Sirius has had a special limited engagement of playing all Abba (and closely related tracks by Benny and Bjorn's groups before, solo Frida and Agentha, and stuff from "Chess", the musical the boys penned after the group stopped recording). Man, I already got into Abba this year but hearing them on a channel like this with all their tracks playing is really making me want to buy their complete studio recordings set. The songs are so great in every way. Often strong writing (the lyrics got much stronger as the group grew....it was mostly about good sounding songs when they started out), great vocals (when the girls sing together...wow!) and amazing production. Now this is only happening because of the "Mamma Mia" movie, which I'll see eventaully but the songs that they keep playing on the channel are not winning me over because frankly, Abba should be the only ones singing those songs. A musical with over the top renditions and actors singing the songs instead is cute but nothing beats Abba! I assume this movie is already helping sales of Abba music but I hope that people will not just buy the lean but hit heavy "Abba Gold" and that people will seek out "More Abba Gold" (which features a few songs from the movie/musical but more importantly some really strong tracks from "The Visitors" and their final single "Under Attack" along with the unreleased "I Am the City").

VinnyM27 said:

Abba is always going to be one of those enigmas, but they deserve every bit of the success they have had, and continue to have. They knew how to craft the perfect song,from the vocals to the writing, to the look, to the arrangements to the stage shows, and just figuring out who would sing what parts. The thing people forget is that Abba is one of the most successful groups of all time, worldwide, and are still sought after to this day to reunite, but as they stated earlier this year, "getting on stage and performing together, will never happen again". But as for their catalog, they have some great stuff, great singles, but also some great album cuts never heard.

I have never heard an ABBA song before

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

I have.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

oh come on, who doesn't know dancing queen at least?

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

New appreciation for Abba? Ummm....no.
Not hatin'. But I guess I'd have to have original appreciation before I could have new appreciation.

I'd probably like ABBA if my brother wasn't a fan and if I wasn't surrounded by people RAMMING it into my head ALL DAY LONG how amazing they were. Every 3 years there's some kind of anniversary of theirs and their Greatest Hits gets re-re-re-re-re-released. If you're not in the UK and you think Thriller has been milked to death, you have no idea how ABBA Gold gets treated. Every one of their singles has been on rotation on the radio for the last 30 years and it just never fucking stops.

Plus the musical and the movie is the biggest pile of steaming crap I've seen this decade.

I liked the musical, but I had higher expectations for it to be honest. I like their music a lot though I can't stand Dancing Queen. I prefer Mamma Mia, Take a Chance On Me, Gimmie Gimmie a Man After Midnight, Angel Eyes.

If you don't know much about ABBA, imagine you didn't know anything about Prince, bought the 'Ultimate' compilation CD, liked it and decided to venture into his back catalogue. Only you found that every single song he did had the exact same arrangement, tempo, production and style - all sung in this brash attitude as if making a public service announcement and not putting any emotion into the songs at all. All technically "perfect" Pop songs, but a little variety wouldn't go amiss.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

Ellie said:

I remember when I went to Italy and spent some time in the UK airport and apparently "Abba Gold" was the number one album...and it was 1999! Why? I think i would prefer to hear Abba in heavy rotation rather than the stuff that plays hear. It would spice things up. That's why I'm loving the new and soon to be ending Sirius station.

A*teens

ehuffnsd said:

I think if you dig into their catalog, there is a whole lot of bugglegum pop (hell, or maybe "Honey, Honey" dipped pop is more appropriate) but they wrote some great songs about the break up of relationships and the pursuit of love. "The Visitors" and the songs released after subtle deal with cold war paranoia (especailly the title track) and eighties excess ("Head Over Hells").

I need an ABBA album!

VinnyM27 said:

Ah well you see, 1999 was the year Mamma Mia opened - re-release of ABBA Gold. 2002 was the 10th anniversary of ABBA Gold, another re-release. 2004 was the 5th anniversary of Mamma Mia - another re-release. 2007 was the 15th anniversary of ABBA Gold - another re-release. 2008 is the movie of Mamma Mia - Re-chart. 2009 will be the 10th anniversary of the stage show - take a guess.

I think Queen's Greatest Hits has outsold it, but it's the 2nd biggest selling compilation album ever here. Only Madonna's Immaculate Collection has legitimately made it's may into the all time best sellers of Greatest Hits albums without having to rely of heavy discounts and re-releases.
[Edited 7/21/08 0:58am]

I like dancing queen, maybe because I associate with muriel's wedding which I love. Haven't seen mamma mia yet, so idk.

Ellie said:

I didn't know "Mamma Mia" had been out that long (although "Abba Radio" mentions it often during their interviews, etc.). Do they change anything with the re-releases? I know that they evantually combined "Abba Gold" and "More Abba Gold" into one set on one release, which finally made sense.

Ellie said:

true ; bland and emotionless
i really don't understand all those people raving about them
[Edited 7/21/08 20:05pm]

Dewrede said:

I'm not sure what Abba songs are you listening to. True, some of their stuff is just pop but some of it packs a punch or at least a slight emotional chord. They were not the most passionate performers but they were above the bubblegum music that some critics (and even fans) try to pigeon hole them into.