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Post by chron on Feb 18, 2022 19:41:22 GMT
chron , I bet you're rather see The Winner Takes It All at the top The only thing I'd like to see The Winner Takes It All at the top of is a scaffold, standing before Albert Pierrepoint.
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Post by chron on Feb 18, 2022 19:19:57 GMT
I think [Don't Stand Me Down]'s biggest advantage is that it seems to be everybody's favourite song from Voyage. *Cough* Not everybody's! For me its gloss and sparkle was flattering to deceive and palled quickly. One or two of its lines make you grimace, and Agnetha's voice sounds timorous and a bit weary (she comes on like Nana Mouskouri at the start!). I also get the feeling she struggles to identify with the song's story or her character's viewpoint (a continuation of a problem that I think began for her when Bjorn's lyrics got less dreamy and yearningly idealistic and got wordier and more urbane or whatever, but that's for another discussion in a different thread) Predictably bonkers result for this Megarate, given the voting method used. Three tracks only per album definitely works against the strongest albums (I was wrong to adjust my assessment of The Album's across-the-board quality, and Michal was right all along).
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Post by chron on Jan 13, 2022 20:38:55 GMT
Haha, it hadn't registered that you'd picked the same three tracks from The Album! Thinking about it some more, it actually wasn't that hard to pick a top three; there was a bit of a pang at having to leave Eagle out, but everything else I'd rate at a slightly lower level. Take A Chance On Me I'd probably put next to last; it's great, but it seems a bit of a calculated throwback move; a strong sing-along placed right on the heels (talons?) of Eagle in order to get back on-board anyone alienated by the daringly expansive and progressive opener.
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Post by chron on Jan 13, 2022 19:02:29 GMT
Cheers! I've been lurking but haven't posted, because for one thing I've found it difficult to connect with the Voyage album (beyond the majestic I Still Have Faith In You and a blast of the old ABBA vocal imperiousness that Just A Notion represents, it feels like a bit of a left-it-too-late barrel-scrape [edit: too harsh] mish-mash), and on top of that I have next to no interest in how it performs chart-wise.
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Post by chron on Jan 13, 2022 18:36:28 GMT
Could be easier than trying to do a complete top 100 plus.... Should be called the Econorate, if we're not rating the whole caboodle! The way this is organised, won't some tracks poorer in the grand scheme sense benefit from being on albums that aren't outstanding as whole, while better 'minor' tracks on the strongest albums suffer? (If Don't Shut Me Down were on Arrival or The Album, I doubt it would elbow its way into anyone's top three tracks.) Maybe I've got the gist wrong. At any [mega]rate, I've given a score out of ten in brackets next to each song, to give some sort of indication of intrinsic quality, and an idea of where they might rate relative to each other were a complete songs poll to be done: Ring RingNina, Pretty Ballerina (3) Another Town, Another Train (4) Disillusion (5) WaterlooGonna Sing You My Love Song (5) Dance (WTMSGO) (6) Suzy-Hang-Around (6) EponymousHey, Hey Helen (6) Mamma Mia (8) SOS (9) ArrivalThat's Me (8) Dancing Queen (9) Knowing Me, Knowing You (10) The AlbumMove On (9) Hole In Your Soul (9) The Name Of The Game (10) (Their best album, and the toughest to select three tracks from. Everything on it bar TYFTM is top drawer, or damn close. If TYFTM is pulled out, then Side 2 is as strong as Side 1; I can't think of another ABBA album with such a balance of quality across two sides) Voulez-VousAngel Eyes (6) The King Has Lost His Crown (7) Chiquitita (8) Super TrouperSuper Trouper (6) Me And I (6) Lay All Your Love On Me (6) The VisitorsOne Of Us (8) Slipping Through My Fingers (8) The Visitors (9) VoyageJust A Notion (6) No Doubt About It (6) I Still Have Faith In You (8) (Difficult to feel that this selection as solid as the ones for the older albums yet) Oddments/SodmentsLovelight (7) Cassandra (7) Summer Night City (8)
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Post by chron on Nov 24, 2021 17:19:32 GMT
Not a fan of award shows like the Oscars etc. At the Grammys some get overlooked unfairly and some get heaps of nominations undeservedly and awards. Depends on who is flavour of the month. Stopped watching them long ago. Paint drying is more entertaining. They're a trade award, and it's very hard to care about watching an industry slapping itself on the back. ( Wiki: "Samuel Johnson [has] defined honour in relationship to "reputation" and "fame"; to "privileges of rank or birth", and as "respect" of the kind which "places an individual socially and determines his right to precedence". This sort of honour is often not so much a function of moral or ethical excellence, as it is a consequence of power.") If an artist has the gumption and integrity to call bulls**t on an award (this can sometimes be signalled by indifferent acceptance), my respect for them tends to go up—it can spark enough interest to send me back to the work they've done in order to see and/or hear it in a fresh light. Here's a good and interesting list of people who've refused a royally-bestowed honour: List of people who have declined a British honour.
