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Post by madonnabba on Oct 23, 2021 8:06:03 GMT
Not sure they will use the chorus for bumblebee . I think the bit where they sing just like that is the same bit used when they sing under attack. I think they sound similar. It is a good tune but the lyrics in Just like that are clumsy.
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Post by jj on Oct 23, 2021 8:08:21 GMT
I'm still completely and utterly surprised at how much I love JAN, especially given I didn't care at all for the demo/unmixed version we knew.
One of the many things I adore about it is the way the choir bits sometimes glide up and down a few notes (eg., between 2:24 and 2:26, the aaahh-aaaaaaaas immediately after the main vocals sing the really high "Just a notion!" bit, these "aaah---aaaaas" glide up a few notes).
It's so subjective, but this song to me is pure joy. When I listen to it at high volume through headphones, hearing every detail, I am just transported. Such elation! It really is impossibly cheerful. I love it so much!
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Post by madonnabba on Oct 23, 2021 9:21:18 GMT
Could there be a link with the songs...someone watching me from outside..JAN to someone watching from outside DSMD to reconciliation ISHFIY. Maybe When I danced and I could be that woman could also fit in. Dan could be the other man flirting from one woman to another like a bumble from one flower to another. One to keep an eye on who appreciates his freedom. With him out of the equation and sure of herself , now there is no doubt about it she is back with her original love. That time at the gym is when my mind wanders to Abba and the new album. 😃
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Post by gamleman on Oct 23, 2021 9:27:51 GMT
I'm a bit late to the "Just A Notion" party - I was travelling yesterday and didn't hear the song until I got home in the evening, when I also found 88 e-mail notifications from this thread of the forum  I downloaded it and wrote it to CD, but am now hoping that the official CD will arrive today. I've listened to it only three times so far - I can't say I have listened to any of the singles a lot, as I want them to still sound relatively fresh when I play the album for the first time. My reaction to JAN is positive. It has most of the classic ABBA ingredients. They've done an excellent job of the arrangement and I don't really care if the vocals are the original - I'm just glad that they finally finished off the recording and released it. It's far from ABBA's strongest song melodically, but I felt the same about "Take A Chance On Me" - the production (on both songs) more than makes up for this. One small criticism on the production... listening to JAN on a Hi-Fi system, the bass is a bit too strong, which distracts from the vocals, leading to a slight lack of focus. It actually sound better through my computer speakers, where the vocals are more forward, and I imagine it will sound fine on small radios. And regarding not hearing all the lyrics clearly, since when have all the lyrics on ABBA songs and other artists' music been crystal clear? Apart from a nod to a bygone era in the arrangement, I think JAN is nothing like "Why Did It Have To Be Me" or even "Waterloo", as previously reported. As I said following the clip earlier in the week, the style reminds me more of some of the Eurovision entries from Scandinavian countries in the early 80s. I would have been very pleased with the JAN that we are hearing today, had it been on the "Voulez-vous" album - not as good as "Dreamworld" though and it is a mystery to me as why they omitted this track in favour of, say, "Lovers (Live A Little Longer)" or why they simply didn't include it as an 11th track or use it as a B-side (or indeed, an A-side). JAN is also not in the same class as "Don't Shut Me Down", which has it all - melody, lyrics, vocals, emotion and production to a very high standard. Should JAN have been released as a single in advance of the "Voyage" album? I still think this was a good marketing strategy and it did get exposure of the 'old' track out of the way before the album release. I think the public could lap up this track in its traditional ABBA style - however, I agree with whoever said that it could have been reworked into a very successful Christmas song. I believe that ABBA are keeping their best new track up their sleeves until the album release - as I've said before, I have a 'notion' that "When You Danced With Me" will be something quite special. |
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Post by Alan on Oct 23, 2021 10:23:05 GMT
Update on Just A Notion vocals.
Björn wasn’t quite correct in the press statement - whilst the majority of vocals are old, the last two lines (I think it's more than a notion / In a moment a dream is about to come true) are new. This has been confirmed by Carl Magnus Palm (I got the info from Ian Cole). Ian joked that Björn would have to look it up on Wikipedia…
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Post by pixi on Oct 23, 2021 11:07:38 GMT
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Post by richard on Oct 23, 2021 11:26:39 GMT
Although I think Just A Notion, as it is now, is tuneful and joyful, I'm sure a number of us, including me, would have preferred something different from the boogie style rhythm. But I had difficulty imagining how an alternative arrangement might go, until I came across this video. In the first few seconds of it, the guy gives a rendition on keyboard of part of JAN that clicked with me and gave me a 'Ah-Ah!' moment. It suggested to me that if it was done faster, with real strings, it could have worked, sounding beautiful and vibrant and joyful, offering perhaps an even more appealing treatment of JAN for some of us.
The video was done before ABBA's new version was released:
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 23, 2021 11:53:55 GMT
^^^ According to the above article on Swedish Dinner Ladies....
