ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2021 Sept - Dec

I agree with you with the cold endings. Only Just A Notion had a fade out. By having that, I found that song fleshed out nicely. No Doubt About It definitely could’ve benefited from a fade out.

I think they got it right with No doubt about it. As there is no doubt about it , it should be an abrupt ending....affirmative ...as their is no doubt. Fading would imply uncertainty, as though I am trying to convince myself I am right if I say it often enough. I wish however they has repeated the final lines in JAN into the fade.

I think the main issue with Little Things, onlyabba4meagain, is the fact that it’s on a studio album. I can’t think of any acts that have ever done that, usually Christmas songs are non-album singles (and often not even included on an act’s Greatest Hits albums).

For it to feel like a Christmas song, it can only really be heard in December (and even then not after Christmas Day). This means editing it out of the album for the rest of the year, or skipping it.

I’d have liked it as a Christmas single only, but not part of the album.

I agree. And Happy New Year shouldn't have been on Super Trouper either.

I think I’d have moved “Keep an eye on Dan” up to track 2, so the running order would have been:

I Still Have Faith In You
Keep An Eye On Dan
When You Danced With Me
Little Things
Don't Shut Me Down

Just A Notion
I Can Be That Woman
Bumblebee
No Doubt About It
Ode To Freedom


Then you’d have had a disco banger much sooner, coming in between the stately grandeur of ISHFIY and the folk dance band of When you danced with me. I think that would have reassured people who might feel that the whole thing was going to be a bit folksy/schlagery on the basis of the first three tracks being ISHFIY/WYDWTM/Little Things.
It would also mitigate the slight saccharineness of the A side, and made the B side a bit less bleak.

Little Things would still lead into DSMD (which is cute because the kids' choir goes into the line about children's laughter) and then DSMD would  have closed the A side, with the uptempo bop of Just a notion to open the B side, going into I can be that woman. Then you wouldn’t have had 2 Agnetha “relationship gone wrong” songs next to one another.

I like that the final line of 'No doubt about it' is "This isn't where it ends" when it's the penultimate track. And Ode has to be last as it's so beautiful and a fitting finale to ABBA's career.

Oh, it seems I shouldn't have put my review in that other thread, as it's for official reviews, so I'll put it here and delete it in the other thread...

I have now listened to the "Voyage" album enough to be sure of my views, so thought I could fairly confidently submit a review (or my notes on each track). I have been careful to avoid other people's opinions (apart from discussing the tracks with a friend who is a casual ABBA fan). Therefore, these comments are my uncoloured opinions and I have no idea whether they agree or disagree with the consensus of opinion about the album. I will say little about the singles that were released prior to the album, by the way.

I STILL HAVE FAITH IN YOU - This relatively quiet track is not a natural album opener but it just had to be in this case, as it sparked off the recording of this whole album and sets the scene. A wonderful piece of mature ABBA.

WHEN YOU DANCED WITH ME - I was expecting uptempo but not an upbeat Folk song. While not exactly similar to "The Piper" and "Cassandra", it probably belongs to the same 'ABBA genre'. This track had me excited on first hearing and certainly has the magic of ABBA.

LITTLE THINGS - I expected this to be twee and it is, but it has its charm. Melodically I don't find it very striking but the vocal arrangement is pretty fabulous. I'm disappointed that it is explicitly a Christmas song and has been included as track 3 on this album. I don't think it would be suitable as a single after all.

DON'T SHUT ME DOWN - Another wonderful piece of mature ABBA blended with classic ABBA, containing an important message to the fans. It is currently my favourite track on the album and will probably remain that way.

JUST A NOTION - A touch of classic ABBA. Despite the controversy, this track in this arrangement deserves its place on the album for me.

I CAN BE THAT WOMAN - This song is so so sad. I believe this is the nearest that ABBA have ever come to Country music. It is lyrically perhaps a little clumsy but nevertheless powerful and so touchingly delivered by Agnetha. This is "The Winner Takes It All" of this album. I think it is one of the more special numbers in their (updated) repertoire and one of the album's highlights.

KEEP AN EYE ON DAN - I thought that this was an odd title and that it might be an attempt comedy, but far from it. The wonderful Scandinavian melancholy of the first verse gives way to a musical theatre feel in the chorus. This one really exploits the ABBA sound and is one of the strongest tracks on the album for me. My only reservation is I could have done without that whiny instrument they've used. I love the nod to "SOS" at the end.

