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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 21, 2022 9:01:28 GMT
An example, Deluxe Edition, what could of been an exciting Poster,is just four Ring/Circles,on Black Paper; Soederqvist's Iconic ABBA logo, and themselves, have been totally Eclipsed Out. Yikes, you had me going there for a second! A deluxe edition hasn't been announced (yet), has it? It's funny what gets us revved up. I'm inclined to agree that a Rune Soderqvist design would have been fascinating. I just wish that everything hadn't ended up so brown and dark. With a few Hallstrom outtakes making the cut for the ISHFIY video, I wonder if there are more such clips? That's the kind of stuff that could bring magic to a documentary. I can't help feeling that there's something extra in the bag to generate a bit of excitement around the time the curtain goes up on the show.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 17, 2022 19:16:31 GMT
Guys, in my opinion, people should AVOID the block button like the plague. From what I've seen, it can't be undone. And it only works while you're logged in, coyly covering the posts of the person you've blocked. It's a bit rubbish, really.
If TWTIA were omitted from the Voyage shows, I'd be both shocked and horrified: it's too important a song in the ABBA canon to be left out. Ditto TYFTM. TDBYC is in my top 3 with The Visitors and LAAPTMR. I'd be surprised but utterly thrilled if it appears in the live show. I think the more hardcore fans will have to accept that the setlist might be a bit more crowd-pleasing than fan-pleasing. I'm mostly OK with that. I reckon I'll come from the show on a bit of a high (if I actually book tickets and get there).
I wonder if there might eventually be occasional shows more specifically pitched at the die-hard fans, peppered with deep cuts and unexpected treats? Imagine the draw it would be for those of us more deeply invested in the ABBA story. Would the animators have to put in serious overtime to manage Frida's unending hair evolution? Personally, I want it all: Waterloo curls, a Fernando bob, ABBA-The Movie titian amazingness (already used for the FridaTar), a Summer Night City lava perm, early 1980 new-wave hot-brushed straight hair, 1981 perm revival and 1982 high-society punk realness. No pressure, guys. But I think we might have to accept that the early days of the show will be pitched at hen parties and corporate away-days. Getting too niche too early would not make commercial sense.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 17, 2022 11:38:38 GMT
You've been wise and brave in sharing your issues here: it helps us understand better. But it doesn't mean that everyone has to bite their lip. Don't be too hard on yourself, @eddie. The whole "toughen up" thing is a big and, sometimes, unrealistic ask. All you need to do is accept that other people have a right to opinions you dislike. I think that learning to ignore them is the more helpful resolution.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 17, 2022 11:27:29 GMT
Could the new release be the delayed coloured-vinyl single box set/picture discs/half-speed master for The Visitors?
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 17, 2022 11:25:40 GMT
Welcome back, Eddie.
Your last post was full of strong opinions, forcefully put, peppered with strident statements that not everybody will agree with (including some that few, if any, will agree with). So that makes you just like the rest of us: welcome to forum life. Your opinion is just as valid as mine or Johnny's or Colin's or any member who might yet join.
There are people whose views I don't share. Some people are just dicks. I tend not to dwell too often on what they post. In one case, the negativity was so unrelenting that I used the block button. If you choose this latter option, think carefully: I can't find a way to unblock them now and have to use the "unhide this post" button if I get curious about what they say.
For as long as long as I've been on the internet, some of my favourite songs by ABBA (and any other act, come to that) have been trashed by other fans. Their forcefully put opinions (some often rude) reflect the opinions to which they are 100% entitled. I enjoy those songs anyway. The forum membership has gone quite some way to accommodate the sensitivities that you shared with us. We understand - but you would have to concede that it's unfair and unrealistic to expect a bunch of strangers to be fearful of expressing their valid opinions about songs or performances they dislike because the song/performer in question is your personal favourite. It's great that you, personally, have such a passion for TWTIA. If you happen to be #TeamAgnetha, good for you - there are many such members here (including some who seem to post only about her). The members of #TeamFrida have no problem with that, I'm sure. EVERY band has fans that favour one member over the others. Why should ABBA be any different?
