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Post by gamleman on Dec 7, 2021 10:35:52 GMT
Indeed, while LT may not perform well in its own right in the charts, it may help keep "Voyage" buoyant over the Christmas period. I dare say that those people who like LT are more likely to buy the album than the single, although there is also the streaming factor.
There is one positive note if LT fails to chart in the UK and there are no more ABBA singles... "When You Danced With Me" will go down in history as the last ABBA song to chart.
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Post by foreverfan on Dec 7, 2021 10:53:07 GMT
Like I said I don't know how the charts really work these days..
However in the current UK trending charts.. Little Things is trending at 5 or 8 depending which is the latest.. will this reflect in movement up in the main charts or has little relevance at all ?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2021 10:55:48 GMT
Little Things getting slammed...and we are fans 😀
Terrible song
Terrible video
ABBA got it wrong with JAN and LT as singles.
When You Danced With Me is the people's favourite
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 7, 2021 13:31:56 GMT
My former bass player - a casual (possibly grudging) admirer of ABBA at best - posted the video of Little Things on his social media, saying "After hearing Elton & Ed's totally forgettable Christmas song I'm happy to give a big thumbs up to Abba's Little Things." The song has continued to grow on me. I still think it's a far-from-obvious single, but it holds its own. I've heard it a few times on BBC Radio 2 now. The video still hasn't clicked with me, but I don't really care. I saw this review of the album posted on Twitter. I'm not sure if the authors are actual ABBA fans but the review is glowing: " Perfect 10: why ABBA Voyage is 2021’s album of the year." |
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Post by Alan on Dec 7, 2021 14:01:26 GMT
I read somewhere (probably Wikipedia) that the video for Little Things was directed by Sophie Muller. Sophie is a massively successful and prolific director of music videos, having worked with the likes of Eurythmics, Sade, Shakespear’s Sister, No Doubt, Blur, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Kylie Minogue and many, many others. Presumably she was given the brief for Little Things and did the best she could with it.
As for charts, I’m not really interested, but it is good news that Voyage has gone platinum in the UK. In the 80s and 90s it seemed the norm that albums went platinum but these days it’s not that common is it? Even if it doesn’t reach double platinum, it’s done very well and is a solid success. Plus I was pleased it beat Gary Barlow last week.
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Post by richard on Dec 7, 2021 14:15:31 GMT
Is Little Things generally regarded as a 'terrible' song? Or is it mostly disliked simply because it's slow, 'Victorian and unpartyish', as onlyabba4meagain devastatingly describes it, and not ABBA's 2021 equivalent of 'Winter Wonderland' or ' Frosty, the Snowman' ? For what it's worth, I find the melody and vocals of LT, at least, charming and appealing, though it could been done a bit faster and with a bit more of a flourish. Maybe, done that way, it would've been liked more |
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Post by justabba on Dec 7, 2021 14:26:55 GMT
Is Little Things generally regarded as a 'terrible' song? Or is it mostly disliked simply because it's slow, 'Victorian and unpartyish', as onlyabba4meagain devastatingly describes it, and not ABBA's 2021 equivalent of 'Winter Wonderland' or ' Frosty, the Snowman' ? For what it's worth, I find the melody and vocals of LT, at least, charming and appealing, though it could been done a bit faster and with a bit more of a flourish. Maybe, done that way, it would've been liked more I certainly don't think ite terrible. I come from a classical musicians point of view, so the fact its a lullaby means it stands above the usual cheap Christmas dross. Even if its not a hit, its charming and beautifully sung, to my ears anyhow. |
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Post by bennybjorn on Dec 7, 2021 14:28:04 GMT
