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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2023 15:57:54 GMT
Voyage is clearly a step back to 1980-81. ..
For sure, some similarities but basically not as good. That is the bottom line. The Uptempo Voyage tracks aren't as good as the Uptempo Super Trouper tracks. The more "sophisticated" tracks on Voyage not as good as ones on The Visitors.IMO. It has more in common with Super Trouper in terms of musical diversiry, that's certanly true and also the 1982 songs (I note it is only The Day Before You Came - you rave about) Perhaps Voyage has the music diversity of Super Trouper but NOT the quality of the equally diverse 1982 songs. Of those 1982 I think only You Owe Me One is a throwback to early ABBA (as arguably Two For The Twice as One from The Visitors was or Like Old Frinds Do on Suoer Trouper) IMO Voyage better than the 1982 songs but not as good as previous few albuns. What it does have in common: ➡️variable quality. ➡️And not enough tracks for a GOOD album (Voyage as a whole to me is average, some great some not so) |
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Post by Michal on Jun 11, 2023 16:02:53 GMT
...the 1982 songs to me represent a step even further back, for ABBA, to 1973 ("Under Attack", "You Owe Me One")...
Comparing Under Attack with the 1973 songs is a step too far in my opinion. Yes, it seems that after The Visitors they were turning back to the 70s style with joint lead vocals and less theatrical songs but I don't think it was necessarily a step in the wrong direction. As much as I like The Day Before You Came, it would be a bit boring to fill a whole album with songs like that. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2023 16:04:19 GMT
Michel, my post was posted after I saw your comments.
Yep, one thread is enough.
I won't post here again on this thread.
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Post by Michal on Jun 11, 2023 16:12:04 GMT
I'm a fan of I Am The City too. I liked it since the first time I heard it on More ABBA Gold. And no, the reason wasn't that it was a previously unreleased track, because at the time I had no idea that it was a 1982 outtake I heard most of the songs for the very first time. I like the way Agnetha and Frida trade the vocal lines, the slight alteration of the second chorus... it's been my one of my favourite ABBA songs ever since.
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Post by Alan on Jun 11, 2023 16:12:25 GMT
The two topics have been merged but elements of both titles retained. I appreciate this won’t please everyone but otherwise could have resulted in repetition or one of the topics being boycotted by advocates of the other.
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Post by Michal on Jun 11, 2023 16:14:03 GMT
The two topics have been merged but elements of both titles retained. I appreciate this won’t please everyone but otherwise could have resulted in repetition or one of the topics being boycotted by advocates of the other. A very diplomatic solution! |
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Post by jj on Jun 11, 2023 16:15:52 GMT
Excellent idea, Alan!
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Post by Michal on Jun 11, 2023 16:25:30 GMT
It does beg the question - what could have become of I Am The City and Just Like That? There are those that believe these were being “saved” for a future ABBA album, perhaps for 1984 release. I’ve always doubted that they had any real intention to get back together again after 1982, and that they only avoided a split announcement as a fallback in case things didn’t work out for them individually. They didn’t give a damn that they hadn’t said a proper goodbye. I'm one of those who believe that I Am The City and Just Like That were considered good enough for an album but not for singles at the time they recorded them, so I believe they might have been "saving" them for a future album. However, back then they probably believed they would return to the studio in 1983. The decision to split up (or to "take a break") apparently wasn't made until late 1982. Even as late as December they were denying it. Only once it became clear that Björn and Benny would write a musical with Tim Rice, the plans for a new album in 1983 were abandoned completely. And you're probably right that they would hardly have resurrected them in mid 80s, had they returned as ABBA. Just Like That remain a mystery though. They clearly must have liked the song, when they bothered to rewrite it for Gemini. Even the original verse was later used it Chess. And since then at least two covers of the original ABBA version were approved. So where does the defiance to release it come from? |
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Post by jj on Jun 11, 2023 16:40:59 GMT
I'm happy you agree with me, Johnny, that Voyage does hark back to their 1980/81-style of songs.
