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Post by justabba on Jan 4, 2022 13:30:41 GMT
Abba looking good on the midweek just announced...
Voyage 3
Gold 8
Dancing queen 89!
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Post by bennybjorn on Jan 4, 2022 13:43:30 GMT
Abba looking good on the midweek just announced... Voyage 3 Gold 8 Dancing queen 89! Good stuff - presumably, they're behind Sheeran and Adkins? I think sales are generally v low at this time of year. A top 3 album may not even shift 10,000... |
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Post by richard on Jan 4, 2022 13:47:31 GMT
Difficult to decide but, for now, I'd place Voyage 4th, behind The Visitors, Voulez-Vous, and The Album.
Let alone ABBA fans often being so different in their preferences, mine often vary, at least with regard to individual tracks.
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 4, 2022 16:17:05 GMT
Joe wrote....
I Still Have Faith In You:
Majestic and moving with a delicate melody and a very impressive and touching vocal from Frida. Although I can appreciate it, I can see why others might be turned off by the musical theatre aspect of it. Don't get me wrong, it moved me immensely and Frida's vocal is one of her best but I feel my elation was more because this is ABBA after such a long, long time and I would have been emotional no matter what. A song all four should feel proud of.
I couldn't agree more, they couldve released lalalalalalalal and i would have been in tears..lol
I tend to agree with Joe a lot both celts i guess , But he's manged to sum up better than i ever could how he feels about the album and I concur with most of his statements,
Apart from JAN which was an instant winner with me and still is.
As for ranking Voyage to early to really say, and as for fillers, don't think so.. Little things I listened to today, but feel it may well be a skipper for the 11 months of the year.
Feel it couldve been a bigger hit than it was ( not number 1 ) if it had been a stand alone single and not on the album, missed opportunity I feel... b-side HNY ( of course !! )
Still we must feel proud of what they have achieved and that it has sold so well and bring ABBA back to the front again. I feel Voyage will hang around for quite a while....
Bring on the new single and of course those two Unfinished tracks !!
Anybody think that there will be Documentary/Show of some sort to come? with so many video clips /Photos around, it seems strange that something hasn't been done properly with them.....
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 4, 2022 17:18:39 GMT
Just as an update ...
For those that are interested...
Gold sold approx 174,400 in the UK to finish as the 13th best selling album in the UK (pretty amazing) only 200 approx behind 12th place.
So with Voyage selling 400,000 to finish 3rd best seller in UK means that ABBA sold around 600,000 ( pure guess really but assuming 25,000 in all other albums, it would be close... )
Not bad going for an act that hadnt released anything much for 40 years.. !!
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johnb
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Post by johnb on Jan 4, 2022 18:26:15 GMT
I find it very hard to rank the albums with the one exception that "The Album" is the best by quite a long way - if only for "Eagle", "I'm a Marionette" and "The Name of the Game".
After that I think:
2. ABBA (You have to ignore the lyrics of Bang a Boomerang and pretend I Do.. isn't there.) The last three tracks played in sequence are fantastic.
3(equal). Super Trouper, The Visitors, Arrival. (I know this is a cop-out but I can't decide and if I did it would be different tomorrow.)
6. Voyage
7. Voulez Vous (Very disappointing disco orientated album)
8. Waterloo
9. Ring Ring
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2022 18:39:23 GMT
Joseph, your review of " Voyage " is very good better than mine. OTF took a while to grow on me too. I now think it is a work of art. A theatrical masterpiece and very moving.
I will now rank ABBA's studio albums in order of my preference, ( and my three favourite tracks from each album ).
