best I can do’ and the line in Cecilia is ‘when I come back to bed someone’s taken my place’.
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Post by gary on Dec 25, 2022 10:57:58 GMT
I don’t think I would call any similarity between Fernando and Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps ‘very obvious’. I can hardly hear any similarity at all. The choruses of Keep An Eye On Dan and Space Visitors, on the other hand, sound identical. Not sure I can hear the Jingle Bells thing either. Fernando was such a big hit that I am sure B&B would have been sued if there was a justification for it.
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Post by gary on Dec 24, 2022 18:54:24 GMT
Thanks Joseph, much appreciated.
Oh dear, that chorus sounds identical.
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Post by gary on Dec 24, 2022 17:16:09 GMT
Could someone post a link to Space Visitors? I can’t seem to find it, not even on YouTube. Thanks.
I have always thought it was remarkable how few ABBA songs sound like something that came earlier. There are a few bits in Ring Ring, Waterloo and On And On And On, for example, but they’re very much the exception.
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Post by gary on Dec 19, 2022 16:37:24 GMT
1 I Still Have Faith In You 3/5 2 Don’t Shut Me Down 3/5 3 I Can Be That Woman 3/5 4 No Doubt About It 2/5 5 Just A Notion 2/5 6 Ode To Freedom 2/5 7 When You Danced With Me 1/5 8 Keep An Eye On Dan 1/5 9 Bumblebee 1/5 10 Little Things 0/5
1 Arrival 5/5 2 The Album 5/5 3 Voulez-Vous 4/5 4 Super Trouper 4/5 5 The Visitors 4/5 6 ABBA 3/5 7 Waterloo 3/5 8 Ring Ring 2/5 9 Voyage 2/5
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Post by gary on Dec 19, 2022 11:51:17 GMT
I don’t dislike the album, and it’s lovely to hear A&F singing together after so long. I actually play it quite often.
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Post by gary on Dec 19, 2022 10:02:32 GMT
Those fans who want more… Increasingly, I see Voyage the album as a home to the two original tracks. They turned out so well that they couldn’t be left to be added to some temporary compilation. They needed and deserved a permanent home. The other eight tracks were recorded to provide that and once achieved, their job was done. Yes, that’s a good way of putting it. What a pity that those other eight tracks just aren’t very good.
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Post by gary on Dec 12, 2022 18:55:42 GMT
It’s a truly great album, and one I think doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves, possibly because there were so few singles taken from it. The first side is indeed as close to perfection as any side of an ABBA album. I can see why the second side might be seen as patchy but I don’t think there are any weak songs. It just doesn’t quite ‘flow’.
I wonder why Rumours is a classic album, and The Album isn’t. The songs on the latter are every bit the equal of those on the former.
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Post by gary on Dec 7, 2022 20:10:32 GMT
Great post, evilincarnate.
I remember someone describing Fleetwood Mac as ‘ABBA with drums’. I don’t think they meant it nicely, but there’s some truth in it!
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Post by gary on Dec 1, 2022 9:41:49 GMT
I have been playing Fleetwood Mac a lot lately, and reading up a bit about them. The five albums by the ‘classic’ line-up are all good, Rumours especially of course. When Christine McVie sold the rights to her songs recently, as many other artists are doing, I was interested to read that she wrote about half of Fleetwood Mac’s hits, leaving Nicks and Buckingham with about a quarter each. Although Nicks especially was far more well known, McVie really was the biggest talent in Fleetwood Mac. Some of her songs are superb, especially Songbird IMO.
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Post by gary on Nov 28, 2022 10:05:33 GMT
I finally went to see ABBA Voyage last night. (Yes, I know, I should have been earlier!) I liked it very much. I had goosebumps throughout the show, particularly earlier on (TV, HIYS, SOS, KMKY). The avatars are quite amazing, and you can almost believe ABBA are really there. The song selection is excellent, particularly the non-singles.
A couple of gripes. It’s short. Only about an hour and a half. That’s not good value. And that’s especially true when you consider you have to sit through two irrelevant cartoons and a song sung by the backing group. (Why did ‘Bjorn’ not sing DYMK?)
But overall, great stuff. I will go again, but will probably wait to see if there are some set changes. If you haven’t yet been, go!
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Post by gary on Nov 23, 2022 23:38:47 GMT
You’re not alone, Martin mjc, although we do seem to be in a very small minority. I have played Voyage many, many times over the past year, and I just don’t get it, even though I very much wanted to. I am actually envious of the people who seem to love it. The first two singles, which are good if not excellent ABBA songs, led me to think that the album might be very good, but the other eight tracks are mediocre at best. I Can Be That Woman, No Doubt About It and Ode To Freedom aren’t too bad, I guess, but When You Danced With Me, Little Things, Keep An Eye On Dan and Bumblebee are among the worst songs ABBA have ever recorded. The vocals are better than we had a right to expect, but Benny and Bjorn have really lost their touch. And as for the production, it has almost none of the old sparkle. I am surprised (yet envious, as I say) that most fans are so approving. Voyage is far removed from the ABBA I love.
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