I don't think that Voyage is more patchy than most of ABBA's albums. To me, Super Trouper, Arrival and The Album are their most organic, production-wise, in the sense that they all sound like they were recorded and mixed in the same period. Head Over Heels, Two For the Price of One, and even the beautiful I Let the Music Speak, all tied together on The Visitors makes for a slightly odd mix of songs, I feel. But then again, when I think about it, even those three albums (Super Trouper, Arrival and The Album) include a few songs that clash with the others and stick out like a sore thumb.
On the other hand, hypothetically, if ABBA had released an album containing those six 1982 songs (which we know they never were, but let's just imagine they had out of desperation - and I do think Benny and Bjorn were desperate at one point), plus they'd added an extra three, including "Slowly", it would have been as patchy as the Ring Ring and Waterloo albums and it would have made Voyage sound like a concept album by comparison.
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Post by Alan on Jun 11, 2023 17:07:39 GMT
Just Like That remain a mystery though. They clearly must have liked the song, when they bothered to rewrite it for Gemini. Even the original verse was later used it Chess. And since then at least two covers of the original ABBA version were approved. So where does the defiance to release it come from? I think you’ve answered your own question there! Their opinion is that the original verses and chorus of Just Like That don’t go together. They then proceeded to try and prove their point by writing new verses for Gemini and using the original verse melody in Chess. I’m not sure cover versions need approval? Anyone can cover a song. It only needs approval if it uses the original recordings (which cover versions don’t tend to unless they include a sample). The publisher and writers benefit from the sale of cover versions but the original act as performers don’t. I Am The City/Just Like That and I Still Have Faith In You/Don’t Shut Me Down have some similarities in that both sets of songs were announced at a very early point. A 1982 Polar press release announced the titles as being recorded for ABBA’s next album (no mention of You Owe Me One - in all likelihood this would only ever have been a first single b-side so not worth announcing). The fact it took 11 and 12 years for them to eventually appear is by-the-by. And, of course, the latter two songs were announced over three years before their eventual release. Whereas the 1982 set were seen as a very weak basis for an album project, the 2017 couple were so strong that a whole album was then built around them. |
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Post by evilincarnate on Jun 12, 2023 4:45:38 GMT
The title of this thread obviously reflects my subjective point of view. I created it as a response to Johnny's thread, and because it seems to me a truer reflection of ABBA's 2021 album (stylistically, at least) than that Voyage was somehow a continuation of ABBA's few 1982 songs (which it certainly was not, to me). 1982 marked a period when they were clearly losing motivation and had run out of ideas... with the glaring exception of one, singular song, in which they clearly WERE feeling their way forward towards fresh new horizons and soundscapes. I'm referring of course to ABBA's magnificent orphan:
"The Day Before You Came"
... a song which ironically ended up being a step too far for a pop group, a sparse, spartan number that proved a little too adventurous for ABBA's main audience. Not catchy enough, and by dint of who ABBA "were" (in the popular imagination of 1982), and of what they represented (4 minute instantly catchy pop songs), was tailored to more sophisticated music-lovers (who didn't even bother to listen to it, simply BECAUSE it was ABBA). TDBYC fell between two chairs, so to speak. It was too elaborate, too adult, too "lounge-y", too cool, too refined to be "ABBA".
I think the truth is that Voyage took ABBA back to 1980/81.
"When You Danced With Me" is a close relative of "The Piper" (1980), while "No Doubt About It" seems to hark back to "Elaine" (1980).
"I Can Be That Woman" wouldn't be out of place on The Visitors. On that album's track-list, it could fit comfortably between "Slipping Through My Fingers" and "Like an Angle Passing Through My Room". ISHFIY would not have felt incongruous if it had followed "I Let the Music Speak" (1981)
But... had ABBA truly moved FORWARD, daringly continuing in the vein of "The Day Before You Came" (and not cared about the loss of their main audience), I truly believe they might have become something like Everything But The Girl (in the style of their electronically-infused and starkly elegant "Walking Wounded" album, to be specific). Because TDBYC is a song more typical of Everything But The Girl (in their Walking Wounded album era) than anything that had come, pre-1981, from ABBA. If only they'd continued into the kind of territory that TDBYC had suddenly opened up for them! <sigh!>
In a nutshell, I posit that Voyage was ABBA reverting to their 1980/81 styles, rather than them leaping forward and building on what they'd created with the atmospheric soundscapes that we heard on ABBA's 1982 risky creative experiment (for them, anyway), "The Day Before You Came". That final single was an enormous leapfrog over everything else they'd recorded in 1982.
