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Post by voulez on Jul 8, 2022 22:35:38 GMT
Just watched around 2 minutes of the LAYLOM lyric video and I had to switch it off: it's appalling! The other ones are bad but this one is embarrassing!
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 9, 2022 9:09:33 GMT
To think of the opportunities the Voyage performance offered here. I'm not suggesting they had to include the entire ABBAtar performance (they don't have footage for the third verse anyway), but they could have interspersed the lyrics (in a less gimmicky font) with snippets from the performance. What they presented was... meh.
If they're going to produce lyric videos for other songs that don't have original videos/performance footage, they should be releasing them without the fanfare that builds expectations. Talk about over-selling! I shudder to think what they'll do for The Visitors.
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Post by welshboy on Jul 9, 2022 10:13:23 GMT
Yes the lyric video for LAYLOM was not the best. I don't understand why someone would think this was a good idea in the first place. This new one looks rushed and with little idea behind it. I hope this will be the last. But some Pen pusher thinks they know best.
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Post by richard on Jul 9, 2022 10:42:36 GMT
"We should offer some sort of video for each song included in the Voyage concert that didn't have a video or performance back in the day - but without showing anything from the Voyage concert itself, obviously. We did it with I Still Have Faith In You, but that has to be it. So I suppose it'll have to be some sort of lyric video".
I can imagine someone saying that and it being readily agreed with.
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Post by voulez on Jul 14, 2022 20:11:56 GMT
Yes, whoever had this idea of lyric-videos should be demoted to making the tea.
I think the penpushers at ABBA HQ really need to ask themselves how they’re going to present the legacy, in say, 5 years from now. The metadata that the four have created will need to be used tastefully and authentically.
I’m really uneasy about ABBA being used as a cartoon. Any hologram footage should simply be original footage converted to hologram. No animation studio can ever recreate the charm of A&F in my opinion.
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Post by Alan on Jul 15, 2022 16:30:50 GMT
Looks like the next lyric video is going to be The Winner Takes It All. I won’t be checking that one out. Official social media accounts are using interview footage from ABBA Words and Music to publicise it.
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Post by gary on Jul 15, 2022 21:40:03 GMT
I quite like the idea of the lyric videos, and thought the first four were well done. But Lay All Your Love On Me isn’t great, to put it mildly. Perhaps they’re not going to work without an original video to draw on.
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Post by joseph on Jul 15, 2022 23:08:03 GMT
I had high hopes for the lyric video for Lay All Your Love On Me. Never mind, but I STILL want a proper video for it! I guess I always will. I'd like an expensive, top-notch Abbatar video of it. Same with The Visitors. I can dream.
I will still watch the lyric video for The Winner Takes It All when it 'drops' lol I don't understand why anyone wouldn't, even if it's just the once. My curiosity wouldn't let me ignore it. Plus, I really like ABBA's videos to get tons of views. I don't understand why Dancing Queen hasn't got over a billion yet?! Especially when one-hit wonders such as Somebody I Used to Know by Gotye achieved that milestone. I like the song, don't get me wrong, but really?
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 16, 2022 10:19:59 GMT
I'm fine with the concept of well-produced lyric videos in principle. What bugs me about the ABBA lyric videos we've had so far is the tendency to dress them too heavily in 1970s kitsch graphics. It was perfect for Waterloo - the bright colours and fun font tied in with the energy, theme and vibe of the song. Voulez-Vouz wasn't bad either - even though I think they could have balanced the performance footage better across all four members. Chiquitita wasn't bad. I think I gave it more credit because I was expecting a more bare-bones approach. That they drew so much of the content from the original "video" made a world of difference.
But SOS is where the wheels start to come off for me. It goes back to the garish colour splash of Waterloo. Like ABBA's chroeography for the single, it's bright and bouncy. And yet SOS is probably ABBA's first heartbreak classic. LAYLOM is... just OK. They have access to so much footage that I think it unforgiveable to utilise a handful of photos and that clunky font. They didn't have to use the ABBAtron footage (although I'd argue they could have used snippets, sparingly, and it would have been infinitely better). There's so much footage of ABBA on TV or on stage or in videos that they could have used clips where they're not singing to camera, where they're moving. Instead, we got a glorified PowerPoint/screensaver hybrid.