Is Little Things generally regarded as a 'terrible' song? Or is it mostly disliked simply because it's slow, 'Victorian and unpartyish', as onlyabba4meagain devastatingly describes it, and not ABBA's 2021 equivalent of 'Winter Wonderland' or ' Frosty, the Snowman' ? For what it's worth, I find the melody and vocals of LT, at least, charming and appealing, though it could been done a bit faster and with a bit more of a flourish. Maybe, done that way, it would've been liked more When I heard they'd written a Christmas song, I prayed (to the pop gods!) that it would be a thoughtful, nuanced songs, free of festive cliches. Unfortunately, it's nothing of the sort. Full of bog standard, unimaginative lyrics about Santa, happy children, stockings etc. There's nothing subtle or interesting there that adds anything worthwhile to the existing body of Christmas songs. The music's good enough - it's a pretty tune and the singing is great as always. But the lyrics are just drippy rubbish. A stronger arrangement might indeed have helped its prospects. |
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Post by richard on Dec 7, 2021 15:21:25 GMT
Commercial Christmas is a inbuilt cliche anyway, so I don't mind songs that feed into that commerciality. Given that, I don't find lyrics about happy, screaming children 'on this lovely Christmas morning' bothersome. But I would have liked ABBA to have done a really fun, tuneful, uptempo, festively winter song: a catchy 2021 equivalent of 'Frosty, the Snowman', indeed.  Excuse my poor taste! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2021 17:46:41 GMT
I have warmed to LT despite the song being the least favourite of mine from " Voyage ". I think the joint vocals from Agnetha and Frida are sublime. I guess it would have been great if ABBA had released a double "A" side for Christmas. LT and WYDWM ( which is now one of my favourite songs from the album. ) A wonderful uplifting ditty with an Irish/Swedish feel to it. Still let's not expect too much as ABBA did fulfil their promise with the release of one more studio album from them. An outstanding collection of songs. The critics can take a running jump as far as I'm concerned.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2021 19:10:38 GMT
Actually Voyage got some good reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Independent, Mirror
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Times, Mail, Rolling Stone, Superdeluxeedition
7.4 out of 10 on Pitchfork
Yes, a few ⭐⭐⭐ such as NME and Telegraph but only The Guardian and a Sydney paper gave it ⭐⭐. Those two star reviews were the first to publish as soon as album released. But too much focus placed on them.
Voyage takes a few listens.
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Post by swededreamz on Dec 7, 2021 20:02:18 GMT
And The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday were very positive.
And a different reviewer on both The Guardian and The Express enjoyed it.
The Guardian even nominated I Still Have Faith In You as a candidate for song of the year…
It’s all opinions and the media need a bit of click bait to get people to read their pages.
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Post by joseph on Dec 7, 2021 20:59:52 GMT
It's really not true that Little Things is Universally disliked. Not at all. Obviously I'm not on every site but I do explore the Internet fairly thoroughly and many people like it. A lot. Just because one or two people have their opinion about it doesn't make it gospel. I'm glad AꓭBA didn't go down the uptempo route, quite frankly. Bring on the Victorian ballads, I say. I've no idea if it's selling by the shedload or what position it has in the charts, I really couldn't give a toss- it'll be successful enough and the money goes to Unicef so it's a winner. I very much doubt AꓭBA were banking on a number one with it anyway, that's not the point. And the video expresses something very important- young people getting out there and being creative...inspired by AꓭBA(tars)... so that's cool. There are of course some people elsewhere slating the video, often quite nastily, only to have a parent of one of the featured children pop in to express their dismay and hurt that some fans can be so mean.
Having said that, it's not top of my list. Today, it's Keep An Eye On Dan. That's a corker! I'm still shocked someone on here said only Frida comes out of this album well. As for I Can Be That Woman...well, it gets better every time I hear it. Tammy...the arguably clumsy lyrics...none of that matters when you have someone expressing emotion like only Agnetha (and Frida, naturally!) can.
