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Post by Alan on Oct 25, 2023 18:42:14 GMT
A lot of tracks were released as singles from this particular album. The singles box set could have had five or six singles included, and that is without TDBYC & UA. I have three singles from El Salvador - One Of Us, Head Over Heels & When All Is Said And Done. If you add on Slipping... And Soldiers. Almost all of ABBA’s albums had other tracks released as singles in obscure countries. Somewhere in the world, all of the following English language tracks were released as commercial single A-sides between 1973 and 1983, but not by Polar: Another Town, Another Train Rock ‘n’ Roll Band Nina, Pretty Ballerina Ring Ring (1974 remix and US remix) Hasta Mañana I’ve Been Waiting For You Bang-A-Boomerang Rock Me That’s Me Thank You For The Music As Good As New Lay All Your Love On Me On and On and On Happy New Year Andante Andante The Visitors When All Is Said and Done Slipping Through My Fingers is not included in the above as it was a promotional single and not a full commercial release. Not sure where you’d get “five or six” from. The Visitors had Head Over Heels as a b-side, and even used the same cover photo as Head Over Heels, so would be little more than a duplicate. Slipping Through My Fingers doesn’t count as it was only a promo. Soldiers wasn’t a single anywhere. |
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Post by Daronjulian23 on Oct 25, 2023 21:15:33 GMT
^^ So Soldiers was just a B Side then by the sound of it. WAISAD should definitely have been included as TDBYC & UA don't quite fit into The Visitors recording sessions. They were recorded a year later almost. At least The Visitors box set has now been released - at last! I have been buying these box sets and will now wonder and wait as to what they are going to fill the Waterloo box set with. The self titled ABBA album (1975) box set will definitely have four singles in that. It's just the Waterloo box set I am puzzled with!!!
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Post by Daronjulian23 on Oct 25, 2023 21:33:19 GMT
According to ABBAOmnibus, the singles box set for The Visitors is limited to 3000 copies. The previous box sets have all had their output increased with Arrival being the lowest at 2000 copies.
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Post by Alan on Oct 26, 2023 19:31:57 GMT
WAISAD should definitely have been included as TDBYC & UA don't quite fit into The Visitors recording sessions. They were recorded a year later almost. I still don’t understand why this is a problem. What else would you do with them? Since 1997, all five non-album singles have been attached to studio albums as bonus tracks. Contrary to Adam’s mistaken belief (sorry, AdamDawson2003, but PLEASE grasp this), three of the 1982 tracks were NOT recorded for a possible ninth album. Only You Owe Me One was, and would almost certainly have only ever been a b-side. It’s highly unlikely that that the other two songs recorded for ABBA IX (I Am The City and Just Like That) would ever have made it considering they were considered not good enough for release in 1982. Gimme Gimme Gimme was actually added to Super Trouper for the 1997 remasters. It was only moved to Voulez-Vous for the 2001 issues. |
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Post by Michel on Oct 26, 2023 19:44:03 GMT
Gimme Gimme Gimme was actually added to Super Trouper for the 1997 remasters. I always thought that was a very odd inclusion on the 1997 reissue of Super Trouper. Perhaps they wanted to up the amount of A-sides/hits on Super Trouper. But it clearly belonged on Voulez-Vous, being released in 1979 between two Voulez-Vous singles and having the same kind of dance/disco vibe. Thankfully this was corrected in 2001. |
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Post by Alan on Oct 26, 2023 20:04:30 GMT
I always thought that was a very odd inclusion on the 1997 reissue of Super Trouper. I think it might have been because Gimme Gimme Gimme was recorded after the Voulez-Vous album was released, so could never have appeared on it (unlike Fernando and Summer Night City, which were released before their associated albums). As the same applied to The Day Before You Came and Under Attack, it made more sense to move Gimme Gimme Gimme to Voulez-Vous, the logic being that it was the closest studio album, not necessarily the next one. |
