All on this livestream: https://www.youtube.com/w...JBGk9Hed8o

I like my synthpoppy ABBA, and was underwhelmed by the new ballad song (I Still Have Faith In You), but the other one was good (Don't Shut Me Down), very 80s inspired , and I'm looking forward to what else may be coming.

[Edited 9/3/21 17:02pm]

SantanaMaitreya said:

Climate change, hurricanes, terrorism, the Taliban taking over Kabul, covid, lockdowns... Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the next disaster hits you!

LOL - they had their moment. I think this is just too late for them now, but what do I know?

I'll just go and listen to The Visitors once more over here

[Edited 9/2/21 13:00pm]

I'll buck the early trend. Love it. Not even a fan but those two songs are great and ILM did a great job de-ageing them. It's fantastic, fascinating and amazing news.

It's hard to hate on it.

Everyone loves them and they sound like themselves.

The reception is glowing from fans.

If The Spice Girls can have a so-so reunion a couple years ago then ABBA can have a legit comeback.

It's obvious they haven't stopped writing and producing.

What you're not telling is that the "concert" is using motion capture technology and they band performed their parts in the songs, movement and all over the course of five weeks, and was digitally captured. Then their avatars, as it were, are the best versions of them from 1979. There are videos on their YT channel talking about it.

I'm all down for new ABBA music! Fuck what anyone says - we need some light in music right now. And ABBA can bring it.

[Edited 9/2/21 18:50pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm all down for new ABBA music! Fuck what anyone says - we need some light in music right now. And ABBA can bring it.

Where they play the right music

Getting in the swing

You come to look. for. a. kiiing

Just noticed that a lot of their music videos on YouTube are in 4K since august. Stunning!

[Edited 9/2/21 18:40pm]

Empress said:

Nice to have them back and I'm interested to hear what they might come up with (though, with the pop bar set so high by their previous work, I suspect it'll be a letdown, but we'll see).

Be interesting to know what changed their minds after all these years of being steadfast that they wouldn't ever reform.

As for the "tour" though, hell no ... why would anyone pay that sort of money to sit in front of a video of performers? Make it cinema ticket price, and maybe, as a cinema type experience is all you're really getting from it.

SantanaMaitreya said:

Climate change,

.

Did you read the recent IPCC report?

The most extreme variants were cancelled.

.

hurricanes,

.

Finally build houses from brick.

.

terrorism,

.

Is an effect of a certain foreign policy.

the Taliban taking over Kabul

.

Bad timing on a senile emperor.

.

, covid, lockdowns...

.

Lockdownds do not work.

.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, the next disaster hits you!

.
It depends on what you are payign attention to.

I can ignore most f the nonsense.

These new songs are fucking awful. Its like they added lyrics to Chariots of Fire outtakes.

RODSERLING said:

Does they explain why now?

First, they don't have to explain anything to anyone. They're fucking ABBA. You know them for a reason: they're fucking iconic. Their catalog is huge and solid, front to back.

Next, Benny was more blunt and said they just wanted to do it before they're dead. They're 70, and still have a desire to exercise the same gift that God gave Prince, MJ, and anyone else. So that's "why now."

There is still an audience there who will appreciate it. For those that don't... well, those folks don't really matter anyway.

I loved Abba and certainly enjoyed their music..I even visited their museum when I visited Sweden. ...I saw their new video and its mainly clips of them from their heyday in the 70s. I will give their new album a listen. It depends on how much tickets costs if I will go see them live. I only regret that they waited this long...would have been great if they did this earlier.

.

.

As for being in their 70s..I just saw Hall and Oats a few weeks ago and they were great live and they are also in their 70s. I wish Abba the best.

Erasure always wanted them back too, and finally here they are

jfenster said:

They r trying to show worth of their music to the ?

Clearly, it's worth a lot.