ABBA themselves will be appearing on opening night.... Just my luck I'm going 2 days later...lol
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Post by gazman on Oct 23, 2021 16:08:32 GMT
Tony, they do this so that it makes crtain issues of the album very desirable. The only way to get them is through ebay at inflated prices. They have just done a lmited edition one for the Australian market, how many more are they going to do? They do it to promote sales in certain territories, really. In the case of the Australian green/gold vinyl, the purchaser will receive the digital album on release, then the physical product in mid-2022 according to the feature. Perhaps it is an extra ploy to help the record chart highly? |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2021 16:34:31 GMT
I loved your cryptic clue post, Madonnabba. Maybe there is a link with all the new songs on " Voyage ". One thing for sure all the songs are and will be real " belters ".
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Post by hejiranyc on Oct 23, 2021 16:37:46 GMT
OMG, that's dreadful! LOL. I think JAN is perfect the way it is. In the theatre of my mind, I envision Benny wearing a kerchief around his neck and banging on an upright piano in a Texas dancehall/saloon and the girls, wearing stetson hats and cowboy boots, start singing. Next, the whole place is line dancing. It's just that fun, "it's Saturday night" kind of vibe. |
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Post by Michal on Oct 23, 2021 16:50:24 GMT
The intro of JAN is so similar to Why Did It Have To Be Me that it crossed my mind if it isn't intentional and sort of a concept of the new album. Should every new song remind us of some of the old ones?? Just A Notion of Waterloo and Why Did It Have To Be Me. Don't Shut Me Down of If It Wasn't For The Nights (the strings) and Dancing Queen (the glissando). Does anybody hear a resemblance to any song from the back catalogue in I Still Have Faith In You?
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Post by richard on Oct 23, 2021 16:58:52 GMT
hejiranyc , that snippet from the video I posted is hardly dreadful! I'm asking you to have an open mind and enter the theater of my mind regarding JAN. I prefer it to Bjorn as a a cowboy, anyway!
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Post by chron on Oct 23, 2021 17:06:17 GMT
The intro of JAN is so similar to Why Did It Have To Be Me that it crossed my mind if it isn't intentional and sort of a concept of the new album. Should every new song remind us of some of the old ones?? Just A Notion of Waterloo and Why Did It Have To Be Me. Don't Shut Me Down of If It Wasn't For The Nights (the strings) and Dancing Queen (the glissando). Does anybody hear a resemblance to any song from the back catalogue in I Still Have Faith In You? It's harder to pinpoint what sort of 'recycling' is going on in I Still Have Faith In You, but very ( very!) broadly there's maybe of whiff in there of things such as I Wonder and Thank You For The Music, and in the urgent swell of the chorus (a search for affirmation and reassurance 'dressed' as assertion), things like the choruses of One Man, One Woman and Chiquitita come to mind. |
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Post by gamleman on Oct 23, 2021 17:16:53 GMT
Another problem for us collectors out there... A new coloured vinyl edition has been released and will ship next Spring 2022. However, you have to be a resident of Australia to get hold of one.  ebay it is then... I'm wondering whether the Australian limited-edition vinyl of "Voyage" for next June is to somehow to make up for a shortage of physical copies in Australia for this first release. On Amazon Australia, there are no physical copies of the album now available to order - no vinyl, CDs or cassettes! |
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Post by madonnabba on Oct 23, 2021 17:55:46 GMT
I think of Fernando when I heard ISHFIY...when the drums come in at the beginning. Eddie , time will tell when we hear the rest of the songs. Would be good if the album did tell a story. Bit like a jigsaw..we may have some of the pieces. Or maybe I have had too much caffeine.
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 23, 2021 17:57:01 GMT
The intro of JAN is so similar to Why Did It Have To Be Me that it crossed my mind if it isn't intentional and sort of a concept of the new album. Should every new song remind us of some of the old ones?? Just A Notion of Waterloo and Why Did It Have To Be Me. Don't Shut Me Down of If It Wasn't For The Nights (the strings) and Dancing Queen (the glissando). Does anybody hear a resemblance to any song from the back catalogue in I Still Have Faith In You? It's harder to pinpoint what sort of 'recycling' is going on in I Still Have Faith In You, but very ( very!) broadly there's maybe of whiff in there of things such as I Wonder and Thank You For The Music, and in the urgent swell of the chorus (a search for affirmation and reassurance 'dressed' as assertion), things like the choruses of One Man, One Woman and Chiquitita come to mind. I think there's a gentle whiff of Our Last Summer in there too - the rock edge of the guitars and that surging chorus. Like you guys, I'm wondering how much is coincidental and how much of it is design. JAN makes me think that they're not too concerned with trends or fashion - and that makes total sense to me. I think their age and genius status gives them absolute freedom to do what they want. If reflections of the back catalogue is to be a theme for the album - I'm now and then combined - it'd be fun to speculate where else in their history they'll find ideas. |
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Post by jj on Oct 23, 2021 18:22:24 GMT
it'd be fun to speculate where else in their history they'll find ideas.
