ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2021 Sept - Dec

^^ oh speculations speculations...lol... but hey we never know.....

Lets get Voyage released first, but I can see a succession of Compilations coming, so a few more albums to come.. and who knows more tracks... But I think i have enough excitement to keep me going for a while, I've hardly slept !! with either track going around in my head.,. getting all emotional when I hear them on the radio, or praise from various presenters , makes me immensely proud to be a fan....

Of course lets not forget Mamma Mia 3 4 and 5...lol...

I think a lot of us took at face value, and were hoodwinked - in the nicest way - when told there was going to be no new album. And now there is one.
Depending on their health, other commitments, energy, and creativity, maybe they have recorded enough new songs for another album, to be released for an anniversary. They've certainly had the time to do that.
Don't get me wrong, if this Voyage album is there last hurrah in terms of new music, it's wonderful and far more than we could have expected.
But the phrase 'you never know' springs to my mind a little more readily now. So if there is more in the can, let's hope a massively favourable reception of the Voyage album would 'unlock' any such recordings - should they exist - in the future.
But, again, if Voyage really it for ABBA, fantastic!

I definitely took that to mean songs from the back catalogue. The success and longevity of a show like this will be based on nostalgia and hits, hits, hits. There are already discussions on social media, guessing at what the 22 songs might be. Consensus (so far) seems to be all of Gold plus the two new singles. That leaves one song from the back catalogue. 

I totally agree that a new compilation to mark 50 years is likely. I wonder if a separate "live" album based on the Voyage show will emerge?

That’s a bit boring if that’s the case. In the interview with Zoe Ball, Björn seemingly picked The King Has Lost His Crown and Under Attack out of the sky as songs that didn’t get the recognition they deserved. The former was a very odd choice, which did make me wonder if that will be one of the surprises in the show.

What I found slightly odd in the video for ISHFIY was that there were no images of ABBA post-1979. It stopped at the Gimme Gimme Gimme video and the 1979 tour (itself a little odd as it showed them in their 1979 tour costumes and hair styles preparing to go on stage, but then the ABBATars came out looking like 1977 ABBA).

I’m wondering how they’re going to perform the 1980-81 (and perhaps 1982?) songs looking like their earlier selves. It’s not so bad seeing them like that for ISHFIY, as we’ve never seen them any other way, but for The Winner Takes It All, say, it will look a bit odd.

I'm with you Alan on "The King Has Lost His Crown" - flabbergasted and I hope they don't include that one.

I hadn't noticed the absence of images later than 1979 in the ISHFIY video. I agree that the ABBAtars in that video are more in line with ABBA in 1977, apart from the new costumes. Perhaps they will do 'a Kate Bush' and ignore a whole part of their career - in her case it was pre-1985 (the songs that established her) but in ABBA's case it might be 1980-82. Only joking, I'm sure they will do songs from the "Super Trouper" and "The Visitors" albums - perhaps the ABBAtars' faces were modelled on those from 1979 but the hairstyles will alter throughout the show.

In the German Mid Week Top 100 Singles Chart, ABBA have New Entries
at No.2, ('DSMD'), and No.3, ('ISHFIY')! If they can stay there, until the
full Week's Chart, (Saturday, I think), they will be ABBA's first Top 3 Hits
there, since 'One Of Us' got to No.1, in early 1982. They will certainly be
their 22nd and 23rd German Top 10 Singles.

I have never really liked TKHLHC. Frida's vocals great but the song's chorus let's it down. Better songs to include in the show. As for intermezzo. The avatars don't need a break . They are not human. The orchestra might though. Bjorn has always liked I Wonder. I just wonder why? The live version so much better than the studio version.

I tend to agree on TKHLHC - great vocals (and opening orchestration) but as a song it is just a decent album track or B-side. I do prefer it to "Lovers (Live A Little Longer)" though. If I were to pick a couple of non-single Frida-led songs for the show, they would be "One Man, One Woman" and perhaps "Andante Andante", although "Me And I" would be a good dramatic uptempo number. I wonder whether they will do "I Have A Dream" without a children's choir.

That was a joke about the girls needing a break from singing. The orchestra would still be needed for Intermezzo, but I think with 22 songs it might be a nice 'interlude' - that was the word I was initially looking for.

My guess is that tempo will be a big deciding factor when it comes to the setlist. "Gold" is crammed with hits, but that includes a bunch of midtempo tracks and ballads. I'm wondering if some Gold tracks might be substituted for songs that have become more famous in the meantime, courtesy of Mamma Mia and random covers?

If a Frida lead is a requirement, my preference would be for WAISAD: it has a bit of beat to it (and who knows how it could be beefed up for the show?), it was a single in some territories, it appears in Mamma Mia and is increasingly seen as a hidden classic. I'd argue that it's probably as well known as HOH. Kylie did a version in that Hyde Park concert and I imagine there'll be some overlap between her fanbase and ABBA's...

I'm not too surprised by the range of images shown in the ISHFIY video. The looks chosen are kind of "trademark ABBA" in terms of how the wider public will think of them. Apart from die-hard fans, I doubt many people doing ABBA dress-up will opt for a "punk Frida" or "permed Agnetha" look. I think the way the ABBAtars are dressed is a hint that this is an idealised show, rather than something based in precise historical accuracy. There's no suggestion so far that original tour costumes will be replicated. If they do decide to replicate an historic look for parts of the show, I bet it won't be any more imaginative than the pussycat dresses and/or the Waterloo costumes. This show is for the widest possible audience. It will probably leave the serious fans kvetching about straight-haired Frida singing her parts in TACOM when she should have a lava perm.

I think they've been wise to prepare a couple of songs to keep in reserve, just in case something doesn't connect as readily as they'd hoped.

I'd love to have "So Long" included. It's made for a "sort of live" show. I doubt it will.

I suppose another major factor - possibly even the biggest factor - is whether new vocals have have been recorded for the older songs. That will put them all in lower keys. It also gives scope for revised arrangements. So anything is possible, I guess. Only time will tell!

Or perhaps existing backing vocals will be stripped away leaving the backing vocalists on stage to perform them to Frida and Agnetha’s original studio leads. I can’t imagine any song will be the exact studio recording, they’ll have added something to it.

Thinking ahead, I wonder what will be available in the Arena shop? A soundtrack album? It would be naive of them to exclusively sell it there, as within hours (or even minutes or seconds) of the shop opening, eBay would be flooded with them. I wouldn’t have thought that a soundtrack album would put anyone off seeing it (or going again) though.

I really want Angeleyes in it but I very much doubt it will be. That song is truly underrated, and thanks to Gold (and The Singles) even UK and Irish fans not around at the time won’t really have known it was a single (and the primary one at that, as its title was listed before Voulez-Vous).

Angeleyes would be a fantastic addition. Especially as it bounced into the greater consciousness "courtesy" of Mamma Mia (I remember some lipsynch videos from TikTok). As for the shop, I bet there'll be quite a bit of overlap with the Museum shop. And probably some glow-sticks, feather boas and novelty wigs too... 

But the last section of the I Still Have Faith In You video has already given us exactly that. As we have no other visuals for that song, it kind of works. As I said earlier though, not sure how a 1977 or 1979 ABBA would look performing the 1980-82 songs when we already have existing videos or other familiar performances of them. Time will tell.