You've expressed a strong and strident opinion. Good for you. Now take a deep breath and just accept that those of us - including me - who disagreed with the content can still be glad you're back and hope that you can now see that we all have our place in the forum.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 15, 2022 16:00:54 GMT
Lyric videos?! Gurl, the fans have been making lyric videos for donkeys' years. How does this meet the criteria to qualify as "exciting news"? Come back to me when the ABBAtars have fronted videos for Angeleyes, Lay All Your Love On Me, The Visitors, Don't Shut Me Down, Just A Notion and No Doubt About It. I am directing some very severe side-eye at whoever runs the social media accounts.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 15, 2022 8:15:57 GMT
This might be a bit of a stretch, because ABBA rarely take a political stand, but maybe the song Ode to Freedom will be somehow connected to the war in Ukraine. Possibly a video or new recording of the song to raise funds, might even go so far as to say something along the lines of the Band Aid effort of the eighties Just a wide reaching thought. Hopefully not too much of a stretch - I like your thinking. In the circumstances, I suspect ABBA would be a bit less squeamish about politics than they might have been under Stig's direction. It would be fantastic and admirable if Ode To Freedom and/or The Visitors (actually about Russian dissidents) and/or maybe even Soldiers was/were pressed into service as a fundraising effort. I have a feeling that the imminent announcement might be something a bit different, though. The tone of the social media posts seems a bit giddy for a message about supports for refugees.
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 14, 2022 15:12:02 GMT
For what it's worth, this appeared today on ABBA's insta story... (it's just the same as is in agarsal 's link. Not a willy to be seen anywhere, dammit ) The 'new member' has been here a while, by the way, with some Voyage related posts in October! Welcome, if I haven't said hello before. I wonder if the person-in-the-know who had lots of reliable stuff to share on Popjustice might have some details...?
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 11, 2022 12:07:19 GMT
*listens*
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 11, 2022 10:31:30 GMT
I like The Winner Takes It All. It might not be in my Top 10 but I still recognise a great song and performance. I'm someone who actually appreciates the drums. If this had been given a more pared-back ballad treatment, I think the plaintiveness could have been overbearing. Also, structurally, the two main melodic sequences are so short that the song might have felt a bit repetitive without the drive, texture and contrast that the rhythm track added. To some extent, I also think that Agnetha's delivery is tied to the drums: when she gets into her stride over the drum track, there seem to be layers of frustration and anger behind the lyric's surface pain.
Sarah Dawn Finer released a really beautiful cover of the song a few years back. It's stripped back and emotive. While it's tempting to imagine ABBA having taken the same approach, a verse has been omitted. I can only imagine this was done to minimise a sense of repetition.
Do people remember the "unmixed" version of ABBA's version that circulated a few years ago? It was prepared, I think, for the Mamma Mia cast to inform their performances. It's stripped back to piano, acoustic guitar and backing vocals. The drummer is keeping time on a hi-hat. Strangely, without the drums, the performance actually feels slightly rushed. But is shows that the original vocal tracks could be set in a new, stripped/acoustic arrangement quite easily. I wonder if the BjornTar will do the solo backing vocals that escaped on this version? If the rumours about an acoustic setting are correct, I wonder if it's possible that there's an ABBAtars-on-stools-around-the-piano section to allow for a suite of pared-back classics?
As for the other songs... I am slightly allergic to TYFTM. I think Under Attack is an undercooked single. I think TKHLHC is very underrated. I like Mamma Mia without loving it. But both TYFTM and TWTIA are too central to ABBA's history and legacy to be omitted. They're important songs whether they're loved or loathed. They'll be there. I understand why UA and TKHLHC are not universally loved but I think the live setting could rehabilitate them. Ballsier arrangements and new backing vocal textures could be transformative. But the audience reaction will determine whether they stay in the set. My hunch is that TWOFD will have been made redundant by ISHFIY.
If the new arrangements are successful, I wouldn't rule out a single or EP of reimagined classics later in the year...
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 10, 2022 8:40:40 GMT
This kind of track selection makes things more interesting (well, I would say that - The Visitors is still my favourite ABBA song). It's nice to be able to imagine that the show won't be an unbroken chain of (over) familiar hits. I presume it'll be embargoed ahead of the opening night but, from then on, there'll be no mystery about the setlist. The reluctant can take that into account when they're reading reviews and deciding whether the show might ever be for them.
Thematically, it's a very interesting song - especially given the state of the world right now. I wonder if it might be part of a message from ABBA?
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 6, 2022 19:35:28 GMT
Thank you! Can't figure out why I didn't spot that!
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 6, 2022 19:04:43 GMT
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 2, 2022 9:40:14 GMT
^ which pic is this, J?
