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Post by madonnabba on Aug 21, 2022 16:04:32 GMT
Oh forgot Voulez Vous, 8 songs.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2022 16:12:56 GMT
Madonnabba - that's the original albums not with bonus tracks added? Seems a lot of singles.
The Album and The Visitors could have done with another each.
Voulez Vous had 4 singles/5 songs but not necessarily the right ones
Arrival + Super Trouper got it right in terms of number and choices.
Voyage? I would have gone with DSMD as the main single with a video. NDAI instead of JAN. Maybe ISHFIY postponed until near release of Abbatars concert due to the video featuring them.
Yep, if an album released earlier, pre-streaming the singles would have done better. Actually they did well in the Sales Chart.
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Post by madonnabba on Aug 21, 2022 16:24:53 GMT
Yeah. The original albums. I took into consideration the popularity of songs not necessarily with me. IHAD and TYFTM.The latter had it been released in 1978 would have been Top 5. Like all the other singles on VV but I preferred AGAN and IIWTN and Kisses of Fire. And then there are songs like I let the Music Speak and Im a marionette which are not commercial enough for single release but masterpieces.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 21, 2022 18:27:32 GMT
Well, given how agitated we've gotten over the two songs that remain unreleased, I can only imagine the collective apoplexy if only the first two singles or an EP had emerged.   |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2022 18:50:37 GMT
⬆️ Yep. I would not have been surprised if Benny said "We recorded 12 songs, all pretty good but decided to release just two. HaHa, fans!" 🤣
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Post by clumsylikeaclown on Aug 21, 2022 19:20:54 GMT
Gratefull? It simply isn't good enough. They should have released DSMD as a single with a vid. And some of the songs as an EP. (ISHFIY, ICGTW, KAEOD) This reminds me of a couple of negative reviews for Voyage. The Guardian which gave ⭐⭐ said it would have been better if only DSMD/ISHFIY were released and no album. Yes, they are the best songs. But if no album announced would they have sold much? I don't think so. Another reviewer from Sydney Morning Herald who gave ⭐⭐1/2 said an EP would have been better. But as Michel says, what tracks? We all have our favourite 4 or 5. And if first 4 or 5 recorded that would have included Bumblebee and ICBTW. Not a very exciting EP. Clumsylikeaclown - even I get the Agnetha "We do have it in us" in ISHFIY. But to my ears I can't hear her so much on WYDWM, LT or OTF If Voyage was released in noughties it would have sold more. Still an "Abba Returns" and sales were higher in those days. If you listen with headphones it's much easier to make out both voices, but if just listening to it on the radio or similar I can see why Frida's voice comes through stronger. I do wonder if they had some extra vocal coaching or training between DSMD/ISHFIY, ICBTW/Bumblebee and the other tracks recorded later. Because the 2021 tracks, for lack of a better term to group them together, their voices have much more of the 'classic ABBA harmony' vibe to them (except Ode to Freedom, which is something completely different!) |
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Post by gazman on Aug 22, 2022 11:52:12 GMT
Micke B. Tretow decided to retire early after his stroke. At the time, he was starting to talk to Agnetha about working on what would become 'My Colouring Book', I understand, but then had to leave that project.
Once you have made a long and difficult recovery from a bad stroke, I doubt many people would want to go back to work and increase the chances of a second one.
Of course, he was a genius in the studio - no doubt. Had he been involved in 'Voyage', I am sure he might have had his own ideas to give to Benny and Björn - we'll never know.
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Post by Henry on Aug 22, 2022 16:11:19 GMT
Ludvig Anderson's favorite abba songs are: The day before you came and the winner takes it all. Billie Walsh is very fond of the day before you came. It's his favorite track.