1. " Voyage " ( 1. " Don't Shut Me Down ", 2. " I Still Have Faith In You ", 3. " I Can Be That Woman ". )
2. " Super Trouper " ( 1. " The Winner Takes It All ", 2. " Andante Andante ", 3. " Happy New Year ". )
3. " Arrival " ( 1. " Knowing Me Knowing You ", 2. " When I Kissed The Teacher ", 3. " My Love My Life ". )
4. " Voulez-Vous " ( 1. " If It Wasn't For The Nights ", 2. " Gimme Gimme Gimme " ( A Man After Midnight ), 3. " Kisses Of Fire ". )
5. " The Visitors " ( 1. " Slipping Through My Fingers ", 2. " One Of Us ", 3. " Cassandra ". )
6. " The Album " ( 1. " Move On ", 2. " Eagle ", 3. " The Name Of The Game ". )
7. " ABBA " ( 1. " SOS ", 2. " I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do ", 3. " I've Been Waiting For You ". )
8. " Waterloo " ( 1. " Gonna Sing You My Lovesong ", 2. " Dance " ( While The Music Still Goes 0n ), 3. " Honey Honey ". )
9. " Ring Ring " ( 1. " He Is Your Brother ", 2. " Nina Pretty Ballerina ", 3. " Disillusion ". )
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2022 18:40:29 GMT
Just as an update ... For those that are interested...Gold sold approx 174,400 in the UK to finish as the 13th best selling album in the UK (pretty amazing) only 200 approx behind 12th place. So with Voyage selling 400,000 to finish 3rd best seller in UK means that ABBA sold around 600,000 ( pure guess really but assuming 25,000 in all other albums, it would be close... ) Not bad going for an act that hadnt released anything much for 40 years.. !! Actually reported a few days ago ABBA sold 745,000. 400k for Voyage, 175k for Gold and about 200k for all other ABBA albums. It was I think from Music Week |
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Post by Alan on Jan 4, 2022 22:51:01 GMT
www.pollstar.com/article/this-is-not-a-time-capsule-this-is-abba-now-a-first-look-at-abba-voyage-149409A short new interview with Ludvig and Baillie Walsh about the show. Some of the most interesting points: ILM also designed the ABBA avatars, based on motion capturing done with band members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. “The motion capture shoot with ABBA was an amazing experience. We spent five weeks with them, covering all the songs,” Walsh said. The team then recorded more footage with doubles, who had studied ABBA for a long time. Star choreographer Wayne McGregor made sure they moved like the original band, using ABBA’s motion capture as well as archived footage as a base. “You start with very basic animations, you see what works, what movement looks good, and build on that. That’s what we’ve been doing over the past 18 months. We’re now getting to the good bit where we’re seeing the results of all of our hard work, and all of our vision comes alive,” Walsh said. Getting the impression from the above that what we will see isn’t really the real ABBA. Body doubles, archive footage? From what we’ve seen of the ABBA Tars so far, it did seem a bit unlikely that Agnetha and Frida could have done the more energetic moves (even if speeded up).
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Post by tagaytay on Jan 4, 2022 23:06:57 GMT
“The motion capture shoot with ABBA was an amazing experience. We spent five weeks with them, covering all the songs,” Walsh said. The team then recorded more footage with doubles, who had studied ABBA for a long time. “You start with very basic animations, Getting the impression from the above that what we will see isn’t really the real ABBA. Body doubles, archive footage? From what we’ve seen of the ABBA Tars so far, it did seem a bit unlikely that Agnetha and Frida could have done the more energetic moves (even if speeded up). so its CGI ABBA on a video screen singing along to their original studio recorded vocals and accompanied by a live band/orchestra? thats how it seems. and from the voyage preview its going to be a great light show in the whole arena. Im excited to see how it all comes together. |
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Post by abbafan456 on Jan 4, 2022 23:39:14 GMT
www.pollstar.com/article/this-is-not-a-time-capsule-this-is-abba-now-a-first-look-at-abba-voyage-149409A short new interview with Ludvig and Baillie Walsh about the show. Some of the most interesting points: ILM also designed the ABBA avatars, based on motion capturing done with band members Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. “The motion capture shoot with ABBA was an amazing experience. We spent five weeks with them, covering all the songs,” Walsh said. The team then recorded more footage with doubles, who had studied ABBA for a long time. Star choreographer Wayne McGregor made sure they moved like the original band, using ABBA’s motion capture as well as archived footage as a base. “You start with very basic animations, you see what works, what movement looks good, and build on that. That’s what we’ve been doing over the past 18 months. We’re now getting to the good bit where we’re seeing the results of all of our hard work, and all of our vision comes alive,” Walsh said. Getting the impression from the above that what we will see isn’t really the real ABBA. Body doubles, archive footage? From what we’ve seen of the ABBA Tars so far, it did seem a bit unlikely that Agnetha and Frida could have done the more energetic moves (even if speeded up). I had a suspicion that they were using body doubles of some sort since you can see these four people in mo-cap suits in the EPK who are clearly not ABBA...
But now I'm confused since in that same EPK video, Ludvig and Benny say that what you are seeing is ABBA performing on stage, and Ludvig even says it is not someone pretending to be ABBA... but how is it real ABBA if it's body doubles...? Either way, I am sure it will turn out amazing what ever it is they are doing.
Now I'm hoping that the choreographer was able to successfully mimic ABBA's stage performance without adding any weird synchronized choreography like the holograms at the museum or the way tribute bands act...
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 5, 2022 10:01:43 GMT
Johnny Wrote...
Actually reported a few days ago ABBA sold 745,000. 400k for Voyage, 175k for Gold and about 200k for all other ABBA albums.
It was I think from Music Week
Even better than I thought...For geeks like me !! it would be nice to know how many those other albums sold....my guess was way off !!
Its all pretty remarkable really. Is it likely that 2022 will be good ? obviously not as good as 2021, but the ABBAtars will give a mid year boost, especially to Voyage and Gold.
So it could be another exciting year....
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 5, 2022 10:19:31 GMT
Just found this on another site..
a little more definitive....