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Post by bjorenny on Oct 26, 2023 21:24:37 GMT
I've always thought of ABBA as a group of 2 very distinct halves - pre- and post- Super Trouper, as their sound, lyrics and appearance changed so dramatically (put simply- happy, innocent ABBA vs mature, introspective ABBA). Although Elaine was during the Super Trouper sessions, it has the feel of the pre- era. POYWS is strange as it is the only song that straddles the 2 versions of ABBA in my head. Apologies if I'm rambling, I've had wine 😁
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Oct 27, 2023 9:00:09 GMT
All 6 six songs from the 1982 sessions would have made it on to a 1983 album anyway
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Post by Alan on Oct 27, 2023 9:44:25 GMT
All 6 six songs from the 1982 sessions would have made it on to a 1983 album anyway No, they most definitely would not. Three of the songs were released in 1982 specifically for singles and the compilation. As with Fernando, Summer Night City and Gimme Gimme Gimme they would have remained non-album singles. When they took that “break” it was for Benny and Björn to work on a musical and Agnetha and Frida to work on solo projects. No 1983 album was planned. They didn’t announce a split but that’s really what happened. The two unreleased 1982 tracks would have remained that (and one remains unreleased in full to this day). I do get that fans want to believe their own version of ABBA but it’s largely in the realms of fantasy. |
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Oct 29, 2023 13:30:04 GMT
Just been watching the video for No Hay A Quien Culpar and I noticed that Frida looks really unhappy whereas Agnetha doesn't look unhappy I wonder why Frida looked so sad in that video
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Post by Michal on Oct 29, 2023 14:31:42 GMT
AdamDawson2003, don't you really know? Frida was just going through a break-up of her marriage and the song deals with the same matter. Isn't it enough to look sad?
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Oct 29, 2023 15:14:18 GMT
AdamDawson2003 , don't you really know? Frida was just going through a break-up of her marriage and the song deals with the same matter. Isn't it enough to look sad? Frida seems alot more upbeat in the English version and her vocals in the Spanish version sound like they were recorded using a vocoder |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2023 20:37:53 GMT
AdamDawson2003 , don't you really know? Frida was just going through a break-up of her marriage and the song deals with the same matter. Isn't it enough to look sad? Frida seems alot more upbeat in the English version and her vocals in the Spanish version sound like they were recorded using a vocoder The video for "When All Is Said And Done" was filmed in August, 29 of 1981 (6 months after the divorce of Benny and Frida was announced (February, 12 of 1981)), the video "No Hay A Quien Culpar" was filmed November, 27 of 1981, one day after her divorce from Benny was final, and one week before Benny married Mona (december, 3 of 1981). Maybe that is the reason she looked sadder. |
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Oct 29, 2023 20:58:38 GMT
Frida seems alot more upbeat in the English version and her vocals in the Spanish version sound like they were recorded using a vocoder The video for "When All Is Said And Done" was filmed in August, 29 of 1981, the video "No Hay A Quien Culpar" was filmed November, 27 of 1981, one day after her divorce from Benny was final, and one week before Benny married to Mona. Maybe that is the reason she looked sadder. Interesting that the video for 'No Hay A Quien Culpar' was filmed 3 days before The Visitors album was released and 'No Hay A Quien Culpar' was recorded in the studio on 24th November 1981 then the video was filmed 3 days later. I love 'When All Is Said And Done' and 'No Hay A Quien Culpar' both songs are excellent |
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Post by Alan on Dec 1, 2023 17:49:13 GMT
These issues are out today. Unfortunately I was out when they attempted delivery but never mind! I finally got the Ring Ring box last month so am up-to-date with this series.
Now that we apparently know the criteria for these releases - original Polar singles unless there were fewer than three, with that one Voulez-Vous anomaly - the series looks set to be completed within two years.
