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Post by wobblenit on Aug 23, 2020 10:04:34 GMT
That would give us six singles and six picture discs. I can only dream :-) Nice to dream but my prediction, for what its worth, is 4 singles :-) OOU / HOH / TDBYC / UA. |
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on Aug 31, 2020 8:57:43 GMT
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Post by The Rubber Ball Man on Aug 31, 2020 9:01:01 GMT
Also, I think it will be the first time that the yellow cover of Lay All Your Love On Me is used for 7”. (As it was only used as a 12” cover)
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Post by wobblenit on Aug 31, 2020 9:07:36 GMT
So my prediction was wrong, as usual (re. Happy New Year).
All looking very nice though :-)
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Post by gamleman on Aug 31, 2020 9:18:20 GMT
Good to see those images at long last. It looks much as expected. The singles box looks nice, although I'm disappointed that "Happy New Year"/"Andante Andante" isn't included.
I pre-ordered the album a while ago. I shall order the single box but not the picture discs, which is what I've done in the past. So now it'll be a question of where to order from. I think we now know that these things are not as limited as we might expect, as you can still buy the Voulez-vous box now.
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Post by Michal on Aug 31, 2020 9:34:39 GMT
They all look very good. It's interesting that they changed the sleeves of picture discs from clear plastic ones to these paper sleeves. These actually look better and there is no problem with seam splits, so I prefer them, however, it's a pity the look of the Picture discs won't be uniform...
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 31, 2020 13:40:26 GMT
The box looks great! The sleeves for the picture discs is a really nice workaround for the challenges posed by the layout of the original sleeves. There's an added layer of "better" attached to this approach. I'm looking forward to getting these releases.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Aug 31, 2020 17:02:49 GMT
Very surprised that the single of Happy New Year/Andante, Andante was not included in the box set it would have made it complete  |
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Post by Alan on Aug 31, 2020 17:53:26 GMT
Yes, I agree, this does look good. Huge relief that there are three different colours for the coloured vinyl. The box photo is nice - they seem to have enhanced the blues. Again, good to see an alternate shot we haven’t had before. I like the sleeves for the picture discs, but hope there are plastic sleeves as well - otherwise, I’m not keen on the idea of the records being exposed. The Rubber Ball Man, the UK yellow-ish sleeve for Lay All Your Love On Me was used on 7” in the 2014 40 singles box. |
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Post by gazman on Sept 5, 2020 9:18:10 GMT
"...I like the sleeves for the picture discs, but hope there are plastic sleeves as well..." I think Universal Sweden adopted a policy of issuing no further plastic sleeves, for environmental reasons, just before they released the 'Happy New Year/Felicidad' single in December 2019. I imagine the 2020 picture disc singles will be 'shrink-wrapped' in their paper sleeves, but that is all. I think that it was happened for the release mentioned above. |
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Post by Alan on Sept 5, 2020 16:09:12 GMT
I don’t see the logic in that, gazman . Plastic sleeves would be kept as they are part of the item. Shrink wrap isn’t, so would be thrown away and can’t be re-used. Plus, if it is shrink wrap, it can often be so tight that it damages the item (either by crushing the corners, or enabling ringwear on the cover). There’s nothing wrong with plastic if it’s intended to be permanent (as plastic covers are). It’s the disposable wrapping that’s the danger. I have managed to keep the shrink wrap of the Voulez-Vous singles box last year, but usually it tears quite easily. What I do like about about the picture disc covers though, are the designs. HOMETIME mentioned in an earlier post about the 1984 Epic blue vinyl reissues that removed the b-side names from the front covers (though curiously, Elaine was left on). Finally we see such designs again, and both The Winner Takes It All and Super Trouper look better for it. (Epic clearly didn’t like the b-sides depicted on the front covers, as the artwork they fully designed themselves - Lay All Your Love on Me, One of Us, Head Over Heels and Thank You For The Music - did not show them. Angeleyes / Voulez-Vous had to show both tracks as it was a double A-side, and with I Have A Dream, the B-side was more the selling point than the A-side). |
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Sept 5, 2020 20:53:25 GMT
Going back to The Visitors box set singles (due next year), been thinking this over and wondered if 'Slipping Through My Fingers' would be included as it was issued as a promo picture disc for the Japanese market in '81. That would give us six singles and six picture discs. I can only dream :-) I think the singles for The Visitors box set will be: One of Us/Should I Laugh Or Cry Head Over Heels/The Visitors When All Is Said And Done/Soldiers Slipping Through My Fingers/Se Me Esta Escapando The 1982 singles The Day Before You Came/Cassandra & Under Attack/You Owe Me One would feel out of place in The Visitors box set would rather see them released as standalone singles in 2022 or to coincide with a Half Speed master of 'The Singles: The First Ten Years I am disappointed that the 'Gracias Por La Musica' album didn't get a Half Speed master as that album also celebrates its 40th Anniversary this year. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 6, 2020 10:31:20 GMT
The only problem I can see with that approach, Adam, is that the half-speed master for the album would run to at least four discs. If they didn't give this treatment to GPLM, or either of the Greatest Hits albums, sadly I can't see them doing it for The Singles: The First Ten Years. As for the singles, it would be a very slim box containing just two discs. Unless, of course, they decide to add TYFTM/OLS to match the size of the smallest previous sets? I can't help thinking they'll treat The Visitors like Voulez-Vous and add the two 1982 singles to the box. It will be interesting to see which country's sleeves they'll go with for OOU, HOH and WAISAD.
