Voyage, follow-up?

I must confess that after 40 years l still don't bother to read Abba song lyrics, to an extent that even today l find l have been singing the wrong lyrics, an example being Vindaloo' lol. But analysis of Angeleyes' to me it's in the same vein as When l Kissed the Teacher' with the rather silly video Abba in the Classroom as Adults. About youth young love, and hormones racing, and lust

Does your mother know' maybe a step further, but he is telling her she is too young. Kate Bush goes further with her captivating The man with the child in his eyes' and 'Kashka from Baghdad' a song referencing gay love.

Of course there are still alarming Cultural differences, when it comes to sexual consent, and marriage, in the World.

I absolutely love that cover of Angeleyes by The Czars/John Grant (Grant also does a lovely electronic cover of My Love My Life with Irish band, Villagers). The warmth and emotion that support this cover made me completely reevaluate the song. Until then, it had been a mid-ranking bop for me - little more. Now, it's right up there.

Like Alan says, there's a difference in "weight" between young girl and young boy. Had I been covering the song, I'd've gone with young guy to remain true to what I originally thought the song was about (getting traded in for a younger model by some tacky lothario. That The King Has Lost His Crown follows the song on the album strikes me as a brilliant act of sarcastic revenge).

Grant is a terrific writer and artist and I'm sure he considered the word choice fairly carefully. As for the ABBA original, with all respect to Bjorn's talent, I sincerely doubt that he had anything more sinister in mind than the pain of a jilted lover. I'm willing to bet a giant bag of Haribo that he did little more than consider the percussive function of a string of syllables. I completely believe that the ABBA version was written in innocence. But a great song will always let the audience draw their own conclusions, so what you hear is valid for you. 

Nah, Gillian. It's all hope, speculation and hypothesis. Nobody here (that I'm aware of, at least) has connections to ABBA or their label. Around the time that Voyage was announced, we got some credible leaks from someone with connections, but those were quotes lifted from Popjustice.

Plus the difference in the verses and chorus with Agnetha singing high, Frida singing low in the former, and harmonies in the latter.

As we deconstruct the Angeleyes lyrics, let's not forget that they did a little-known Swedish version of Honey Honey (when they were still playing it safe, I guess). It's actually very different from the English, shall we say, erotic text. Here, you have all that would recur in AA: the prim, proper and prudish auntie warning the girl of what she's walking into...

So, we're left with a choice here: did Björn five years later, at the peak of their success, feel that this message was so important that he had to repeat it to the world, or did he have a lazy, recycling moment at the typewriter?

Now that a clear calendar year has passed since Voyage was released, I guess I'm a bit more resigned to there being no more new recording. My theory was that they'd found a brilliant, enjoyable and stress-free way to write and record an album with Voyage. Little sessions every few months when they fancied it - no pressure to be in the limelight (for the women) or have to promote it when it came out. So why not carry on with this model whilst their health allowed? But perhaps it was a lot more difficult, stressful and unenjoyable than they let on, or perhaps one (or more) of them don't now have sufficiently good health. Oh well, I reckon there's still a chance of new stuff, however small.

Over the years, the one who has most wanted to continue making music has been Benny - as long as it wasn't ABBA, it seems. And perhaps that was largely down to his awkward attitude to Frida that seemed to persist at least up to 2010 when they both represented ABBA for the group's induction to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

As I may have said before, given the health and self-belief in their abilities, musicians surely want to carry on making music. But what form that desire takes now, at their ages - that's the thing.

We can all be grateful for the money-making enterprise that is Voyage show that they all got back together in the studio at all, but think of what might have been over the years! And perhaps a lot better than the Voyage album.

Futile to think this way, of course - but I have anyway!

Well, they didn't have to promote it because the simultaneous launch of the Voyage concert took care of that. It was a perfect marketing strategy. The release of new music and tickets for the concert going on sale would always have to coincide, so that the new music would promote the concert and vice versa. The ABBA members didn't have to do much else. Perhaps this was the only way they could all have agreed to this.

A follow-up album would not generate nearly the same amount of media attention as Voyage did, which had the distinction of being the first new album in 40 years, coinciding with the launch of the Voyage show. For a follow-up album to achieve the same kind of success, the ABBA members would probably have to do a lot more promotion themselves and I guess they are simply not up to doing that, especially Agnetha & Frida.