I love when I read comments when a group decides to do something together again. You usually get the typical lame responses like, they need the money, if you think ABBA needs money you are smoking crack. ABBA stopped almost 40 years ago, just think about that for a second, 1982 and there has never been a NEW or reunion or anything, yes they did their own solo albums (the girls did) and the guys did score a lot of musicals, but this group is even bigger now than it was then. People forget they were popular but in places like the USA they were not huge, they had some hits but were far from selling millions, it is what happened after a decade of not being together that reignited them in the USA to an audience that liked them or didnt even know them and thought they were new and still together. ABBA were asked countless times to reunite and offered tons of money to do it as one off events, but they never took that bait because they wanted to preserve what they did. Now almost 40 years later they have all this, now this was being planned for a number of years, first it started with two songs and this idea of a tour (not the 70 year old ABBA) but using state of the art technology and avatars and the real people now recreating it and sending that out on tour to markets, LONDON being the one place that will get this for awhile. But of course now I read comments like "couldnt they update their sound" LOL Oh god people are so damn clueless it is amazing. Yes after 40 years of NOT doing anything together why dont they do something with Cardi B or Drake, please can people with these comments just go away already. ABBA has not done any music as a unit in 40 years, since then we have had a million different sounds and changes come, New Wave, Hair Metal, Rap, Grunge, Boy Bands, and of course technology has changed where you dont even play anymore in the studio you can record an album on your laptop and not even sing a note and become a star for a month. And also the ways people get music now, most of the world doesnt even buy it they rent it. I think for a group that has not been releasing anything as a unit in 40 years from what I heard they are where they want to be, and to be honest, in THIS NEW world they kind of already surpassed "the mainstream" of today just with a video of the new song which was just clips of them, almost 10M views in under a day, the Interview with the guys of ABBA who are the ones that crafted the sound all those years and made those perfect songs, their video is already at close to 4M views in under a day. As far as what will these mean on the charts, PLEASE can we stop this talk already, who cares who the F cares about charts, can you just stop this stupid talk already. It is a new world now OK those things are not even relevant. Im sure is really wondering where the album will chart, are you serious? They are in their 70's, have not done anything in almost 4 decades, Ronald Regan was president when they last released an album or did NEW music, and THRILLER wasnt even out yet. So please save that whole talk of charts and success and failure nonsense ignorant talk please you sound dumb when you say it because you are applying todays standards to artists that dont give a crap about those things. But I will make a prediction here, I think its pretty safe to say that ABBA is not going to get the Drake Fan to become an ABBA fan, or the Taylor Swift fan all of a sudden be streaming the new single, OK its not going to happen like that. I will say that the new album will probably do very well worldwide, the interest in them is there from older fans. Will it outsell DANCING QUEEN ? stop being stupid with that nonsense. I also think the SHOW is going to be pretty big I think starting it to one spot in LONDON is smart, see what the response is because if it is big and odds are in that market it will be, you will have other markets ASKING for that show come to other venues in the world, I have a feeling when it opens in SPRING 2022 you will start to hear about broadway and things like that wanting to get their hands on the show. So I have a lot of respect for this group especially Benny and Bjorn who in my opinion as far as creators of some of the best pop songs of the last half century I put them up there with Lennon McCartney and Barry Gibb for sure. I think comparing them to things that came after like the SPice Girls is stupid, that group was a creation of producers those members had ZERO input and never did. ABBA from day one crafted all the songs, and on this new record it was funny the interviewer asked who are the producers and they said simply "US" we do it all and we always did, and that to me seperates them from any comparisons.

TrivialPursuit said:

jfenster said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Clearly, it's worth a lot.

They're looking to sell like all the biggies

What is it with you people? You can't be that obtuse to think making money is somehow a sin for a musician. This is their bread and butter. This is how they make a living. And when they do, y'all wanna get high and mighty about folks selling out or whatever. Where do you think your money goes when you by an album? To some guy in Idaho Falls, in a random lottery drawing? STFU

Well, dear reader, just look to this site's namesake. If Purple Rain wasn't a big fucking sellout, I don't know what was, yet everyone here has been sucking that dick for decades.

MattyJam said:

I'm genuinely shocked by how beautiful and moving I've found both of these new songs, and I've never really considered myself a huge Abba fan. I will definitely buy their album on the strength of these two songs, which are two of the best pop songs I've heard in years.

I have to say, "I Still Have Faith In You" is a classic Abba arrangement and sound. The song is a bit tame, and it takes me a couple of listens to sorta sit through it. I know it's meant to more focus on the melody and lyric, simple production, but it could still use... something.

"Don't Shut Me Down" is more my speed. Great harmonies, fun mid-tempo romp. It could fit on most any Abba album. Hearing this sorta makes me think of Scissor Sisters. I don't know how much influence Abba had on them, but this song makes it evident that someone was listening to Abba records as a kid.