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Post by chron on Aug 22, 2022 18:07:14 GMT
It simply isn't good enough. I get where you're coming from (while disagreeing with you about its standout track). Voyage has been expertly crafted with good intentions, but I cannot warm to it, and it doesn't - yet - seem like an 'proper' ABBA album. It feels hollow at the centre. For me, Voyage extends without adding. It's like meeting someone from your past who has suffered some sort of drastic, life-altering event - at first they seem broadly unchanged, but as you spend more time with them all sorts of little discrepancies and disconnects between who they were and who they are now seem to surface (this is an overstatement, but there's a definite feel of something of that sort about the album). At any rate, Voyage fails to supplant The Visitors as the final album marking-post of their journey, and Like An Angel Passing Through My Room remains superior to Ode To Freedom as a last farewell (OTF is like the staged goodbye of a group of players, a rather grand, 'municipal' farewell invoking hopes and dreams, while Like An Angel' is the interiorised goodbye of someone quietly slipping away; heightened because quiet). |
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Post by chron on Aug 22, 2022 19:10:47 GMT
The album has perplexed me and I am frustrated with it.
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Post by gogo on Aug 22, 2022 19:11:38 GMT
Voyage is an album that documents very well who ABBA are today. No more youngsters, no more a band chasing the next big hit or a band trying to prove their awesomeness once again. Sure, the voices are no longer perfect, the lyrics no longer youthful and the songs no longer for the charts.
But I think that's great!
It's maybe even their most relaxed and personal album.
Even if I don't like each and every song, the album really
touched and still touches me.
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Post by lamont on Aug 22, 2022 19:49:36 GMT
I am thoroughly fulfilled by Voyage, ABBA’s ending in early 80’s was so sad, for fans and the members, and Gorel herself said it was a sad time for everyone close to the group. The Visitors is four professionals working together as a ‘have to’ not as a ‘want to.’ People are subscribing to Voyage what I think of The Visitors and beyond. Voyage isn’t the classic ABBA sound, but they did what they wanted to do, and I’m happy with them for doing that for the fans. Voyage can be a full stop at the end of their recording career, but it’s the start of a journey for the avatars that we can be part of. I immerse myself in this album and love every note. I am beyond thrilled, and I’m not a sycophant, there are plenty of songs that I’m not keen on (I do and Voulez Vous spring to mind!) I’m sorry that there are fans underwhelmed by the album.
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Post by gogo on Aug 22, 2022 19:58:12 GMT
I have a feeling that the disappointed fans should first accept that 40 years have passed – and then listen again  |
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Post by richard on Aug 22, 2022 22:18:19 GMT
The Voyage show relies on the ABBA of their heyday, obviously. So it's a nostalgia trip, aided by modern technology.(But I haven't seen the show, so maybe I'm wrong about that.) It's just that a lot people's tastes in music, over 40 years, have probably changed and diversified quite a lot - including those of the ABBA members, I assume. And so I'd have liked a 'Voyage' album - but without that title to make clear it's difference from the Voyage show - to have more adventurously reflected those changed and diverse tastes. As I've said before, such an album would, in effect, amount to ABBA saying: "This is us now. Hope you like it. But if not, so be it".
Trouble is, I suspect a lot of fans wouldn't like it.
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Post by Michal on Aug 23, 2022 5:08:43 GMT
Reading some of the comments here I've got a feeling ABBA really couldn't have won with Voyage. For some it is too different from what they did in the 70s, for others it's not different enough. We must bear in mind that 40 have passed, different people were involved in making the album, Benny is the sole author of music... and you surely can't make the same kind of music in your late 70s than in your 30s.
I agree with @chronington that "it doesn't seem like a 'proper' ABBA album yet" - but in my case it is probably because I haven't fully taken in that it actually happened. For years I've been dreaming about hearing Agnetha and Frida together, even if they were to sing a bunch of folk songs. Now we have them singing Benny and Björn's songs and not one or two, but a full album!
I'd say, enjoy Voyage for what it is and don't think too much about what it isn't. Yes, it's definitely not in the same league as The Album or Arrival, but it is good enough and I'm very grateful they decided to record it.
