ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2022 May - Aug

Agreed - the notion of a 'Voyage' deluxe edition was being discussed within days of the album's release 8 months ago. Whilst I crave (and still hope for) an augmented version this year, in ABBA's world the gestation period for a deluxe reissue is closer to 30 years. I sincerely hope we get something by Christmas but who knows? I would definitely trade a deluxe version for the knowledge that a new album was in the works. Benny's comments regarding the two unreleased session tracks were carefully chosen and would indicate they might be better served in another incarnation, perhaps a whole other set of songs - i.e. a separate album? Pure conjecture on my part of course but not entirely out of the question.

I do believe Benny's and Bjorn's quotes from The Mirror article were more than 6 months old (definitely Benny's) and have been inserted into the article for good measure. If one considers Benny's other remarks about having his arm twisted by "the girls", Bjorn's response that this news was "good to know", Frida's comments from last November's radio interview and the May concert premiere plus Agnetha's almost conspiratorial whispers on the red carpet, more recordings/another album can't be ruled out. Remember this is a tight group of individuals who were able to pull off the near impossible by recording an album in secret over a 4 plus year period. All concerned would not wish to create false expectations within fans and if indeed they recorded another piece of work but then decided it wasn't up to par, I'm sure they would prefer we never knew about it. It's a fine line for them to tread and whilst I remain hopeful/anxious for one last full recording, I realise that the odds are against it from occurring. 

I note that Carl Magnus-Palm was interviewed for Australian television in June and commented that he believed there would be no further recordings but he may not be part of ABBA's inner sanctum and even if he did have more knowledge (as I expect he might), he would remain as tight-lipped as the group's other cohorts. For now, it remains a mystery but I shall remain ever hopeful.

     I don't Post as often as I used to, but I do read all of the New Posts.

     1).. Regarding those Fans who have discussed the Price of the New Albums 'Set'.
     Amazon UK are currently Selling both the CD and Vinyl Editions, at their lowest
     Price - if any Fans want to buy it still use the Link Below:

      link

    2).. I hope that ABBA do Release a Deluxe 'Voyage', as it would create Sales for 
    that Album once more. Adding 2, (or more), New Tracks, to an Old Album is often
    done, these Days, as Global Album Sales have collapsed - so Record Companies
    try to get the same Fans to buy that Album a 2nd time. The New Songs are 'Bait'.
 
    Some ABBA Fans regard such a tactic as a 'Rip Off', but at least we are getting some
    New Music. A lot of Fans have bought several copies of 'Voyage', just because the 
    Vinyl is a different Colour. Without a Note of New Music. To me, that is like buying
    a DVD more than once, just because the Cover has different Coloured writing on 
    it - when the Disk inside has exactly the same Film on it! 

    3).. Eventually, it should be possible to have Voyage Venues in several Countries, 
    at once. Even having different Set Lists, in some of them. Making the Shows a
    Tourist Attraction, as well as Entertainment for the 'Natives' of those Countries.

    4).. There has been talk of, (Future), Asian, and Australian versions of the Show,
    but it is getting enough of a regular Audience, that is the problem. Australia is not
    a greatly populated Country, and even in Japan, there is not a huge interest in ABBA
    Even though the Japanese tend to get more exciting Releases of many ABBA Albums.

   5).. Although ABBA were never truly huge in the USA, the Voyage Shows could have a
   'Residency' in Las Vegas. For several Months, at least. As can be seen by Robbie Williams
   example. He meant far less than ABBA in the USA, but even he had a Las Vegas Residency
   from 2019 to 2020. Despite him having no US Top 40 Singles, or Albums.

   6).. July 2022 is the 60th Anniversary of the German Albums Chart. 1962-2022. It has been
   calculated, that ABBA are the 6th 'Biggest All Time German Album Chart Act'. Queen are in
   7th place. ABBA have had 8 German No.1 Albums, 49 Weeks at No.1, and 267 Top 10 Weeks,
   to 10 UK No.1 Albums, 58 Weeks at No.1, and 244 Top 10 Weeks. 
    

Album-wise, I hope ABBA leave "Voyage" as their final studio album. I don't want to see them continue ad-nauseam as some groups/artists do. I wouldn't object to a Deluxe edition of "Voyage", possibly with the two unfinished tracks, but only if they are deemed good enough by B&B. They have managed to resist the fans' demands to officially release JLT, so they should be able to do the same for these songs, if need be. As I have said before, I would like to see some sort of innovative celebratory release in 2024, which would ideally include one final new track from ABBA.

If they do release a Deluxe edition of "Voyage", I won't be buying dozens of copies in different formats and colours, that's for sure. I have managed to hold back on the latest bid for our cash and feel quite content with that, with no hankerings for stuff that I don't need.

If the Voyage show fans out to various cities around the world and existing theatres can be adapted to stage it, they may be able to take it to less populated areas, like Australia. I imagine only a small fraction of the huge investment needed to initially stage it in London would be required elsewhere, as a lot of the money probably went into R&D.

As Joseph says, there is a tendency for fans to never be satisfied and want more and more. But in ABBA's case it's obviously unrealistic to expect that simply because of their ages. It's just that a final 50th Anniversary album, including the two to-be-completed songs (?), seems such an appealing thing for some of us - and maybe for ABBA too. That's my vague hope, anyway - and a few others on this forum, I think. But I appreciate it's highly unlikely because Benny and Bjorn have ruled it out.

And it needs saying again: if Voyage is it, we can be grateful and happy that it has happened.

There is a big difference. Benny has actually said these two songs are “quite good” but need a lot of work. It contrasts with Just Like That (“we didn’t like it”).

Personally I think it would be a shame if these two songs don’t get a release. It would nicely finish things off for me. Of course, while all four of them are alive, more ABBA recordings can’t be completely ruled out, however unlikely it seems. If Benny hadn’t said they were “quite good”, I may not have been interested in hearing them but as he has, it just seems a wasted opportunity.

The historical eight albums all have bonus tracks thanks to b-sides and non-album singles released at the time. It’s possible that, had Voyage been released 20 years ago, the two tracks might have been finished off and used as b-sides, so I honestly don’t think it’s wrong to be calling for them now.

Oh, I must have missed that... Benny calling the unfinished tracks "quite good". Even so, "quite" might not be good enough for Benny. I'm assuming the British interpretation of "quite" here, meaning fairly. I once said to some American friends that my shoes were quite dirty and they thought I meant very dirty. So, I assume Benny doesn't mean "very" here.

^^^ I used to say that about The Sun, one step away from being a comic....
That said The Sun, was one of the first if not the first to tell us all about Voyage.....and it was all true.. do they have a mole?

I disagree as I find Carl Magnus Palm's books really informative and interesting. I have quite a few. Not that there are equally other ABBA historians who " know their stuff " because there are.

Oh dear… someone’s deleted their profile yet again…

Bjorn shoes off his new partner at the premiere in Stockholm tonight.

And here they both are.

Bjorn gone all “ Tron “ ( from Voyage)...
Slicked back hair... she’s keeping him young...

Apparently someone online asked if her name might be “Meryl Streisand”.😄

It’s too tempting not to think of Caroline Aherne’s Mrs Merton character and ask, “what attracted you to the multi-millionaire, Björn Ulvaeus?”

Seriously though, happy for him. His kids are long grown-up and chances are his marriage was in trouble long before he met her.