All in all, ABBA have sold very close to one million records, downloads or whatsoever 2021 in the UK. The 745.000 albums lately reported plus 100k for DSMD, 70k for ISHFIY plus 50k or 60k or more (?) for JAN and LT together.
A long way off the heady days of the 70s and 80s, but under current circumstances.. its extremely good....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2022 12:08:38 GMT
ForeverFan - really good sales - especially for back catalogue of non-Gold compilations and studio albums.My guess would have been like yours for those other albums. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong...lol.
Yes sales are down from 70s/80s. They are also considerably down from just a few years ago....as Adele and Ed Sheeran have found out recently. To have the 3rd best selling album of a year (actually 2nd in pure sales) is a remarkable achievement.
As for the show, I am somewhat confused as to what expect. Who here has got tickets for it?
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 5, 2022 15:37:59 GMT
A little more Trivia from the UK...
Vinyl sales...
as confirmed by Justabba..
Voyage has also been announced as the best selling vinyl album for 2021 with sales over just over 40 000 copies sold.
Beating Adele , who sold approx 37,000.
also.... ISHFIY has been confirmed as the 7th Best selling Vinyl single of 2021 in the UK.
Answering Johnny...
I'm off to the ABBAtar show on 30th May.... to be honest , I haven't really given it a lot of thought really of what to expect, no doubt closer to the time more will be leaked and I will "hopefully" get more excited.... I guess I got carried away with all the initial hype and release of tickets for the show, honestly though, no regrets, as I would have gone anyhow, and if any good Ill go again ......
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2022 16:12:34 GMT
Foreverfan, this is fantastic news. ABBA are a force to be reckoned with. Thanks for your, Justabba's and Johnny's input. I am glad they have beaten Adele and the likes. Impressive record sales. I would like to see the show in May. Good for you, Foreverfan.
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Post by Alan on Jan 5, 2022 17:36:26 GMT
Just one question… if they sold 200K for “all other albums”, how come the only studio albums that briefly charted were Voulez-Vous (no. 58 for one week in September) and Arrival (no. 100 for a week)? You only have to sell a few thousand to chart.
Gold/More Gold (the 2014 version?) did chart for one week at number 72 in September.
200,000 seems a lot when it wasn’t reflected in chart action. Absolutely no way can a week each for Arrival and Voulez-Vous in lowly chart positions account for that many sales?
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Post by bennybjorn on Jan 5, 2022 18:10:01 GMT
Abba looking good on the midweek just announced... Voyage 3 Gold 8 Dancing queen 89! Good stuff - presumably, they're behind Sheeran and Adkins? I think sales are generally v low at this time of year. A top 3 album may not even shift 10,000... Seems I was right about the sales! Abba are currently (Wednesday) at #3 with just 4,700 units. Adkins on 8,900, Sheeran back at the top with 11,800. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2022 18:12:23 GMT
200,000 "other sales"
Alan, yep. 200,000 does indeed seem like a lot.
Possible explanation
52 weeks in a year and albums were selling every week but not enough to make Top 100. That is on average 4,000 a week. Don't forget 8 studio albums and loads of budget and regular compilations. Sales spread to thinly.
There was a couple of sales spikes - 1st week in Sep and 2st week in Nov for obvious reasons. This was enough for a couple to scrape in.
"Sales" now include formula for streaming and the only ABBA "other" album to make the Sales Only Chart was The Visitors.
Perhaps Foreverfan or OnlyAbba4meagain can come up with a better explanation.
Bennybjorn - sales are very low especially in the first weeks after Christmas. ABBA don't need to sell a lot for Voyage to be Top 3 or Top 5 in January.
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Post by foreverfan on Jan 6, 2022 9:51:04 GMT
Johnny..^^^ regarding your question.. at best I can guess, but 200,000 does seem high.. but your analogy is possibly true , so many albums and all selling but not enough to chart... which if we divide 200,000 by 52 weeks averages out to approx 4000 albums a week spread across how many albums , so its quite possible...
OnlyAbba4meagain, who knows more than myself may be able to come up with a more definitive answer...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2022 12:49:20 GMT
Thanks Alan for posting the very interesting interview about the forthcoming concert in May 2022. It promises to be one spectacular event and not to be missed. I would like to go and really hope I can. Let's hope and pray that the current omicron wave will have abated by then. Life is very strange at present.