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Post by madonnabba on Aug 23, 2022 7:15:19 GMT
I think have listened to Voyage more than I did The Visitors after it's release. I don't remember listening to it every day or even every other day like a do some of the tracks on Voyage but that might be down to technology and being able to listen on the move. Voyage got me re visiting past Abba albums too..right back to the beginning. What a musical journey....from the early days where the boys were more prominent to the switch..where the girls took over around the Abba album. Glad we got it.
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Post by welshboy on Aug 23, 2022 10:21:00 GMT
When we first heard that we would get a full Album with 10 songs Benny said it's the best we can do at our age, so that's ok with me. They are not in their 20's or 30's but in their 70's and I love what they have given us. And it's ok if we don't get any more to me they will always be the first band I loved and helped me through hard and sad times in my life.
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Post by lamont on Aug 23, 2022 10:27:24 GMT
I’m glad we got it too. All I wanted was to hear the ladies singing together again. When friends asked me before any songs were released, that’s what I said, just to hear the third voice, the harmonies. I think throughout the album there are signatures of the past. One example is No Doubt About it, it’s a Frida lead and in the chorus it appears Frida sounding too, until the last chorus when the ‘classic ABBA’ sound comes crashing in with the Agnetha strong “hissing like a wild cat!” And “this isn’t where it ends” the Frida sounding “No Doubt About it” heavy is juxtaposed against the other line and I’m all warm and fuzzy! Then that simple chord change at the start with the line: “bending like a willow…” and again Frida’s metallic sound shines through on ‘bending’ gives me goosebumps. We have all had 40 years or more to live with ABBA songs, usually (for me) the best type of music is the ones that grow on you. An example of this is When You Danced With Me, at first I skipped it a lot, took it as a filler, but it has crept back up on me and it’s a solid song which can sit proudly with any ABBA song. It took me a while for me to list any new song with the old songs in homemade playlists because I like them to flow into each other, but I’ve complied some now and I love it. A comparison to me is Kate Bush who returned in 2005 who returned after 12 years with Aerial, there was no Running Up That Hill or Wuthering Heights, but a true artist not compromising on their art. Kate’s voice also deepened somewhat becoming less shrill but warmer in tone. The New album is a lovely accompaniment.
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Post by lamont on Aug 23, 2022 10:27:51 GMT
When we first heard that we would get a full Album with 10 songs Benny said it's the best we can do at our age, so that's ok with me. They are not in their 20's or 30's but in their 70's and I love what they have given us. And it's ok if we don't get any more to me they will always be the first band I loved and helped me through hard and sad times in my life. That’s beautiful. |
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Post by Henry on Aug 23, 2022 20:12:47 GMT
I wish I could love it for what it is. First time I heard the album I was so disappointed. Every album is better than Voyage except for Ring ring and waterloo.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 24, 2022 13:39:56 GMT
*shrug* Well, we like what we like. It is what it is, Henry.
I'm inclined to think that if we can somehow imagine the two Gemini albums, the Josefin Nilsson album and some of BAO (I'm thinking Story Of A Heart and Om Du Var Jag for example - both quite ABBAesque and both could have worked well in English on Voyage), then Voyage feels a solid return to form. Given Benny's output over recent years, I'm only surprised that we didn't get more in the style of Little Things and Bumblebee.
I don't think Voyage will topple The Visitors from my No.1 position. I think the revolving mid-section of my favourites may be: Super Trouper/The Album/Voyage/Arrival. I like them, but don't play them as often as The Visitors or Voulez-Vous. I definitely put it ahead of ABBA, Waterloo and Ring Ring.
