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Post by Roxanne on Oct 27, 2014 11:52:30 GMT
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Post by 15/11/79 on Oct 27, 2014 17:36:09 GMT
A glorious return to form for ABBA at the end of 1980.
From the rich artwork to a 'complete' album. Every track is excellent.
On first hearing it was so good. The harmonies on Andante, Andante, the great synthesiser on Me and I. Happy New Year was an instant classic. Our Last Summer - Frida on top form vocally, and a nice story to go along with the melody. The Piper had the medieval atmosphere and great production. Lay All Your Love on Me was THE show stopper - what a track. Played this repeatedly on release day. The Way Old Friends Do evoked memories of the 79 concert.
This album was a massive success, especially in the UK where it topped the charts for 9 consecutive weeks and was only toppled by John Lennon's Double Fantasy album after he was killed.
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Post by maxisaxi on Oct 28, 2014 1:41:55 GMT
You have made some very good points there a great Album
Love Me & I and actually love all the tracks, however I have always felt The Way Old Friends do is out of place
On this Album.
Maxisaxi
New Zealand
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 28, 2014 11:43:49 GMT
This is like a textbook example of a perfect album. The quality of the songs is so high, from start to finish, that it's difficult to easily identify high- and low-points. The three singles chosen were corkers but I also think it was the only ABBA album where every track could have made a convincing single. Like "Arrival," there is a certain 'magic' about this release that pulls everything together.
So why is it not my favourite album? I can't put my finger on why I play this so much less than "The Visitors," "Voulez-Vous" or "Arrival." It has everything in spades, so it makes no sense to me.
Tony
Ireland
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Post by dizzymoe33 on Oct 28, 2014 17:10:02 GMT
I remember when I came home from buying this album and started to listen to it. I enjoy all the songs it had good energy and many wonderful songs but at the same time I was getting a feeling that the synergy within the band was changing. But it wasn't until 'The Visitors' that I truly felt the end of ABBA was near. All the songs are well written.
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Post by Zeebee on Jan 3, 2015 22:25:44 GMT
I have long wondered why they never recorded a studio version of The Way Old Friends Do. But I much prefer a version that they performed on tour. I think it was at Wembly in England. It is on Youtube. I know the version on the album has overdubbing. I just don't care for that version. Maybe the reason I prefer the other version is because it was the first one I heard and became familiar with. It was on a TV show. Incidentally, it was also on that TV show that I first heard Gimme Gimme Gimme and Summer Night City, and I prefer those versions to the studio versions, too.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 9:02:26 GMT
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 22, 2022 20:21:13 GMT
I have a copy of the ST album which I remember buying around 2008, obviously stand out tracks are TWTIA, LAYLOM,and ST but I really like On and On and On, just something about the way the track builds.
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Post by Alan on Jul 22, 2022 22:30:16 GMT
I have a copy of the ST album which I remember buying around 2008 Was that a vinyl version of it, just out of interest, or CD? |
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jon
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Post by jon on Jul 23, 2022 11:50:06 GMT
I have a copy of the ST album which I remember buying around 2008 Was that a vinyl version of it, just out of interest, or CD? A CD, it's a 30th anniversary edition and has bonus tracks 'Elaine' and 'Put on your White Sombrero', I also bought 'The Visitors' at same time |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2022 11:30:49 GMT
Hometime, you say you can't put your finger on why it's not your favourite/most played ABBA album.
For me, while every track is good and no really dud track, there aren't many great tracks - only LAYLOM for me.
The musical diversity is a plus but also a minus. It is a collection of songs rather than a cohesive album. Voulez Vous and The Visitors are very different from each other but both overall have a certain feel or mood. The Super Trouper album lacks identity.
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Post by lamont on Aug 14, 2022 11:48:00 GMT
For me when I got it in 1980 for Christmas, I was 8, I kinda got it in my head it was ABBA performing it at a circus show, especially with the title track being about being on stage, then the audience cheering at the end of LAYLOM and depending on where the needle landed the audience continuing to cheer after The Way Old Friends Do. I think Benny’s Yamaha GX-1 major sound on the album really set a standard in the day as Abba moved away from the disco sound. I remember reading in the Abba magazine that they were astounded with the production on On And On And On, coz the synth was suddenly switched off at end of chorus, plus the bridges in LAYLOM. To me the sound is very cohesive, but it dates the album with the early 80s production aesthetics.
