Frida solo - Unreleased / Missing from re-issues

Yep, TTTS was my favourite track when I first got the album. It's still a lovely song and performance. The album version was definitely too long for 7" release but that edit was a bit loveless. At this distance, I think it should probably have been slightly remixed too: it might have made it easier to edit the guitars and percussion in the instrumental section (and possibly downplay some of the dreamy/sleepiness of the arrangement). It was daft not to include it on the reissue and make the set complete.

That alternate version of HWS wasn't a bootleg, Alan , it was accidentally placed on the first pressing of the reissued CD in place of the official mix! I think it was withdrawn pretty quickly, but a number of fans got it through normal retail channels at the time.

Apart from one-territory singles like Tell Me It's Over (Japan), I See Red (South Africa) and Twist In The Dark (France), most of Frida's English language singles were different to their album versions. That should have been a decent selling point for a compilation - even though she vetoed such a release. I heard from a German friend that the mix of Come To Me released there was shortened, and had a different drum sound. I only have the Swedish release, which is the standard mix, but I'd love if these alternate mixes were officially gathered, mastered, and released. 

Interesting how you approach the solo albums. For me, it felt a little like ABBA had outgrown ABBA in the 80s, so when the group recordings stopped, it was as if the girls had taken the baton, and took turns in giving us more. And all of the projects expanded our horizons, in many ways. Agnetha's material was a steady continuation of the pure pop style. It was almost business and usual, in some respects - despite different writers and producers being on board. Frida's music felt a little like it was born of frustration - some of the stuff she released would never have come her way in ABBA. It was as though she could breathe out a little. And, on a personal level, she helped open me to relatively leftfield styles. Chess also seemed to come from a different place of creative frustration. I absolutely love it. Some amazing songs. That original album is gorgeous.

The Gemini material - the first album, in particular, actually made me glad that ABBA had stepped back. The production and songwriting lacked so much of the spark that seemed essential to ABBA's sound. OK, so Karin's histrionic vocal style didn't help, but the song structures lost some of the immediacy and vim that was at the heart of ABBA. They even muddled up Just Like That: the verses and the lyrics were an improvement on the original, but the extra section in the chorus just derailed a potentially great pop moment. The second album was much more like what I'd expected of an Andersson/Ulvaeus production, and I can even hear some of it on Voyage. It's my favourite of the two.

It seems that Frida was working on an album with Jon Lord in 2009. Four songs were recorded: The Evening Dress In Red; Gloomy Tuesday; Keep The World With All Its Sin; I Can't Go On Like That Forever. Apparently in a trance/trip-hop style! And it seems that the lyrics of Gloomy Tuesday are about the death of Lise-Lotte. I imagine that Jon's estate will have power of whether it's released at any point. I wonder what Frida's feelings on the subject are. It seems sad that the project remains dormant.

Work on a Christian Falk-produced follow-up to Djupa Andetag started in 1997 but was - understandably - abandoned following the deaths of Lise-Lotte and Ruzzo. It looks like five tracks may have been recorded? I imagine the project may be associated with too dark a place in Frida's life to engage with it any further. But it'd be fantastic if some of all this unreleased material could find its way to our ears.

Oops, looks like I've derailed the thread celebrating Agnetha's albums.... Soz!

I never knew about Frida working on potential albums with Christian Falk and Jon Lord. For some reason, I thought (or read) that a follow-up to Djupa Andetag was planned with Anders Glenmark at the helm but the possibility of a Christian Falk collaboration in particular really excites me. I'm fond of the work Falk did with Robyn, Neneh Cherry and others so a project with Frida could have been incredible. I adore that Frida was always interested in experimenting and not content to remain strictly within the confines of a conventional pop structure outside of ABBA - beautiful lady.

The song titles mentioned for the Lord sessions sound intriguing - one can only hope that these (and other unreleased material) eventually get an official release. Thanks for the info Tony. 

There can't be many albums by any artist of any era that aren't dated within a few years of release. Agnetha and Frida renewed their solo careers at a pretty nice time of the 80s with some hot producers. To avoid the contemporary sounds, they might have had to go retro or completely off-piste with song/production style. Might that have limited their audiences too much? I'm trying to think of albums from that era that haven't dated in some way. 

I haven't heard more than one track each from the albums with Agnetha's kids. They're not for me but it's nice that Agnetha did something so special with them. Special to them, I mean. I understand that many fans will probably adore these releases but they feel more like gifts to her children. I imagine she might have taken some critical flak for them at the time?

OK then, so generally I have most of Agnetha’s output. There’s more of it than there is for Frida but usually tied-in with album projects, compilations or reissues. If I’m missing anything, I’m not aware of it.

For Frida, it’s a different story. I’ve got 1967-72, Ensam (2005 issue), Something’s Going On (deluxe), Shine (all tracks on 2005 reissue), Djupa Andetag, To Turn The Stone (edit), Here We’ll Stay (Alternate mix), Time, Belle.

There’s more I haven’t heard on the Wikipedia discography en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anni-Frid_Lyngstad_discography , but is there much else I should be checking out? With this I generally mean what’s officially been released on download, streaming, vinyl, cassette or CD.

As far as Frida's solo stuff goes, Alan, you seem to have most of the official stuff. There's the acapella Dancing Queen that she recorded with The Real Group (there are also some Vinny Vero dance remixes of it). The three jazz songs she performed live on TV in 1970 have been bootlegged in great quality on CD - My Man, Just One Of Those Things, Mad About The Boy (our first dance, when we got married, was Mad About The Boy). There's also the German release Frida - The Mixes, which gathers the remixes from the Djupa Andetag singles. It includes a really lovely, very dreamy remix of Alla Mina Basta Ar - no drums, loads of atmospherics. The Lemon mix of Ogonen and the club version of Aven En Blomma made it to the expanded Djupa Andetage in the box set, I think?

There's a Polar single (a big hit, too) from 1972 that was added to the expanded reissue of Ensam. The B-side is especially lovely. Her duet with Ratata Si Lange Vi Har Varann/As Long As I Have You is available to stream in both languages, I think. The stuff she did with Dan Daniell seems only to be available on CD, I think? Probably because they were all charity/fundraisers.