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Post by Alan on Jun 8, 2019 12:59:15 GMT
Only a week away from release and STILL not on Amazon (well, there is one on there but at the laughable price of £128.37 (a “new offer”). eBay has the box at £75 and the picture discs at £12.99 each, but with a buy one get one 20% off. eBay did at one point have the box at £65 plus £3 postage. It had many watchers but no takers for a while, until someone must have got it.
I still think Amazon will have them so I’m waiting. If there are more of these than The Album one, it really isn’t as rare as it’s being made out to be. Plus I’m somehow not as bothered about this one as I was the previous two.
I’m a bit cynical about vinyl issues at present. As one of the few ways that record companies can make much money these days, I think they’re on the verge of exploiting buyers. The rarity aspect is being pushed far beyond the facts. There was recently a Kate Bush 12” picture disc release made up of random non-album tracks. Again it was pushed as being very limited. HMV had the exclusive in the UK, and you had to go into a store to order it. I was too late, and was told their allocation of seven for that store had been taken up. I wasn’t that bothered about it, but two days after it was released, there they were for general sale in both HMV and Fopp in Nottingham, so I got one. A sticker on the ones in Fopp hilariously announced there were just 750 for the UK market, but six of them were in these two shops, and this was after their pre-order allocation of at least seven per shop had been exhausted!
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Post by Alan on Jun 12, 2019 16:24:02 GMT
Finally, the box is on Amazon UK - £71.78. Release date shows as 21 June but I understood it was meant to be this week.
Not ordering it yet, in fact I’m still a bit undecided as to whether I really want either the picture discs or the box. For the two previous albums I got both, but didn’t get the half-speed albums (I thought it was ridiculous putting such a short album as Arrival onto two vinyl discs!).
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Post by abbafun on Jun 13, 2019 16:08:51 GMT
In response to Alan,
The reason the 45 half speed re-masterings are released as double lps is because the records are cut as a 45 rpm and spin at a faster rate, therefore requiring more space for each song. It has no connection to the time length of the original release of any LP.
As for the Voulez-Vous reissues, Amazon Canada still indicates June 14 as the release date, but that is not necessarily
a time line that is carved in stone! All
release dates are subject to change.
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Post by Michal on Jun 13, 2019 17:17:29 GMT
It's already out. I got a confirmation today from the ABBF Fan Club that my pre-ordered items were handed over to a courier...
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 13, 2019 18:38:24 GMT
I ordered from uDiscover and was emailed today, saying that the order has been dispatched. Looking forward to getting my hands on them now.
The Amazon.co.uk release date of 21 June is a head-scratcher!
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Post by Alan on Jun 13, 2019 18:41:38 GMT
As is often the case with Amazon, prices can fluctuate by the hour. It is currently £69.87.
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Post by Alan on Jun 17, 2019 21:34:21 GMT
I just googled it to get a better idea of what the coloured vinyl looks like. I’m decidedly underwhelmed at this, it’s actually even less interesting than the original photos indicated. I’m assuming the other singles in the set just reverse the colour scheme.  |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 18, 2019 8:03:28 GMT
*Sigh* Just when I was getting a bit giddy about the imminent delivery. I don't understand why they took this approach this time around. When the set was announced, I tried guessing the colours of the singles (picking up on the sleeves, I was betting on green/pale blue/red/clear/dark blue for the 6 official singles in order of release. I hadn't imagined they'd include the RSD release of VV12").
I hope they find their Pantone swatch for the next two albums, or we'll end up with two sets of ... brown.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 18, 2019 13:11:22 GMT
OK, so my order has arrived. As predicted above, the original singles are all white-with-blue splattered vinyl. The RSD single (VV12"/IIWFTN) is on the darker, two-shades-of-blue splattered vinyl. Given that each picture disc is a plain block colour on the non-image side, I don't see why those colours could not have been applied to the singles in the box. The sleeves are good quality gloss card, the box has a matte finish and feels really nice.  |
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Post by foreverfan on Jun 18, 2019 13:53:06 GMT
Each to their own and seriously no offence given.. but it seems a lot of money for nothing very exciting.. looks like a mixed up blue tac... oh dear...  .. the couldve done picture discs at those prices, another let's screw the fans!!!.. sorry but.... |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 18, 2019 14:22:50 GMT
You're not wrong! In honesty, these box sets would all have made perfect sense if they had contained picture discs and maybe a booklet of full-size facsimiles of the sleeves for these sleeves - possibly even some alternate versions from other territories. But as is clear, many of us fools are easily parted from our money!
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Post by Alan on Jun 18, 2019 19:01:53 GMT
At present, I’m not so easily parted from my money! My current thinking is that I’m inclined to wait and see if prices do come down at any point. There have been so many times where I’ve bought new at full price (or the lowest full price I can find) only to see it reduced weeks later (even if the reduction is only for a limited period).
If this had been Arrival (four singles) or The Album (three) I’d have got it now without a second thought. Seven just seems too many, especially as one of them really didn’t need to be included. The final reason is the colour of the vinyls. Six the same and one reversed really isn’t interesting enough. And at a similar price for the (separate) picture discs, it all seems a bit monotonous.