My current ranking of Voyage:
1 I Still Have Faith In You
2 Don't Shut Me Down
3 Ode To Freedom
4 No Doubt About It
5 I Can Be That Woman
6 Just A Notion
7 Bumblebee
8 Keep An Eye On Dan
9 When You Danced With Me
10 Little Things
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Post by Henry on Aug 24, 2022 15:51:15 GMT
1. Don't shut me down
2. I still have faith in you
3. I can be that woman
4. Keep an eye on Dan
5. Just a notion
6. Bumble bee
7. Ode to freedom
8. LT
9. When you danced
10. No doubt about it.
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Post by gogo on Aug 24, 2022 17:38:16 GMT
1. I still have faith in you 2. Ode to freedom 3. I can be that woman 4. Don't shut me down 5. Just a notion 6. No doubt about it 7. Keep an eye on Dan 8. When you danced 9. Little things (nothing for a long time 10.Bumblebee |
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Post by madonnabba on Aug 24, 2022 20:59:19 GMT
Over the last month as follows
1. Ode to freedom
2. No doubt about it
3. Dan
4. Bumblebee
5. Faith
6. DSMD
7. JAN
8. ICBTW
9. WYDWM
10. LT
Put it down to overdosing on the singles when they first came out.
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Post by joseph on Aug 24, 2022 21:06:59 GMT
Thought I'd have a crack at it.
1 Don't Shut Me Down
2 Keep An Eye On Dan
3 I Still Have Faith In You
4 When You Danced With Me
5 Ode to Freedom
6 No Doubt About It
7 I Can Be That Woman
8 Bumblebee
9 Little Things
10 Just A Notion
There isn't really a song I actively dislike on the album so the lower end was tricky to place.
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Post by undertheappletree on Aug 25, 2022 6:01:45 GMT
1 Don't Shut Me Down
2 I Can Be That Woman
3 I Still Have Faith In You
4 Bumblebee
5 Ode to Freedom
6 When You Danced With
7 Keep an eye on Dan
8 Little Things
9 No Doubt about it
10 Just A Notion
I like the Album a lot, but l don't compare it to their first Period. Just a Notion, is of course a jolly B side from the Vaults, and some of the rest have influences from Benny's past Solo Compositions. A&A's Dual harmonies are less prominent on this Album. My No.1 Studio Album; Still is 'The Album.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 25, 2022 8:48:19 GMT
There isn't really a song I actively dislike on the album so the lower end was tricky to place. This sums it up for me. My issues are with some of the production choices more than anything. For instance, I think Bumblebee would be significantly improved by dumping those flutes. Strip back the arrangement to acoustic guitar, some kick-drum and percussion and thicken the chorus with some piano chords: it could be gorgeous. The central performance is lovely. I think Little Things is, at its core, quite lovely. The piano is beautiful, as is the melody. Dump the glockenspiel, make it a solo vocal (the two voices seem to battle with each other here) and make the kids section an instrumental coda - strings, the melody played on high piano notes and some Arrival-esque vocalising from the ladies. I'd also ABBAfy the vocal mix on the chorus of Dan - make it less shouty and highlight the third voice that we've heard in those videos where people have isolated voices. More generally, I think the mastering is surprisingly woolly. I expected something more crisp on that front. But I still marvel that a bunch of 70somethings have managed to make an ABBA-sounding album that doesn't sound like they're trying to recapture their lost youth. It has heart and dignity. And that's not to patronise or say "bless 'em, weren't they game to try?" It's a solid album on its own terms. |
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Post by Sindy on Aug 25, 2022 9:54:41 GMT
It’s a good album, just that LT ruins the flow early on, so I would have put that near the end of the album.
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Post by gamleman on Aug 25, 2022 10:21:29 GMT
It’s a good album, just that LT ruins the flow early on, so I would have put that near the end of the album. Or not on the album  I wonder whether they (ABBA and/or record company) now see LT as a mistake as an album track. I'm guessing it was there to boost album sales leading up to Christmas 2021, i.e. for short-term financial gains. |
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Post by evilincarnate on Aug 25, 2022 15:54:20 GMT
I concur with many of the comments over the last 24 hours and whilst I'm fond of both Little Things and Just A Notion, perhaps they should have been relegated to a Christmas single and the two outtakes could have been included instead? I imagine time constraints factored in the final decision but I'm still thrilled with the album as a whole.
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I wonder whether they (ABBA and/or record company) now see LT as a mistake as an album track. I'm guessing it was there to boost album sales leading up to Christmas 2021, i.e. for short-term financial gains.