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Post by gary on Feb 28, 2017 11:52:31 GMT
Nice to see hometime back 'home'!
I can't imagine that, in this day and age, a recording won't emerge somewhere.
I am buying the book, mainly because I have never had a copy of the first edition. £90+ is a bit daunting, so I hope it's worth it!
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Post by gary on Feb 28, 2017 11:45:47 GMT
^
Sorry, I can't hear it. The only ABBA song that went through my mind at all was I'm A Marionette.
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Post by gary on Feb 27, 2017 11:56:52 GMT
^
The one I was thinking about was Why Did It Have To Be Me. There's something about the 'swing' of it. Sorry, my knowledge of musical terms is non-existent!
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Post by gary on Feb 26, 2017 22:39:27 GMT
Something about this always reminds me of an ABBA song. Can anyone else hear it?
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Post by gary on Feb 26, 2017 22:06:01 GMT
Have to agree with josef, foreverfan, onlyabba4me.
But surely in these modern times some dedicated fan could have a tiny recording device planted under their skin? 😀
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Post by gary on Feb 26, 2017 9:22:49 GMT
That link didn't work for me. I get a message saying 'invalid parameters'.
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Post by gary on Feb 26, 2017 9:20:10 GMT
In the 'Related Music & Contributions' sub-board, there is a thread entitled 'Name That ABBA Song', which might be what you are looking for.
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Post by gary on Feb 8, 2017 11:03:19 GMT
It's slightly interesting that no-one has voted for Super Trouper or The Visitors, both of which sound like perfect album openers to me. The intro to Super Trouper, in particular, sounds like it was made to open an album or a concert. Oh well, I can't say much as I voted for When I Kissed The Teacher!
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Post by gary on Feb 8, 2017 10:38:05 GMT
TBH, I think TKHLHC would have made a terrible final track - one of ABBA's weaker moments, in my view. KOF is fine as an album closer - the best candidate on the album (especially as it has such a great last 60 seconds and nice fade). Perhaps it would sound even better with a slightly stronger track just in front of it - L(LALL) is another weak-ish track that needs a bit of hiding in the running order; it's kind of out of harm's way where it is, but as a downside may just take the edge of KOF. It leaves KOF to do too much of the heavy lifting on its own. Even though my quote has gone astray, I know which one you're referring to, i.e., the one about the two sides of Voulez-Vous being swapped. I think TKHLHC sounds as if it could close an album but, more importantly, I think Does Your Mother Know sounds like a strong album opener. Although DYMK is not a favourite of mine, an album starting with DYMK, If It Wasn't For The Nights and Chiquitita sounds more 'right' to me than an album starting with As Good As New, Voulez-Vous and I Have A Dream.
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Post by gary on Feb 8, 2017 10:23:37 GMT
There's a riff in here that always reminded me of one of ABBA's more rocky moments:
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Post by gary on Feb 8, 2017 10:15:09 GMT
I think I posted this on another forum, but the chorus of this is a nice lift:
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Post by gary on Feb 5, 2017 21:37:26 GMT
^
Controversial!
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Post by gary on Feb 5, 2017 9:32:47 GMT
I just had a look at my original Voulez-Vous album. On the back cover, it says 'recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studio, Stockholm'. In the credits for the Voulez-Vous song, it says 'backing track recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami'. It's the only song that mentions anything like that.
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Post by gary on Feb 3, 2017 21:30:19 GMT
^
Wikipedia says Voulez-Vous is the only ABBA studio recording outside Sweden. But we all know how reliable Wikipedia is. Does anyone know more?
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Post by gary on Feb 3, 2017 20:17:23 GMT
^
I do have a slight tendency to overuse brackets (I think).
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Post by gary on Feb 3, 2017 17:19:35 GMT
Only just. They're the worst two tracks on an otherwise wonderful album. Voulez-Vous is far too long, not very melodic and too American-sounding. (The last of these is not a problem in a non-ABBA context.) too american sounding? uh, OK then. and the anti-american sentiment continues with the abba crowd.... nice.... No, you have jumped to a wrong conclusion there. Please note the last sentence in my post (the one in brackets). My favourite country in the world in many ways is the USA. My favourite musician is Bruce Springsteen, who could scarcely be more American-sounding, and many of my other favourite musicians, such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, REM and Billy Joel, are American. Much of the other culture I enjoy is American too. But one of the things I like most about ABBA is their distinctively European - or perhaps more precisely Scandinavian - sound. The Voulez-Vous song is, I believe, the only ABBA song recorded mostly in the USA, and I think it is a failed experiment because it removes part of what I really love about ABBA. I hope that explains more clearly what I meant. I am definitely not anti-American.
