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Post by matt on Mar 29, 2017 18:32:58 GMT
I can't wait for the book, I'm going to the book launch on the 8th as well. What's the rules about discussing the contents seeing as some people will get it earlier than others?
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Post by gary on Mar 31, 2017 14:16:49 GMT
Ooh, my book has arrived. It looks rather lovely. (I never had the previous edition.)
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Post by foreverfan on Mar 31, 2017 16:28:15 GMT
^^^Matt, personally there should be no rules to discussion of the book, surely it's upto the individual if they wish to read or not...
so go ahead and discuss...
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Post by matt on Mar 31, 2017 18:19:11 GMT
Cool, I haven't received mine yet. Hopefully it will be delivered tomorrow
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2017 1:14:30 GMT
I got my copy of the Book yesterday - Saturday April 1st.
I have glanced through it. It is very well written & very detailed.
There are lots of 'Alternative Versions' of several ABBA Songs.
However, Benny & Bjorn do not see anything to gain, (for ABBA), if
they let 'The Fans' have them. So we can't.
Many Fans agree with that decision. Many do not. I don't agree with it.
But, what 'The Fans' want, or do not want, is irrelevant in this matter.
We have to live with Benny & Bjorn's decision.
The Book is excellent. There are photos of several ABBA Singles & Albums, &
when they were all released.
Oddly, there is no photo of 'ABBA Gold', but there is one of 'More ABBA Gold'.
I cannot see any details of the release of 'Lay All Your Love On Me' as a 1981
Single. It cannot be because it had a limited release. So did 'Eagle' & 'I Have
A Dream', but the Single releases for those are discussed.
The technical details - of how ABBA recorded each Song - are there - with lots of
information that was new to me.
I was surprised that Michael Tretow had suggested that an extra 'Unreleased' Track
should be allowed on the 1994 'Thank You For The Music' Box Set. It was to show us
how 'Chiquitita' developed, as ABBA worked on it. However, Benny & Bjorn refused
to allow it to be included. (It was called 'The Chiquitita Story').
They also decided that the full length 'Just A Notion' did not sound right, so that
is why we only got an edited version. Benny & Bjorn did work on it, in 1994, but
they felt that it was not good enough, to work, as a complete recording.
In 1992, Benny Remixed 'Dancing Queen', but then decided that he did not like the
Remix, so that is why we have yet to hear that. It is in 'The Vaults'.
The Book is much bigger & much more 'glossy' than I expected. It is quite heavy too.
It has almost 450 Pages.
I had intended to just put it away, in a drawer, without reading it. But, when it came,
I could not resist looking at several parts of it. Carl Magnus Palm has written it so well,
that I then found it very hard to put down & I quickly read, ('glanced at'), about 40% of
the Book. Looking at some of the earlier Chapters, some of the middle Chapters and some
of the end Chapters.
Perhaps one day, we will get an ABBA 'Greatest Hits' CD, where CD 1 is old Singles and CD 2
is 'Alternative Versions' of those old Singles. That way, a great many Fans will buy it - to own
CD 2. However, we are still very far away, from Benny and Bjorn agreeing to that. In fact, they
may never ever agree to it.....
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Post by Alan on Apr 2, 2017 3:49:57 GMT
A good review, Colin. As positive as you are about it, I still don't feel as though I'm missing anything! It still sounds like torture by text - reading about stuff that Björn and Benny have vetoed, stopped or refused to release.
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Post by gary on Apr 2, 2017 9:36:38 GMT
^
I can't add much to Colin's review, except to say I agree with everything he says.
Alan, you definitely are missing out. It's far from being "torture by text" (although I understand what you mean). It's easily the best book on ABBA that I have read. The day-by-day format and dissection of every song is fascinating, and the longer essays - though I haven't read them yet - look riveting. I would rate it almost as highly as Ian MacDonald's Revolution In The Head (about the Beatles) and Nicholas Pegg's The Complete David Bowie, which are both essential reads if you like those artists.
The only slight reservation I have about the book is that it is very expensive at around £90. (To compare, the other two books are around £20 each.) But I am glad that I have bought it, and I know that sometimes you have to pay for quality.
To any other members of this forum, I say buy it. You won't be disappointed!