That's why it's probably best that Voyage remains a wonderful but one-off comeback.

Michal I admire your optimism.

For me, I'm enormously grateful that Voyage happened, but I can't bring myself to hope for any more albums. My own hope is that the unreleased songs recorded for Voyage will be released as bonus tracks one day.

It's been said a couple of times already, but a new album wouldn't enjoy anything like the levels of attention and fanfare that Voyage got. Somehow I think that's understood by ABBA themselves. I have a feeling that they'd be a lot less keen to risk releasing a new album that might not enter the Top Ten as easily (if at all).

BUT!! What if they were moved to make something new again? What if it were a bit more expansive and personal than Voyage? What if they had gotten all of the nostalgic impulses out of their systems - like the need to stick an SOS riff into a new track; or reproduce Fernando's flute in another? What if the two unreleased Voyage tracks acted as a springboard for this new set? How would people feel if a new album leaned more in the direction of, say, ISHFIY and OTF than DSMD and NDAI - a less singles-oriented set? Something that was maybe less ABBA-from-Central-Casting than the public might like?

The chart positions thing wouldn't bother me at all. Especially if it felt like the new stuff was a real labour of love, something that satisfied them as artists and creatives. But would the chart positions bother them? I still feel disappointed by Bjorn's comment that they might have considered continuing in the 80s if TDBYC had been number one. It feels like the wrong focus for an obscenely rich artist. But it makes me suspect that remains a major barometer of success for them, something that rules any thoughts of recording again.

Of course, their ages and health are big factors. Alan mentioned Frida's mobility issues: it looks like she's been using that stick for a few years now; add to that the tedious schlepp from Switzerland. Who'd really blame her if she couldn't be arsed? Maybe Voyage scratched all the itches for them. But I think 2024 is probably the only viable window of opportunity to get a new ABBA album across the line. The 50th anniversary of Dancing Queen/Arrival/Fernando/Greatest Hits probably won't merit more than new coloured vinyl/picture discs/etc. The moment is now.

I’m a bit cynical of that (me? Cynical? Who’d have thought?!). We’re used to Benny opening his mouth and putting both feet in it, but not so much Björn. I think this was a way of evading calls for a reunion. Blame the audience. “We stopped because of the fans and therefore we’re not getting back together”.

What exactly is he saying? If Super Trouper hadn’t been that successful (unlikely I know, as it was on the back of a major tour), that ABBA wouldn’t have gone on to make The Visitors? That would have been a convenient excuse. Benny and Frida perhaps felt compelled to continue working together because ABBA were still successful (regardless of Frida’s unhappiness).

The real excuse was ABBA’s commercial decline. Frida wanted out and Benny and Björn wanted to make a musical. Perhaps only Agnetha wanted the comfort and security of ABBA, but only if it was completely on her own terms (which by 1982 it finally was).

Back to topic. I agree that another new album might not be a good idea. A deluxe of Voyage (like the April Fool of four additional tracks) would work as it’s adding to an existing album. It wouldn’t need to be commercially successful in its own right, as it’s simply a new version of an existing album. The previous deluxe issues didn’t spoil the legacy of the originals did they?

An anthology of entirely previously-unreleased recordings would also work. It’s not a new album, and it’s released in the knowledge that it wouldn’t have mass appeal, so a high chart position (or one of any kind) wouldn’t matter. That 1994 4-CD set didn’t chart (not sure if it was eligible to in those days - it would now) but did that matter?

Chart positions wouldn't matter for a deluxe edition or box set - but would probably for a brand new album. A re-vamped Thank You For the Music box set would probably be the best outcome.

I am not impressed with the idea of a "deluxe" edition of Voyage which in reality is only a re-release with just one or two new songs.

I like the idea of a 50 Anniversary restrospective that might include those unreleased Voyage tracks as well as other stuff "in the vaults"

You could probably add Ireland to that list of European outposts. We gave ABBA 12 No.1s and the later chart positions bettered the UK, but it's too tiny a market by which to measure broader success.

On a purely hypothetical note, I wonder what would have happened if the Americans had taken the last few singles to their commercial hearts: The Visitors, The Day Before You Came, Under Attack? If things had heated up in America while they cooled in the UK, would ABBA have held their nerve?