Waterloo - April 2024 - three singles (Waterloo/Watch Out, Waterloo (Swedish)/Honey Honey (Swedish), Honey Honey/King Kong Song)
ABBA - April 2025 (approx) - four singles (So Long/I’ve Been Waiting For You, I Do I Do/Rock Me, SOS/Man In The Middle, Mamma Mia/Intermezzo No. 1)
This adds to the previous releases:
Arrival (four singles)
The Album (three singles)
Voulez-Vous (six singles plus one anomaly - Voulez-Vous extended version/If It Wasn’t For The Nights)
Super Trouper (two singles plus one non-Polar single - Lay All Your Love on Me/On and On and On)
Ring Ring (five singles)
The Visitors (four singles)
Total 31 Polar singles plus two others
The 2014 40-single box included all 31 Polar singles, plus Lay All Your Love on Me and eight other non-Polar singles which have been excluded from this series:
Ring Ring (German)/Another Town Another Train (German)
Waterloo (German)/Watch Out
Waterloo (French)/Gonna Sing You My Lovesong
Honey Honey/Ring Ring (remix) (based on West German release)
Chiquitita (Spanish)/Lovelight
Estoy Soñando/Does Your Mother Know
Happy New Year/Andante Andante (based on 1980 Portugal release)
When All Is Said And Done/Soldiers
The inclusion of these in that box means they have all been “Polarised” with artwork now owned and amended by Universal, and could still see the light of day as coloured vinyl and picture discs at a later date. Any other worldwide singles can now largely be considered forgotten about/written out of history.
There is also the option that they might add Voyage to the series. One-sided singles are possible (and have indeed been done), though the artwork for the first two Voyage singles did leave a bit to be desired. No offence, but Frida’s hand on Don’t Shut Me Down did nothing for me so a picture disc of that is not particularly desirable! Plus there might, with any luck, be another single next year? A 2026 release, the fifth anniversary of Voyage and over a year on from the ABBA album issues, would be fitting. It’s also the 50th anniversary of Arrival but there really isn’t much more they can do with the albums. Another series of something is not required!
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Post by Alan on Dec 2, 2023 16:24:10 GMT
My The Visitors singles arrived today. They’re actually a Christmas present so I haven’t opened them properly but wanted to open the transit packaging in order to check for any damage. The alternate photo used on the lid of the box is interesting. All four of them are looking at the camera. I think in all photos we’ve seen so far, none of them are? For Frida, this means she’s looking to the right, almost from the corners of her eyes.  |
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Post by evilincarnate on Dec 3, 2023 2:33:13 GMT
The box set looks beautiful Alan. The alternate photo is gorgeous - I'm always intrigued by any differences to iconic images we know so well.
(I'm really hoping they can do the same for the 1975 ABBA set in 2025, although I suspect it will prove difficult locating the cover session negatives.)
I don't reckon I will receive my copy of The Visitors singles box until late December, but it will be worth the wait. Good times!
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Post by Michel on Dec 3, 2023 10:50:08 GMT
Received the box set yesterday. Loving the alternate Visitors shot with all of them looking at the camera.
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Dec 4, 2023 0:49:12 GMT
I hope that Gracias Por La Musica also gets the half speed master treatment the 2014 Deluxe Edition basically classed it as a regular studio album and I am only going to buy the album of The Visitors not bothering with the box set
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 8, 2023 12:38:05 GMT
My box set and picture discs arrived today. The box itself is beautiful - the image is sharp and it's nice to have an alternate shot from that session (where are the solo headshots, though?)
I have to say that, other than the lovely box, this collection is not all that. The replicated sleeves are poor: the One Of Us and TDBYC sleeves are far too red; HOH and UA are really grainy (they kinda get away with it for the UA sleeve).
The picture discs are no great shakes either. A good chunk of Bjorn's face is missing on HOH! OOU looks like a cheap scan. TDBYC is good and UA is... fine. Given that the picture discs have no logo or titles, the photos should be crisp. At these prices, that lack of attention to detail is just not on.