What a feisty and fun thread this has become all of a sudden!  From my perspective, the 1982 recordings were a completely different proposition to the ‘Voyage’ sessions, for reasons previously stated (e.g., the band running out of steam/inspiration in 1982 and not being satisfied with the recordings; conversely, feeling reinvigorated in 2017, having reconvened after so many years apart and actively pursuing an album despite the constraints of age, Covid and the untested, ambitious ABBA-tars concept/associated ongoing production). “The Day Before You Came” is a veritable triumph and to this day, my equal-favourite ABBA song (alongside “When All Is Said And Done”). Indeed, it was an adventurous foray into the unknown for a band so well known for instantaneous pop numbers and upfront vocal harmonies. What a wonder “The Day Before You Came” was as it appeared seemingly out of the ether, all mysterious and devoid of any formula. Every aspect of this track – the sophisticated lyric; Agnetha’s half-spoken lead vocal versus Frida’s alternating hushed lower-register and operatic backing vocals; the sparse synthersized instrumentation; the almost 6-minute running time; the ominous, atmospheric production and lack of resolution in the narrative – is this the beginning of a long-awaited love or the sense of foreboding precipitating a doomed relationship? Whatever the case, there is an undeniable sense of longing, sadness and hope, seemingly merged into a singular emotion that is both unclear and beautiful. An incomparable masterpiece, perhaps misunderstood to this day, which only adds to its austere beauty. Whilst I consider ‘Voyage’ to be an amalgam of ABBA’s back catalogue (and quite deliberately so), I agree with JJ that the two closest relatives are the ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘The Visitors’ albums (for the reasons already explained). I remain in love with ‘Voyage’ despite certain production flaws, the murky mix and lack of adventurousness. It’s still an inspired collection and withstands repeated listens – it hasn’t left my player since its release, continuing to reveal many intricacies over time, with the band’s integrity and dignity intact. However, I still wish for one more album in order for further exploration/invention/experimentation to occur, devoid of crowd-pleasing or the pressures of a sensationalised comeback after forty years. The band realised they could pull off the impossible with 'Voyage' so why not go out on a creative high, just to please themselves and in the process, a great many more (i.e., serious music lovers seeking beyond three-minute confection)? JJ, I love that you reference Everything But The Girl’s ‘Walking Wounded’ album as it was my hands-down favourite release of 1996. I could not stop playing it, from beginning to end, and what a gem it was. It spoke to me on so many levels and indeed, was elegance personified. ABBA would do well to consider such a direction. “The Day Before You Came” represented such promise at the time of release and yet, what an incredible way to sign off for nearly 40 years? If more music is forthcoming, I too long for a leap forward – I guess we shall see… |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 12, 2023 8:05:18 GMT
It feels like the 1982 fade-out might be the topic we return to most often in discussions here. It really is a fascinating period and I'd love if it was given some real attention by a copped-on interviewer. Bjorn really seems to rate Under Attack and, unless it's raised by someone else, he doesn't seem to mention TDBYC at all. He once said that ABBA might have continued if TDBYC had been a bigger hit, and that is disappointing. Was commercial validation more important than creative satisfaction for obscenely wealthy pop stars who had already conquered the pop world?