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Post by gary on Feb 2, 2017 21:47:49 GMT
^ Strangely, Voulez-Vous is my least favourite track on the album Really? You prefer I Have A Dream over Voulez Vous?! Only just. They're the worst two tracks on an otherwise wonderful album. Voulez-Vous is far too long, not very melodic and too American-sounding. (The last of these is not a problem in a non-ABBA context.)
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Post by gary on Feb 2, 2017 16:36:03 GMT
Even though KOF is a firm Favourite, I actually have to go with LAAPTMR, as it's a fitting finale in more ways than one, might even have it at my funeral !!! Kisses Of Fire is easily my favourite song in this poll, but it's always seemed to me like an odd choice as an album closing track. I notice no-one has voted for it, so perhaps that says something. Actually, I have wondered if sides one and two of the original vinyl album were swapped at the last minute! No proof of that though. I had LAAPTMR played as the finale at my partner's funeral. It worked well, I think.
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Post by gary on Feb 2, 2017 16:25:53 GMT
ps no offence honest, but good to see something else being talked about rather than photos... it's tough keeping a forum interested, and for me, photos don't do it.. it's good to debate...like I said no offence, it's just me.... Exactly why I started this thread. This forum needs a bit of livening up!
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Post by gary on Feb 2, 2017 16:22:18 GMT
^
Strangely, Voulez-Vous is my least favourite track on the album, but I quite agree that it sounds like a perfect opening track. It's not just the music, it's the first couple of lines: 'People everywhere, a sense of expectation hanging in the air'...
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Post by gary on Jan 26, 2017 22:36:32 GMT
Even 'Rock'n'Roll Band' is a semi-guilty pleasure of mine. Absolutely love it. Glad to hear there is someone else who feels this way! It's one of my favourites.
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Post by gary on Jan 26, 2017 22:33:41 GMT
Waterloo isn't a closing track; in fact, if I remember correctly, it is the opening track and Suzy-Hang-Around is the closing track. I must admit, when I was inputting the titles for the poll, that I thought exactly as you say. But I checked, because I wasn't quite sure, and abbasite (http://www.abbasite.com/discography/album/waterloo/) and Wikipedia both say that the original Swedish LP, which should really be considered the definitive version, has Waterloo in Swedish as the opening track and Waterloo in English as the closing track. So I went with that.
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Post by gary on Jan 25, 2017 12:07:49 GMT
And following on from my post (What makes the best album opening track?) of a few minutes ago, this seems like an obvious question.
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Post by gary on Jan 25, 2017 11:43:49 GMT
I was just listening to some ABBA - not an infrequent experience - and it struck me how universally excellent the opening tracks of each studio album are. And not only are they great tracks, but also they seem very appropriate musically to start an album. That's hardly surprising, I guess, as it is unlikely that Benny and Bjorn would have chosen something weak (I Saw It In The Mirror, say) or perhaps more suitable as a closing track (Like An Angel Passing Through My Room, say) to open their latest opus.
So, my question is: what do you think makes the best opening track on the eight studio albums? And why? And I don't mean what is your favourite out of those eight, but what works best as an opener? Further discussion could include which tracks you think should have been an opener, or which existing openers you think don't work in that position.
Hopefully I have managed to set up the poll correctly (never done it before).
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Post by gary on Dec 3, 2016 11:49:07 GMT
There seem to be quite a lot of mistakes in ABBA's recordings, surprisingly. Search for 'abba anomaly' on YouTube, and you will find a series of clips going into great detail about various songs. The guy who makes the clips seems to know what he's talking about. (No, he's not me!)
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Post by gary on Oct 6, 2016 20:30:59 GMT
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Post by gary on Sept 11, 2016 12:56:43 GMT
abbaonly4me - thanks for those lists, they are really interesting.
One thing I notice, though, is that several songs are missing from the top list. From a quick look, Man In The Middle, Intermezzo No 1, Watch Out, Suzy Hang Around, Me And Bobby And Bobby's Brother, I Am Just A Girl, Elaine, Happy Hawaii and Crazy World are all missing. There might be others.
Is there any reason for that? I appreciate that none of those are exactly 'major' ABBA songs, but there are plenty of 'minor' songs that are on the list. It would be surprising if the missing songs had fewer than four downloads each (I say four because that's the figure you give for Medley, the bottom song on the list).
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