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Post by matt on Apr 2, 2017 22:14:00 GMT
Having received my copy on Saturday morning and making the most of a free and quiet house I managed to read through the book from start to finish over the weekend. Having waited for this book for 2 years there were times when I feared that I had let my expectations be raised way too high that the only result would be anti-climactic and disappointing. But I shouldn’t have worried because the final book is damn magnificent.
As has been mentioned the book is so well written and the recordings are so well detailed that you really become engrossed and you just want to keep reading on. It’s fascinating to read about the attempts to mix songs such as Summer Night City and the various interpretations of Chiquitita. I’m amazed at how some songs exist that are vastly different to the versions we all know. For example, there’s an alternate mix of an Arrival era song that has Agnetha as lead vocalist rather than a joint vocal as released. Also a Super Trouper track has Bjorn as lead vocalist instead of Agnetha and Frida. Some songs had complete verses removed such as Hole In Your Soul and Why Did It Have to Be Me and there is an unedited version of Does Your Mother Know lasting 6 ½ minutes featuring two separate guitar solos.
One of the best aspects of reading the book from beginning to end is that as the group’s recordings became more ambitious and complex, the more the revelations and surprises come thick and fast the further you read on particularly during the 1977 chapter. As someone who has always been fascinated with their live stuff there were so many times I was left stunned. For example, an early version of the mini musical survives on tape from when the rehearsals for the 1977 tour was recorded a few weeks before the first concert. One of the songs had an almost completely different set of lyrics and theme. Also there are loads of details about the songs that were used for The Movie live soundtrack and from which concerts most of the songs were taken from which are quite surprising. The 1979 rehearsals were recorded as well and there were a couple of surprising songs that were in the set list but dropped including an Arrival album track.
These revelations are only the tip of the iceberg so would definitely recommend buying the book.
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Post by wombat on Apr 3, 2017 12:42:58 GMT
^ .... To any other members of this forum, I say buy it. You won't be disappointed! I spent way too much money on the first edition and was completely disappointed with it. Recording details are what I wanted, and there were all too few of those. I suspected at the time, it was because Magnus doesn't understand the recording process and so could not really comment on the particulars of it. Or perhaps he did but did not want to write a book like that, as he knows his audience, who might be completely bored and not buy it. I have no interest in reading a list of bunch of tunes that were worked on and then stopped. Every artist has that, a backlog of stuff that was started and then abandoned for whatever reason. |
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Post by gary on Apr 3, 2017 15:13:08 GMT
^
I never had the first edition, but I did see it briefly somewhere. I think the second edition is probably a great improvement. But it would be a bit of a risk, given the high cost, to buy the new edition if you didn't like the first one.
I think the book is probably just about right for someone with my level of knowledge of music and its technicalities (that is, low). For someone like you, who is a musician and obviously much more knowledgeable about the subject, I can see that the book might not be what you want.
Have you read Ian MacDonald's Revolution In The Head (about the Beatles' music) or Nicholas Pegg's The Complete David Bowie? And, if so, what did you think? They have similarities to Magnus Palm's book, and are both among my favourites.
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Post by WATERLOO on Apr 3, 2017 16:33:50 GMT
I cannot see any details of the release of 'Lay All Your Love On Me' as a 1981 Single. It cannot be because it had a limited release. So did 'Eagle' & 'I Have A Dream', but the Single releases for those are discussed. I wouldn't say that Eagle and HAD had a limited release. Eagle was released in all major markets except for the US (and maybe the UK?) and IHAD was released all over Europe. More importantly, both singles were released as 7" while LAYLOM only received a release as a 12"-single. |
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Post by wombat on Apr 3, 2017 16:39:26 GMT
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Post by josef on Apr 3, 2017 16:49:15 GMT
I'm mildly interested but ultimately I see no real point in READING about such matters without then HEARING the songs.. the discarded versions, etc. And 90 quid is outrageous.. sorry, but it is.