The CGI on "I Still Have Faith In You" is good, but the lip sync is horrible. Frieda looks like she's singing anything but that song. If that's how this whole concert is going to be, it'd gonna drive me bonkers. I think people hacking The Sims may be better. But I'll wait and see, and reserve judgment.

lastdecember said:

I love when I read comments when a group decides to do something together again. You usually get the typical lame responses like, they need the money, if you think ABBA needs money you are smoking crack. ABBA stopped almost 40 years ago, just think about that for a second, 1982 and there has never been a NEW or reunion or anything, yes they did their own solo albums (the girls did) and the guys did score a lot of musicals, but this group is even bigger now than it was then. People forget they were popular but in places like the USA they were not huge, they had some hits but were far from selling millions, it is what happened after a decade of not being together that reignited them in the USA to an audience that liked them or didnt even know them and thought they were new and still together. ABBA were asked countless times to reunite and offered tons of money to do it as one off events, but they never took that bait because they wanted to preserve what they did. Now almost 40 years later they have all this, now this was being planned for a number of years, first it started with two songs and this idea of a tour (not the 70 year old ABBA) but using state of the art technology and avatars and the real people now recreating it and sending that out on tour to markets, LONDON being the one place that will get this for awhile. But of course now I read comments like "couldnt they update their sound" LOL Oh god people are so damn clueless it is amazing. Yes after 40 years of NOT doing anything together why dont they do something with Cardi B or Drake, please can people with these comments just go away already. ABBA has not done any music as a unit in 40 years, since then we have had a million different sounds and changes come, New Wave, Hair Metal, Rap, Grunge, Boy Bands, and of course technology has changed where you dont even play anymore in the studio you can record an album on your laptop and not even sing a note and become a star for a month. And also the ways people get music now, most of the world doesnt even buy it they rent it. I think for a group that has not been releasing anything as a unit in 40 years from what I heard they are where they want to be, and to be honest, in THIS NEW world they kind of already surpassed "the mainstream" of today just with a video of the new song which was just clips of them, almost 10M views in under a day, the Interview with the guys of ABBA who are the ones that crafted the sound all those years and made those perfect songs, their video is already at close to 4M views in under a day. As far as what will these mean on the charts, PLEASE can we stop this talk already, who cares who the F cares about charts, can you just stop this stupid talk already. It is a new world now OK those things are not even relevant. Im sure is really wondering where the album will chart, are you serious? They are in their 70's, have not done anything in almost 4 decades, Ronald Regan was president when they last released an album or did NEW music, and THRILLER wasnt even out yet. So please save that whole talk of charts and success and failure nonsense ignorant talk please you sound dumb when you say it because you are applying todays standards to artists that dont give a crap about those things. But I will make a prediction here, I think its pretty safe to say that ABBA is not going to get the Drake Fan to become an ABBA fan, or the Taylor Swift fan all of a sudden be streaming the new single, OK its not going to happen like that. I will say that the new album will probably do very well worldwide, the interest in them is there from older fans. Will it outsell DANCING QUEEN ? stop being stupid with that nonsense. I also think the SHOW is going to be pretty big I think starting it to one spot in LONDON is smart, see what the response is because if it is big and odds are in that market it will be, you will have other markets ASKING for that show come to other venues in the world, I have a feeling when it opens in SPRING 2022 you will start to hear about broadway and things like that wanting to get their hands on the show. So I have a lot of respect for this group especially Benny and Bjorn who in my opinion as far as creators of some of the best pop songs of the last half century I put them up there with Lennon McCartney and Barry Gibb for sure. I think comparing them to things that came after like the SPice Girls is stupid, that group was a creation of producers those members had ZERO input and never did. ABBA from day one crafted all the songs, and on this new record it was funny the interviewer asked who are the producers and they said simply "US" we do it all and we always did, and that to me seperates them from any comparisons.

I wasn't making a direct comparison between the two groups. My point was that if a lesser act such as TSG can have a successful comeback that people seemed to be behind then certainly ABBA can come back and do what they do.

CynicKill said:

lastdecember said:

