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Post by richard on Jul 3, 2019 11:41:19 GMT
I wonder if that is a big no-no as far as you're concerned? Going back to the original multitracks and creating new masters, and along the way, tweaking or re-imagining - or messing about with, depending on how you view it - the vocals in a chorus, for example?
Or what about an album of alternative mixes? I'd welcome that.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2019 14:07:09 GMT
Hi Richard, I suppose it is different to listen to alternative mixes and re-mixes from ABBA but I am one of the fans that prefers to hear the originals untouched. But I admire your ideas.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 3, 2019 20:10:39 GMT
Pretty sure that Benny and Bjorn gave some thought to this at one point since the release of Gold. I think the original idea was, as you say, to revisit the orginal multitracks and create new mixes. This was not to be one of those projects where, basically, new souped-up dancefloor-oriented tracks were shoehorned in around the original vocals. My middle-aged memory can't recall whether the idea was to have guest mixers, or for B&B to do the job themselves. It could be fascinating. Imagine what they could do with tracks whose mixes they claim to be unhappy with, like My Love My Life, I've Been Waiting For You, Hey Hey Helen, Summer Night City...? Imagine some lovely stripped mixes of When All Is Said And Done or Our Last Summer or The Winner Takes It All? The possibilities are endless.
I know I keep banging on about the idea of an in-depth documentary, but a project like this could link in beautifully. Explore the mixes of landmark songs, explain what they were aiming for and maybe revisiting what they consider to be mistakes. Film the discussion, master the new mixes for release on an anthology set.
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Post by richard on Jul 3, 2019 22:32:15 GMT
Edmund, it's perfectly fine to prefer ABBA recordings 'as is'; and I'm sure very many fans (most?) are with you.
But I think that the possibilities of different mixes that Tony mentions are intriguing to say the least - and of course it's not as if the re-mixing would banish the original mixes - we would have both!
Finally, anyone who is at all interested in the creative process of making and recording music - not just ABBA fans - would find such a documentary featuring Benny and Bjorn not to be missed. Not by me, anyway!
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Post by josef on Jul 3, 2019 23:00:10 GMT
I'm all for it. If I don't like them, I won't listen to them. I'll always prefer the original recordings and would always return to them but I'd be ecstatic if we could hear more ABBA songs unplugged. I love to hear 'accapella' versions of those complex recordings.
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Post by gazman on Jul 4, 2019 7:22:31 GMT
I don't mind the thought of extended dance versions of some songs - along the lines of the extended 'Voulez-Vous', which of course is the only authorised example we have.
However, the original production values are so superb, and I don't like my ABBA tracks messed around with too much!! :-)
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Post by richard on Jul 4, 2019 12:12:18 GMT
Even fans who are generally against the idea remixing ABBA might like to hear a lovely moment of Frida or Agnetha harmony, or both, brought out more here and there?
One feature of ABBA's - by the way, WAISAD came on BBC R2 as I write this! - vocals that sometimes occurs to me is whether or not the girls are even singing together in the midrange because, to my ears, they often sound far more of Frida than Agnetha; and I wonder, in reverse, about Frida's presence higher up where of course Agnetha is mostly to the fore.
If the girls were often singing and recording into one mic, that obviously made it impossible to rebalance their different tonal characteristics and 'prominences' in different ranges at the mixing stage. The massive plus was the beautiful vibe of Agnetha and Frida singing together into that one mic. On the other hand, imagine the wonderful mixing possibilities, still available, when their respective voices were recorded separately!
Again, this remixing would only be about providing alternatives, not replacements of the marvellous original recordings and mixes.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2019 15:15:17 GMT
Hi Richard, I forgot to mention that I had actually listened to some remixes from the ABBA originals and what I had heard were quite good. Also, I have heard some alternates takes to the " The Name Of The Game ", " Our Last Summer ", " The Winner Takes It All ", " Knowing Me Knowing You ", " One Of Us " and upbeat different versions of " Voulez-Vous ", " Take A Chance On Me " and " Dancing Queen " . On hearing these they sort of blew me away and made me realise just what a mighty and talented tour-de-force ABBA are.
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Post by Liebezeit on Jul 8, 2019 2:08:43 GMT
I'm one of the minorities who thinks ABBA's music deserves a bit of a cleanup track by track to make it sound as if they were recorded on a pristine tape, and to the most extreme cases a 5.1 surround remix of ABBA. Loads of others were contending for it too as I found out whilst scrolling comments and I'm surely not the only one who thinks such.
I would contend for a piano, synthesiser and vocals only version of Summer Night City remixed by Ludvig Andersson where the production isn't cluttered - as a supplement to the original track. I'm not specific on which tracks should be remixed but I think some of the tracks from ABBA, 1975, has got to be remixed. Maybe with So Long, the horns aren't so far placed into the high frequencies, but into the mids resembling that of a Philly soul production.
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