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Post by madonnabba on Aug 18, 2019 23:44:32 GMT
For me it would have to be Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Just a fabulous album. Probably one of a few albums that I have listened to the most alongside the Abba albums. Another one I listened to a lot was Donna Summer’s I Remember Yesterday album. Thinking back to those years, Abba had the best sellling album in the Uk in 1976, 1977 and 1980. If you were to discount compilation soundtracks, they would have bagged 1978 too. Grease and Saturday Night Fever nudged them into third place.
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Post by josef on Aug 19, 2019 0:30:04 GMT
The new one featuring I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down.
Wishful thinking. But we can hope.
None, actually. Although I love Fleetwood Mac. There are albums by other artists which mean as much, if not more, than some ABBA albums. I know...blasphemy! Aerial and Hounds of Love by Kate Bush being just two. Actually, part of me wishes ABBA had stuck around and become more experimental in the vein of The Visitors (title track, a huge favourite of mine).
But when all is said and done, I'm glad ABBA were ABBA and didn't truly try to emulate anyone else (well, not too much- we all know their influences, Bee Gees, The Beach Boys, The Beatles).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2019 13:20:37 GMT
I am with you Josef on this one. I wish ABBA had completed their "Opus 10" album though and released it with a re-vamped version of "Just Like That" included. Tony (Hometime) rightly said that it wouldn't have worked as it was because it consisted of two separate songs. However, with a little tweaking here and there from B&B it could have seen the light of day. Such a shame !
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2019 15:45:30 GMT
I'd add absolutely nothing to ABBA's catalogue. I'd simply not want to interrupt the arc of a career that followed an evolutionary, 'organic' path which nevertheless managed to incorporate some interesting excursions along the way (e.g. the mini-musical 'experiment' on 'The Album', the brush with disco on VV) before alighting at a place that had 'final destination' written all over it - 'The Visitors', a near-faultless album whose moodiness and 'grown-up' approach dovetailed perfectly with the place(s) the foursome seemed to be at, in both musical and personal terms, in 1981. Personally, I'm glad they didn't make another album in 1982/3 - I just don't believe it would have been a worthy successor.
Conversely, if I had to lose an album from the catalogue, there'd only be one candidate (title track excepted) and that'd be 'Waterloo'. I think of ABBA as having made two warm-up albums before stripping off their tracksuits and getting properly down to business on 'ABBA'. In some alternative reality, I reckon there's a version of the band that only needed one!
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Post by Alan on Aug 19, 2019 16:56:55 GMT
It’s an odd question really. If the likes of Hounds Of Love or Aerial (or The Dreaming) were done by ABBA, they wouldn’t be the same albums. And ABBA wouldn’t be the same act. ABBA may not have had a classic album like Rumours, but that’s OK. I’ll take their eight albums for what they are.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2019 17:06:57 GMT
Timeless classic pop !
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Post by josef on Aug 19, 2019 17:28:21 GMT
Yes, that's true, Alan. ABBA never really had what you'd call a 'classic' album in the same way Rumours is. The albums were mostly a mixed bag of unrelated songs. I can see Arrival as classic ABBA but not in that same way. I think what ABBA did was produce albums with a bit of everything on them. Super Trouper comes close, with TWTIA and WAISAD depicting, to some degree, the failure of the two marriages in the group but there's no true cohesion. Wasn't Rumours essentially Stevie and Lindsay basically having a go at each other (in the most wonderfully creative way, admittedly)?
I guess GOLD is ABBA's classic, despite it basically being a Greatest Hits compilation. Such as it is. I'd prefer to give the title to The Visitors, Super Trouper or Arrival. Then again, Voulez Vous is PURE POP, classic ABBA all the way?
Oh, my brain! 🤓
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Post by Alan on Aug 19, 2019 18:52:44 GMT
WAISAD and TWTIA were on different albums, josef... Arrival should be the classic ABBA album but isn’t. Firstly, it’s too short and secondly, Dum Dum Diddle (and, to a lesser extent, Tiger - ABBA themselves allowed that to be laughed at with the taxi driver’s comments in The Movie). Perhaps Fernando properly added and Dum Dum Diddle’s title and some of its lyrics altered could have improved its long term prospects. But I personally wouldn’t change any of it. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2019 18:52:47 GMT
Someone needs to define 'classic album' for me. I'm not terribly keen on the term, as it tends to be self-appointed experts in the meedya who get to decide what qualifies and what doesn't. And music just doesn't work that way.
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Post by Alan on Aug 19, 2019 19:08:59 GMT
@thisboycries, I think it’s something along the lines of:
Album that critics decide to like and does extremely well in America. If it has both a UK and a US connection then even better. And generally has to be serious. No meaningless pop.
Rumours does well on all of these counts.
A few exceptions to this rule though. Hounds of Love for one.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2019 19:27:10 GMT
Great definition! I nipped across to check on Wikipedia what albums the BBC has extended the accolade to on its 'Classic Albums' series: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Albums - Europeans (except U2) clearly don't know how to make classic albums. |
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Post by josef on Aug 19, 2019 19:32:03 GMT
"WAISAD and TWTIA were on different albums,josef ..."
Oh yeah, silly me. Do you know, I have made that mistake before. For some odd reason I think of them both being on Super Trouper. I have a sense of deja vu. I'm almost certain I was corrected about this on the old forum by someone? It may even have been you, Alan. And me supposed to know my ABBA! 😔
I reckon a classic album is one you just instinctively KNOW is classic. It's subjective, but I know it when I hear it and see the artwork (which is also important for that legendary status).
Poor Arrival. If it wasn't for Dumb Dumb Schmiddle it'd be right up there. I do think Tiger is unfairly maligned. It's deceptively simple but could be seen as a metaphor. It's a cracking track.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2019 16:00:21 GMT
I like to think of the word "classic" as iconic and timeless. Music that will never die and will continue to appeal for many generations to come. That is certainly indicative of ABBA. You only have to notice the compilation "Gold" (Greatest Hits) spending its 900th week in the charts. No other act has achieved this yet. Certainly, an accomplishment that us fans should take note of.
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Post by josef on Aug 20, 2019 21:50:53 GMT
I've been thinking about something. For me to really get into a group or singer they tend to have cohesive albums, albums that somehow flow and have a common theme or link, even if it doesn't seem immediately obvious. Obviously I discover this by making myself listen to a WHOLE album. In a way, I'm lucky I got into ABBA when I did as if it was happening now then I'm not sure I'd have anything more than a copy of GOLD. Reason being that I don't often bother to check out someone's whole musical output if I only know the singles they release that I liked. I expect I'm not explaining myself very well here. What I mean is, I like many, many singers but I'm 'guilty' of not exploring their work fully. Truth is, I can't be arsed. There's just so much out there and that, coupled with older music which I STILL enjoy, means I just don't have the time to check out Taylor Swift's (or whoever) latest album.
Hope that makes sense. For now, I am happy with the odd song here and there.
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Post by Alan on Aug 20, 2019 22:03:19 GMT
It’s easier now, josef, than it’s ever been to check out an act’s output. Whole albums get posted on YouTube so you don’t even have to part with any money or wonder where you’re going to store them. I just looked up ABBA Gold and there are loads on there. The entire album. There really is no incentive to go out and buy an album these days - I wonder why anyone still does? Taylor Swift’s latest album isn’t released until this Friday but her last one is on there. |
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Post by abbaprofessor on Aug 21, 2019 12:51:47 GMT
Abba Christmas album would have been nice
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2019 16:41:35 GMT
I agree it would be great but will they have one completed by Christmas. Somehow, it seems unlikely.
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