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Post by HOMETIME on Mar 1, 2024 10:13:44 GMT
Given the massive cost of the production, I'm sure there's some reason to keep it "hidden" as you describe it. On the other hand, many a West End/Broadway show is matched with a cast album. Exhibit A: Chess. There are so many great surprises in the show, that an album could take some of the shine away. But given how many people have now seen the show, there could be merit in releasing at least some of the tracks.
I guess any decision they make will be built around strategies to recoup $140 million.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 27, 2024 9:35:13 GMT
I hear you! My trip from Dublin did a bit of damage to my wallet - I can only imagine what a trip like yours could do.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 27, 2024 9:30:47 GMT
I've been seeing promo clips for CMP's book all over my socials. It's got me thinking: his chapter on the Voyage recording sessions should give us some insight on the two remaining songs. I wonder if there'll be any hint about any plans for their release?
Has anyone here ordered a copy? If so, flip to those pages on 15 March and let us know!
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 24, 2024 19:17:57 GMT
That seems a curiously short period?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 23, 2024 18:29:50 GMT
Good question, jas! I would have thought the next tranche would be released by now. Maybe they'll do it around one of the anniversaries - 50th anniversary of Waterloo, or 2nd anniversary of the Voyage show? The Voyage page on Insta has posted this little video and mini interview with Frida from when she was at the show. She is looking absolutely sensational and energetic. Adorable! www.instagram.com/reel/C3sxeEZNHZH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 23, 2024 18:08:31 GMT
Excellent points! I wonder if the Polar Music Prize is ethically off-limits for them...?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 22, 2024 17:04:18 GMT
Well, the Fridatron certainly exudes a lot of that kind of energy! If this gem ever gets its well-deserved moment in the digital spotlight, we'll have something to look forward to.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 22, 2024 8:41:56 GMT
I would LOVE to see that belted out by the ABBAtars! It would fit so well in the show.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 21, 2024 10:58:35 GMT
Agreed: I can't imagine the ABBA members approving such a venture.
On the matter of accents, there is another option... There are plenty of Swedish actors who are fluent in English and could play the parts brilliantly for an international audience. I guess people might see the movie(s) as less valuable if the cast were largely unknown.
Still, it's all wildly hypothetical given how highly the ABBA members value their privacy.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 20, 2024 21:02:29 GMT
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 19, 2024 23:20:26 GMT
You are in for a treat. And who knows if that anniversary weekend might usher in something new...? Looking forward to your review.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 19, 2024 8:06:20 GMT
That's because she had a treatment to restore the loss of volume in her face. So you asked the question so you could tell us. Well done. Thanks for bringing a nice vibe to this forum. I hope your snide, negative posts get deleted. Now that the nastiness has been called out, I bet that "Tinneke" will avoid posting under that name for a while. I wonder which of the two other identical personas will be first to arrive.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 18, 2024 20:43:43 GMT
I had completely forgotten that! Yet more fodder for an anthology, if such a thing were under consideration. It would make sense to round out the live recording releases with a 1977 set and a 1981 Dick Cavett set. Both audio and video. It would be amazing if audio from the 1974/75 tour were available too.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 18, 2024 18:29:59 GMT
I wonder how close to the Eurovision the broadcast date will be? If the timing of things is close enough, I'm thinking that events might conspire to get Gold back to No.1. I wonder if Waterloo might also pop briefly into the upper parts of the singles charts in April. Given the performance of previous sets, I reckon the vinyl charts might finally give ABBA's version of Honey, Honey its first UK chart entry.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 18, 2024 15:43:18 GMT
I might be mis-remembering, but I have a feeling that B&B weren't keen on releasing live material in general - preferring the complete control they were able to exert on the studio versions. Apart from two B-sides, they totally avoided live recordings during their heyday. The (pretty grim) 1986 live album came out after everyone thought that ABBA was extinct.
I know that Ludvig oversaw the eventual Live At Wembley album - but was the initial idea his too? He was asked directly about a similar release for the 1977 tour but said that the recordings weren't up to muster. If he was being really purist in wanting one clean, start-to-finish show like the 1979 set, then maybe there were challenges. But I can't help thinking that it might have been possible to replicate the setlist from across any number of dates. Unless there was some reluctance to expose how heavily things were overdubbed/"corrected" for The Movie?
It would be fantastic if they could even make the effort to assemble a live EP of The Girl With The Golden Hair. If not this year, then for the 50th anniversary of The Movie/The Album.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 18, 2024 15:24:43 GMT
It's amazing she still goes, what's this 4th/5th visit..... She must really enjoy it. Plus there's the added value for the fans who happen to be there at the same time - I would have been thrilled if she or any member of ABBA had been there when I went. I'm more curious about what might be taking her to London right now.... #50thingy What has happened to her face? She looks different Really? In what way?
