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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 17:12:51 GMT
My orange show edition vinyl has arrived. The photo makes it look more red but it’s solid orange. There is a very slight marble-like effect that can’t be seen in the photo. Not sure if it’s intentional or a production fault!  |
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 17:49:18 GMT
My friend in Germany messaged me to say two radio stations there have said "keep an eye on Dan" will be the next single, accompanied by a video. I cannot find any information to verify this. Even if there is any truth in this, it will only be a release to radio, like No Doubt About It, and look what happened (or didn’t happen) there. And a video would almost certainly feature neither the real ABBA nor the ABBATars. I really hope these radio stations are completely wrong. The Voyage album is a dead horse now. It did extremely well but its time has passed in terms of chart action. |
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Post by Michal on Jun 24, 2022 19:14:42 GMT
Getting ready for my 6th & 7th visit to the show in August...love thinking what to wear in advance then delicately adding to it!! Have all five shows you've seen so far been the same? I mean... any changes to the setlist or anything else yet? |
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Post by Michal on Jun 24, 2022 19:22:22 GMT
Alan, I must admit I have already succumbed too and my copy is on its way from the UK. I have found a seller on eBay, who was selling two copies, £45 each, the cheapest I have seen so far. So with a sigh I ordered both - one for a friend and we're sharing the shipping costs. Still it was an expensive business with the import duties to pay... I curse myself for buying all those colour variants in the first place, as having them all makes it harder to resist the new ones. I seriously hope they won't release more, or the only way to resist will be to sell everything I've already purchased 
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 20:00:08 GMT
I seriously hope they won't release more, or the only way to resist will be to sell everything I've already purchased I’m definitely resisting the Australian green/gold edition as there are no sensible prices for that. I notice the show edition is now going on eBay as a buy-it-now for slightly less than I paid. I’ve also heard that it was briefly on sale at the venue but fairly quickly sold out. The online store has added more merchandise but not the vinyl. I kind of feel a bit sorry for the official stores. The flippers are always going to out-manoeuvre them and they have no way of controlling who they’re selling to. It’s like Record Store Day… nice idea on paper but in reality it’s all about get-rich-quick for the professional flippers. |
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Post by Michal on Jun 25, 2022 7:23:14 GMT
I’m definitely resisting the Australian green/gold edition as there are no sensible prices for that. I don't want to jinx it but my friend's friend pre-ordered it for me, so I should have even that one. Which of course in turn made me buy the UK orange version. Because I was thinking that if I went to such lengths as ordering the blue version from Estonia and even securing a copy of the unattainable australian edition, it would make no sense (am I really saying this?!  ) to pass the orange one. OMG, I don't even dare to count how much I have already spent on this madness called Voyage... |
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Post by undertheappletree on Jun 25, 2022 7:54:49 GMT
My friend in Germany messaged me to say two radio stations there have said "keep an eye on Dan" will be the next single, accompanied by a video. I cannot find any information to verify this. Even if there is any truth in this, it will only be a release to radio, like No Doubt About It, and look what happened (or didn’t happen) there. And a video would almost certainly feature neither the real ABBA nor the ABBATars. I really hope these radio stations are completely wrong. The Voyage album is a dead horse now. It did extremely well but its time has passed in terms of chart action. Not quite a dead horse, it is still charting in some Countries, and in The UK Official Album SALES Chart it's notched up 33wks this Wk. But l know what you mean, it's peaked, and had its Successes. |
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Post by undertheappletree on Jun 25, 2022 8:21:39 GMT
Alan, I must admit I have already succumbed too and my copy is on its way from the UK. I have found a seller on eBay, who was selling two copies, £45 each, the cheapest I have seen so far. So with a sigh I ordered both - one for a friend and we're sharing the shipping costs. Still it was an expensive business with the import duties to pay... I curse myself for buying all those colour variants in the first place, as having them all makes it harder to resist the new ones. I seriously hope they won't release more, or the only way to resist will be to sell everything I've already purchased The import duties/Penalties are extortion now receiving Parcels etc, from UK to EU countries, and delivery time was 6 weeks, 3 times longer. So l resist ordering anything from UK, hence why my HMV 🍊 Vinyl and Deluxe CD remains in UK with family, and not in my hands. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2022 11:51:48 GMT
I agree with Alan about any new possible single. It will fare as badly as No Doubt About It and do nothing to revive Voyage's sales/chart run. I think NDAI should have been released instead of JAN. It is uptempo ABBA, which many casual fans prefer. It was also new and not a 43 year old leftover track. I guess they had to release LT as a single even though it is the weakest song on Voyage. 4 singles is plenty from any album imo.
Voyage has indeed had a good run but it's over now. One man's positivity is another man's spin. Yes, it's in the Sales Chart but sales now are very low.
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Post by foreverfan on Jun 25, 2022 12:32:04 GMT
I’m guessing. As per usual, that any track/ single after the initial excitement was doomed to not set the charts on fire without a video to go with it, and realistically it would’ve been an ABBAtar one, so begs the question should both have been released closer to each other? Album and Show....