Graham, I seem to recall you are partial to the odd remix? You like a bop around your kitchen, don't you? There are some bangers on YouTube, fill your boots. There's one I quite like but they've beggered around with the voices; they're slower and not as distinct in the mix..otherwise it would be a cracker. For the clubs, I mean. Oh, and I don't consider myself particularly intelligent so grumpy it is! (I'm really not, I just call out BS when I see it). And less of the old! 😆 I'm *cough* 39
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Post by bennybjorn on Dec 7, 2021 21:40:49 GMT
And The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday were very positive. And a different reviewer on both The Guardian and The Express enjoyed it. The Guardian even nominated I Still Have Faith In You as a candidate for song of the year… It’s all opinions and the media need a bit of click bait to get people to read their pages. Yes, the album has done pretty well critically. It was a bit of a fright when the first review came in (Sydney Herald) but luckily that turned out to be an outlier. It's got 72/100 on Metacritic which averages all the main reviews from established publications. www.metacritic.com/music/voyage/abbaYou generally need to get over 80 to have a chance in the end-of-year polls but anything over 70 is pretty respectable. |
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Post by paulman on Dec 7, 2021 23:29:23 GMT
I have to say that when I first heard the song Just a nation I was really excited. Agnetha's clean and energetic voice, double voices. A melody with a certain dose of escalating tension. I didn't understand why such a great song didn't pass into the album Voulez Vous. Unfortunately, the redesigned version is a bit in honky tonk design. The song is great but I see the problem in the arrangement. With such a below-average arrangement, no song would fully succeed. Not even the popular unfinished song Just I like that.
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Post by richard on Dec 7, 2021 23:42:38 GMT
Very much agree. For me, it's about the arrangement, too. I like the song itself: the melody and vocals, especially.
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Post by foreverfan on Dec 8, 2021 10:27:02 GMT
Graham, I seem to recall you are partial to the odd remix? You like a bop around your kitchen, don't you? There are some bangers on YouTube, fill your boots. There's one I quite like but they've beggered around with the voices; they're slower and not as distinct in the mix..otherwise it would be a cracker. For the clubs, I mean. Oh, and I don't consider myself particularly intelligent so grumpy it is! (I'm really not, I just call out BS when I see it). And less of the old! 😆 I'm *cough* 39 Its true I like a good remix.. although few and far between.. Ill check out a few... to be honest I liked them in the fallow years when nothing was new, for years and years, No doubt Ill return to a good bop around the kitchen ... I never had you down for 39, you sound so much younger !!!! Little Things seems to be holding its own albeit in the lower reaches of various charts, there hasn't been any official updates that I've seen .. so a few days to go and we will see... Surprised I haven't heard anyone mention about 'bringing the breakfast tray and price to pay ?' risque for ABBA ..lol |
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Post by bennybjorn on Dec 8, 2021 10:44:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2021 14:30:42 GMT
A little bit of a moan here.
I use my real name - as does moderator Alan (ffs who would make up name "Alan"?).
I am getting references to "Colin" or more recently "Graham".
It seens there is a clique within this open forum.
Either give your real names as you log on
Or use real names in PMs (if this site has them!)
It seems I am left out of the loop to an inner circle.
Cheers
Johnny
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 8, 2021 15:06:33 GMT
While I can see your point, johnny , some people choose to reveal little about themselves. That includes whether to withhold their real name. That's their right. The internet is worse than the wild west, so people are right to be wary of what they share. I use a "handle" - it had been standard internet protocol for donkeys' years when I joined. After a while, when I got used to the site and the people using it, I opted to include my name (and country) in my signature. Some people have spotted it; others might not have, as I still get addressed as Hometime from time to time. I've been here since the start and I only know one or two real names. Those names that I know, I seemed to pick up along the way - usually when someone else has publicly addressed a person by their real name. I don't know these people. In fact, there is only one forum member to to whom I'm connected on social media and, even then, we hardly interact (maybe because I'm starting to work towards deleting social media, but I digress). If people choose to share their real names with us, that is their prerogative. It doesn't mean there's a clique if they don't. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that one or two members of the forum might even be celebrities who don't want their identities known. |
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Post by foreverfan on Dec 8, 2021 16:23:41 GMT
Hiya Johnny.. Its Graham...
I can assure you I'm in no clique, In fact I'm only in personal contact with one other in here and I've been a member of one site or another for to many years to remember, and we only got in contact through being a member of The Abba site.. I think...
I only chose Foreverfan, as I thought it was the thing to do at the time plus I like it, as its true.. However I really don't mind if you or anyone else calls me Graham, its not as if its a secret...
Enough said.. lets move on.....Sorry if it caused a sort of paranoia....
