ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2021 Sept - Dec

Imagine if they'd tweaked the lyrics to make this the Christmas song? It'd be making a certain Ms. Carey a tad sweaty.

Glad 2 say it floats 4.me in comparison to my initial worries as per my comments on page 100 & 101. It does sound like from a lost era of ABBA we never got to hear & like others have said it sounds a simillar vein to WDIHTBM from 'Arrival: & ABBA - The Movie concert scenes in Perth,Australia. Whether it's the Bjorn/Agnetha version from 'Arrival';or the Bjorn/Frida version from 'The Movie'. Both work so well but JAN is much better than expected & 'Voyage' has now commenced. Is it me though or just my assertions it doesn't really go anywhere but round in a continuos circle simillar to TDBYC but without any drama, high points & low points to grab you. Much better than expected &;no way near that 'Under Attack' dustbin of mine. Maybe it'll grow more but never grab me. WDIHTBM was my original favourite upon getting 'Arrival' as a Xmas present in 1976. I know a lot of fans disregard it as nothing special but the charasmatic theme. The bittersweet contrast in it made it stand out for me. It also seemed such a happy song despite it's contrasting lyric & vocals.

Anyway I have been away 4 48hours very busy. preparing for something truly special to me, my life & it certainly has a core ABBA theme to it that will make you all swoon in envy when I reveal it later today.

When searching 4;'JAN'2021. I came across a version of JLT 2021 & thankfully edited back to 3m 50 Seconds & a similllar production to JAN 2021 3.31 mins on YouTube & SnapTube. Still not single/materisl for me despite it's updated production. Just wondering if it will be featured on a CD if released. Best version heard so far. Just wondering if i missed any news re deluxe bonus track news physical/Dowmload release re JAN or Voyage.


Thank you!


Andreas

It's fair to say this song divides people.



If ever ABBA needed a lyric video it is with this song - where the vocals make it hard to hear the actual words.


The lyric video is out

You beat me to it! The two ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ mistakes are pretty poor, particularly as they get it right later on.

Fun song, though, but not in the same league as ISHFIY or DSMD.

[Edit: oops, more than two mistakes!]

Thanks for that link, pixi . At least it's officially confirmed that the vocals do, indeed, come from 1978. I'm still astonished, but then again I could never claim to be a hitmaker!

It is ridiculously happy and exuberant. I'm beginning to feel that this album will be quite the patchwork quilt.

Just listening to it on spotify for the 5th time. It's great, light, fun and upbeat, a lot different to Adele'whose miserable single will be No 1 in the UK tonight. I think the 3 singles chosen hopefully highlight that the album will be a good mixture of styles. i.e ballad, mid-tempo and a bit of fun. As for the inclusion of JAN on the album, after listening to it, I'd certainly prefer a 10 track with it than a 9 track without it. 

Something must be happening with Just Like That, why take down remixes etc for a track they don't care about but keep all the numerous remixes of DSMD. You don't think it might be on the album with a different title and lyrics. Just putting it out there

Can't wait for the 5th

I've waited a little to see reviews.. and its a Marmite track, either love or hate ( perhaps to strong a word ).

For me... I like it, I love the piano throughout and the last bit is good.

Is it a classic or a grower ? or is it somewhere in between... I feel " we" as ardent fans are over familiar , so was always going to be up against it with us.. we've known about for years, as for the general public and dare I say newer fans its new.. so will be judged accordingly....

For sure its different again from the previous two tracks, which can only increase our excitement on diversity on the album...getting very intrigued now...

Just waiting now to see how it hears on the Radio....

I think we have the right to criticize, and not everything they have done is perfect.....
But.... I remember someone on here saying that only a few years ago , we were getting nothing forever.... and then all of a sudden we have a Album.
I'm grateful for all that's happening and about to happen, Yes its no TWTIA or DQ, but its not bad is it ?
Yes we can debate this and that, but does anyone really hate it ?

i guess i'm happier than many of the people posting in the forum. Its 3 out 3 for me so far. i love i still have faith in you, dont shut me down AND now, Just a Notion. All three will easily enter my top 20 (angel eyes and Move on are my # 1 and 2 for a long time and probably wont be deposed by any Voyage song, but as Agnetha says " You never know!"). I'm not bothered or probably dont notice the garbled vocals. To be honest, if not for lyric sheets, most of the ABBA songs I get the wrong words when singing along.

You’re right, all four of them are on it according to YouTube. I always thought Björn was on it.

Ken Bruce is playing it right now on BBC Radio 2 and said it'll be next week's Record Of The Week.

Biggest radio station in Europe, in fact!
I'm not really listening to these new releases although I've heard DSMD a few times and think that could be a top-level Abba song.
Regardless of its merits, it's a little disappointing to hear a reworked old song being used to tie in with the album's release, and suggests there aren't really any timeless Abba classics amongst the 7 other songs on the album.
However, it may have been mainly about the style of the song that justified its release i.e. completely different to the first two songs.
Am still ridiculously excited that we have a new album on 5th Nov.
Especially as the new Nation of Language album comes out on the same day but I'm pretty certain no-one round here has even heard of them!

My first reaction upon hearing Just A Notion about three times last night was disappointment. I didn't go much on the arrangement, rhythm and, particularly, the weedy, synthy, home keyboard-style brass. That's probably very unfair, but that's how it sounded to me, and I'm glad it's not a prominent feature of the recording.

But hearing it again today, my opinion has changed. At the start, it still has a slight demo feel, to my ears, and I didn't like that. Now, I consider it a plus, in keeping with it's 50s vibe, and giving the track a certain immediacy. Benny's deployment of acoustic piano throughout really pleases me. His playing is a star of the recording, and I love the ending where he reiterates the melody into the fade.

From memory, the old demo was more of an even deployment of Agnetha and Frida's voices throughout - a joint vocal. It retains a lot of that, which I like; but Agnetha has been brought more to the fore here and there in the remix, it seems to me, perhaps to provide more dynamism and variety. I love the vocals.

Finally, I think Just A Notion is one of ABBA's most uncomplicatedly positive and happy songs. Not, for me, one of their best, but still very melodic and well worth listening to!

Sorry, I've gone on a bit. 

It’s definitely catchy. I wonder if this was the third song completed? Everything has been released in order so far and Benny mentioned the album wasn’t finished until August. Given this had a physical release there must have been a lead time required.

This is probably intended to keep radio profile ahead of the album release.