TDBYC is such a beauty. The idea that ABBA could have headed off in that more elegant, slightly experimental, adult direction is the stuff of dreams. Imagine if we could still have had the solo albums and Chess and some ABBA albums at a less frequent pace? A new ABBA album after SGO,WYAAM, Chess, Shine and EOAW in, say, 1986. Followed by Benny's two solo albums either side of ISA, and then a new ABBA release in 1990/91. Depending on whether new hits had emerged from those sets, the tracklist of Gold might have been different. The tracklist of More Gold would probably be all A-sides. Might Agnetha and Frida have been more assertive in putting forward some of their compositions for these ABBA projects? Might that broader creative input have made for a more exciting second phase?
But the two Gemini albums and Josefin Nilsson's Shapes makes me think not. Without the ABBA brand to "protect" and with younger artists under their wings, B&B could have been more experimental. If anything, they got more conservative. Bjorn's lyrics felt more and more like stage directions, veering away from pop styles and themes. I think Frida and Agnetha dodged bullets in not having to front I'm A Bitch When I See Red and Ghost Town (another song from the Chess compositions). The production could have utilized all the shiny new 80s technology - fairlights, thundering drum sounds, fresh new synth/guitar arrangements (for all that people sneer at the 80s, it's an era that still influences pop). All we got was a few gated snares and lightweight synths. Josefin Nilsson was an edgier, more soulful singer and yet she was given a fairly sedate album. Yes, there were a few good songs but the off-beat lyrical motifs were kinda clunky, and the production was still mired in the 80s - more Cliff Richard than zesty young singer. Not many 20somethings release singles in which they pace around in dressing gowns the morning after they've picked up some dude at an art gallery (Heaven And Hell). And what does Where The Whales Have Ceased To Sing actually mean?
I don't mean to poop on these albums, because I did actually enjoy them. But I think the legend of ABBA is in such good shape now because they never released albums like that. I definitely think that they would have been elevated by the vocal magic of the Lyngstad/Faltskog powerhouse, but it might have been a case of the singers being better than the material more often than usual. Is that a bit too "glass-half-empty" an observation?
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Post by Tinneke on Jun 12, 2023 10:44:36 GMT
I adore the day before you came. Never get tired of it. I am still disappointed by Voyage because there was no progression. The intro of SOS, the flutes of Fernando, the choir of I have a dream. I don't play the album anymore. I can enjoy Don't shutt me down and I can be that woman to some extend. I adore Agnetha's vocal but the song is just to much: it feels to heavy because of the instruments and the lyrics. I don't want a followup album either.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2023 18:24:34 GMT
Yes a good idea to merge the threads. No harm in a bit of compromise.
The rapid demise in 1982 is indeed one of the more fascinating periods and much discussed here.
1982 part 2 or reset to 1980/81?
There are clearly obvious different circumstances between the 1982 songs and the Voyage songs. What unites them for me is the inconsistent quality. And also how they came up with their best songs when under time pressure and for specific projects.
Voyage can be seen as a reset to 1980/81 in the fact they actually completed an album. The contrasting styles of Voyage, has in my mind, more in common with Super Trouper than The Visitors.
You can argue there are similarities with their 1980s albums and 1982 songs.
My Top 10 ABBA songs from 1980s onwards (including non-album tracks)
1. LAYLOM
2.When All is Said and Done
3.The Visitors
4. Soldiers
5. I Still Have Faith in You
6. Don't Shut Me Down
7. I Let the Music Speak
8. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room
9. Elaine
10. Cassandra
1980 (2), 1981 (5), 1982 (1) 2017-21 (2)
Sorry no The Winner Takes it All or The Day Before You Came
Least favourite (in order of least liked)
1. Little Things
2. Two for the Price of One
3. Put On Your White Sombrero
4. You Owe Me One
5. Bumblebee
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2023 19:48:06 GMT
On the point of ABBA albums always being musically varied. True - but some more than others.
I don't see a huge variation in the first two albums. Differences in tempo, sure, and some individual tracks esp My Mama Said. The ABBA album has more variation.
Voulez Vous and The Visitors are of course very different from.each other. The former has an overall uptemp (not necesarily upbeat) feel. The two ballads I Have a Dream and Chiquitita have more positive, hopeful lyrics while the many of the uptemp songs have very dark lyrics.