And now TWTIA? If the original video was as uninspired as Chiquitita or VV or GGG or DYMK, I'd be all for it. I know, I know: Chiquitita was a clip filmed for a TV show after the single had left the charts, but I really think Hallstrom started phoning it in after the glory of Summer Night City. The video for TWTIA is already a highly coloured, frosted-edge melodrama. Every move, glance and gesture acts like semaphore for the lyrics. I really, really hope that the graphics thrown at it have at least some dignity and elegance around them.
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Post by JeniLP on Jul 19, 2022 16:02:13 GMT
I had high hopes for the lyric video for Lay All Your Love On Me. Never mind, but I STILL want a proper video for it! I guess I always will. I'd like an expensive, top-notch Abbatar video of it. Same here. Fingers crossed  |
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Post by Alan on Jul 20, 2022 15:38:09 GMT
The preview of The Winner Takes It All now available - flower graphics, a blue background and the original video in black and white. Seen enough, I won’t be viewing the rest.
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Post by voulez on Jul 20, 2022 16:52:51 GMT
If Steve Jobs was ABBA's manager he would be going mental! Somebody would be given the sack over the water dispenser and fake plants.
Maybe the Voyage email and Instagram needs to shut now, before they inflict any more damage. The marketing amateurs have clearly ran out of ideas.
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Post by voulez on Jul 20, 2022 17:14:47 GMT
Sorry to go on about this, but just imagine that there was news coverage on ABBA on an established TV channel - and they went to the official YouTube channel and plucked-out one of these embarrassing, god-awful lyric videos...
So, they won't release JLT, but they're ok with this junk? They really need to take it down. It's embarrassing!
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 21, 2022 13:46:52 GMT
I've seen the preview clip... It's grim.
Strangely, the reaction in the comments under the Insta post are all positive. All breathless OMG!!!!! and I'm dead!!! type hyperbole. I just don't get it. Maybe it's an age thing...?
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Post by Alan on Jul 21, 2022 16:14:37 GMT
Strangely, the reaction in the comments under the Insta post are all positive. All breathless OMG!!!!! and I'm dead!!! type hyperbole. I’m not sure they’re real. Is it possible that there are online “cheerleaders” employed that post such nonsense in order to make real people believe that what they’re seeing is good? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Or maybe it’s automated. |
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Post by undertheappletree on Jul 22, 2022 4:44:42 GMT
These Lyric Videos are bordering on the ridiculous now, the Visual Presentation element is kindergarten Stuff. There are, or were plenty of lyric Video's by avid followers that are much more interesting. Also there is no logic to which Video they Choose to Parody.
And if they are aimed at grabbing the younger Generation why, have they lost their own ability to research or evaluate Quality.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 22, 2022 10:24:06 GMT
TWTIA need so little to make a decent lyric video. By all means make it monochrome. There's so much going on in the original video that the silly flower graphics make for a cluttered and amateurish result.
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Post by richard on Jul 22, 2022 13:55:56 GMT
To me, a lyric video seems the way to go if you don't want to put too much effort into it; although no doubt it can be simple and effective to keep attention on the words and music. But some fans' videos show greater creative ambition, and without ABBA's resources. Going back a few years, the videos RJS did to some ABBA songs makes these lyric videos look pretty poor stuff in comparison.
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Post by joseph on Jul 22, 2022 14:39:42 GMT
I'm not really sure what the point of these new lyric videos are tbh. For the new, younger fans to get a handle on the lyrics? Usually, I might have my own ideas but I'm stumped here. I'm not sure what I'd do differently. As usual, I'm inclined to agree with Tony's points and I'd quote him but I'd be here all day as it's everything- not just here but the points about musical arrangements for other songs such as Lovers and KOF. Absolutely spot on! I (really) couldn't have put it better myself.
What I did like about the lyric video for TWTIA was the b/w effect- no more being blinded by Agnetha's blue eyeshadow! I'm curious; did she deliberately trowel it on even more heavily or is it just the lighting? I still stand by my wish that the video had featured Agnetha surrounded by empty vodka bottles with mascara streaked across her face.
Oh and a little adjunct: in one of my previous posts I mentioned Agnetha singing TWTIA with self-pity, etc. That SHOULD have read, "not everyone goes for *what they perceive as*...", etc. It's not actually my view. I believe TWTIA to be one of ABBA's crowning achievements. But anyway, that's probably why he spat his dummy out yet again.