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Post by joseph on Dec 8, 2021 16:30:36 GMT
There's no clique, Johnny. At least not as far as I know! The simple explanation is there are a few people who remember one another from an AꓭBA chat forum many moons ago. Hence why one or two of us use their first name, that's all. Also, it can be easier to use their handle when tagging someone. It gets their attention quicker I suppose. I do both and if someone seems at ease with me using their first name I'll do that. I'm guessing you weren't in the original abba4ever forum? There were some really cool people with clever names on there, very pun-laden. Abba song titles, lines from songs- sometimes, you'd know the person's real name but their forum identity was so cool, you'd use that. I wish I could remember them all. A great bunch all in all, I have some very fond memories.
Anyhoo, back to Voyage. I hear Little Things ain't doing too bad? That's if what I gather is correct?
I know there's Voyage the concert to come and I'm not complaining...but I'd love it if AꓭBA had, single-wise, one last hurrah! An epic ballad that knocks everyone's socks off..a combination of ISHFIY and Don't Shut Me Down. How that would work, I don't know. One last trick up their sleeve. Don't want much, do I?
As far as risque lyrics in Little Things go, I think they're quite tame really. They probably only want a cheeky kiss as their reward. It depends on your imagination. It's certainly not depraved or likely to corrupt a young mind.
Yep Graham, I'd have a bop myself if my back could stand it! I am 83 after all!
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Post by Alan on Dec 8, 2021 16:36:21 GMT
I use my real name - as does moderator Alan (ffs who would make up name "Alan"?). I’m sure you probably meant that in jest but it doesn’t necessarily come across that way. Can you think before you type? As others have said, some of us have been around for a while, and (in my case) on four different forums . I had a username on A4E but people got to know me as Alan so I used that on subsequent forums. And yes, it is my real name. |
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Post by gamleman on Dec 8, 2021 16:46:45 GMT
To an extent, I can see where Johnny is coming from. When I first joined this site, I thought there was a bit of a clique with some people on first-name terms. Also, I felt it took a while for my posts to be taken seriously, as initially I sometimes found people dismissive. Now I can see that there isn't a clique, although there is perhaps inevitably more familiarity between the people who post regularly, which may give the impression of a clique.
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Post by johnb on Dec 8, 2021 17:08:00 GMT
It took me a while to realise that some people have their real names in their signatures. Once I had spotted that some of the replies started to make more sense. Apart from that I have no idea who people really are - although there is one person whose style I immediately recognised from way back (probably to the days when ABBAsite still had a forum).
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2021 17:46:38 GMT
Because I closed my membership with ABBAchat on two occasions my username is genius which is taken from my middle name. Previously my usernames were eddie and edmfio76. My name is Edmund ( strictly speaking it is Eugeniusz ) as I have already explained where members introduce and re-introduce themselves to ABBAchat.
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Post by gamleman on Dec 8, 2021 17:53:44 GMT
Because I closed my membership with ABBAchat on two occasions my username is genius which is taken from my middle name. Previously my usernames were eddie and edmfio76. My name is Edmund ( strictly speaking it is Eugeniusz ) as I have already explained where members introduce and re-introduce themselves to ABBAchat. I am delighted to see you back Edmund. I remember you were so friendly and responsive when I first joined. And I had no idea you had come back as eddie. |
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Post by breifne on Dec 8, 2021 17:59:48 GMT
Because I closed my membership with ABBAchat on two occasions my username is genius which is taken from my middle name. Previously my usernames were eddie and edmfio76. My name is Edmund ( strictly speaking it is Eugeniusz ) as I have already explained where members introduce and re-introduce themselves to ABBAchat. Great to see you back Eugeniusz |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2021 18:08:37 GMT
Thank you guys for your kind wishes. Johnny, please don't feel isolated I always enjoy reading your posts as they are very informative and valid. Joseph, please don't take offence but are you really 83 !
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Post by joseph on Dec 8, 2021 19:36:15 GMT
No, I'm not 83.
Cute snippet of the little lad who plays Björn in the video for Little Things reacting to it.
PS There's a reaction to the whole video pending approval from Universal.
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Excuse my poor taste!