Similar to Madonna’s Ray Of Light album in 1998, it was a refresh production technique but soon enough everyone was doing it, and it dates it to that period.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 14, 2022 11:57:03 GMT
Yeah... The album and its recording sessions seemed to arrive at a point where there was a shift in what was popular. Between movements, in a way. Listening now, it feels like the most Benny-dominated of the albums, if that makes sense. I think that might have been its identity, to a degree? The songwriting might have been diverse (and it's a ballad-heavy set), but the sonic palette wasn't. The same synth sound(s) cropped up on at least half the tracks. Maybe that was a ploy to make things a bit more cohesive. It wasn't immediate for me but LAYLOM became my most-played track from the set. Very close behind it, though, is.... Elaine. It has an energy and zest that's missing overall. On And On And On comes close to delivering similar energy but, even though I enjoy hearing it now and again, I get really tired of it if I play it often. I'm only glad that they had the sense to dump Sombrero.
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Post by lamont on Aug 14, 2022 13:01:28 GMT
Yeh I played it continuously too, for me it was their best, but the older I got, the more The Visitors took over, though that felt like unfinished and melancholy (not the songs, but the mood, Voyage puts a full stop to that now, I see The Visitors as a different album now.) I haven’t spinned Super Trouper in a while, though I do insert Elaine after Me And I, to break the mood up a bit. It adds potency of paranoia in Me And I and the uncertainty of Happy New Year. It flows rather well. It did seem to be the album of 1980 in regards to Christmas presents, I got it, as a few other family members did too like ‘trying to be hip’ aunties!
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Post by richard on Aug 14, 2022 15:35:37 GMT
I've gone off the album quite a lot over the years. It's partly for a reason Tony gives: it is very 'ballady'; and I think Benny was very keen on his (outrageously expensive for the time) Yamaha GX-1 synth, which, for me, is too much an aspect of ABBA's sound during this period.
I've expressed elsewhere on this forum why TWTIA and OLS aren't big favourites of mine; and although not a very widely-held opinion, no doubt, I regard HNY as having the best melody on the album. Pity the lyrics kind of restrict it's appeal to December/January, probably, for many, so I will repeat this: If Björn could have given HNY a summer romance theme for the lyrics instead of for OLS, I'd have preferred that. I think HNY has a more poignant, wistful melody to go with such a lyrical theme
I've always liked the vocals verses, and bridge of ST, but the chorus irritates me now. But when I heard a piano solo version version of the song, I loved it!
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 14, 2022 17:44:16 GMT
This thread inspired me to play the album while I was cooking dinner. It sounded great after not having heard it for a while. HNY was often my skip track - I think it's a verse too long. But it is a lovely song. I also think it's a song that would have benefited from real strings. I think only TWTIA has real strings on this album?
I read recently (was it someone here who posted something??) that there's a version of The Piper with Bjorn on lead vocals - the girls take over at the end of each verse, apparently. I'd be really interested to hear that. I really like the verses and the rhythm track of the released version.
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Post by Michal on Aug 14, 2022 19:35:38 GMT
It is a collection of songs rather than a cohesive album. It's interesting you are saying this, as Benny thinks exactly the opposite. As far as I know he thinks Super Trouper is one of ABBA's best albums and one of the reasons is that he feels it is cohesive and not just a collection of songs like the previous ABBA records. I would agree with him about the cohesive feel, which is probably caused by the extensive use of the synthesizer throughout the whole album. Otherwise I have similar attitude as HOMETIME - while I like the individual songs very much (maybe with the exception of HNY), the album as a whole is not a favourite. I remember I loved it when I first heard it. I got it for Christmas and I couldn't get the songs out of my head for several weeks. But later I quickly grew tired of it and these days I very seldom listen to it. I usually play just a song or two but not the whole album from start to finish. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2022 13:41:43 GMT
I think on the whole Super Trouper is a tad dull.
The reference to "end of 89" in Happy New Year is a little irksome. It could have done without that time reference.
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Post by joseph on Aug 15, 2022 16:08:37 GMT
It's got 3 of my favourite songs on it so I'm always gonna stick up for it. I suppose if I'm honest I'm not mad about 'Andante, Andante' or TWOFD. 'Me and I' I find uplifting and 'The Piper' (despite its dark tones) likewise.
A very polished album. Like Richard, I find the melody of Happy New Year beautiful. A small irk at the 89 line. There's not a bad song on the album in fact. I daresay that TWOFD would be quite affecting if you were there in the audience but I'm less moved just listening to the studio version.
For me, songs and my reaction to them can change radically over time due to life's vagaries.
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Post by clumsylikeaclown on Aug 15, 2022 21:48:50 GMT
For me either Super Trouper or The Album is ABBA's overall best album.
I always think of it as a 'transition period' album - it's darker than anything they did before, but not as dark as The Visitors.
Besides the obvious choices like TWTIA and ST, there are some outstanding hidden gems on the album. 'Me and I' and 'The Piper' are both fantastic. Even the two comparatively weaker tracks (Andante Andante and TWOFD) are still nice to listen to.
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