Less is more, especially if there is more variety in less.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 18, 2019 21:25:33 GMT
This set is not being met with nearly the same enthusiasm as the previous ones. I wonder how the next two albums will be treated? No doubt the set for The Visitors will include TDBYC and UA. But will they also top it up with WAISAD/Soldiers? Or maybe they could include a 7" version of that limited Double-A-side 12" that went to DJs in the States of WAISAD/The Visitors? That would make 5 discs. As for Super Trouper, we'd have TWTIA, ST, LAYLOM. Will they top that up with the RSD release of HNY/Andante Andante? Will the full length O&O&O be paired with POYWS just for sh*ts and giggles? Will they revert to individually coloured vinyls or will they once more take cues from the predominant colour of the album cover and treat us to brown splattered vinyl? Curious collectors gotta know!
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Post by Alan on Jun 19, 2019 19:45:28 GMT
Based on the release schedule of the deluxe album issues (which these vinyl sets have so far followed), and also the singles included in the 40-single box from 2014 (excluding German/French/Spanish versions and Ring Ring 1974 remix) I would predict the following:
2020 - Super Trouper (4)
The two official singles
Plus
UK/Irish LAYLOM/ On and On
Happy New Year/ Andante (not a more modern issue but original one from whichever country released it. Artwork as the one in the 2014 box).
2021 - The Visitors (5)
Two official album singles
Plus
Australia When All Is Said/ Soldiers
Two official late 1982 singles
2022 - ABBA (4)
The four official singles
2023 - Ring Ring (5)
Four official English singles
Plus
Ring Ring (Swedish)/ Åh, Vilka Tider
2024 - Waterloo (3) (coinciding with 50th anniversary of Eurovision)
Two official English singles
Plus
Waterloo/ Honey (both Swedish)
I could be wrong about the inclusion of the three unofficial singles. This would leave Super Trouper lacking, so they could instead include a representation of the more recent Happy New Year/Andante.
However, the exclusion of LAYLOM would be odd as it’s one of ABBA’s 19 most well-known songs (thanks to Gold).
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Post by gazman on Jun 19, 2019 23:00:43 GMT
In my opinion, they'll only issue 2LP versions of the last two studio albums in the next few years, and will not return to the 'pre-Arrival' era.
Since Polar has already notified its intention to re-release 'Happy New Year' on an annual basis for the time being, I doubt that would be included in a box set, but who knows.....
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Post by Alan on Jun 20, 2019 5:23:49 GMT
In my opinion, they'll only issue 2LP versions of the last two studio albums in the next few years, and will not return to the 'pre-Arrival' era. Since Polar has already notified its intention to re-release 'Happy New Year' on an annual basis for the time being, I doubt that would be included in a box set, but who knows..... We’ll see. I thought that about the deluxe album issues though. There’s a market there for them though. If hardcore fans will buy Arrival they’ll also go for Ring Ring. They’d have to make up the numbers with Super Trouper somehow, so it could be interesting. I refer to them as “unofficial” singles but it could be argued that they’ve been upgraded to official status thanks to their inclusion in the 2014 box with an authentic Polar label of the era. |
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Post by abbafun on Jun 20, 2019 6:21:55 GMT
In light of the over blown content of Voulez-Vous re-issue sets, anything seems possible for the next two issues!
Also, remember that the deluxe cd/dvd sets made a trip all the way around starting with Arrival and ending with Gracia...so again, anything seems possible, even by passing any sort of chronological order, never mind content!
But, I'm a huge fan and will eat it all up anyways.
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on Jun 22, 2019 23:03:51 GMT
Similarly to Alan, I also predicted the singles for future releases and predicted the coloured vinyl. I opted for solid colours. I also included Nina, Pretty Ballerina but had Disillusion on the B-side as Love Isn’t Easy also had I Am Just A Girl. The Italian cover for Hasta Manana is one of my favourites but instead of using Watch Out which was uniformly the B-Side for Waterloo, I wanted to use Ring Ring (1974 remix). I forgot the Swedish version of Waterloo but would’ve been similar to Ring Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal).    |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 23, 2019 12:39:00 GMT
They look great! I'd gladly snap those up.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2019 13:45:32 GMT
The Official UK Charts Company have combined the Sales of both 'Voulez-Vous' Singles. That is why
it is a New Entry at No.1 in both the Vinyl Singles Chart and the Physical Singles Chart.
At UKMIX, a Chart Fan called Robbie explains all about this and also about the Sales of the 'Voulez-Vous'
Album last Week. He also says how many that Album has sold in the UK since The OCC began to compile
the UK Charts - W/E 12th February 1994. Its Sales have increased - a lot - due to Streaming, in recent
Years...(By 2015 it had sold 51,000 copies, since February 1994. Streaming has almost trebled that...).
Robbie says:
"Sales of the extended version of 'Voulez-Vous' will have been combined with the regular version as it will be classed
as a second format physical single. That will explain why 'Voulez-Vous' is at number 1 on both the Physical and Vinyl
Singles charts.