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 15, 2024 21:42:30 GMT
Yes, the thing about Frida's thumb is about spotting whether the original photo was used for the new release. It's probably the only reliable clue from a bunch of very similar photos. I don't think Alan or anyone else was suggesting that anyone would really buy a new release based on such a tiny detail. It's just a little sleuthing on Alan's part, if I'm reading things correctly. It's a way of figuring out whether the new sleeve is a scan or a re-creation.
All that said, there might well be people who would make sure their collections included every minutely different variant of a sleeve!
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 15, 2024 19:01:26 GMT
A bit mystified by two of the coloured vinyl singles being presented in company bags - especially when the Polar 40-singles box set includes artwork for Waterloo. No, that’s not correct. [...] Ridiculous logic really but there you go… Indeed! And the logic seems to be arbitrarily applied. That picture disc for the Swedish disc, for example. One more set to go, and then Universal will have to consider something new to part us from our moolah after 2025. EDIT: As with the Head Over Heels pic disc, a good chunk of Bjorn's face looks like it'll be missing from the Honey, Honey pic disc. If they're being absolutist regarding the relationship between original sleeves and the picture discs, then it's likely that even more of Bjorn might be missing from the SOS pic disc next year!
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 15, 2024 15:06:53 GMT
And we're off....
Really liking the box lid and the picture discs. Love the 10" single. A bit mystified by two of the coloured vinyl singles being presented in company bags - especially when the Polar 40-singles box set includes artwork for Waterloo.
I most likely won't buy the 2-LP set. I have (and love) the half-speed master of The Visitors, but I'd much prefer it if it was just one disc. I have half-speed remasters by two other acts and they're both presented on single discs, and both sound fantastic*. Maybe somebody with some technical nous knows better, but I would have thought they'd maximise the improved sound quality by having these albums play at 33 rather than 45 RPM? Great as the album sounds, it's a bit like playing a couple of 12" singles.
* Dusty in Memphis/Dusty Springfield and Flesh + Blood/Roxy Music
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 15, 2024 10:29:13 GMT
I love your enthusiasm, jj ! My hope is that this documentary ushers in a new way of approaching the ABBA story. We've had decades of the trashy stuff, populated by C-list know-nothing talking heads. Even when the good stuff was celebrated, there was still some revisionist guff from pundits, critics and "serious" musicians pretending they were on board all along. There was the lingering whiff of snobbery, the enduring sexism, the tedious need to put the women in some fabricated competition for "dramatic" impact. If this documentary lives up to its promise, maybe other producers will feel that they finally have "permission" to deal with the subject of ABBA properly. Ideally, without the need to clutch at some sneering, embedded thread of superiority to protect their fragile rawk'n'roll credentials. If these rent-a-pundits have to be coaxed out of the woodwork to extend their own 15 minutes and be given (very obviously) scripted soundbites to mouth to camera, then the producers themselves have nothing useful to contribute beyond cynicism. The ABBA story and, above all, the music offers so much, that these fame-adjacent talking heads show how little research has actually been done by the producers. I don't think there has been a single documentary that hasn't gotten something wrong. So let's hope that the BBC rights the wrongs. I really hope we're facing a new era of documentaries. The Ludvig quote looks to me like an attempt at plausible deniability. He knows exactly what's planned for the year ahead and the extent of ABBA's personal involvement. He's just being professionally coy so as not to spoil surprises (I hope).
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 14, 2024 12:45:34 GMT
Finally! Good to see a big piece of the puzzle confirmed. The description suggests that The Visitors is outside the scope of the documentary. I wonder if (i.e. hope that) another documentary is in the pipeline, covering the sharp left turn taken in 1981/82. Equally fascinating, from my POV.
Thanks for sharing the good news, Justin!
