ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2021 Sept - Dec

Angela, I'm glad you have a copy of " Voyage ". I agree with you it is an outstanding album. I find the more you listen to the songs the more they grow on you. ABBA have picked up from where they left off.
Johnny, WIKTT is one of my favourite songs from " Arrival ". It is a pop gem with a very catchy chorus and melody.

The brilliance of Abba is that different songs open up in different ways at different times.

I Can Be That Woman

On first few hearings it just washed over me.

But now, what a song.

Hi Bennybjorn, I will speculate at 50,000 copies sold in week 2 but the number could be higher as it is such an exceptional album. What about the sales of ABBA Gold ?

Definitely as ABBA are invincible.

Thanks Alan, I look forward to listening to Frida's interview.

Well, unless one would want to immerse the addressee into depression))

Good article. Slight bending of the facts (Voulez-Vous and - in most countries - The Album weren’t released in November) but on the whole fairly accurate.

Wow, Abba at No.1 in Australia with Voyage. How amazing is that! This is a historic achievement. They have not had a no. 1 album in Australia since Arrival! Younger fans may not be aware but at one time Abba dominated Australia. They permeated every aspect of the media and became an integral part of Australian society. They saturated the culture and music of Australia. Then a backlash started. It was a bloodbath and they were vilified by the media, turned against by the general public and lost all popularity except from their diehard fans. It was a very sad experience to witness from the other side of the world in Europe. My Abba friends wrote and told me about it. Letters took 7 - 10 days to arrive then, no instant media like today. So the fact Voyage is No 1 in Australia today is a really significant and historic achievement for Abba.

I was in Sainsbury yesterday in Ladbrook Grove in London. I was pleased to see Abba’s CD prominently displayed as you entered the store. The dreaded Ed Sheeran CD was next to it too and Abba was £11, Ed £10. Sainsbury only ever sells CD’s in exceptional circumstances and for exceptional artists. No doubt Adele will join them in the display stand next week. Someone picked up the Abba CD as I was observing this pleasant sight. He just looked at it and put it in his trolley. I felt like going up to him and saying, “Well, done, mate!”

Liking the optimism there, Eddie, but I fear even my 30,000 may not be attained!
However, I do think the album will fare well over Christmas, easily reaching platinum status in the UK (300,000) and well past a million worldwide.
I think for vast numbers of people (most under 50s) it may well be only the second Abba album they've ever had after Gold, and it may just feel like a logical follow-on to that in a sense with strong sales throughout the months ahead. Time will tell!

I agree with your post, Swededreamz. The album is JUST NOT GOOD BUT OUTSTANDING. All the songs stand out. I am hooked on ICBTW ( Agnetha at her very best ) and BB ( a very moving performance from Frida. The vocals and harmonies are beyond words. The emotional impact these songs deliver are so powerful. After listening, they leave you teary-eyed. WYDWM is another that leaves me totally spellbound so joyous and uplifting ( makes me want to dance a merry little jig especially after a " wee dram " of whisky ). JAN and DSMD are pop classics and ISHFIY so beautifully poignant and emotive. KAEOD and NDAI are infectious and hum in my head constantly. OTF is a rousing and haunting slice of melodrama and I am drawn to the lovely vocals on LT. So innocent yet charming. What an incredible album. Beyond my wildest hopes and expectations.

Has anyone seen Voyage being sold in their local supermarket? I haven't

I was in HMV in Derby today (actually my local one). Again, just the plastic box CD and deluxe CD box. They still had the yellow vinyl, and also the standard black vinyl (actually the first time I’ve seen it).

Anyone with either the soft pack standard artwork or the alternative artwork CD definitely appears to have a rarity. HMV’s website no longer has these either.

Adele’s album will similarly be released in an alternative artwork CD and a clear vinyl, again both exclusive to HMV.

Regarding Australia, as jj pointed out, it’s not true to say that they were suddenly rejected there. It started with Knowing Me, Knowing You “only” reaching number 9, but after that they remained consistent there, with top 5 albums and one (or often two) top 10 hits from each album. It was only The Visitors where it unravelled,but they were only slightly ahead of the UK and some other countries there. Gold was a number one album there (though it’s correct that Arrival was their last number one studio album).

Here is a fuller interview with Frida



Alan - I have the HMV alternative artwork CD. I only ordered it about a week before release and got it on day of release.

Bennybjorn - I have read comments online about people buying Voyage in Morrison's but not the other supermarkets.