Incidentally the album 'Voulez-Vous' has re-entered the Albums chart at number 106 on sales of 1,263 (with overall sales
from 01/02/94 to date being 143,849. I notice that there is a coloured vinyl version of those 7 singles and that version is
a box set not seven separate releases. Box sets don't qualify for the singles chart and as a result qualify (or at least did
qualify) for the albums chart instead. If this is still the case the box set version must be being treated as an alternative
version of the album and so the box set release has led to a sufficient increase in sales for the album to chart. Sales of
the album 'Voulez-Vous' increased by 192.3% last week which means it sold 432 copies the previous week. Assuming
streams and paid for sales remained the same week on week it suggests the box set sold over 800 copies".
Colin again - So 'Voulez-Vous' has either sold around 850,000 or 950,000 in the UK - depending on whether you give it
700,000 or 800,000 Sales in 1979 to 1980...
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Post by josef on Jun 28, 2019 18:03:46 GMT
I rarely buy any ABBA-related products these days. The last things I bought were probably the deluxe editions. I mean, I didn't buy the big ABBA photo book or anything, although I did get Agnetha's 'A' and Benny's solo work. Oh and ABBA live at Wembley. Anyway...this bloke, Diego's (a big ABBA fan) reaction to listening to the new half-speed album has really piqued my interest. He listens to IIWFTN and is completely moved- to actual tears. Clearly he has a very good music system (as have I). I'm wondering if it's really as good as he says? What do you think? Who has it and what's your verdict?
If this half-speed malarkey is as good as it would appear then surely ALL of ABBA's back catalogue needs updating- and pronto!
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Post by abbafun on Jun 29, 2019 2:32:51 GMT
Although I have not yet heard the Voulez-Vous half speed master yet and so can not speak to it's quality. I do have Arrival and The Album and let me tell you, in my opinion, the sound quality is beyond anything a digital cd can offer.
It truly is money well spent!!!
I for one cannot wait for my copy of the Voulez-Vous edition to arrive 👧🧑🧔👩
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Post by Alan on Nov 30, 2019 21:30:35 GMT
I’ve finally bitten the bullet and ordered the picture discs and coloured vinyl box. In fact, the box is already in my possession but I’m saving it as a Christmas present to myself, so the cellophane is unopened!
Still a bit disappointed with how they did these. All but one single in the box being the same colour. However, I’m expecting it to go off-sale soon, at which point third-party sellers on both Amazon and eBay will start to rake it in. I’ve heard that some of the picture discs have already been deleted.
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Post by Alan on Dec 27, 2019 10:25:54 GMT
Having finally opened this box as a Christmas present, I posted a review on Amazon:
Arrival and The Album both had such boxes issued, but in those each single had its own colour. Here it’s just white with blue splash for most of them apart from the extended Voulez-Vous which is the reverse.
It’s therefore much less interesting than the previous boxes. Those had either three or four singles with the price to reflect that. 1978-79 being a productive year for ABBA, there are seven here, though one (the extended Voulez-Vous) was never an official Polar single and, I think, only released in the US (though not with this artwork). With six official singles, this one wasn’t really necessary here.
The sleeves are again scans of originals, and dodgy ones at that (as is normal for modern ABBA vinyl releases) . I’m fairly certain Chiquitita should be white but it’s a dirty brown-ish white here. They had to re-create the original artwork for the corresponding picture disc releases, so why poor quality scans here?
To add to a previous reviewer’s comments, it’s extremely unlikely that ABBA’s mastertapes were included in the ones that got burnt. It’s likely they are stored in Sweden (the only reason Universal own them is because their predecessor company Polygram bought out ABBA’s record company Polar in 1989). However, some dodgy remastering jobs have been applied to ABBA’s recordings over the last 22 years, so I’ve no idea of the sound quality here.
Also to add to a previous reviewer’s comments, this was indeed advertised by Universal as being an extremely limited edition. What they didn’t point out was that the 4,500 of these is still 1,100 more than the previous box (for The Album) which was limited to 3,400. This new box was also quite hard to get hold of at first, supporting the “extremely limited” selling point.
Thankfully I waited until the price was more reasonable but I can understand others’ frustrations about being conned.
If they continue with Super Trouper (thankfully back down to three or four singles) then hopefully they will return to a different colour for each one.
These are Polar artwork scans so the “lavish” UK gatefold artwork for I Have A Dream is not replicated here, and as Angeleyes was only an A-side in the UK and US, the single in here is the international Voulez-Vous/ Angeleyes.
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 27, 2019 13:26:12 GMT
Now I'm wondering whether/how they could use this box set formula for the new songs (whenever they'll be released).
Did you use the download token, Alan? I'm just wondering whether there might have been another "unexpected bonus" like there was with the singles from ABBA The Album (all 80 tracks from the singles box set). And, yes, I have the VV set too, but I haven't bothered with the download so far.
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Post by Alan on Dec 27, 2019 20:00:27 GMT
No, not used it. I used the Arrival one but haven’t used The Album one yet. I’m assuming there’s no time limit on it so am saving it in case some unexpected event happens and destroys all my existing downloads!
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Post by Alan on Jan 1, 2020 0:23:45 GMT
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..
