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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 10:24:27 GMT
The ABBA album is 48 years old today - released 21 April 1975.
A mixed bag. It contains the massive hits and brilliant songs SOS and Manma Mia. Other notable songs are I've Been Waiting For You, So Long and Bang a Boomerang. But it does include such horrors as Rock Me, I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do, Man in the Middle, Tropical Loveland and Hey, Hey Helen.
It sold well in Sweden and Australia but ABBA wouldn't make their commercial album breakthrough until the next release..
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Post by lamont on Apr 21, 2023 11:33:44 GMT
Haha! ‘Horrors’ I didn’t get the album ‘till 1983, I got my Dad a record voucher for his birthday and he gave me it back and I bought this!
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Post by Alan on Apr 21, 2023 11:49:34 GMT
One of the interesting things about the album is that it didn’t chart in the UK until Mamma Mia reached number one in the same week (w/e 31 January) with its peak position of 13 reached on w/e 14 February 1976. Assuming the album was released in the UK in April 1975 (perhaps it wasn’t?) it would have spent a lot of time languishing in the bargain bins. Even SOS being a big hit didn’t revive its fortunes. Future sales of the album were effectively killed off by the release of Greatest Hits - a massive UK seller - which featured five tracks from ABBA including all four singles.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 13:54:34 GMT
On the sales of "ABBA" - it had an international release (including UK but maybe not everywhere) in April 1975
The Greatest Hits album was not really a barrier as ABBA was released in Spring 1975 and Greatest Hits in 1976. Even with Mamna Mia hitting #1 (UK) early 1976 it could have done better in UK. Presumably people didn't know a GH was just down the line
But in some countries the Best Of was released late 1975, so might have killed off sales in those countries.
On the tracks themselves, they are mixed between Heaven and Hell..so now I have gone beyond "horrors" for the worst...🤣
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Post by gazman on Apr 21, 2023 13:55:03 GMT
Happy birthday to this album. Unlike Johnny, I love every track on the original 11-track LP.
In answer to Alan's question, I believe the album got a low-key UK release in June 1975, alongside the 'I Do...' single. The latter then took some time to get to its number 38 chart peak, which meant that Epic held back on 'SOS' for a while before giving that one a September release ('SOS' was released as early as June 1975 in some European countries). Luckily, 'SOS' featured on BBC's 'Seaside Special' just prior to its single release in the UK, which gave it a boost into the charts on release...and then ABBA were on their way. It clearly took 2 hit singles to entice UK album record buyers to invest, as Alan said......
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 14:02:05 GMT
Yep, the Seaside Special was clearly a factor in ABBA's UK comeback.
But why didn't the ABBA album benefit then, or more so when Mamma Mia got to #1 in early 1976? At that point UK record buyers had two top ABBA tracks that were popular with SOS and Mammia Mia
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Post by Alan on Apr 21, 2023 14:30:53 GMT
ABBA weren’t an albums act until Arrival. Greatest Hits had acted as most people’s first ABBA album (was it the second or third best selling album of the 1970s in the UK?) so when Arrival came along, people wanted to stay up-to-date with ABBA’s singles and they remained an albums (as well as a singles) act from then on. gazman, hoping you know the answer to this. When was Waterloo (album) released in the UK? It didn’t chart until w/e 8 June 1974, and this was well after the single. The Ring Ring remix did not revive its fortunes, and it exited the chart after just two weeks. (Label and catalogue number are wrong on the official chart site, presumably referring to the 2014 deluxe which charted for one week at number 71).  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 15:53:03 GMT
Waterloo album released in April/May 1974. That didn't it stop it reaching UK Top 40 - after one single hit.
ABBA album released even with two big UK charts didn't chart until early 1976 and then only #13.
It was released Spring 1975 [June 1975 according to Gazman’s recollection]. At that point ABBA were Eurovision winners from the previous year and had big international hit with I Do x5.
The success of SOS may have hampered its (ABBA album) success in Mainland Europe where a Best Of was released.
But in the UK a GH not released til Spring 1976. So why didn’t the ABBA album do better in the UK?