It’s never going to happen of course, and we can dream all we wish, but even DSMD and ISHFIY from the show, don’t really show potential to be a video. So for Dan, I can’t see it happening.. a single to far..unless something dramatic.. but as a few have said of the album.. Voyage has now sailed.. of course there’s always that speculation of a deluxe on the horizon ?
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Post by undertheappletree on Jun 25, 2022 13:03:00 GMT
Yes Sales are very low, but Voyage' with 33 continuous wks in the chart is a good result.
l suppose any Promotion/exposure has to be good
as is the case with KB's second week at number one in the Main/Combined Singles Chart, quite an achievement considering the processes.
I think the term 'single has lost its meaning in the chart sense, as individual Album tracks, a maximum of 3 UK can now enter the main Charts without an official Physical release, so any form of publicity, radio single or physical, is a bonus, l won't be disappointed if it Charts or not, as Single Charts are not Comparable to Abba"s first active Period.
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Post by Alan on Jun 25, 2022 20:27:26 GMT
Two more photos. The backlit show edition showing the marbled effect, plus the full (non-Australian) family of non-black Voyage vinyls. If they suddenly issued eight versions of any, or all, of the eight historical albums I wouldn’t be interested (I’ve even resisted the latest picture disc album issues so far and partially regret buying the 2020 coloured vinyl box). Voyage was a one-off event.   |
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Post by Alan on Jun 25, 2022 21:11:44 GMT
Yes Sales are very low, but Voyage' with 33 continuous wks in the chart is a good result. Just to avoid any confusion, you’re referring to the sales chart aren’t you? It’s only 19 weeks in the actual UK albums chart (which is still good). |
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 25, 2022 21:23:15 GMT
Yep, a new single won't help the album's fortunes unless radio stations that haven't played the other songs (i.e. all of them except Radio 2!) were to play it, but there's no reason that they would, pretty good song though it is.
Guess if they included an Abbatar version of it in the Voyage show that would have some effect but not a huge one.
Otherwise, the only thing that could significantly trigger more Voyage sales would be inclusion of a song in a successful film or TV series.
But it has done very well. I expect it might be the most successful album ever that's been restricted to Radio 2 airplay.
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Post by undertheappletree on Jun 26, 2022 5:32:43 GMT
Yes Sales are very low, but Voyage' with 33 continuous wks in the chart is a good result. Just to avoid any confusion, you’re referring to the sales chart aren’t you? It’s only 19 weeks in the actual UK albums chart (which is still good). I am, Pure Sales, UK Official, probably the best concised Music Charts in the World. Voyage' has been in the Sales Chart since it's release, so far; Sales Chart 33wks Physical "" 33wks Downloads"" 22wks Vinyl. "" 11wks Main Chart Combined with the above formats and streaming data 19 wks.. your reference to. Not sure Streaming Albums, but this week, Voyage is out of the top 100 Chart, Gold, is, up 2 places to 12. A case for Abba being popular on streaming, despite the demographics of age groups. The fact is the people are more interested in the pre Voyage' Songs, and Mamma Mia songs, as it stands, so if the rumour of another single push, from Voyage'is true than it might create another ripple of interest. Voulez Vous Album and Mamma Mia! Charting along with Gold in Various Countries, as Voyage' Drops out. In Sweden, Voyage' is still in the Top 10 Sales Chart. And Benny Returns to Number One again in their Classical Chart' with a favourite The 'Piano Album. |
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 26, 2022 8:09:29 GMT
Not been to the concert yet. Do they even advertise the album at the concert prior to the concert? It might encourage people to buy from elsewhere if they did as they are not actually selling the product at the show . Cannot imagine any other act not taking advantage of a perfect opportunity to promote their product.21000 people a week...over a million in first 12 months...what's there to think about? That's more than double the people who have already bought the album in the UK.
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 26, 2022 9:00:57 GMT
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Post by Gillian Taylforth on Jun 26, 2022 9:09:59 GMT
Yeah, he wept when he heard their new single last year and said he wants to play drums for them on tour! Seeing McCartney on stage at 80, you do wonder why ABBA couldn’t be on stage again! One can dream! |
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 26, 2022 9:22:32 GMT
Yeah, he wept when he heard their new single last year and said he wants to play drums for them on tour! Seeing McCartney on stage at 80, you do wonder why ABBA couldn’t be on stage again! One can dream! Yeah, I can't help but feel that Bjorn and Benny are a little ageist when they say that no-one wants to see them live in their old age. The reality is that no-one would care how old they are/look, as long as they can sing well enough it would be just amazing. And the poignancy of hearing them sing 'Now we're old and grey, Fernando' would be off the scale! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2022 10:11:02 GMT
Undertheappletree
Voyage spent just 4 weeks in the Streaming Chart. It peaked at #3.
33 weeks in Sales/Physical chart cannot be compared to the main charts in 70s/80s which were sales/physical.
If Streaming didn't exist people can't assume ABBA would hold its current Sales position. It is very likely, those who are streaming now would buy albums if streaming didn't exist.
Madonnbba, none of us know why the Voyage album is not sold at the concert. Bizarre.
Glastonbury. I thought Macca sounded great. The Beatles songs naturally got the biggest cheers. Nice to see Dave Grohl, the big ABBA fan too. Yes, what if ABBA played live today...