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Post by chron on Nov 23, 2021 20:36:23 GMT
Initially I'd qualified the parallel I was drawing but didn't think I needed to, and got rid of it. Of course there are significant differences, but I still think the comparison is instructive in terms of hazarding how Voyage might come to be viewed in the long term. And I've really become taken with this idea that the core backing band could be considered as members of ABBA; at one point I was toying with the idea of creating a thread to discuss the idea.
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Post by chron on Nov 23, 2021 19:54:07 GMT
For me, The Visitors remains ABBA’s last album. Voyage, though it is an ABBA album (or at least by the same members of a collective once known as ABBA), can’t really be compared to what’s gone before. [...] I could never rank this alongside albums recorded that long ago. It’s very much its own entity. I take the same view. The parallel I draw is with the Beatles' 'comeback' tracks, Free As A Bird and Real Love, put out twenty-five years after they'd originally disbanded (and also released as an extravaganza tie-in). Those 'new' Beatle tracks are now over a quarter of a century old themselves, and you can get a better idea of where they fit into the Beatles' output as a whole, and they've never become fully a part of the canon. I think in a similar way Voyage will remain a postscript or an appendix; something that has a connection with the past work, but which occupies a space apart. I've bored people with this here before (and recently I think, I'm sorry to say), but just as the Beatles couldn't be the same band in the 1990s without John, the current ABBA aren't the same band without the input of Rutger Gunnarsson, Ola Brunkert and Michael Tretow (these days I honestly effectively view the original core backing guys as members of ABBA, and Tretow too, for the same sort of reasons that George Martin is sometimes seen as a de facto member of the Beatles).
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Post by chron on Nov 16, 2021 21:03:44 GMT
I also think the decision to release the first two songs together was a stroke of genius. Maximum interest at that time, so people would download or buy both. A delayed second single would not have got as much interest. I'd have preferred this sequence: the majestic, limpid late-bloom of ISHFIY, followed by the punchy, backward-glancing Just A Notion, and then a good hold-back to let the anticipation build. Those two cover the stops in terms of where ABBA were and where they are and what might follow. Don't Shut Me Down seems to get weaker with each listen; it's fine as an album pad-out, but as a heralding comeback vehicle for Agnetha (whose voice, on top of the rambling lyrics, sadly sounds a bit shot) it really struggles alongside what Frida got to work with in I Still Have Faith. DSMD ended up undermining ISHFIY to some degree, for me.
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Post by chron on Nov 6, 2021 23:11:18 GMT
I don't think it's horrifying, nor do I consider non-vinyl formats to be philistine. I do think people buying multiple formats of what is, when all said and done, a single album of ten new songs, are a bit crackers, though (the core artwork concept inspiring all of these variants, although completely serviceable, isn't exactly visually engaging). I especially have a hard time understanding people buying vinyl and cassette versions (cassette revival: what is point?) who have no turntable or cassette deck to play them on.
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Post by chron on Nov 6, 2021 20:29:30 GMT
Apart from a few drib and drabs on YouTube I haven't heard the bloody thing yet! This has probably been answered earlier/elsewhere, but is Voyage available as WAV or FLAC download anywhere as a one-off deal? I really don't fancy getting it as MP3s from Amazon (although it would probably sound fine), I don't stream yet in any sort of organised, subscription-based way, and I'm trying to avoid buying CDs. I had the forlorn hope that on release day ABBA would offer this through Bandcamp, although I knew in reality there was practically no hope of them doing so!
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Post by chron on Nov 2, 2021 18:06:43 GMT
What do people think of the sleeve cover? A bit naff. It should be a picture of ABBA. It's clean and unfussy, and it's a nice change not to have the group on the front. That said, it's not very inspiring. Despite doubtless being bespoke commissioned, it has a definite 'stock image' feel about it, and as a concept it's too 'cosmic' for me. I've always associated ABBA with the here-and-now, and with modern, urban life; a band exploring the earthbound contemporary existence, so planetary imagery jars with all that. Obviously the cover is trying to encompass in one image both the rebirth and impending death of ABBA as a group (if not yet as individuals), which it does, but I think that could've been achieved in a less astral way (I'd have really liked to see the theme based around an urban scene at dusk). I also wish they could've ditched the ABBA band logo and typeface that's become synonymous with them. It's been long enough between releases for this to be its own thing, but if you're going to go with the established logo, play with it in some way to tie-in with the theme of concluding and 'farewelling' - make the letters progressively fade from left to right, or drift apart, or something. One of the sad things about this cover, of course, is that it reminds you that one of the old extended ABBA 'gang', cover designer and graphics director Rune Soederqvist, is no longer with us. I wonder what he might've come up with, had he been around to collaborate with his old mates once more.