BUMBLEBEE - This one has a Celtic feel, in the manner of "The Way Old Friends Do". It is very pleasant with another beautiful arrangement but it is just a decent album track and not one of the standout tracks.

NO DOUBT ABOUT IT - I suppose this is ABBA's goodwill gesture to those people who favour their old uptempo songs - a crowd pleaser (perhaps for the ABBAtars show?). It works well but it isn't melodically as strong as many of those old songs. The chorus has the feel of an upbeat musical theatre number and also reminds me of "Natt og dag" that they did with Finn Kalvik.

ODE TO FREEDOM - What a very fitting end to the album - a beautiful anthem with all four of them singing in unison. This is the "Arrival" of this album. Again, I think we can hear a musical theatre influence - this song could easily have come from one of B&B's musicals. I feel this is a song that has the potential to be perpetuated through covers and orchestral versions, and become part of the public psyche in the way that "Thank You For The Music" has.

To conclude, I think this is a marvellous album that is very fitting for ABBA as they are now. I am delighted with it and really couldn't have expected better. It contains some great songs and in terms of quality it is more consistent than some of ABBA's earlier albums - I would compare it with "The Visitors" in this respect. The song order works very well, apart from "Little Things". Perhaps the emphasis is more on beautiful vocals and arrangements and even on the lyrics than on the hypnotic melodies of yesteryear. I think a lot of their experiences of the past 40 years have rubbed off on this album. It has a musical theatre feel in many places and I'm sure the sound of the BAO has influenced it a lot (even though I'm not too familiar with their work beyond the "Story Of A Heart" album). I also think Bjorn has worked hard to make the lyrics relevant to the world as it is today. It's just a wonderful collection.

What, if anything, would I have done differently? My main gripe surrounds "Little Things". I don't like the idea of a Christmas song on a studio album that I may play at any time of the year and I find its inclusion as track 3 an irritation. I would have preferred it to have been left off the album and substituted with something else. It could, however, have been included on the Deluxe Edition as a bonus track or kept as the B-side of another single to be released nearer to Christmas.

If you have bothered to read through the whole of my review, thank you.

With reference to the above post about collaborations, they did work with Scandinavian acts such as Tomas Ledin, Finn Kalvik and Michael B. Tretow, but were named as backing musicians.

Film director John Carpenter has tweeted again! "When You Danced With Me, Fantastic"! Fantastic indeed!

Thank you for your great review Gamleman! I'm still in two minds about Little Things, it's sweet, maybe could have been a b side to a possible next single before Christmas? Or perhaps a double a side with Happy New Year!

Looking forward, maybe an EP of four songs just before the avatar concerts start?! Reworking of JLT, Hamlet and two stomping pop songs for summer! I can dream can't I!?!

I don't know but I can tell you that the MP3 file-sizes from the ABBA Voyage Store are a bit bigger (perhaps 10-20%) than those of the Amazon MP3s I got for the three singles. This may suggest they are less compressed?

Why don't you subscribe to Spotify and listen to the whole album for free? I received the CD in the post on Friday and eagerly inserted it into my apple laptop where it refused to play or even be ejected. I was so disappointed as I wanted to hear it straightaway. Then I remembered someone mentioning something about Spotify and I joined it for free and listened to the whole album over and over. Plus you would be helping its chart position by using Spofity. I didn't even know what spofity was until this crisis with my new Abba CD!

It’s not the same thing. Summer is a season of the year, and somewhere in the world it’s summer (or summer-like weather) at any time of year. Christmas is a specific festival generally related to one particular month. Happy New Year is a song about looking to the future (and the past) with a new year used more as a metaphor. I have much less of an issue with that being on a studio album than Little Things. It’s much less subtle than Happy New Year.

I don't think it's horrifying, nor do I consider non-vinyl formats to be philistine. I do think people buying multiple formats of what is, when all said and done, a single album of ten new songs, are a bit crackers, though (the core artwork concept inspiring all of these variants, although completely serviceable, isn't exactly visually engaging). I especially have a hard time understanding people buying vinyl and cassette versions (cassette revival: what is point?) who have no turntable or cassette deck to play them on.

I guess it's each to their own. If Little Things was all sleigh bells and Phil Spector/Mariah Carey style in the sound I would agree that it shouldn't be on the album. But Little Things isn't Christmassey at all really, it's similar to Like An Angel etc in style and is just reflecting on Christmas and the little things in life that bring joy. That's how I see it anyway. I'm doubtful that it will be a single.