The ABBA album *should* have done better in the UK - which contained a #1 and Top 10 hit
Oh, and by the way, the ABBA album was a bigger flop in (West) Germany where I Do x5 was Top 10 and SOS was #1. Given they had a Best Of in late 1975. But even a Top 10 with I Do x 5 and SOS it failed to make the charts?
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Post by Alan on Apr 21, 2023 16:01:58 GMT
But in the UK a GH not relaesed til Spring 1976. So why didn’t the ABBA album do better in the UK? I answered that question by saying that ABBA weren’t an albums act in the UK until 1976, with Greatest Hits being the launchpad for that and starting proper with Arrival. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 16:10:48 GMT
For sure, ABBA didn't become UK major album sellers until GH in early 1976 and Arrival in 1976.
But why, wasn't ABBA album at least a bit bigger - given it wae released 12 months earlier and had 2 big hits prior to GH in 1976?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 16:17:09 GMT
But in the UK a GH not released til Spring 1976. So why didn’t the ABBA album do better in the UK? I answered that question by saying that ABBA weren’t an albums act in the UK until 1976, with Greatest Hits being the launchpad for that and starting proper with Arrival. UK isn't everywhere "ABBA" underperformed - also in the key markets of US and (West) Germany. The biggest markets. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Apr 21, 2023 18:03:11 GMT
I like this album a little more than I used to. My favorite tracks have always been Hey, Hey, Helen and I've Been Waiting For You. We had Greatest Hits for a couple of years by the time I received 'ABBA' as a present, so I was familiar with a sizeable chunk of the set. I knew Rock Me and IBWFY from ABBA - The Movie, and they were both songs I was delighted to have on record. HHH was among those I didn't know, and it really jumped out. I like the crunchy guitar riff, the Gospel-lite call-and-response backing vocals and that groovy little breakdown in the middle.
If I'm remembering this correctly, wasn't it during these recording sessions that they demoed the English version of Lycka (To Live With You)? If they'd used it, it would have been the second time that an outsider wrote English lyrics for ABBA. But it's such a lovely song. It could have added something to the album, I think.
HHH remains my favourite on the album. I think RM is my least favourite these days.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 19:27:20 GMT
My favouite track, SOS is also my favourite ABBA song. Second favourite on this album is Mamna Mia then and I've Been Waiting For You.
I was never into Hey Hey Helen. I recall the surprise on Bjorn's face when that song was featured on the Japanese 40/40 compilation selection in 2014.
We are all familiar with the big hits, so my next choice
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2023 19:32:56 GMT
So Long was very glam rock, the musical trend at the time. And ABBA got criticised for being "trend blind" with Voyage.
If there is a song on the album that is too loud, I would say I Do x5. Not the vocals but the music.
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Post by Alan on Apr 21, 2023 21:58:52 GMT
Another thing about the ABBA album in the UK is that the official, Polar b-side of Mamma Mia was Intermezzo No. 1. The European countries went with this, but the UK, US and Canada instead selected Tropical Loveland (with Australia apparently going for Hey, Hey Helen).
My guess is that there was some nervousness about Intermezzo No. 1. They might have been worried that an instrumental b-side might put people off from buying the album thinking there might be even more such things on it. In the end, Intermezzo No. 1 and Bang-a-Boomerang were the only two songs from the album not to appear on either a UK A-side or B-side, though both did so elsewhere in the world.
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Post by gary on Apr 22, 2023 9:53:48 GMT
Yes, the choice of B sides for SOS and Mamma Mia was a bit dodgy. The SOS single was my first ever ABBA purchase, and the start of my lifelong love of ABBA, but even at the time I thought Man In The Middle was pretty poor.
The ABBA album is their most mixed bag. It ranges from four of my favourite ABBA songs (SOS, Mamma Mia, Bang-A-Boomerang and I’ve Been Waiting For You) to some of their worst songs. It would hardly be any better than the previous two albums but for those incredible highlights.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2023 10:25:52 GMT
The ABBA album is their most mixed bag. It ranges from four of my favourite ABBA songs (SOS, Mamma Mia, Bang-A-Boomerang and I’ve Been Waiting For You) to some of their worst songs. ⬆️ 100% |
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