The Visitors is the opposite. Mainly darker and more mature songs but with a couple of throwaway songs. Actually I quite like HOH bit it doesn't gel with the other songs.
Arrival, The Album, Super Trouper and Voyage have the most diverse musical styles. On The Album quite a few brilluat songs such as Take a Chance One, The Name of the Game. All fantastic in excellent ways.
Arrival has a huge contrast in quality between the singles and album tracks. And no When I Kissed the Teacher is no Dancing Queen
Super Trouper and Voyage though to my ears are the most diverse. Pethaps to broad a range in styles?
It seems to be ABBA were struggling to come up with a whole album for Voyage. Two songs didn't make the cut and they had to rope in a 40 plus old song and a Christmas song which didn't fit in at all.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2023 20:01:24 GMT
I adore the day before you came. Never get tired of it. I am still disappointed by Voyage because there was no progression. The intro of SOS, the flutes of Fernando, the choir of I have a dream. I don't play the album anymore. I can enjoy Don't shutt me down and I can be that woman to some extend. I adore Agnetha's vocal but the song is just to much: it feels to heavy because of the instruments and the lyrics. I don't want a followup album either. I used to love The Day Before You Came when I was a teenager. Now I just find it dull. I guess I am living my life back to front! Certainly those old ABBA references on Voyage as well as resurrecting Just a Notion. Anyone feel like I do that Don't Shut Me Down is a kind of The Day Before You Came meets Take a Chance on Me? If there was ever an ABBA song where the chorus and verses are seemingly at odds, it is this not Just Like That. Perhaps Voyage neither a reset to 1980/81 nor a continuation of 1982 but a lack of progress with distinctive ABBA sounds thrown in for nostalgia. |
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Post by Michal on Jun 14, 2023 18:38:43 GMT
Just Like That remain a mystery though. They clearly must have liked the song, when they bothered to rewrite it for Gemini. Even the original verse was later used it Chess. And since then at least two covers of the original ABBA version were approved. So where does the defiance to release it come from? I think you’ve answered your own question there! Their opinion is that the original verses and chorus of Just Like That don’t go together. They then proceeded to try and prove their point by writing new verses for Gemini and using the original verse melody in Chess. Oh yes, I know the story of course My point was - Björn and Benny clearly like both the verses and the chorus, otherwise they wouldn't have released both separately. What I don't understand is why the alleged incompatibility of the original verses with the original chorus (in my opinion they go together very well, definitely better than the Gemini version) is such a big deal for them, as there are songs in ABBA catalogue, that have the same "problem" even more pronounced. I of course respect it's only up to them to decide what to do with their own material, I just don't understand it in this case. Even more so, when we know, that both Agnetha and Frida like the song. |
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Post by Michal on Jun 14, 2023 18:46:05 GMT
I would really like to know what everybody's problem with Under Attack is. I've always liked it. Actually, the only 1982 song I don't think much of is You Owe Me One. And it's actually the fact that it was released on the B-side of Under Attack, which supports the theory of JLT and IATC being saved for a future album. If they were not, why not release one of them instead of YOMO? Both were superior.
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Post by Alan on Jun 14, 2023 20:47:59 GMT
I would really like to know what everybody's problem with Under Attack is. I've always liked it. Actually, the only 1982 song I don't think much of is You Owe Me One. And it's actually the fact that it was released on the B-side of Under Attack, which supports the theory of JLT and IATC being saved for a future album. If they were not, why not release one of them instead of YOMO? Both were superior. To me, Under Attack sounds really cold and harsh. I don’t like the way the vocals are treated. It’s not a track I enjoy listening to. However, that may partly be to do with the fact that it was their last single. We didn’t know that at the time, but there was just something about those final songs that indicated an ending. I wanted to think they would come back, but I didn’t really believe they would. I agree on You Owe Me One, I would say that’s by far the worst track in their catalogue. Again we get the vocals manipulated and there’s a lack of warmth to it. As I’ve said many times, this could never have made it onto an ABBA album so would have been a first single b-side. It therefore made sense to use it up as such. As Björn and Benny’s minds were clearly on making a musical at that point, I’d say it’s possible that they thought they could re-work Just Like That and I Am The City for that. And of course, the verses of JLT were indeed revisited. I’d like to know what they think of I Am The City. The fact it’s on More Gold, and they must have known that would give it quite a big audience, suggests they like it. However, aside from the deluxe of The Visitors and various boxed set issues, it hasn’t had much of an airing outside of More Gold. Again, it’s quite cold and harsh to my ears, and once again we don’t get true vocals, but because it came out early in the ABBA revival (and therefore something of a new beginning, not an ending), I don’t mind it as much. |
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Post by Sindy on Jun 15, 2023 8:40:27 GMT
Surprised the boys felt You Owe Me One was better than JLT. The biggest mistake in their music careers.