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Post by chron on Nov 1, 2021 19:08:09 GMT
There'll be some good stuff on there almost certainly, but it's a big ask that all of the tracks be brilliant (after all, out of three songs so far released, we've had one thoroughly heartening return to near-top form, one enjoyable but lightweight glam-boogie pop-rocker, and one curate's egg on the over-cooked side, which features a lot of windy lines that don't ultimately add up to much (Bjorn, mate, we don't need to know what material a bench is made out of; just get on with it!).
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Post by chron on Nov 1, 2021 18:18:27 GMT
As I probably said before ABBA have such an immensely varied back catalogue of songs. Each song is uniquely different. Varied yes, but I'd put a question mark over "immensely", and "uniquely different' is hyperbole. B&B have always worked as pop 'craftsmen', squarely using means already formed, tried and tested, and have looked to create a fresh-feeling synthesis, which they're still doing, as evidenced by the fact that some in here have been playing the "spot the influences/(self)references" with these new tracks (Just A Notion pretty squarely recycles the boogie feel earlier given a spin-out on things like So Long and Why Did It Have To Be Me; DSMD carries echoes of One Of Us, while its lyrics hark back to the scene-setting fussiness of The Day Before You Came; ISHFIY's dignified, bittersweet sweep recalls the mood of 'deep' reflective tracks like My Love, My Life, One Man, One Woman and I Wonder). ABBA are—to use a line of that great philosopher Father Ted—a great bunch of lads, but they've never been in the business of producing "uniquely different" songs.
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Post by chron on Oct 30, 2021 19:31:07 GMT
Benny and Bjorn through Stikkan might have heard some R&B influenced songs early on in their career IIRC and that Sweden early on had a jazz or R&B scene which may factor into their absorption into the honky-tonk stuff, despite their downplaying in recent interviews where Bjorn denies being influenced by jazz [...] Benny at least would've been well acquainted with that stuff independently of any input from Stig. He was peddling R&B tropes with the Hep Stars a good while before ABBA formed.
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Post by chron on Oct 25, 2021 18:39:19 GMT
I'm shocked I would rate every ABBA album from Arrival onwards 5 stars out of 5. And you call yourselves ABBA fans? Hard to credit the view that the rather bloodless, desultory Super Trouper or the patchy, disconnected Voulez-Vous are on the same level as The Album, in terms of ambition or (near) sustained-from-start-to-finish quality, but the problem may be that you've adopted the limiting 'Amazon' out-of-five method of grading. If you were to be asked to mark out of a hundred, I bet you wouldn't give them all the same maximum score.
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Post by chron on Oct 23, 2021 18:57:14 GMT
Like you guys, I'm wondering how much is coincidental and how much of it is design. [...] If reflections of the back catalogue is to be a theme for the album - I'm now and then combined - it'd be fun to speculate where else in their history they'll find ideas. They have little choice but to broadly embrace the idea that Voyage will represent a career summation of sorts, since, regardless of whether or not and to what degree they've allowed the 'ghosts' of themes and melodies and approaches past to grace it, this - presumed - 'last hurrah' going to be critically treated as such.
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Post by chron on Oct 23, 2021 17:06:17 GMT
The intro of JAN is so similar to Why Did It Have To Be Me that it crossed my mind if it isn't intentional and sort of a concept of the new album. Should every new song remind us of some of the old ones?? Just A Notion of Waterloo and Why Did It Have To Be Me. Don't Shut Me Down of If It Wasn't For The Nights (the strings) and Dancing Queen (the glissando). Does anybody hear a resemblance to any song from the back catalogue in I Still Have Faith In You? It's harder to pinpoint what sort of 'recycling' is going on in I Still Have Faith In You, but very ( very!) broadly there's maybe of whiff in there of things such as I Wonder and Thank You For The Music, and in the urgent swell of the chorus (a search for affirmation and reassurance 'dressed' as assertion), things like the choruses of One Man, One Woman and Chiquitita come to mind.