Since they no longer have to worry about ever having to reproduce their sound later in a live setting, I hope at least one song includes a full-on choir of their voices, à la the choruses of "Lay All Your Love On Me"! That was such a heavenly sound. And the song itself was basically styled like a church hymn. With Voyage, ABBA could be as intricate as they want, knowing they'd never have to perform them in concert and risk disappointing the audience by not matching their live sound to the original recordings.
Related thought: Back in 1980, I wonder if they'd already decided that their touring days were over when they recorded "Lay All Your Love On Me", because even then they would have known already that this song would have been almost impossible to recreate faithfully on stage without a huge choir to back them up.
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Post by chron on Oct 23, 2021 18:57:14 GMT
Like you guys, I'm wondering how much is coincidental and how much of it is design. [...] If reflections of the back catalogue is to be a theme for the album - I'm now and then combined - it'd be fun to speculate where else in their history they'll find ideas. They have little choice but to broadly embrace the idea that Voyage will represent a career summation of sorts, since, regardless of whether or not and to what degree they've allowed the 'ghosts' of themes and melodies and approaches past to grace it, this - presumed - 'last hurrah' going to be critically treated as such. |
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Post by madonnabba on Oct 23, 2021 19:41:32 GMT
Not sure how many acts perform live these days. But I heard that Queen could not perform Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety in concert. Not having to perform a song live should allow for more complexity. I am hoping that this will be their best album. Big ask as they have set the bar so high with previous albums.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2021 3:38:00 GMT
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Post by Michal on Oct 24, 2021 7:14:07 GMT
Not sure how many acts perform live these days. But I heard that Queen could not perform Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety in concert. Not having to perform a song live should allow for more complexity. I am hoping that this will be their best album. Big ask as they have set the bar so high with previous albums. You're right, the members of Queen always left the stage for the operatic part, which they could not reproduce live on stage. It was played from a tape instead, accompanied by special light effects. But ABBA used pre-recorded sequence too during their concerts - Björn and Benny's backing vocals in Take A Chance On Me (take a chance, take a chance, take-a take-a chance-chance). But I'm not sure they're thinking along these lines (i.e. let's make the music more elaborate, as we're not required to perform it live). |
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Post by sikejsudjek on Oct 24, 2021 10:25:01 GMT
I was old enough to see Queen a few times live with Freddie, and Bo Rap was always fun. They walked off stage for the 'operatic' section leaving the lightshow to go mad with the audience singing along, to come back for the heavier end section with lots of pyrotechnics.
I like Just a Notion. The style reminds me of Jeff Lynne/ELO. Jeff often uses a similar boogie shuffle feel with diminished chords in many of his albums. Of course Jeff and Abba are harking back to earlier genres. The song doesn't sound too great on youtube due to the extra compression that's added, but is great with the mp3 cranked up loud on a proper system. There are also a few good dance remixes on youtube - ABBA should consider releasing the multitracks for dance producers to remix nighclub versions. With Christmas coming up that would give it another boost, as its an ideal happy party song.
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 24, 2021 12:37:33 GMT
I like Just a Notion. [...] There are also a few good dance remixes on youtube - ABBA should consider releasing the multitracks for dance producers to remix nighclub versions. With Christmas coming up that would give it another boost, as its an ideal happy party song. Voggue's Dancin' The Night Away (clearly an attempted hijacking of the ABBA sound back in 1982) is quite like Just A Notion musically - it could work just as well in the boogiewoogie style, but it's been set in a disco arrangement. If ABBA gave the stems of JAN to a remixer, they might be able to come up with something like this.. .That said, it almost seems moot now. I'm hearing JAN a lot on BBC Radio 2 and the presenters' responses are uniformly joyous. It has a drive and bounce that seems to sweep away misgivings. #RidiculouslyHappy |
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Post by madonnabba on Oct 24, 2021 13:38:42 GMT
From my uncertainty on first hearing I am now addicted to JAN. Its part of my gym playlist and when it comes on I crank my efforts up on the cross trainer. This morning in the gym overlooking the river , JAN came on and the sun came out...just perfect. Listen to it at every opportunity on Spotify. Doing my bit for the team....Team Abba. Hopefully it will chart in the Top 20 , maybe Top 10. See old misery chanteuse is number one. Really? I just don't get it. Must be sponsored by some anti depressant drug company.
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 24, 2021 13:48:49 GMT
^^^ LOL...
I've realized I'm obsessed at the moment with JAN , the same as DSMD...I need to calm down....
I really hope there are more on the album in this vein, they are really up lifting, good for the heart stuff, in this doom and gloom world of ours...
That last little instrumental and verse is brilliant, I'm afraid another earworm and sleepless nights ahead...lol
Not that ill really care, but wondering what the critics will be saying of Voyage, they have 3 so far to go by... this album could be the most diverse yet......
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2021 13:54:49 GMT
This post of mine is the 5,000th on this ABBA news Forum
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 24, 2021 14:15:32 GMT
^^^^ if id only known....lol ...always to early !!!!
Anyway 'sandwiched between....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2021 15:20:24 GMT
Johnny, carry on posting. Let us all keep up the good work.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2021 18:10:28 GMT
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