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Post by Alan on Dec 8, 2023 23:45:13 GMT
The replicated sleeves are poor: the One Of Us and TDBYC sleeves are far too red; HOH and UA are really grainy… The picture discs are no great shakes either…. OOU looks like a cheap scan. Given that the picture discs have no logo or titles, the photos should be crisp. At these prices, that lack of attention to detail is just not on. This is a bit disappointing to learn but not totally unexpected. I think all of the singles in the various boxes (and picture discs) have suffered with this. What I still don’t understand is that they are not full scans. They’ve partially re-created the artwork so that the text is new. How then, do the actual photos look so poor? This marred the albums too, noticeably in the coloured vinyl box from 2020. Did they just digitally remove the scanned text and then re-create it so it looked nice and sharp? I did have some concerns that they were rushing these out. It’s not that long since Ring Ring and Waterloo is expected in April. I’m not sure there was really a rush to do The Visitors. It’s already two years late so they could have left it longer. Waterloo next year, ABBA the year after and then The Visitors in 2026 (a 45th anniversary). Then again, they might start again that year with Arrival but I shudder to think what else they can do with it, other than merchandise. More time to prepare these boxes/picture discs might have meant more care taken with them. Obviously we’re sucked in now so we’re going to get all eight. There’s a market for them because the profiteers will buy them up in bulk to sell on at a profit (Arrival now apparently fetching ridiculous prices). We know this and want to avoid paying over the odds, so we make sure we buy before they sell out. They don’t really need to improve the quality. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 9, 2023 0:20:46 GMT
Having just looked at the photos of these releases on Discogs… The Head Over Heels picture disc issue you mention, HOMETIME appears to be because the original sleeve artwork had Björn to the far right. There was always more space to the left of Frida but nothing to the right of Björn. Assuming it was originally taken on 35mm film, the square crop was done for the sleeve. This appears to confirm they’re made no effort to source the original photo. The picture disc circle therefore can’t go anymore to the right. This contrasts with previous picture discs such as Summer Night City, where more of the headshots were shown on the picture disc than had appeared on the original sleeve, proving original photos were sourced. Another gripe with these latest issues is the fonts for the titles used on the front of the picture disc sleeves. For the Super Trouper singles, the original fonts were used (so for instance, Super Trouper itself used the “Balloon” font). For both Ring Ring and The Visitors, we just get a very boring, generic font. Also, the b-side title is shown whereas the Super Trouper issues dispensed with them. |
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Post by evilincarnate on Dec 9, 2023 1:18:59 GMT
Tony, I was curious as to whether you pre-ordered 'The Visitors' box set and picture disc singles?
I pre-ordered the various formats in October, but they haven't been despatched as yet.
I wonder if there was a production delay for either the singles or the half-speed album vinyl?
It seems as though the box set was ready prior to the release date of 1st December.
Has everyone who placed pre-orders received despatch notices as yet, or better still, the actual items?
Regards,
Phil
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Post by Alan on Dec 9, 2023 7:23:22 GMT
Has everyone who placed pre-orders received despatch notices as yet, or better still, the actual items? I pre-ordered both box and picture discs from a company called The Sound of Vinyl on 27 October. I got the despatch notification on 30 November (a day before it was released, so they must have got their supplies in prior to then) and I received them two days later (2 December). |
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Post by evilincarnate on Dec 9, 2023 8:54:17 GMT
Thanks for the information Alan. I ordered from The Sound of Vinyl as well - maybe they needed to order more supplies?
I might write to them and check on the situation.
Thanks again, Phil.
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 9, 2023 13:15:02 GMT
Tony, I was curious as to whether you pre-ordered 'The Visitors' box set and picture disc singles? I pre-ordered the various formats in October, but they haven't been despatched as yet. I followed a link on the day of announcement and it took me to a Dutch outlet, Platenzaak. Certainly not a store I'd have instantly chosen, given the extortionate P&P they applied to the Little Things CD single when I bought it there (the P&P was three times the price of the CD!!). But, yes, I pre-ordered from them on the first day or so. I got a dispatch notice 10 days ago, with the package arriving yesterday. Where did you order from, Phil? I understand the point of pre-ordering for limited edition items, but I can never get my head around why the retailers are not primed to get the material to customers on or close to release day. While I have qualms about supporting Amazon, they're sometimes a little more efficient in terms of the delivery time. FWIW, I have seen the picture discs from previous anniversary releases in the Dublin branch of Tower records. Never the boxes, mind you, but it suggests that the picture discs might be a tad more widely available...? |