I love when I read comments when a group decides to do something together again. You usually get the typical lame responses like, they need the money, if you think ABBA needs money you are smoking crack. ABBA stopped almost 40 years ago, just think about that for a second, 1982 and there has never been a NEW or reunion or anything, yes they did their own solo albums (the girls did) and the guys did score a lot of musicals, but this group is even bigger now than it was then. People forget they were popular but in places like the USA they were not huge, they had some hits but were far from selling millions, it is what happened after a decade of not being together that reignited them in the USA to an audience that liked them or didnt even know them and thought they were new and still together. ABBA were asked countless times to reunite and offered tons of money to do it as one off events, but they never took that bait because they wanted to preserve what they did. Now almost 40 years later they have all this, now this was being planned for a number of years, first it started with two songs and this idea of a tour (not the 70 year old ABBA) but using state of the art technology and avatars and the real people now recreating it and sending that out on tour to markets, LONDON being the one place that will get this for awhile. But of course now I read comments like "couldnt they update their sound" LOL Oh god people are so damn clueless it is amazing. Yes after 40 years of NOT doing anything together why dont they do something with Cardi B or Drake, please can people with these comments just go away already. ABBA has not done any music as a unit in 40 years, since then we have had a million different sounds and changes come, New Wave, Hair Metal, Rap, Grunge, Boy Bands, and of course technology has changed where you dont even play anymore in the studio you can record an album on your laptop and not even sing a note and become a star for a month. And also the ways people get music now, most of the world doesnt even buy it they rent it. I think for a group that has not been releasing anything as a unit in 40 years from what I heard they are where they want to be, and to be honest, in THIS NEW world they kind of already surpassed "the mainstream" of today just with a video of the new song which was just clips of them, almost 10M views in under a day, the Interview with the guys of ABBA who are the ones that crafted the sound all those years and made those perfect songs, their video is already at close to 4M views in under a day. As far as what will these mean on the charts, PLEASE can we stop this talk already, who cares who the F cares about charts, can you just stop this stupid talk already. It is a new world now OK those things are not even relevant. Im sure is really wondering where the album will chart, are you serious? They are in their 70's, have not done anything in almost 4 decades, Ronald Regan was president when they last released an album or did NEW music, and THRILLER wasnt even out yet. So please save that whole talk of charts and success and failure nonsense ignorant talk please you sound dumb when you say it because you are applying todays standards to artists that dont give a crap about those things. But I will make a prediction here, I think its pretty safe to say that ABBA is not going to get the Drake Fan to become an ABBA fan, or the Taylor Swift fan all of a sudden be streaming the new single, OK its not going to happen like that. I will say that the new album will probably do very well worldwide, the interest in them is there from older fans. Will it outsell DANCING QUEEN ? stop being stupid with that nonsense. I also think the SHOW is going to be pretty big I think starting it to one spot in LONDON is smart, see what the response is because if it is big and odds are in that market it will be, you will have other markets ASKING for that show come to other venues in the world, I have a feeling when it opens in SPRING 2022 you will start to hear about broadway and things like that wanting to get their hands on the show. So I have a lot of respect for this group especially Benny and Bjorn who in my opinion as far as creators of some of the best pop songs of the last half century I put them up there with Lennon McCartney and Barry Gibb for sure. I think comparing them to things that came after like the SPice Girls is stupid, that group was a creation of producers those members had ZERO input and never did. ABBA from day one crafted all the songs, and on this new record it was funny the interviewer asked who are the producers and they said simply "US" we do it all and we always did, and that to me seperates them from any comparisons.

I wasn't making a direct comparison between the two groups. My point was that if a lesser act such as TSG can have a successful comeback that people seemed to be behind then certainly ABBA can come back and do what they do.

I am more talking about how a group like ABBA is compared to the spice girls and other Brit pop groups like Little Mix and the Saturdays so this was not in response to your comment on a comeback. I will say this is more the group being behind what they are doing, the spice girls would be a cash grab there is nothing really there with them a bond outside of being really big quick. ABBA are a unit that was married had kids together so it's different animal altogether plus they control their music and the writing and productions all of hose I mentioned never had that kind of input or control. It's like I have heard in the past calling the Beatles a boy band 😂 and comparing them to NYSNC please. I still don't think people understand what ABBA is really doing, as Benny and Bjorn said if they got back in the studio and it didn't work or their sound wasn't there, they'd never do this , and I think that is 100% truthful because they could have "comeback" a million other times when they were a lot younger. You are not going to see ABBA in their seventies going on tour.

MattyJam said:

I'm genuinely shocked by how beautiful and moving I've found both of these new songs, and I've never really considered myself a huge Abba fan. I will definitely buy their album on the strength of these two songs, which are two of the best pop songs I've heard in years.

yeah I agree 100% and found it hilarious when one review of the "faith in you" single said "it seems like it was written for a musical or movie" . That is freaking hilarious, I mean ABBA has always had a big sound and vocals and harmonies, Benny and Bjorn to me are genius writers and producers and have always deserved being in the best of conversations. Plus they have written many times for musicals and where did all those songs that everyone knows now for decades end up? In musicals and movies and tv shows, it's not like ABBA was out there promoting ABBA reissues and all that during the last four decades they literally have almost never appeared together as a whole group almost in that time since breaking up. It really is quite amazing that a group that has not been together in four decades doing anything together nor going there promoting ABBA have become one of the biggest selling groups ever. I mean you look at the Beatles and yes they are bigger than anyone will ever be, but they also promote the reissues and their own music, even though half of the group is gone they two remaining are very active in promoting the Beatles. ABBA members are never out there since disbanding promoting like that or talking reissues of music or the musicals and movies and new packages. And I feel now that's not going to change much, I think the two guys will and I am sure the ladies will possibly join them or maybe not for interviews, they have led very private lives occasionally doing music themselves but definitely not in the spotlight