While I can find myself dancing to any number of their 70s hits and also marvel at their brilliant 'pop carpentry', the only album I really LIKE is the last one they did - THE VISITORS. Far more sophisticated and complex while keeping the funky beats and melodies.
And of course the musical CHESS, which was Björn and Benny's baby.
I'm not a great lover of ABBA, though my wife is a fan. I certainly admired their ability to craft good pop tunes. My favourite songs are 'Winner Takes It All' and 'The Day Before You Came', which frankly I think is a 3 minute masterpiece.
Like Thor and Gary S, I'm also a fan of Benny and Bjorn's (and Tim Rice) musical 'Chess'.
I can't judge the Swedish lyrics but as music goes, nothing beats Stanna from 'Kristina från Duvemåla - The Musical. To me that is about as gorgeous as it gets. Here it can be heard to an ABBA video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOb_YN-5mqA
As far as ABBA goes I remember playing When All is Said and Done to death when I first heard it. They had an amazing output though. Hard to pick just one. Quintessentially pop and yet too good musically to be copied, unlike most pop music. Genius gets thrown around a lot but Benny Andersson seems like he deserves the label.
Whilst not a fan, I do like a lot of their songs ... they created an oasis of melody in the noise that was pop music in the 1970s.
I worked in the record (i.e. those days of vinyl and cassette tapes) department of W.H. Smith during the Winter of 1975/76 through to the Spring and had to suffer all of the pop tunes of the day. After the awfulness of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody anything by Abba came as a welcome change. Apparently Fernando was a March 76 release but I do recall hearing it a lot (I think I left the job in April or May to concentrate () on my A-levels!. And yes, that song became a favourite.
But their later material was more enjoyable, e.g. Angeleyes, with The Winner Takes It All being top of my list. I, too, like The Day Before You Came though find the lyric fails at the end ... when I first heard it I expected some conclusion which isn't there.
I've never been too struck on the very popular offerings, such as Dancing Queen and there are a number of songs in their complete album collection which I can happily do without.
"The Name Of The Game". Brilliant. When this came out I felt the group really turned a corner and gave us lyrics that any adult could relate too. Of course, they'd done that many times before, but with this song it was neatly contained in a slinky and seductive melody. So that made it feel like it was really new, uncharted territory. This was not mindless pop for teens. That seductive aspect is well showcased in the excellent video. A bunch of grownups sitting around playing a boardgame while Agnetha inwardly sings the things that she's longing to say aloud. The synth arrangement is just stunning. I couldn't believe the domestic single cut the second verse. Some of the best stuff is in it.
"S.O.S." Pure ear-candy with a heart. The blending of the acoustic guitars into the mix during the chorus is masterful. For such an infectious musical arrangement to be juxtaposed with such a heartbreaking lyric was a stroke of genius that they would return to again and again. As a typical 14-year-old self-proclaimed expert on everything at the time, this is the one that hooked me. I'm also a sucker for pop songs that have an actual conclusion (as opposed to just fading out on a repeating chorus). Extra points.
"Mamma Mia". Another terrific mix of the happy and the melancholy--you're never quite sure which mood is supposed to be the predominant one. The balancing act itself provides the pleasure. Also the first ABBA song I learned the bassline to. Endlessly fun to play.
I worked in the record (i.e. those days of vinyl and cassette tapes) department of W.H. Smith during the Winter of 1975/76 through to the Spring and had to suffer all of the pop tunes of the day. After the awfulness of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody anything by Abba came as a welcome change. Apparently Fernando was a March 76 release but I do recall hearing it a lot (I think I left the job in April or May to concentrate () on my A-levels!. And yes, that song became a favourite.
Mitch, I think I knew that you had that job but had forgotten. I also worked in the record department of WH Smith, but up in Newcastle. What's more it would have overlapped with your time - presumably in the Midlands - because for some reason I remember the scantily-clad local girls coming into the shop in the long hot summer of '76!
When the Abba Greatest Hits foldout LP was released, just about every other LP we sold at that time was Abba. I remember being sent time and time again into the stockroom below the sales floor to get another boxful of them to put on the shelves.
I liked a lot of the Abba songs up to and including The Day Before You Came. Even now, any of their classics takes me right back to the late 70s and early 80s.
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