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Post by gamleman on Sept 6, 2020 13:10:09 GMT
I think a half-speed mastered release of The Singles would be at 33 1/3 rpm (2 records). I wouldn't put it past them to release it, as what will they do to extract money out of us when they've finished with the studio albums? Although of course, they could go back to the Ring Ring, Waterloo and ABBA albums for their 50th anniversaries. They may even take it further and do one for Greatest Hits - in fact, celebrating the 50th anniversary of this album may be justified, as it was pivotal in establishing ABBA in the album chart, particularly in the UK. If so, I hope they use the UK cover design and not the horrible Swedish one.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Sept 6, 2020 16:30:30 GMT
The only problem I can see with that approach, Adam, is that the half-speed master for the album would run to at least four discs. If they didn't give this treatment to GPLM, or either of the Greatest Hits albums, sadly I can't see them doing it for The Singles: The First Ten Years. As for the singles, it would be a very slim box containing just two discs. Unless, of course, they decide to add TYFTM/OLS to match the size of the smallest previous sets? I can't help thinking they'll treat The Visitors like Voulez-Vous and add the two 1982 singles to the box. It will be interesting to see which country's sleeves they'll go with for OOU, HOH and WAISAD. I have read a few fan comments on Facebook that say 'When All Is Said And Done'/'Soldiers' won't be included in 'The Visitors' box set it would be very strange to leave it out as 'When All Is Said And Done' is the best and strongest song on 'The Visitors' album I think it will be included. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 6, 2020 16:37:25 GMT
The reason I imagine it would be likely to be included, is because it was a US hit. Given that the US version had SILOC on the flip and the same sleeve as the Polar edition of OOU, my guess is that going with the Australian release with the yellow sleeve and Soldiers on the flip would make sense. I really hope it is included.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Sept 6, 2020 17:38:49 GMT
The reason I imagine it would be likely to be included, is because it was a US hit. Given that the US version had SILOC on the flip and the same sleeve as the Polar edition of OOU, my guess is that going with the Australian release with the yellow sleeve and Soldiers on the flip. I really hope it is included. Me too both songs are brilliant  |
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Post by Alan on Sept 6, 2020 19:55:54 GMT
They’ll almost certainly do the first three albums, though not necessarily in 50th anniversary years. My prediction remains The Visitors for 2021, ABBA in 2022, Ring Ring in 2023 and Waterloo (to officially complete the program) in 2024. This would precisely follow the precedent set by the deluxe CD/DVD issues. Also, remember that the deluxe Gracias Por La Musica was released as an “extra” in 2014, its 34th anniversary, so there is no requirement for such releases to happen in anniversaries that end in a zero!
Sadly the three historical greatest hits albums seem to be dead and buried. Greatest Hits did get a 30th anniversary CD release in 2006 (Polar artwork) but is otherwise forgotten about. I’d like to see something done with them. David Bowie’s ChangesOneBowie and ChangesTwoBowie both got vinyl and CD reissues in recent years despite having no content that couldn’t be easily found on other compilations. The historical aspect is the selling point - the fact that those three compilations were released by Polar in ABBA’s active lifetime.
I still find The Singles dissatisfying though. It came right at the end of ABBA’s life, and was a stopgap between albums (and no subsequent album happened). The artwork is classy but boring, and it misses some key singles. The other two compilations are more interesting. One released at the start of ABBA’s classic years and the other at the end of them, though still more to come. The Singles is “we were great once, and here’s a reminder, but we’re so last decade, and we’re about to f**k off without so much as a by-your-leave.”