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Post by gary on Apr 3, 2017 19:46:35 GMT
I'm mildly interested but ultimately I see no real point in READING about such matters without then HEARING the songs.. the discarded versions, etc. And 90 quid is outrageous.. sorry, but it is. Most of the book isn't about stuff we may never hear. I must admit I was hesitant about paying £90! It's the most I have ever paid for a book. |
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Post by gary on Apr 3, 2017 19:53:55 GMT
That book certainly does sound interesting but unfortunately it costs $620! It would be great if there was an equivalent book about ABBA but I doubt there ever will be. The Beatles did so many radical things whereas I'm not sure if ABBA broke much new ground, so there will never be the same degree of interest. |
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Post by Zeebee on Apr 3, 2017 20:50:17 GMT
I’m amazed at how some songs exist that are vastly different to the versions we all know. For example, there’s an alternate mix of an Arrival era song that has Agnetha as lead vocalist rather than a joint vocal as released. Also a Super Trouper track has Bjorn as lead vocalist instead of Agnetha and Frida. Some songs had complete verses removed such as Hole In Your Soul and Why Did It Have to Be Me and there is an unedited version of Does Your Mother Know lasting 6 ½ minutes featuring two separate guitar solos. It has been said that there is another verse of I Do x5. Does anyone know if that is, in fact, true? |
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Post by WATERLOO on Apr 3, 2017 20:56:46 GMT
I’m amazed at how some songs exist that are vastly different to the versions we all know. For example, there’s an alternate mix of an Arrival era song that has Agnetha as lead vocalist rather than a joint vocal as released. Also a Super Trouper track has Bjorn as lead vocalist instead of Agnetha and Frida. Some songs had complete verses removed such as Hole In Your Soul and Why Did It Have to Be Me and there is an unedited version of Does Your Mother Know lasting 6 ½ minutes featuring two separate guitar solos. It has been said that there is another verse of I Do x5. Does anyone know if that is, in fact, true? Yes … |
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Post by Zeebee on Apr 3, 2017 21:10:12 GMT
^^ Thanks for posting that. It was very interesting to hear.
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2017 6:18:49 GMT
I'm mildly interested but ultimately I see no real point in READING about such matters without then HEARING the songs.. the discarded versions, etc. And 90 quid is outrageous.. sorry, but it is. Most of the book isn't about stuff we may never hear. I must admit I was hesitant about paying £90! It's the most I have ever paid for a book. The price is ridiculous, I agree. Plus I just don't do print media anymore. I have so many ABBA books that I don't look at - I bought that photos one from a few years ago and looked through it once. I don't want any more books taking up space. I only tend to do digital media now, and even then only if it's free. It's great that those that have got this book are really pleased with it, but it's not for me, and I'm still not tempted. |
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Post by Liebezeit on Apr 4, 2017 12:28:43 GMT
Yeah; this thread is highly confusing for me, and I've just seen a few excerpts from this thread (and the excerpts from the book since I don't plan to buy it as of now), so I'd be more interested what guitar brand Björn Ulvaeus (Aside from the legendary star guitar.. A Hagström or a Norton-era Gibson?) used during his ABBA career, what mixers they used like 16-track or 8-track, or AMPEX and 3M, in the early period; what microphones Frida and Agnetha used, and how that 'The Visitors' bathroom sound was achieved (putting it in a humorous way, not in a very demeaning way), than Magnus Palm's commentary on how the unreleased, alternative mixes, something like that of a music sounds like.. I think MP can be rather biased, since a mere text won't get the idea of what any of these would sound like; yes, I acknowledged the author's intention to journalize, write observations (first edition), and cover the story behind any songs, and its connection to it, prior to, or early ABBA (e.g. Neil Sedaka, Ted Gärdestad), though, I'm not disappointed that Benny and Björn are being protective toward their multitrack tapes. It always reminded me of how Paul McCartney and George Harrison refused to release Carnival of Lights because they 'avant-garde' a clue.. after all, a text can't substitute an audio excerpt. I'd love to read a part where Benny and Björn almost got infuriated during the recording session in mid/late ABBA and called 'quit' for a while, if there's any source that reports that.  But I've found quite interesting information that 'Ring Ring' was a nod to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound (I seem to have think that was a rumor, but it is true) |
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Post by wombat on Apr 4, 2017 13:18:25 GMT