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Post by voulez on Jul 22, 2022 21:48:17 GMT
I agree Alan that those comments are probably fake. Just as fake as all the little pansy snowflakes in the official Voyage show clip who look like they got lost on their way back from a teeth-whitening party.
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Post by Michal on Jul 23, 2022 5:55:48 GMT
I agree Alan that those comments are probably fake. I wouldn't be so sure... I've read some comments on YouTube and while most people comment on the song and not the video, there are posts such as "it's pretty" or "I love the colours and the flowers". I for one find it embarrassing. I wonder if the ABBA members have no control over this. Or do they have such a bad taste? I seriously fear that when another "exciting release" is announced, it will be a DVD with these lyric videos. |
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Post by voulez on Jul 23, 2022 9:09:51 GMT
It's hard to know who is masterminding the legacy now. I think that Ludvig is being given too much control, and is milking his dads' (and the other 3's) work.
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Post by gary on Jul 23, 2022 10:02:24 GMT
Unpopular opinion time. I rather like the lyric videos! But they are getting slowly worse, so who knows how bad they will be by the time they get around to I Saw It In The Mirror!
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 23, 2022 11:17:45 GMT
Sudden, horrible thought: these lyric videos will probably end up as a bonus DVD on the next compilation. Probably labelled as the "karaoke disc" or the "singalonga ABBA" disc.  |
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Post by richard on Jul 23, 2022 11:37:11 GMT
Unpopular opinion time. I rather like the lyric videos! But they are getting slowly worse, so who knows how bad they will be by the time they get around to I Saw It In The Mirror! Impertinent question time, Gary  - why do like them? |
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Post by gary on Jul 23, 2022 11:50:52 GMT
Unpopular opinion time. I rather like the lyric videos! But they are getting slowly worse, so who knows how bad they will be by the time they get around to I Saw It In The Mirror! Impertinent question time, Gary - why do like them? You had to ask! 😁 Er, I just liked seeing the original videos in a different way, and seeing the lyrics actually on those videos made me realise there were a few words that I had heard wrongly for 40-odd years. Also, I guess they might attract a few new fans. LAYLOM is a low point though. No effort there. I hope they do videos for less obvious songs, but I don’t have high hopes. |
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Post by gary on Aug 5, 2022 14:52:36 GMT
The latest lyric video (Thank You For The Music) is an improvement over the last two. Might be nice if they did a Frida-led song though.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 5, 2022 16:01:10 GMT
I think this might actually be the best of the lyric videos yet. The chintz is laid on a bit thick but, then again, TYFTM is a very chintzy song. I just hope they run out of rub-on floral transfers and glittery star stickers before they get on to songs like The Visitors. It's all very mumsy so far.
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Post by welshboy on Aug 6, 2022 10:08:45 GMT
I am not a big fan of the lyric video. For one thing why? They have the videos from back in the day and they where just great why mess with wonderful images. I don't understand it. I guess its for the young fans but to me they look cheap.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 6, 2022 11:05:47 GMT
I agree with you in most respects, welshboy. My original thought was that officially, professionally produced lyric videos would have been great for those songs that had no video or performance footage. But the Lay All Your Love On Me lyric video looks like a screensaver. Really disappointing. I think Voulez-Vous and Thank You For The Music benefitted most from the treatment. Both the original videos were darkly lit to begin with, and the straightforward performance approach had little in the way of imagination. It's a bit sugary, but I think the TYFTM is an improvement because the treatment ties in (possibly a little too much) with the video for I Still Have Faith In You. All four members of the group are given their moments on screen, and the scrap book idea helps make sense of the flow of lyrics and even the extraneous nonsense like flowers and stars. But look at the utter mess they made of The Winner Takes It All and SOS. I don't understand why they didn't use TV performance footage for these lyric videos and leave the originals alone. There are some videos that I think have the potential to be horror shows if they're subjected to the twee and garish approaches used so far. Take Summer Night City - for me, it's ABBA's best video and anything they add is only going to wreck it. The lyric vid for TWTIA shows that they can't get their head around the central theme of a song, so what in hell is going to happen when they eventually reach When All Is Said And Done and Knowing Me, Knowing You? And as for The Visitors? Sheesh. |
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- why do like them?