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Sept 6, 2020 22:17:05 GMT
I still find The Singles dissatisfying though. It came right at the end of ABBA’s life, and was a stopgap between albums (and no subsequent album happened). The artwork is classy but boring, and it misses some key singles. The other two compilations are more interesting. One released at the start of ABBA’s classic years and the other at the end of them, though still more to come. The Singles is “we were great once, and here’s a reminder, but we’re so last decade, and we’re about to f**k off without so much as a by-your-leave.” I still think a re-issue of The Singles: The First Ten Years on CD with an expanded tracklist would be brilliant. |
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Post by Michel on Sept 8, 2020 5:36:11 GMT
I still think a re-issue of The Singles: The First Ten Years on CD with an expanded tracklist would be brilliant. There have been several compilations similar to The Singles with an expanded tracklist, like The Definitive Collection and The Essential Collection. If they re-release these three Polar compilations, I think they should keep the tracklists as they originally were. The only change I would make for The Singles would be to replace the edited version of The Name Of The Game with the full version. I wish the Japanese would do a re-issue of these three Polar compilations on CD in a cardboard mini-LP replica. |
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Post by Michel on Sept 8, 2020 5:41:01 GMT
The reason I imagine it would be likely to be included, is because it was a US hit. Given that the US version had SILOC on the flip and the same sleeve as the Polar edition of OOU, my guess is that going with the Australian release with the yellow sleeve and Soldiers on the flip would make sense. I really hope it is included. With these singles boxes, they mostly seem to include only the singles/sleeves that were designed by Polar in Scandinavia. Therefore, my guess is that When All Is Said And Done will not be included because it wasn't a Polar single. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 8, 2020 14:40:22 GMT
Hm. Good point. Then again, if they saw fit to include LAYLOM (with the UK/Epic sleeve - I don't think it was every a Polar single?), they might be amenable to breaking the precedent again. Let's hope so, anyway!
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Post by Alan on Sept 8, 2020 16:11:15 GMT
The precedent was effectively broken by the 2014 singles box - those nine non-Polar releases (including both When All Is Said and Done and Lay All Your Love On Me) became official Polar singles at that point. I therefore can’t see any reason why When All Is Said and Done wouldn’t be in next year’s releases, particularly as it was a substantial US hit.
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Post by gazman on Sept 8, 2020 21:18:07 GMT
I guess we have more than a year to find out what might happen for 'The Visitors', since the 40th anniversary will be around the end of November 2021.
Let us hope that some new material comes before then...
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Post by gamleman on Sept 14, 2020 12:58:26 GMT
I notice that Amazon are still not offering the ST singles box but have just started to offer the picture-discs - £17.99 for LAYLOM at the moment! Why does Amazon lag behind other suppliers on these limited ABBA releases? Could it be that the record company want to give the smaller suppliers a chance for pre-orders before they offer stock to Amazon?
I don't like to give Amazon all of my custom, but at £36 plus about £4 postage from other suppliers, £40 seems a bit much for a box of just three singles. I am waiting to see how much the box works out with free postage from Amazon. What are other people doing?
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Post by Alan on Sept 14, 2020 16:23:52 GMT
Waiting, definitely. That’s a ridiculous price for one 7” single. Hopefully the price will come down.
They’re not out until the end of October so I don’t mind Amazon taking a while.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 14, 2020 17:45:28 GMT
That price is ridiculous. I scouted around when the release was first announced and, very much to my surprise, the ABBAsite shop was the cheapest option. I've bought previous singles boxes from the Udiscover store, but this time ABBAsite got my hard-earned euros.
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Post by gamleman on Sept 14, 2020 19:18:37 GMT
That price is ridiculous. I scouted around when the release was first announced and, very much to my surprise, the ABBAsite shop was the cheapest option. I've bought previous singles boxes from the Udiscover store, but this time ABBAsite got my hard-earned euros. I'm put off by the ABBA Museum Shop because they charge 185 Krona for shipping within Europe, which (today) is about £16.40 or nearly 18 Euros. This doesn't work out well if you are buying only one or two items. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 14, 2020 20:48:21 GMT
Yes, that really is a pretty hairy fee for small orders. With each of the sites I tried, I went all the way to the checkout to see what the overall total would be. I guess that buying the box and the picture discs evened the whole thing out.
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Post by abbafun on Oct 9, 2020 12:33:07 GMT
The other day I was sent a text by a good friend of mine and fellow ABBA fan, that some people have posted on Facebook that they have already received their Super Trouper box sets and apparently posted photos of proof! Can anyone confirm that this might be possible and if so how? Not fair if it is true, but maybe just a really cruel prank!
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