ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2021 Jan - Aug

Its always a bone of contention as they say, I expect the vast majority of " new " top 10s  will have the new tracks in.. mainly down to being new and novelty compared to 40 year old plus  tracks... it would be good to see top 10s in a few years time once all the furor has died down and things level out...for instance most raved about Put On Your White Sombrero, when it first came out, now it would be lucky to make most peoples top 50 ! 

As for being compared to todays music, its going to be a throw back to a different era for many, and will probably have little relevance to the youth of today, that said it will appeal to all the Mamma Mia Fans !! and a older generation..

As for charts, its going to be difficult unless a huge promotional push... which I believe will happen, the publicity alone will be initially massive....Depends on how each format is bought whether it will chart. As stated an album or an EP will do a lot better and probably be number 1 , unless an Ed Sheeran/ Adele ( in the UK ) Is released at the same time, unlikely, marketing wouldn't allow it to happen.

So with everything... Time will tell whether these new tracks will hold their own and as stated would be good to revisit in a few years...

Very good point.

Like on most ABBA albums (although I know this is not an album), I guess some tracks will become favourites and others will be a lot further down our lists. I think it would be a bit much to hope that all the songs will become favourites. Thinking about B&B's songwriting from this century, if ABBA had recorded "Story Of A Heart", it would have been in my Top 20, I'm sure, but if they had recorded "2nd Best To None", this one would have ended up in my Bottom 20.

It's funny that I feel quite the opposite to you jj about the song "Voulez-vous". Back in the day, I felt similar to you now and regarded it as only an average track from the album - I didn't really know what the fuss was about in making it a single and I felt (and still feel) quite irritated that it was chosen as a single while "If It Wasn't For The Nights" was not. But now "Voulez-vous" has the sound of the late 70s, so has the nostalgia that I crave, taking me back to the good old days

There are some songs that I like but don't like to hear too often, like "Super Trouper" and "Money Money Money".

I think onlyabba4meagain sums up well the rather depressing chart situation, in which streaming dominates the singles chart. I only realised this very recently when I tried to track this year's Eurovision singles in the UK's official singles chart and download chart.

Perhaps ABBA's strategy will be to release the songs only for streaming for a couple of weeks, before the download and physical editions are made available. That way, there will be loads of people initially streaming the songs to find out what they are like. Or is this done anyway, at least for the videos? I'm not sure how it works now but the promotional video for a single used to come out weeks before the single's official release. Are the videos still put on youtube in advance of the release date?

Or maybe ABBA will try to avoid the singles chart altogether by coupling these songs to an album, such that they can only be purchased as part of that album - the most obvious candidate would be a re-issue of ABBA Gold, as I think we are all dreading as the most unimaginative and boring route.

I'm not convinced that ABBA would have had a No 1 single in 1992, as they were only just picking themselves up off the floor after the doldrums of the late 80s. Perhaps after Erasure's ABBA-esque EP and the initial release of ABBA Gold, but I'm not sure the momentum of the ABBA revival had fully built up at that time - not really until 1999 and the 25th anniversary of the Eurovision win. The early 2000s were probably their last opportunity for another No 1 single.

 
    Gameleman -- You are right. ABBA would have had a far better chance, of No.1 Singles in 1999, than in 1992. 
    I suggested 1992, due to 'ABBA Gold' being released, but ABBA were not quite big enough, (in the 'Public Mind'),
    for No.1 Hit Singles, that Year. Although, Boney M, did have a UK No.7 Hit, at the end of 1992/early 1993, with a 
    'Megamix' of several of their Hits. I recall being hugely depressed, as I watched it on MTV, as ABBA had not been
    in the UK Singles Top 10 since January 1982! Boney M are currently having a No.11 UK Hit, with Majestic, and a
    Remix of 'Rasputin'. (Like so many Remixes, the 'Rasputin' parts are 'buried', in the 'Modern', parts. Like Boney M
    are Singing at the bottom of a Well!).  It would be great, if ABBA could have a UK Top 10 Single. Even if it is only
    for 1 more time. 
 
    At present, ABBA are on 19 UK Top 10 Singles - the same as the Bee Gees. 19 is such an: 'Almost', sort of number.
    Whilst 20 is: 'We got there!'.

    I dislike a great deal of 'Modern' Chart Singles. However - to my surprise - I do like the UK's current No.1, which
    is 'Good 4 U' by Olivia Rodrigo. It is because it sounds like a proper Song, and it avoids Rap completely. Plus, it
    has interesting backing Music. Which seems to be Guitar dominated. Very rare in today's Hit Singles. So, I don't
    dismiss all 'Modern' Music as 'Rubbish'. 