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Post by Alan on Jun 15, 2023 9:44:50 GMT
Surprised the boys felt You Owe Me One was better than JLT. The biggest mistake in their music careers. I don’t think they did. They perhaps viewed it as something they couldn’t do anything else with, and as it seems they were losing interest in ABBA, they made the decision to use it up. They probably regret that now though. You Owe Me One is absent from some reissues, including the standard 2001 issue of The Visitors. As I say, I think they viewed Just Like That and I Am The City as tracks they could revisit and reuse parts of. It would have looked a bit desperate if they’d used them up for ABBA and then gone back to them. You Owe Me One was a track they definitely had no intention of reworking! |
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Post by welshboy on Jun 15, 2023 13:52:37 GMT
NO NO NO I love Under Attack I love what they did with the singing. Crazy World is hard to hear its like waiting for paint to dry to hear the tagg of the song. CW is the only song that I don't play and its a song I don't miss.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Jun 15, 2023 14:03:01 GMT
Under Attack is one of my favourite ABBA songs its an excellent song and extremely underrated I always request it to be played when I go to parties as its incredibly catchy would have been the perfect title track for the 1982/1983 album had it been finished. I like all 6 songs from the 1982 sessions I will say that I think 'Cassandra' definitely should have been an A-Side its classic ABBA and far to good to have been a B-Side as much as I like 'The Day Before You Came' to me it sounds more like a B-Side definitely the wrong decision to release it as an A-Side
I really like 'You Owe Me One', 'Just Like That' & 'I Am The City' think all 3 songs are excellent it would have been interesting to see how 'I Am The City' would have done had it been released as a single in 1983.
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Post by Tinneke on Jun 15, 2023 15:12:09 GMT
Cassandra an A side? NO WAY. Such a schmalzy old fashioned song. The day was such a progression and one of their very best
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2023 16:35:06 GMT
I also think the 1982 songs are on the whole pretty poor. This was so disappointing after the excellent The Visitors album.
I guess comparing Voyage to The Visitors, Voyage would be a bit of a let down. But the songs as a whole so much better than the 1982 offereings ...and nice Voyage wasva success too.
None of the 1982 songs were single material or had that ABBA sparkle. You Owe Me One and Under Attack are pretty awful. I just don't like the vocal gimmickry.
YOMO seems like a throwback to the Ring Ring era.
On their Primetime German TV appearance in 1982 they featured TDBYC, Cassandra and UA. Unusual to perform a b-side. Was this to help the very uncommercial The Day Before You Came - if show was before/during the chart run?