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 10, 2024 12:11:03 GMT
Seeing many of you ABBA fans waiting with bated breath for the 50th anniversary has inspired me to write this one-off post. Here are my thoughts of what is going to happen for the #Waterloo50th (ignoring the anticipated half-speed album and singles box of Waterloo): SVT GALA: Although it is being held a concert hall owned by Bjorn and early press of the special suggests it has the blessing of ABBA’s people, The SVT gala will not be considered as an official ABBA event. The promotional artwork for the event doesn’t even use the ABBA logo. NEW COMPILATION: I am expecting a new compilation later in the year with the songs leftover from the Voyage sessions, regarding the unconfirmed report that there would be “Some new songs, but not a new album.” JUST LIKE THAT: Should that song ever be included in the above compilation, I am expecting it to be in the vein of Just A Notion on Voyage. EUROVSION 2024: I am for certain that, if there is nothing big happening on April 6th, this year’s Eurovision would have something big and ABBA-related. Expect at best an interval act with former Eurovision stars covering ABBA tunes. DOCUMENTARY: Don’t expect a documentary in the vein of The Winner Takes it All (1999) and Super Troupers (2004), expect it more in the vein of The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart and Queen: Days of Our Lives. MISCELLANEOUS: I am also expecting a covers album in the vein of Elton John’s Revamp and Restoration albums, a possible Thank ABBA for the Music 25 performance at the 2024 Brit Awards and a My Colouring Book 20th anniversary deluxe release through Rhino Records. First of all, if you're inspired to write like this, please sign up and post regularly. Hello! I love a good old bit of speculation, and this is right up my street. I think you're absolutely right about Eurovision events. It seems like a no-brainer. Maybe it could take the form of a sing-off like that extended scene in the Eurovision/Fire Saga movie. Getting ABBA to deliver the votes of the Swedish jury would be the icing on that cake. I dearly hope you're right about the documentary. This sorely overdue first would be extremely helpful in steadying the good ship ABBA Legacy. Focusing on the music, with people who were actually involved - in addition to ABBA themselves - is exactly what's needed. Sorry, Pete Waterman and Lulu, but you weren't there. Put your opinions on ice for this one. Channel 5 will probably be in touch with you soon enough. A small point is the title. I hope that its something more interesting than ABBA: Thank You For The Music. (Maybe ABBA: Let The Music Speak?) That compilation seems like another no-brainer, and the inclusion of the Voyage off-cuts would certainly be a selling point for a range of fans encompassing the completists, the diehards, people who attended Voyage, and possibly people who have forked out for (and liked) the Voyage album and the odd additional studio album. The exclusively Gold-owning great unwashed might be less moved. So my hope is that Universal and ABBA are wise in making interesting decisions regarding alternative/Voyage versions, remixes, and more documentary tracks in the vein of FATSTAPA. Oh, and Just Like That, natch. I share gazman's enthusiasm for a Voyage live album. But from my own experience in the Arena, I would hope that the audience noise would be very tightly controlled on such a release. I don't want a bunch of tuneless ticket buyers shrieking along over the band. A covers album could be interesting and, depending on who is performing at the Gala thingy, it could emanate from that (even in part)? While Agnetha has been canny in hitching her releases to anniversaries, the twentieth anniversary is worth marking in and of itself. If it includes the few outtakes that were mentioned over the years, and got its first vinyl release, it could be great. Likewise the fortieth anniversary of Frida's Shine (and there are finally leaks of the unreleased tracks out there). And the Chess album is 40 years old too. In celebrating ABBA's half century, it seems worthwhile to acknowledge what the individual members got up to. It has to be more than Mamma bloody Mia. Even if it's only to illustrate what went on in the decades between The Visitors and Voyage.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 9, 2024 11:42:16 GMT
Agree on both counts, Alan. With regard to Agnetha's comment, my sense was that she was afraid she might let something slip. And that seemed like an appropriate, good-natured bit of teasing. We're already six weeks into the anniversary year with no real sense of what we might expect and, unfortunately, I think that might be fanning a bit of unnecessary pessimism. On the topic of the Waterloo coloured-vinyl singles, two red discs in one under-crowded box seems like overkill. I'd like to think they'd use the green variant of the Waterloo sleeve with a matching green vinyl. Then we could have that red-dominated Honey, Honey sleeve with matching red vinyl. If I'm remembering things correctly, the Swedish version of Waterloo was backed with the Swedish Honey, Honey? If so, that "garland" company sleeve could house a clear vinyl (possibly even with red and green splashes?). That sleeve could be made into a picture disc like the one from the Ring, Ring set, which turned out to be my favourite in the set. I'm sure the graphics crew could edit things so that the word Polar was placed nicely in the layout.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 4, 2024 18:52:29 GMT
Maybe ABBA are keeping their powder dry until the Gala... but those of us who can't go could really do with some kind of sweetener. For all the "fun" we've been told we'll be having this year, it seems very odd that not so much as a hint about anything has emerged yet.
Depending on what's in the works, I would hope that something would emerge on or around 6 April. If there is new/revised/unreleased material to be included in an album/compilation/anthology; and if any of it is to be unveiled at the gala, then maybe there'll be a rush of excitement at that time.
