ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2022 Sept - Dec

Where did you get the 18 videos from, Johnny? It had only 4 videos.

But I agree that the 30th anniversary Gold CD is something of a come-down. And that horrible design is only on a cardboard slip-case for the conventional CD. It is supposedly limited to 1992 copies and has been available for pre-order and then for sale for weeks now but STILL hasn't sold out.

Some photos of the actual item, from Discogs. Looks slightly different from the Amazon illustration. It’s merely a slipcase. The item inside is just the familiar 2004 gold cover UK version.

55 people on Discogs claim to have this version.
This compares to 106 that have the gold vinyl version and 155 that have the vinyl picture disc edition.

Yuk that CD cover hurts your eyes.

@ Jonny: Yes I play vinyls, but with the original versions or even the original Polar pressings you have much better sounding vinyls (apart from the Half Speed Masters)

The coloured vinyls of Voyage are much worse than the Black Vinyl Version.

I don't know why Universal is so bad at producing ABBA vinyls. While Sony Music did a very good Job with the Agnetha reissues. The coloured vinyls are far superior to any Universal vinyl release of ABBA or Solo.

I was researching vinyl production for my own project and found out that, while the production cost is pretty much the same, coloured vinyl delivers poorer sound than black. Translucent coloured vinyl delivers better sound than opaque, and picture discs are worst of all. I have no idea why, but I'm willing to trust the vinyl manufacturer. I guess fans need to keep this in mind when considering what they want to buy.

HOMETIME: Generally, I have found the sound quality on coloured vinyl to be the same as for black vinyl. Someone once explained to me that the colouring adds surface noise, but this is not something I've ever really noticed, even with my sensitive equipment. It is a more noticeable with marble-effect vinyl and picture-discs, the latter being quite appalling. Having said all of that, I found the actual sound quality on the different colours of "Voyage" to vary, with the blue being the best and yellow being the worst (my orange copy was also very good but suffered from other faults and a huge warp). However, I think this is somehow down to care in the pressings rather than the actual colours.

By the way, a fan in the ABBA Official Fan Group on Facebook had his own vinyl copy of Frida's "Djupa Andetag" made (on translucent vinyl) and it is very impressive.

Alan: I've always thought it silly that they added "Bjorn, Benny, Anna & Frida" in brackets after the ABBA name on the early releases in the UK. If they were going to do that, it would have made more sense to spell out the ABBA initials with "Anna, Bjorn, Benny & Anni-frid".

The coloured ABBA vinyls which come from Japan don't have a bad Sound, maybe it's becaude they are translucent.
With vinyl records there is no "technology improvement" , it is the other way round. Vinyl records today are pressed on the old machines from the Vinyl haydays, No one builds new machines. That's also why many copies are warped or have other production misstakes.

With Picture Discs the Sound was always an issue, that hasn't improved and most collectors are aware of that and buy them for collection purpose, just for the fun of watching.

But why do you want coloured vinyls to be Orange or Clear ??

The nice effect is, I think to enhance the whole design of the record.

And many record companies make a good Job here, there are many beautiful Maxi Singles from Depeche Mode available. I had a very nice Simple Minds record in violet and Gold splash, perfectly designed after the colour of the Album Cover.
The Agnetha vinyls take one piece of the Cover Art, very nice!

With ABBA and Universal it is different. Some colours are nice, like for Something's Going On, or Frida Ensam, but mostly the choice of colours is strange - like in the Album Box Set, or Fridas "Shine": The Cover screams Neon Green or Neon Pink while the colour is...X-Mas tree green...

I always envid Fans of other Groups or Artists with the possible artwork that CAN be done.

Take Taylor Swift for instance. Her new Album will be released on 4 different couloured vinyls. The colours are e.g.Moonstone blue, Jade green, etc. Very special!
The nice thing is that the Cover Art is different for each colour!! I'm not a Fan of her but would buy her new Album on vinyl just by it's beauty of Designs 😆

Hi BAAB,

My preference for translucent burnt orange or clear vinyl for Djupa Andetag has to do with the cover. From a purely personal point of view, I think those colours would tie well with the album artwork - if they were to opt for a coloured vinyl edition, that is. It's really just a suggestion. 