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 15, 2023 18:32:19 GMT
I also think the 1982 songs are on the whole pretty poor. This was so disappointing after the excellent The Visitors album. I guess comparing Voyage to The Visitors, Voyage would be a bit of a let down. But the songs as a whole so much better than the 1982 offereings ...and nice Voyage wasva success too. None of the 1982 songs were single material or had that ABBA sparkle. You Owe Me One and Under Attack are pretty awful. I just don't like the vocal gimmickry. YOMO seems like a throwback to the Ring Ring era. On their Primetime German TV appearance in 1982 they featured TDBYC, Cassandra and UA. Unusual to perform a b-side. Was this to help the very uncommercial The Day Before You Came - if show was before/during the chart run? I don't think I've ever heard You Owe Me One and I'm really worried that I've missed out. I think I might have YOMO FOMO. |
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Post by Alan on Jun 16, 2023 7:45:40 GMT
😂 bennybjorn. You can end your FOMO… Apparently Björn and Benny dislike the song, saying it’s “just a jingle”. Had they completed a fourth song in those August 1982 sessions, we probably wouldn’t have got You Owe Me One. There’s a Wikipedia explanation below as to why they recorded three tracks. You Owe Me One is Agnetha and Frida singing in unison throughout isn’t it? That’s how I’ve always heard it, though I’ve seen it said that it’s Frida-led. I can quite clearly hear Agnetha all the way through. From Wikipedia (most likely using Carl Magnus Palm’s books as a reference): “Having taken a break, on 2–4 August 1982 ABBA returned to the recording studio with two new songs written, "Cassandra" and "Under Attack". Both songs were recorded to Björn and Benny's satisfaction in these sessions, though they were sceptical that either would work as a single A-side. With the studio booked for the rest of the day, and nothing else ready for recording, they decided to work on some song ideas there and then. One idea Benny had was "a single melodic fragment that lent itself to being repeated in a series of ascending and descending phrases over several key changes". Working with Björn, he used this as the basis for an entire song. Within an hour they had written the whole melody, and had given the new song the working title ‘Den lidande fågeln’ (‘The Suffering Bird’). This song would be released under the title "The Day Before You Came". “ Back to Just Like That, and more from Wikipedia (again probably quoting CMP): “Back in the 80s, typical to how Benny and Björn worked, parts of the unreleased Just Like That were recycled for better use. A guitar solo/riff appeared as a melody line in , ABBA's last single, already in late 1982.” The fact that they did reuse parts of it in Under Attack suggest there were no plans to ever release JLT in its then-current form. Other tracks partly reused in others include Get On The Carousel and Dream World, both of which remained unreleased originally. I can’t find anything that Björn and Benny said negatively about I Am The City. Of the three May 1982 songs, they clearly didn’t like the other two. As I said, the fact that it was chosen for a mainstream compilation much later on, giving it a wider audience than any studio album reissue, suggests they remained fond of it. If they thought it was too good to use up as a b-side (resurrecting the disliked You Owe Me One in the process), what were they planning for it? |
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Post by bennybjorn on Jun 16, 2023 17:10:01 GMT
Yeah, I don't actually think YOMO is that bad. The arrangement may be gimmicky and grating but it at least has a memorable/hummable chorus melody unlike I Saw It In The Mirror and many of their other duff early songs.
TFTPOO is a glorious musical composition - it's just the lyrics and singing that bring it down.
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Post by Alan on Jun 16, 2023 17:58:40 GMT
Absolutely not. By the time of You Owe Me One they really should have been capable of better. Both I Saw It In The Mirror and Two For The Price of One have their merits and, please excuse my arrogance, I feel really sorry for those that don’t see it like I do. With I Saw It In The Mirror you have Agnetha and Frida coming in to steal the show, and they were at their most powerful when they did this. And it’s exactly the same with Two For The Price Of One. Those vocals in the chorus really do it for me, more so than when A and F are centre stage. Plus it fits the dark theme of The Visitors. I seriously would not have liked this album as much without it.
The worst ABBA songs in my opinion are Åh, Vilka Tider (that everyone seems to conveniently forget about because there’s no English version) and You Owe Me One.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2023 18:19:23 GMT
I've never heard Ah, Vilka Tider. Or maybe I have but can't remember it at all.
I agree that with YOMO ABBA should have been capable of far better. Awful songs from Ring Ring and Waterloo can be excused as they were early ABBA songs.
Two for the Price of One is fine apart from the lyrics and vocals...lol. A bit like Does Your Mother Know then.
I am the City featured on More Gold of course. But I don't think it's been on amy other compilstion or box set, has it? Maybe an bonus track on a 90s The Visitors revamp. Did Benny and Bjorn go off it?
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