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Post by danbear2022 on Jun 26, 2022 11:17:21 GMT
That’s great,.respectable places.
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Post by richard on Jun 26, 2022 13:37:40 GMT
Provided they want to, and are capable of doing so, I want to hear older musicians perform live as they are now. As young individuals, before they became the successful group called ABBA, they performed live as a matter of course, as a requirement of their being musicians at all. But much like the Beatles latterly, given the opportunity to be a hit-making studio band, they chose not to do many live concerts, really. That's even more so now they're old. Pity, but unlike for some (most?) pop musicians live music-making wasn't and isn't much of a compelling thing for them to have done/do. Seen in this context, the Voyage concert is slightly ironic
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Post by undertheappletree on Jun 26, 2022 13:51:15 GMT
Undertheappletree Voyage spent just 4 weeks in the Streaming Chart. It peaked at #3. 33 weeks in Sales/Physical chart cannot be compared to the main charts in 70s/80s which were sales/physical. If Streaming didn't exist people can't assume ABBA would hold its current Sales position. It is very likely, those who are streaming now would buy albums if streaming didn't exist. Johnny, I agree l never said otherwise.. and likewise the Singles Chart. Streamings were only added to the main Album Chart Seven years ago. And if your assumption be correct, that those streaming would buy; then Abba would still Benefit in the Album Chart, especially with Gold. Overall Voyage Sales are respectable for this era, l am surprised at the Fall of Adele's 30 Album, more than Voyage. |
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 15:57:29 GMT
Another little discovery about the Show edition vinyl if anyone’s interested. It has a glossier sleeve than the others, and looks really good.
(I was in two minds about removing the cellophane, but I’m glad I did. I’ve kept the cellophane intact anyway).
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 26, 2022 19:12:21 GMT
People's voices don't age uniformly.
Some 80 year olds still sound as strong as ever (e.g. Tom Jones, not that I'm a fan). McCartney's not bad if a little croaky.
Abba sounded great on the album but, yeah, if they would sound ropey live, best not to do it but it's not a given thing.
Bjorn and Benny's objection has always been based on looks which I don't think is a good reason (although would understand if the women feel too self-conscious).
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 19:38:35 GMT
McCartney's not bad if a little croaky. Abba sounded great on the album but, yeah, if they would sound ropey live, best not to do it but it's not a given thing. I think you’re being kind. McCartney sounded no better than Diana Ross. Both are almost beyond criticism now (“they’re in their 70s/80s so that makes it OK”). After witnessing Paul McCartney murdering classics such as Let ‘Em In and Maybe I’m Amazed, I had to turn off. Opinions will, of course, depend on the amount of alcohol consumed at the time. After witnessing these two, I have to fully commend and admire ABBA’s decision to use original recordings. They didn’t tour that much anyway, and live recordings were not a patch on the studio renditions, so let’s not pretend it would be a good idea for the real ABBA to play live. It seriously wouldn’t. |
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 19:59:59 GMT
Let’s not forget that they did perform The Way Old Friends Do live a few years ago (I say “few” - was it 2016?). And they didn’t sound good. Even with Voyage, although it’s clear they can still sing, Agnetha’s voice has weakened more than Frida’s, allowing Frida to dominate and almost bury Agnetha in any vocals they sing together (the chorus of I Still Have Faith In You is the exception). The ABBA sound is still there, but only just.
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Post by richard on Jun 26, 2022 22:11:57 GMT
Even now, after all these years, I'm fascinated by Agnetha and Frida's singing in ABBA. Even if both their voices have lowered, as evidenced on the Voyage album, I wonder if it mirrors the no doubt false impression I got of ABBA tracks recorded during their heyday: that when they were supposedly singing in unison, in the mid-range, it often sounded to me like it was Frida double-tracked. Maybe that 'mid-range' has shifted down a couple of tones. A lot also depends on how they were recorded: whether into the same mic at the same time or separate mics for mixing purposes.
But I am only referring to that mid-range unison singing, not Agnetha sometimes singing an octave above Frida, for example, back in the day.
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 26, 2022 22:15:13 GMT
A pre-recorded (i.e. not live) TV special would be a good compromise.
They could control it, choose which songs make the final cut, or just not broadcast it if they didn't feel it was up to scratch.
But what an absolute joy it would be to see them all performing together!
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Post by richard on Jun 27, 2022 9:50:17 GMT
Of course there's a distinction to be drawn between a musician's technique and musicality, and how much you think one affects the other. Maybe, in some cases (and without the aid of alcohol  ), you might think a singer's musicality overrides their lack of technique. But for a long time I've also thought Macca's singing no longer does justice to his songs - not all the time, but quite often. But worse, as far as I'm concerned, is a singer with formidable vocal prowess, yet little ability to engage me musically. And, for me, there are a lot of such singers around. |
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) to pass the orange one. OMG, I don't even dare to count how much I have already spent on this madness called Voyage...
), you might think a singer's musicality overrides their lack of technique. But for a long time I've also thought Macca's singing no longer does justice to his songs - not all the time, but quite often.