    Richard - Yes, I'm aware that the 2 Beatles Hits, in 1995 and 1996, were really John Lennon Demos, that the 
    remaining Beatles had worked on. Neither of them sounded very good, to me, so the Demos must have been
    even weaker. The Queen Single, (1995), was also, really by Freddie Mercury. The other Queen Members just
    tried to make it good enough for a Single. Even so, it was not very impressive.

    The difference - with ABBA - of course, is that their 'New' Songs, are made totally from scratch. They are meant
    to be Released, from Day 1, which makes it 100% certain, that ABBA will ensure, that they are good and strong,
    from the start. So, I am expecting much more impressive Songs, than we got from The Beatles and Queen, in
    the 1995-1996 'Era'. Sadly, Streaming may hold them back, when they are Released. (I doubt if The Beatles
    and Queen, would reach the Top 10, if they were to have Released, their 1995-1996 Singles, in this 'Era').

    Some ABBA Fans don't see any hold backs for the 'New' ABBA Songs. They have 100% faith, that 'The Public'
    will be so excited, that they will put any 'New' ABBA Songs at No.1 etc. We will see. Maybe ABBA can beat the
    'Curse', that makes 'Old' Acts, unable to managed that. I truly hope that ABBA can make it. A lot of People are
    still very Anti-ABBA. When the Manic Street Preachers, recently said that they love ABBA, I saw that a lot of their
    Fans said that, 'If it is true', they would 'Never support them again'. They said that ABBA are a: 'Joke, like Steps,
    and Brotherhood of Man'. 2 Scientists, (real Scientists), that I know, do a UK Chart Magazine. They see ABBA, as
    being 'The same as Celine Dion'! Their reasoning, is that both Acts, have 'Foreign Accents'! So - to them - ABBA
    are no different than Celine. Even though she is just a Singer, and other People Write for her and Produce for her!
    Whereas ABBA are very creative, and do it all themselves. In the 1970's, I was listening, to a BBC Radio 1, Record
    Review Show, and one of the Guests, insisted that ABBA and Boney M were 'The same kind of Act'. On the grounds,
    that both Recorded, on the European Continent! (Boney M were not even totally 'Real'. Only 2, of the 3 Women, Sang
    on their Records. The Man, in the Group, also did not Sing on them. All of His Vocals were Sung, by Frank Farian, their
    Manager! So, only 50% of Boney M, Sang on their Hits! That is 100% true).
     

Speaking of sampling, there have been rumours that Ava Max is going to sample 'Lay All Your Love On Me' in a new track called "Emotions". Based on the title, I assume it could include the lyrics "Don't go wasting your emotions...". 

Of course, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. There were stories that her single 'Torn' would sample "Gimme Gimme Gimme", but in the end it sounded similar in parts while not explicitly sampling it.

Remixes ruin the original songs and ABBA's songs are prefect the way they are and I seriously hope that Bjorn & Benny never agree to let anyone do god awful remixes.

   In the final 'Episode', of their Dutch ABBA Documentaries, Nick & Simon Interviewed
   various, ABBA connected People, about whether they had heard the New Songs. All
   of them said, 'No' - except Clabbe Geijerstam. He is a Friend of Frida, and he went
   to visit her, on Majorca, 2 Years ago. He said, that she let him hear '2 of them', on
   her Mobile 'Phone. The 'Them' part, means, that there are more, than 2 New Songs, 
   and he was allowed to hear 2 of them. Mark Levengood - A Swedish TV Host -  said
   that he'd heard 3 of them, in 2020. He said, that ABBA, had let him, hear 3 of the
   New Songs. Again, this was a firm indication, that there are more than 2.

   I think, that the ABBA Fans, who still only think, that 2 New Songs exist, are being
   far, far too pessimistic, and ignoring the various hints, and clues, given for the past
   few Years. The main question is, whether we are to get an entire New Album, or just
   a handful, (about 5), of Songs.

I think most of us accept now that there are at least five songs, and we’d be disappointed if it ended up being just two. But if it’s five, why not five more? I’m finding it hard to believe that, if they’ve been back in the studio together for the first time in 36 years, that they wouldn’t go the extra few miles and do a full album. If it really did go as well and as easily as it did, then why on earth stop at five?

Colin  , if you mean Mark Levengood,  he said he had heard "3 of the new ABBA somgs" not 2...

I think you did bot "mis-remember" it ;-) Clabbe talked about two songs. He also said, jokingly, that Frida urged him not to record these songs. Indeed, Mark Levengood at an earlier stage spoke about three songs.

The mis remembering was aimed at Colin's remark, it did not relate to you. Apologies for the confusion. I better return to being a silent member.