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I don’t get how there can be issues with them. A lot of what we hear in The Movie is overdubs done in the studio later on (it’s quite shocking to hear fan recordings of how they actually sounded on that tour). If the overdubs were properly recorded and placed on top of the live recordings, how can there be issues? They sound fine in the film.

That’s glass half empty! It’s still 13 of 19 tracks from Gold, which is more than generous. When you see any act live, you expect a few songs you’re not too familiar with (or haven’t heard at all) - usually from the act’s latest album.

If I see an act live, I’ll google the setlist beforehand so I have a chance of hearing the songs I don’t know. Anyone seeing Voyage can do the same, and even if they don’t, there are 13 songs they’ll very definitely know. Seven others isn’t that many really, and the fact that six of them are on More Gold makes it an even more conservative setlist.

Whilst I can’t stand Mamma Mia!, at least it did bring some lesser-known songs into the spotlight, and the second film even more so.

There are some big-hitters in the six omissions though:

Money Money Money (will never be in it)
The Name of the Game
Take A Chance On Me
I Have A Dream (no loss whatsoever)
Super Trouper
One of Us (as with The Winner Takes It All, this would jar a bit seeing ABBA 1977 singing ABBA 1981, but would certainly be nice to have visuals other than that awful video).

Not sure if it’s helpful or not, but I’ve split this topic by year (with 2021 into two topics and 2022 into three). All previous years’ topics are locked so only this one can be posted into.

That’s odd. I’ve just checked it and it wasn’t showing as locked. I locked and unlocked it to test it. Can you try again?

Personally, I’ve always hated fades. They’re just so lazy and I usually feel a bit short-changed by them, wondering what I’m missing. Just how much longer after it’s faded out did they carry on performing? And often, fades can get further shortened in the remastering process (endless Amazon reviews I’ve read on that, though not ABBA).

I’ve never understood the connection. Pete Waterman used it last night on that Stock-Aitken-Waterman documentary (despite being on Channel 5, it’s well worth a look). He said Steps was “ABBA on speed”. What exactly is similar?

I’d say Ace of Base was more like ABBA. Having an A and B prominently in their name, a two-girl (one blonde, one dark, with the blonde one being unhappy in the spotlight), two-boy line-up, and actually writing and producing their own work, and being Swedish. Steps were none of that so where is the similarity?

Someone on here (I can’t remember who it was but wish I could) once said that Voyage is a zombie album by a zombie group. I loved that description. I’ll never be able to compare Voyage favourably with the eight historic albums so I haven’t tried to.

Voyage is ABBA (albeit the four individuals that were once ABBA a minimum of 35 years on) but such a long gap should help free it from comparisons. It does for me anyway.

Gered Mankowitz is a famous British photographer, well known for photographing music acts in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Famously he took the 1978 photos of Kate Bush clearly showing her nipples through her leotard.

In 1983 he was called upon by Polar to photograph Agnetha for the Wrap Your Arms Around Me cover photos (as well as singles).

I follow him on Facebook. Today he wrote this about Agnetha:

After spending a decade in partnership with Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Frida Lyngstad as the group ABBA - Agnetha Faltskog left to persue a solo career as a singer and actor in 1982. Her second solo album Wrap Your Arms Around Me was released in 1983 and reached the UK Top 20 and was followed by two more hit albums before Faltskog retired from public life in 1988. She made a comeback in 2004 - just before the success of the ABBA-inspired stage show Mamma Mia! - with the 1960s-inspired hit album My Colouring Book, which reached Number 12 in the UK.

Agnetha was being produced by Mike Chapman who I had worked with a great deal in the 70s; and he asked me to come to Sweden, where they were recording, to shoot this cover. Agnetha was charming, very sexy and photogenic – we had a lovely session together. When I got home to London there was a huge bouquet of flowers waiting – a thank you from her, and a sweet and thoughtful gesture!

I’m assuming that’s the UK version? The problem with that photo is they cut it out badly, so Björn and Benny have oddly-shaped heads. It’s a good concept though. The imagery from ABBA The Movie coupled with the Air Mail design made it seem like it was being posted back to us.

Those not brought up on the blue sleeve often deride it, but both the blue (Voulez-Vous) and the air mail design (Gracias Por La Musica) were copied. Imitation is the best form of flattery!

truedogz, I’m confused!

In the first paragraph you state:
“Just A Notion" bothers me in the sense that current vocals weren't recorded, except for the coda section.”

And in the second:
“The vocals in the coda or outro section of Just a Notion weren't rerecorded, they are originals too.”

So you’re saying they’re original vocals as well?
I’ve always thought that last part sounded a bit Auto-Tuned.

I resent the fact that it’s on Voyage. A stand-alone single would have been better. I won’t listen to the song outside of December so it means I have to skip it, and I hate doing that. The lyrics are awful.

Was The Magic of ABBA an American release? I’d never heard of it until you mentioned it. Looking at it on Amazon, it’s on the “Warner Special Products” label in association with K-Tel and also mentions Atlantic (a Warner label and ABBA’s then US licensee).

Dated 1980, it has eight songs per side, only one more than Greatest Hits Vol 2 that had the full-length version of The Name of The Game. It contains both Angeleyes and Voulez-Vous, the only compilation of the time to do so.

Seems a bit poor that this sub-licensing was going on during ABBA’s hit-making existence. CBS in the UK only did the same later in the 80s, offering ABBA out to Pickwick, Telstar and anyone else that asked.

The best two songs are indeed the first two singles. I’m not surprised or disappointed at that though. Those two songs had to be good, as they were ABBA’s first recordings in 35 years and at the time expected to be the only ones. The rest of the album was built around them.

Another thing about Just A Notion - we know the new parts of it were done in 2021. Perhaps it had become apparent to them that Frida was dominant on the joint leads. Resurrecting an old song with joint leads was the best way of addressing this and restoring more of a balance, meaning Agnetha is clearly heard on four of the tracks even if she’s more in the background on the other six.

(Cue for people to say “I can clearly hear Agnetha on Ode to Freedom, the chorus of I Still Have Faith In You or the end of No Doubt About It etc. Well, yes you can, but no where near as much as you would have done on a 1972-82 joint lead).

I’m not sure there was ever any need to edit Gimme was there? I’m assuming it got played on the radio as normal. And the video was an edited version and that’s all that would have been shown on TV. It would be sacrilege to edit out its instrumental break, that’s one of the best parts of the track! Atlantic in the US might have done it but no reason to anywhere else.

I always loved the fact that Gimme opened Greatest Hits Vol 2. There was something quietly confident about opening up a greatest hits with the newest single. It was similarly the first track on the short-lived Number Ones compilation but that was mainly thanks to Madonna sampling it.

I used to quite like the Eagle edit (the proper one, not the awful 1999 re-creation) but I’ve gone off that considerably.

Don’t Shut Me Down is only four minutes long. Plus it seems to have done extremely well without an edited version.