Yeah; this thread is highly confusing for me, and I've just seen a few excerpts from this thread (and the excerpts from the book since I don't plan to buy it as of now), so I'd be more interested what guitar brand Björn Ulvaeus (Aside from the legendary star guitar.. A Hagström or a Norton-era Gibson?) used during his ABBA career, what mixers they used like 16-track or 8-track, or AMPEX and 3M, in the early period; what microphones Frida and Agnetha used, and how that 'The Visitors' bathroom sound was achieved (putting it in a humorous way, not in a very demeaning way), than Magnus Palm's commentary on how the unreleased, alternative mixes, something like that of a music sounds like.. I think MP can be rather biased, since a mere text won't get the idea of what any of these would sound like; yes, I acknowledged the author's intention to journalize, write observations (first edition), and cover the story behind any songs, and its connection to it, prior to, or early ABBA (e.g. Neil Sedaka, Ted Gärdestad), though, I'm not disappointed that Benny and Björn are being protective toward their multitrack tapes. It always reminded me of how Paul McCartney and George Harrison refused to release Carnival of Lights because they 'avant-garde' a clue.. after all, a text can't substitute an audio excerpt. I'd love to read a part where Benny and Björn almost got infuriated during the recording session in mid/late ABBA and called 'quit' for a while, if there's any source that reports that. But I've found quite interesting information that 'Ring Ring' was a nod to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound (I seem to have think that was a rumor, but it is true) Another musician! Nice to meet you. I've seen Bjorn with all kinds of guitars, even that nice Yamaha with his name on the fretboard. What would be MORE interesting to me would be, which bits on guitar did Bjorn actually play on the recordings vs bits played by Janne or Lasse or somebody else. With the keyboard, theres a lot less mystery because Benny was so good. Studio details would be great too, like who played glock or marimba, things like that. Did they use real plate reverb on the marimba or did they have outboard stuff back then like the old Roland Space Echo. Benny at least seemed pretty keen on getting the latest technology in things. We get brief things here and there, like how much they loved the old Neve consoles and how they went all the way to Los Angeles to get one for their own studio. Occasionally Tretow would give brief explanations about how they mic'd things or used them for effect. There was a video somewhere, Tretow explaining how he used three mics on Bennys keyboard, purposely out of phase, to get the phasing sound on the intro to SOS. Stuff like that intrigues me, its part art, part science, and you REALLY have to know what you're doing to pull things like that off. Its not like Abba played live in their studio, all playing and singing together, one take and that was it. Oh no. It was overdub after overdub and layer after layer. I've seen a pic of Aggie and Frida singing into a Neumann condenser and thats probably at least one of the mics they had at their disposal (who didnt back then). Who knows what else they had. The Polar Studio looked and sounded like a magnificent place to record. As far as the Spector sound, oh yeah, they were def. going for that in the old days. Sometimes they got a good sound with it, using the varispeed recording/overdubbing techniques, Ring Ring being a good example. Sometimes it turned to complete mud, like Bang a Boomerang. If you listen chronologically, as time goes on, they get farther and farther away from that, and instead, use the varispeed for small echo and reverb type touches to fatten individual tracks instead of the master out... but the emphasis seems to be on clarity of track instead of hitting us over the head with a wall of sound. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2017 16:22:02 GMT
Most of the book isn't about stuff we may never hear. I must admit I was hesitant about paying £90! It's the most I have ever paid for a book. The price is ridiculous, I agree. Plus I just don't do print media anymore. I have so many ABBA books that I don't look at - I bought that photos one from a few years ago and looked through it once. I don't want any more books taking up space. I only tend to do digital media now, and even then only if it's free. It's great that those that have got this book are really pleased with it, but it's not for me, and I'm still not tempted. I dont think the price is ridiculous, cmp worked several years on this product, and you want to have it digitally, for free. Thats rediculous! |
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2017 19:56:18 GMT
^^ I never said I wanted it digitally for free. I said I wasn't interested in it at all.
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Post by wombat on Apr 4, 2017 21:35:17 GMT
90 pounds for this is insane, I dont care how long it took him to write. He's milking the hardcore Abba fans for all they're worth.
I wasted money on that last book, Treasures, or whatever it was.... a few pictures and one nice stage diagram, and then some reminiscing from the wardrobe lady.
I looked at it once and regretted buying it.
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2017 21:40:22 GMT
What are the prices for this book in various currencies? Since he started the book, the pound sterling has declined heavily post-referendum against other currencies. Has he taken that into account?
Printed version of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions (Revised & Expanded Edition). Hardcover, clothbound with dust jacket, printed in full colour. Prices include shipping.