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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 2, 2022 9:39:19 GMT
Absolutely. It completely underscores the truth that success is no barrier to heartbreak. I know it's easier to cry in a limo than at a bus stop, but pain is pain.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 28, 2022 16:36:44 GMT
My physical copy arrived today, just as I finished reading the ebook. It's exhaustive, thorough and surprisingly revealing. It's quite a bit sadder than I expected. The physical copy is just gorgeous.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 27, 2022 14:20:01 GMT
I saw that post too, abbafanie, and I'm slightly intrigued. Creating a hierarchy of fandom rarely does a fanclub any favours. I hope they're being fair and wise.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 27, 2022 14:17:13 GMT
My ebook was delivered yesterday and I got stuck in straight away. It's very through. Currently at the point where Frida first meets Benny. The whole thing is very well written and presented. Has anyone else started reading yet?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 25, 2022 19:54:01 GMT
I love your reading of The Visitors, chron. It sounds like a video treatment. I still lament the lost hit potential with this track and wonder what the post-Hallstrom video crew might have come up with.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 25, 2022 11:47:24 GMT
Hometime. I remember in the 70s and 80s older acts still getting in to the top 10 and number one. To get into the top 100 today would be an achievement unless you do an Elton. I remember! Only the other day, I was reading old Smash Hits and Record Mirror mags online and chuckling at the outrage over Julio Iglesias bumping Queen & David Bowie from the No.1 slot. The fury over the old guy daring to trouble the charts, when he should be soaking his dentures! He was 38. I also remember that no media outlet seemed capable of appreciating Tina Turner's 1980s hits without referencing her age (she was 43 when "Let's Stay Together" charted). ABBA were subject to it as well. There's a Record Mirror review of "One Of Us" that focused on A&F's appearance. "...Aggie and her mate are looking rough these days. I haven't seen that many crows feet since Hitchcock's The Birds." And that was from a female reviewer. To be fair, there have been breakout hits by older acts over the years. Tom Jones had a couple of hits across the 80s and 90s. Elton & Kiki had another smash in the early 90s. And, of course, Madonna continues to flick the middle finger to ageists everywhere, gawd bless 'er. It's depressing that such acts have been considered remarkable because of their age. Quality is quality. Alison Moyet, for instance, made better albums in her 50s than she did in her 20s. Grace Jones released the amazing Hurricane album in her 60s. The charts feel so irrelevant and meaningless now. Is that just me? Is it just because I haven't been a spring chicken since the late 1900s? Do the youngsters fixate on chart positions like I used to?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 25, 2022 11:14:24 GMT
The charts have ALWAYS been hijacked by the young. It's the nature of the beast.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 25, 2022 10:48:55 GMT
The track that immediately came to my mind in the wake of the attack on Ukraine was The Visitors: creeping tension at the start and an unsettling, hard-to-pin-down vibe at the end, as Frida['s character], long knowing she'd eventually have to directly confront whatever is out there (or maybe decide to do something to permanently avoid a confrontation), repeatedly intones with an odd equanimity that works in counterpoint to the roiling angst of the backing vox, "I have been waiting for these visitors". I've always believed that the lyrics of the track "The Visitors" were inspired by the situation in communist Poland at the time, when the trade union Solidarity was gaining influence. As a result, Poland was under threat from the then Soviet Union and ABBA submitted a video for an American TV show called "Let Poland Be Poland". I never understood why they chose the video of "When All Is Said And Done" and didn't make a special video of "The Visitors" for the show, which would have been far more relevant. I don't believe that their contribution made the final cut anyway. The dark beauty of The Visitors is that it continues to have the ability to be relevant to events in that region on a constant basis. From the plight of the dissidents that Bjorn described, to the horrific persecution of LGBTQ people in recent years, to Crimea, to the murderous assault on Ukraine now. It is heartening to see ordinary Russians taking to the streets to protest this criminal war. And they're doing so at huge personal risk.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 25, 2022 10:43:06 GMT
You say “young”, HOMETIME , but ABBA were never that young! I remember reading something in the 1990s that said that ABBA started at ages when most bands stop. Obviously this was because all four of them had been in the music industry for years prior to ABBA. I’m trying to imagine how being in early 30s must have seemed to me as a child in 1977. Ancient probably. It's slightly distressing to think that I am now old enough to be father to all four of them at the ages they were in 1977 You're right: they were a little older than the standard poptart but their image and the music they made made them massively popular to kids and teens. The new stuff just can't do that. The image makers can't objectify and sexualise the group members now. ABBA remains a cultural icon but they're not relying on the youngsters' pocket money. They mainly have to rely on the middle aged nostalgists, the collecters, longtime fans. Us. True, such a cultural phenomenon will also attract those with a broad interest in great music and the culturally curious, but it's still not going to swipe troops from the BTS, Little Mix, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift armies of hysterical fans. That ABBA have achieved this massive success with an album like Voyage is a phenomenon in itself.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 24, 2022 20:08:17 GMT
Apropos nothing, Ode To Freedom is currently at #36 in the Irish iTunes singles chart.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 24, 2022 13:02:52 GMT
I should have a better understanding of streaming but it's beyond me now. It really does seem to be a youth oriented phenomenon. And I think that is another factor that we need to take into account when comparing ABBA's heyday with this new era. The first eight ABBA albums were youth oriented at the time. Yes, the melodies were so fantastic and the group's visual appeal and overall image helped them attract a wider demographic, but they were still young people making music for their peers. The charts are no less youth-oriented today. As great as it is, Voyage is not anybody's idea of a youth-oriented set. So its success is all the more remarkable. Yes, a fair number of young people love the big old hits and that's why Gold is seemingly immortal. Again, those hits were created by young people for young people. So I'm guessing that some of that must still resonate beyond the undeniable brilliance of the tracks themselves.