It'd make some sense to release the Waterloo half-speed, box set and picture discs close to the anniversary: but wouldn't we be encouraged to pre-order now if they were coming in April? The sleeves above are warning enough that it might not be the most handsome of sets, so I'm not terribly excited.
If there's a new celebratory compilation/anthology, I would have thought they'd pop it out in Q4 of the year so that it's added to Santa lists, etc., in the hopes of rounding off the year with a number one album....?
That still leaves several months in which "fun" is supposed to happen. The Gala thingy could be great: I wonder if it might be some variation of the cancelled TV special that was originally envisaged to launch Voyage and the two comeback singles? If the featured artists are all/mostly Swedish - and if the broadcast itself is in Swedish - then it's going to have very limited appeal outside of Scandinavia. In the absence of any other announcements, I guess I'm most looking forward to the documentary that was mentioned.
I'm curious about events in the ABBA Arena on 6 April. Maybe withholding tickets was a way of helping to ensure that fans could get together on the anniversary? But a drink and a keyring seems like a curiously damp squib for such an auspicious date. If there are any setlist changes/additions, or maybe a special video from the ABBA members to mark the anniversary, then we should have some information after the matinée show.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 4, 2024 16:19:35 GMT
It was a different post, Alan, but something inspired by that, I think. Someone in the replies posted photos of their orange-vinyl edition of Chemistry Tonight with When Love Turns To Lies on the flip. He said that Frida's version was more uptempo than Chris Rea's version. I totally understand your stance, gazman. Looking at things more broadly, though, we wouldn't have heard the likes of Just Like That, Every Good Man, I Am The City, etc. if the creators' wishes were similarly respected. I'm very curious about how these two Frida tracks came to light. Are they taken from some grainy cassette, or did they get slyly copied when CD-Rs were sent for approval when Shine was remastered? I gather the prices for these singles were in the hundreds of Euros...?! This year's 40th anniversary of Shine may be a good reason for releasing the outtakes. What about a nice little box like the one we got for Something's Going On? Totally agree. The box set we got for SGO coincided with Frida's 70th birthday, so if a Shine special can't come this year, then Frida's 80th birthday in 2025 offers another moment of context (should such a thing be necessary). I'd love to see Djupa Andetag, Ensam and the 1971 debut get the same treatment. By the way, that Frida book is fantastic. The chapter on Shine mentions quite a few songs written and demoed by Frida and Remko seems to have heard at least some of them, as he tries to describe what they sound like. Clearly, the material is out there. It'd be great if Frida got in front of things and released them.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 3, 2024 18:20:31 GMT
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 3, 2024 18:07:32 GMT
Thank you Colin, it's amazing that Gold is still breaking records, it's hard to see what Universal can do to make the public buy any other compilation...... Absolutely. Another compilation would need to come from a completely different angle and most definitely not designed as a replacement for Gold. That's why so many of us seem to be hoping that this year might bring something interesting on that front. And, from my perspective, only an anthology could properly satisfy.
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Post by HOMETIME on Feb 3, 2024 18:01:05 GMT
It’s a shame Universal couldn’t issue the TYFTM CD from 1983, I’d love it! Agree. I've been replaying my vinyl since getting a new deck recently and I'm afraid the sound on this compilation is a little subpar. I wonder if it has to do with the sides being overcrowded? A CD would accommodate things far more efficiently. And, ideally, they could/should crossfade Eagle/I Have A Dream. That Pickwick compilation from the late 80s was a handy set at a time when the albums had yet to appear on CD. Especially for the B-sides included. The only true love song ABBA did was I’ve Been Waiting for You, I think all others have a tinge of melancholy in them. Well, there's Andante, Andante too: all horn and no melancholy! I think most ballads about relationships, new love, and breakups tend to be considered love songs when it comes to compiling things. With ABBA, the labels seemed (lazily) to think that anything downtempo was a de facto lovesong, with the likes of Eagle and STMF miscast as kissy-smoochy soundtracks.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jan 29, 2024 19:57:54 GMT
That's actually better than I remember. Super clunky lyrics, but catchy. Sounds like the kind of thing that would have been delivered by a one-hit-wonder in the mid-70s. Probably should have been used in an ad for Odor Eaters.
If my memory of the CMP books is in any way reliable, I think that ABBA might have abandoned the track before recording (final?) vocals? But if an ABBA version exists, we need to have it. Hashtag Anthology, innit.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jan 27, 2024 17:17:25 GMT
It's a beautiful song. It's got some of the same ELO-style harmonies that they used on Happy New Year. I think the track could be even better if (a) there were real strings, (b) if the guitar solo was on Spanish acoustic, and (c) Agnetha didn't do the baby-voice thing. All minor quibbles. I think it could have made a decent single.
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