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 9, 2023 13:28:15 GMT
[...] The Head Over Heels picture disc issue you mention, HOMETIME appears to be because the original sleeve artwork had Björn to the far right. There was always more space to the left of Frida but nothing to the right of Björn. Assuming it was originally taken on 35mm film, the square crop was done for the sleeve. This appears to confirm they’re made no effort to source the original photo. The picture disc circle therefore can’t go anymore to the right. This contrasts with previous picture discs such as Summer Night City, where more of the headshots were shown on the picture disc than had appeared on the original sleeve, proving original photos were sourced. Another gripe with these latest issues is the fonts for the titles used on the front of the picture disc sleeves. [...] This is what really boils my pee. All of the photos for these releases are regularly used by all kinds of outlets, so there should be no issues with the picture discs. I get the issue with the original photo for HOH, but it's not something that would be beyond a graphic design intern. The right hand side of the photo could have been easily extended with a colour-matched blur beside Bjorn's face. The OOU picture disc looks like it was made from a photo taken on a cheap phone, and there's no excuse for that. Likewise, the original sleeves were not so meticulously designed that they couldn't have been very easily and accurately recreated using the original photos and the still-widely-available fonts. |
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Post by Michel on Dec 9, 2023 21:36:20 GMT
I'm not sure but it looks like Agnetha & Frida's eyes have been retouched on the Head Over Heels sleeve. It seems a little blue eyeshadow has been added to Agnetha and black eyeliner to Frida. I agree, One Of Us looks far too red/orange. The sleeve of Under Attack was always grainy so they get away with it on that one. The sleeve of The Day Before You Came looks the best out of the four, I feel.
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Post by evilincarnate on Dec 10, 2023 2:22:43 GMT
Tony, I was curious as to whether you pre-ordered 'The Visitors' box set and picture disc singles? I pre-ordered the various formats in October, but they haven't been despatched as yet. I followed a link on the day of announcement and it took me to a Dutch outlet, Platenzaak. Certainly not a store I'd have instantly chosen, given the extortionate P&P they applied to the Little Things CD single when I bought it there (the P&P was three times the price of the CD!!). But, yes, I pre-ordered from them on the first day or so. I got a dispatch notice 10 days ago, with the package arriving yesterday. Where did you order from, Phil? I understand the point of pre-ordering for limited edition items, but I can never get my head around why the retailers are not primed to get the material to customers on or close to release day. While I have qualms about supporting Amazon, they're sometimes a little more efficient in terms of the delivery time. Thank you Tony for the informaton, much appreciated. I ordered from Sound of Vinyl, also on the day of announcement, so I thought the despatch would occur on or about 1st December. I have now written to the shop in order to query the situation so hopefully will receive a response - and despatch notice - soon. I can be patient but just want to know that the items are available and will be shipped in the next week or so given that Christmas is around the corner. I'm not a fan of Amazon but I agree, they are definitely more reliable in terms of despacth and delivery. It is difficult to locate many of these ABBA reissues within Australia, particularly if you wish to pre-order items so I am reliant upon various international outlets, most often in the UK or Germany. I can resort to ebay but it's my least favoured option. However, beggars can't be choosers so I'll do what needs to be done. Just going off topic for a moment... You wouldn't believe the prices the Dolly Parton 'Rockstar' limited edition cd (sold through the American 'HSN' tv shopping channel) is fetching on ebay and Discogs - that's if you can actually grab one in time. I was all primed for the Australian 'TVSN' Dolly launch a month or so back, but they only offered the standard cd and vinyl. This type of reaction just makes me conscious of purchasing limited edition items as quickly as possible. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Dec 10, 2023 12:11:13 GMT
Just going off topic for a moment... You wouldn't believe the prices the Dolly Parton 'Rockstar' limited edition cd (sold through the American 'HSN' tv shopping channel) is fetching on ebay and Discogs - that's if you can actually grab one in time. I was all primed for the Australian 'TVSN' Dolly launch a month or so back, but they only offered the standard cd and vinyl. This type of reaction just makes me conscious of purchasing limited edition items as quickly as possible. Having seen how Kate Bush fans have been mugged for the new configurations of The Hounds Of Love, I'd believe anything. With these ABBA box sets being so niche and specialist, I would have thought it'd make more sense to sell them exclusively from the Museum and/or Universal webshops. Scattering them across multiple vendors is the flimsiest possible fig leaf of "competition." That way, at least the fans could have some kind of price guarantee and know when something is definitively sold out. |
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