Think back to October: there were a few people encouraging fans to manage their expectations. It would have surprised few people if the album had enjoyed massive week-one sales, topped the chart and promptly disappeared. It didn't. It's still here. And whatever your views on the value of BBC Radio 2 airplay, few acts could get their fifth single/buzz track A-listed for a fortnight.
As for Voyage, I'd hate to see Little Things removed. It is part of what ABBA chose to create. We're not ABBA, we're not their A&R people. There are tracks on every ABBA album that I'm less keen on, and I usually skip them when I play the album. Voyage is Voyage. Gold is Gold.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 23, 2022 10:55:15 GMT
I feel sorry for them - nobody gets divorced just for sport. Especially after such a long time together. Hope they both have the support they need around them and that they can look positively to their next chapters. I doubt you'd be the first to go there, Alan ! I'll bet that Agnetha won't be able pop to the corner shop for Rizlas and Pot Noodles this week without paps on her tail.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 21, 2022 19:19:03 GMT
I have read all four pages of the megarate and I really can't see what could be deemed unkind or cruel? And I certainly couldn't see anything that criticised Edmund personally. In fact, I'd venture to say that people have generally made decent efforts to be sensitive to Edmund, knowing the challenges he deals with. That said, two people might read the same thing very differently. Certainly I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know if they read something that I wrote and found it unkind/mean/insensitive. I'd want to make that up to the offended party quickly.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 21, 2022 11:15:44 GMT
chron , HOMETIME , will you stop it, guys?! I've never realized there was something wrong and now you're spoiling the songs for me! But the way, I've never been a fan of Gemini's second album (and now I wonder if I ever have been a fan of the first), so I hardly ever paid attention to the lyrics. So I searched for it today and you're right... Ghost Town features one of the weirdest lyric I've ever heard. Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spoil it for anyone. I actually prefer the second Gemini album. It feels poppier and lighter. TLC is great fun (and, now that I think of it, from the same bloodline as No Doubt About It). I Am The Universe and Nearly There are a great tunes too. Only Ghost Town and I'm a B1tch When I See Red are let down by their lyrics (and Karin's OTT delivery).
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 21, 2022 9:44:13 GMT
That "I think it would be fair to say" line is actually kinda funny: I can imagine the guy opening the door, seeing his tantrum-prone ex and going "WTF?!" If there's a new album, maybe there should be a song about the application process for restraining orders.
I totally agree about KMKY. Those first eight words just plunge the listener into the story. Of course, Frida's delivery is the other half of that double whammy (equally restrained, zero hystrionics). Less really is more sometimes. I wonder how a great song like Story Of A Heart might have worked out if written in that period. Hands on oars and 'the back of a bus' probably wouldn't have featured?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 20, 2022 11:43:29 GMT
I'd love if an interviewer would ask Bjorn about the evolution of his lyrics. Up to 1980, they were very poppy and (mostly) without some of the intricate and ornate detail that cropped in later releases. Sometimes that level of detail pays off: The Visitors, The Day Before You Came, for example. I started to notice the changes with Gemini. Take Too Much Love Is Wasted for instance. It's really scene-driven and the detail makes the pop flow of the song very sluggish. Then, on the next album, there's the ridiculous Ghost Town, a totally bananas, detail-heavy scene where the car engine won't "ignite." With Josefin Nilsson, we have art snobs and dressing gowns and pigeons and esoteric situations where "whales have ceased to sing." So far removed from pop, that they could be an experiment by a dramatist or a screenwriter.
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