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Post by bennybjorn on Jan 7, 2022 15:09:18 GMT
A new week's data from the global chart just out. Voyage stays at #6 with a further 115,000 sales now totalling 1,363,000. The total is still just ahead of Sheeran but some way behind Adkins. www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htmA slight sales increase on the global chart this week to 116,000 making 1,479,000 in total, so almost 1.5 million. It does, however, slip one place to #7. Adkins still at 1, Sheeran at 4. Merry Christmas to all! The good news? Voyage climbs one place to #6 this week on the Global Album Chart. www.mediatraffic.de/albums.htmThe bad news? Lowest weekly sales to date of 82,000 now totalling 1,680,000. Sales are usually low at this time of year - be interesting to see what happens over the coming weeks... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2022 17:18:27 GMT
Voyage is #25 in Global Year End chart. It has done really well in a few European countries but not outside Europe. ABBA aren't really global. www.mediatraffic.de/year-end-albums.htmVoyage drops from #1 to #4 in Sweden, down from 2 to 3 in Germany and up 4 to 3 in the UK today. Gold is #11 this week in the UK. |
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Post by bennybjorn on Jan 7, 2022 17:58:36 GMT
Voyage is #25 in Global Year End chart. It has done really well in a few European countries but not outside Europe. ABBA aren't really global.www.mediatraffic.de/year-end-albums.htmVoyage drops from #1 to #4 in Sweden, down from 2 to 3 in Germany and up 4 to 3 in the UK today. Gold is #11 this week in the UK. Hmm, partly true perhaps but I'd say that this position owes more to its release late in the year. It's been glued to the global top 10 ever since its release, never sinking lower than #7, and has even gone up a place this week. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2022 18:17:28 GMT
Thanks to all for keeping us updated on ABBA's record sales. It is great to see our favourite band at No 3 with " Voyage " and at No 8 with " Gold " on this week's Top 100 album charts. Great !
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Post by breifne on Jan 7, 2022 18:32:28 GMT
Yes Genius it is good to see Voyage climb back to no. 3 on the UK Album chart - however Gold is at no. 11 having been at no. 8 in the mid week charts - this also happened on the charts of October 15th last !
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2022 18:45:30 GMT
Thanks Briefne. " Gold " at No 11 still a very good position showcasing ABBA's enduring appeal.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2022 19:21:41 GMT
Hmm, partly true perhaps but I'd say that this position owes more to its release late in the year. It's been glued to the global top 10 ever since its release, never sinking lower than #7, and has even gone up a place this week. Adele's album was released 2 weeks after ABBA's and she is #2. If Voyage had the same success in USA/Canada as it did in Germany/UK it would be up there competing with Adele in the Global Year End chart. |
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Post by onlyabba4meagain on Jan 7, 2022 19:54:27 GMT
Regarding 'ABBA Gold' - It was at No.8 in Monday's UK Mid Week Chart. It fell to No.9 in Wednesday's Mid Week's,
and No.11 in todays, (Friday's), full Weekly Chart. It is doing far, far better than 'Voyage' in the Streaming Top 100.
It is up from No.20 to No.12. Sadly, 'Voyage' is not even in the UK's Top 100 Streaming Chart. This means, that to
be at No.3, this Week, (Main Chart), virtually all of its Sales are Physical and Downloads. Mainly Physical. Once those
Physical Sales decline, it has nothing else to fall back on. No Streaming to help it. This puts it at a huge disadvantage,
to Ed Sheeran and Adele, who are No.1 and No.2 in the Streaming Top 100. 'Voyage' simply cannot keep up with those
2 Albums, in the long run. Not in the UK, (and Ireland), anyhow. Those 2 Albums also have huge Hit Singles, to keep
getting them attention. ABBA can no longer have huge Hit Singles. So, we may - soon - see 'Voyage' start to make big
falls, in the UK Top 100, as its Streams are so tiny. I'm amazed that it has managed 9 Weeks, in the UK Top 4. It is still
being 'propped up' by CD's etc. The question is - how long can that continue for?
In Ireland, 'Gold' is at No.8, (the same as last Week), but 'Voyage' is down from No.6 to No.10. Clearly, its Irish Streams
are lower than those of 'Gold'. In Australia, its Physical Sales are now collapsing. Which is why 'Voyage' has fallen from
No.7 to No.23, this Week.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jan 7, 2022 21:12:29 GMT
I think the difference in the UK and Irish chart positions demonstrates the value of airplay. Culturally, we pretty similar territories and record companies have forever lumped the two together. But UK radio - BBC Radio 2 in particular - has played Voyage singles and tracks since its release. If you were listening to Irish radio, you'd be forgiven for thinking the ABBA reunion had never happened. The first two singles got some airplay when The Big News first broke. But they were never playlisted. The explicit Kilkenny reference in WYDWM earned the album a splashy mention on the news but that's it. Since then? Crickets. So when the Beeb champions an ABBA track or single, take it with gratitude. As for streaming, if we're not doing it, why should anyone else?
Gold's astonishingly continued success is a phenomenon of its own. Decades of parties and soundtracks and telly specials have given it its own independent existence. That's why it successfully streams, I think. Bars, cafés, shops... It's a perfectly safe and life-affirming soundtrack that appeals across age groups.
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