Taylor Swift released other albums recently enough on a range of pastel colours. They really are fantastic and they show that coloured vinyl can be handled with quite a bit of taste. Pet Shop Boys released an amazing colour vinyl limited edition set a few years ago. The LPs were crystal clear colours, and housed in a clear plastic case. Incredibly desirable (and expensive, of course). Like you, I was disappointed with the shade of green chosen for Shine. I think they slightly missed the mark with Wrap Your Arms Around Me too - I think baby pink would have tied much better with the artwork and the general feel of the album. Red was a fair contrast for the cover of Eyes Of A Woman. It'd be nice if they completed the set with coloured vinyl for I Stand Alone, My Colouring Book and A. I'd suggest dark blue, pink and pale sea-green respectively (all translucent). If the albums are all still on varying labels, licences might be difficult to coordinate.

ABBA documentary on Sky Arts now.

I feel the same. I am beginning to regard some of my ABBA stuff as 'clutter' - not my original records from their heyday, but the more recent releases that I failed to resist buying (including all those coloured-vinyl and picture-disc copies of "Voyage"). I'm now going to be more selective about what what I buy. I haven't bought anything from the ABBA Gold 30th anniversary, but I regard Gold as an addendum to ABBA's career.

It’s definitely a factor in my purchases these days. I stopped doing print media (books and magazines) years ago as they just take up too much space and I look through them once and then never again. This year I’ve stopped buying CDs and DVDs. CDs just got downloaded into my iTunes and then put away, and DVDs I just watched the once.

Vinyl has been my guilty pleasure. I don’t have any regrets about buying nine vinyl variants of Voyage as that was a one-off event.

When clearing a house out, you don’t tend to think of what might be valuable. You just do whatever’s quickest and easiest. Trying to sell stuff on eBay would be quite time-consuming. If my ABBA collection (plus any other collections I have) just get chucked after I’m gone then so be it. It would be a shame but that’s how it is. But by not buying anymore books, CDs or DVDs will hopefully mean I won’t accumulate too much more junk! What I already have is another matter…

As the saying goes- "you can't take it with you." SO true. It's quite a sobering thought. When I was young, mortality wasn't really a concept I fully understood so the possessions I acrued I saw as "mine" and mine eternally. So naive. Now I realise nothing really belongs to any of us, it's all on loan. That goes for all our ABBA goodies. I am happy for fans who express delight in their purchases and I fully understand it and I'd probably be the same if I wasn't such a cynical old fool. I do have many ABBA things, and many years ago I had quite the collection but now I rarely bother buying anything. I didn't purchase any Voyage vinyl whatsoever and I've no interest in the merch at ABBA VOYAGE. I'll be happy with a mug or summat. Once upon a time, I'd want EVERYTHING but now, nah. I'll always buy any NEW music but that's pretty much where it ends. As for my ABBA stuff once I've kicked the bucket? I hope someone in whatever's left of my family can be bothered to find an ABBA fan and gift it to them. But if it ends up in a skip or a charity shop so be it. I'll be dead, so it won't matter.

Nice sunny day and feel good feeling. Then I turn on ABBA Chat and it's all death and "you can't take it with you". 🤣

I am very anti-clutter and have never really clung on to things. I have never really been a collector. I do like physical copies - records and photos in particupar but very much less is more type.

I bought Voyage on CD. Just one CD. I haven't got a vinyl version of it.


Now I prefer to listen via Streaming - even to ABBA. I bought Voyage only because it was ABBA. It's nice having all my old records from ABBA and Gold and Voyage. But I never actually play them now.

Check out this page of respected news magazine The Atlantic:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/11/virtual-abba-london-concert/671531/

[Post edited to highlight the ABBA reference]