The actual prices are:
UNITED KINGDOM: EUR 105
(approx. GBP 94)
EUROPE: EUR 121
REST OF WORLD: EUR 126
(approx. USD 138; AUD 180)
Was the UK Euro rate more before the referendum? Was the UK approx price always £94?
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Post by shoshin on Apr 4, 2017 23:08:44 GMT
...what microphones Frida and Agnetha used...[?] The studio story seems to be Neumann, giving way to AKG in the late 70s. The footage of them recording Dancing Queen looks like Neumann U87, as does the 'recording' of TYFTM in the Movie. However, in a 1980 interview Tretow said that the girls used AKG C34, which the (staged?) GGG video appears to support. According to the same interview, he was still using Neumann U47 FET and U87 for various other purposes in the studio, but he must have been pretty impressed with AKG given that he chose the D330BT for the live tour in '79. |
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Post by wombat on Apr 5, 2017 12:38:52 GMT
What are the prices for this book in various currencies? Since he started the book, the pound sterling has declined heavily post-referendum against other currencies. Has he taken that into account? Printed version of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions (Revised & Expanded Edition). Hardcover, clothbound with dust jacket, printed in full colour. Prices include shipping. The actual prices are: UNITED KINGDOM: EUR 105 (approx. GBP 94) EUROPE: EUR 121 REST OF WORLD: EUR 126 (approx. USD 138; AUD 180) Was the UK Euro rate more before the referendum? Was the UK approx price always £94? I've got the hardbound version of the first edition, I'll sell for 25 US dollars for anybody that wants it. Buyer pays shipping. I wanna thank Magnus for making this older version an expensive paperweight for me and everybody else that payed ridiculous prices before, just to get a copy. Thanks a lot, buddy. Yeah. |
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Post by WATERLOO on Apr 6, 2017 6:51:13 GMT
90 pounds for this is insane, I dont care how long it took him to write. He's milking the hardcore Abba fans for all they're worth. I wasted money on that last book, Treasures, or whatever it was.... a few pictures and one nice stage diagram, and then some reminiscing from the wardrobe lady. I looked at it once and regretted buying it. You cannot even compare these two. If you bought treasures and thought to read anything new, then you yourself are partially to blame because it was clear from the beginning that it was more bout people knowing ABBA saying a few things and the odd memorabilia being re printed. Plus, the book was done by some random author ABBA fans weren't familiar with. THIS book, however, is done by a long-time ABBA-expert who got to listen to all the stuff in the ABBA-vaults. That is a completely different content of completely different value. You are not forced to buy it but I think it's mean to blame him smiling the ABBA fans (if somebody does that than it's rather Universal). He had no financial support for this project neither from a publishing company nor from any of the ABBA-members. He did a crowdfunding thing and then went for it. I don't think he earns a lot through it as the target group may be rather limited. It was most likely a project close to his heart and I don't see anything wrong with that. |
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Post by foreverfan on Apr 6, 2017 8:13:08 GMT
I've kept pretty quiet over this, but even though I don't have the book, and regardless of price, it is down to personal choice, there is always going to be the fan that wants everything, and the complete opposite of course, me somewhere in between, to be honest only a new recording will get me to buy anything new these days, so I sit in hope that something may come from the vaults... Not sure if it's deliberate, but it's strange for those who do have the book to be pretty quiet about it, theres not a lot of " stuff" coming forward, which does make me think is it to technical for the average reader, or is there actually nothing really new that hasn't been hinted at a million times, i.e. " the Chiquitita story " would be great to hear, but otherwise ? Plus new titles ? An extended DYMK, a remix DQ, torture for some, personally, not getting to bothered unless it's released, but for some, sheer hell I guess. still it's keeping some of us talking...  |
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Post by gary on Apr 6, 2017 10:23:33 GMT
It's definitely not too technical for the average reader.
It's a bit difficult for me to say how much new material there is, as I never had the previous edition and I certainly haven't read all the other ABBA books out there. A lot of the information was new to me though. I think anyone hoping that there are loads of unreleased songs (as opposed to alternate versions of released material) might be disappointed.
Is it worth the money? It's hard to say but I am pleased with my purchase. I think most hardcore ABBA fans would enjoy it.
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