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Post by chron on Oct 22, 2021 19:18:01 GMT
[Just A Notion] is not amongst my favourites (it wouldn't make my top 10 or even top 20- those remain pretty consistent even after all this time) but it isn't a bad song at all. I Still Have Faith In You has a special place. It's sung with such emotion by Frida and Don't Shut Me Down reminds us all of how ABBA have still got 'it'. The first two released taken individually I see as sort of spotlighting and celebrating what each member of the band's song-writing team is renowned for. I Still Have Faith showcases Benny's melodic talents, his way with strong hooks and love of affecting harmonies, whereas Don't Shut Me Down puts the spotlight on Bjorn's wordsmithery and interest in storytelling. Overall I think ISHFIY is the most successful track. It's the bigger production number of the two, but they're well-versed in doing those and on safer ground with it. It's ruthlessly structured to sweep and ascend upwards until it becomes lost to the stars, with Bjorn's misty, conciliatory lines slotting in to work well in support (with one glaring exception), and they achieve what they're after with bells on. DSMD is more quirky and more adventurously put together; it finally doesn't come off half as well as ISHFIY, but they deserve some credit for taking more of a chance with it.
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Post by chron on Oct 22, 2021 17:33:14 GMT
Wishing a warm welcome to all the new members of the forum. Hi, Edmund! Good to see you again. Nice of you to extend a hand to the new members. Just to let you know, I'm an old member: orf, as was. Got weary of that name and changed it (to one I'm growing tired of even more quickly than the one it replaced!).
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Post by chron on Oct 22, 2021 16:42:06 GMT
Just curious... is there a legit explanation for why Bjorn does not play any instruments on ABBA recordings? I have the feeling that even during ABBA's heyday, Bjorn would've only contributed a bit of supplementary rhythm playing, if that, in the studio. He would've contributed more in concert, but even there you get the feeling it was as important for him to be seen holding an instrument as it was for him to be helping to round out the sound, in order to mark him out as flanking the centre-stagers, Agnetha and Frida (Benny, seated at the keyboards, was already naturally positioned away from the central spotlight). In any case, if you've got friends like Janne Schaffer and Lasse Wellander to help you out, okayish but basic guitar playing is surplus to requirements. (Did Bjorn ever do any sort of guitar solo live?)
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Post by chron on Oct 22, 2021 15:28:09 GMT
First couple of listens to Just A Notion says we're fairly squarely in I Do x 5/Why Did It Have To Be Me laidback glitter-boogie land, here - chunky barroom piano, horn players parping away (while possibly dressed up to resemble members of Wizzard). It's thoroughly slickly done, but it's always been far from my favourite style of theirs; all of their clap-along Blueberry Hill wannabe tracks have quickly worn out their welcome and ended up as album skippers. The words are decent (probably in no small part because they're relatively throwaway). Anyway, I'm playing catch-up here: after all the moaning about the world record-long wait, these things are out of the traps and have caught me on the hop! The two earlier released seem superior to this latest (and one of those earlier ones seems to stand out clearly, on top of that), and I need to give them a bit longer to soak in. Is there a thread for solely discussing the new tracks? A quick look suggests this thread is currently a mish-mash of reactions and chat about physical/non-physical release variants.
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Post by chron on Oct 4, 2021 15:34:06 GMT
"The opinion that art should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude" - George Orwell
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 17:50:57 GMT
Now we know what should've gone on the Super Trouper album in place of The Winner Takes It All.
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 16:34:03 GMT
Just had a listen to it, and am going to have to disagree majorly with Alan: it completely smokes I Am Just A Girl.
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 16:09:21 GMT
I've never heard it, actually, but I've enjoyed Jarl Kulle's appearances in the odd Bergman film. He's especially good in Smiles Of A Summer Night (but then, everyone bar Björn Bjelfvenstam is good in that).
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 16:05:30 GMT
There is something far, far worse than I Am Just A Girl, and that’s Jag Är Blott En Man by Jarl Kulle, Jag Är Bara Ett Misstag På En LP, more like.
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 15:14:28 GMT
Damn it, I thought that would get you to reveal the actual tracks!
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 15:12:10 GMT
In that case they should've used a less grandiose description, such as 'purpose-adapted renovation'. 'Arena' or 'performance space' would probably fit better than 'stadium', a word usually used in relation to huge banks of seating housed in a structure that is partially open to the elements in some way.
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Post by chron on Mar 29, 2021 14:42:47 GMT
I could have been quite insulted to see two of my favourite songs amongst Edmund's list of "weakest songs", but I didn't take it personally and made no issue about it. I Am Just A Girl and She's My Kind Of Girl are both fearful, though, and no one here can begin to fathom why you champion these two inexcusable blots on the ABBA song book!
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