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| 1. Dancing Queen |
| 2. Knowing Me, Knowing You |
| 3. Take A Chance On Me |
| 4. Mamma Mia |
| 5. Lay All Your Love On Me |
| 6. Super Trouper |
| 7. I Have A Dream |
| 8. The Winner Takes It All |
| 9. Money, Money, Money |
| 10. S.O.S. |
| 11. Chiquitita |
| 12. Fernando |
| 13. Voulez Vous |
| 14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) |
| 15. Does Your Mother Know |
| 16. One Of Us |
| 17. The Name Of The Game |
| 18. Thank You For The Music |
| 19. Waterloo |
The CD, which as a stand-alone album has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, embraces 19 classics including the gold #1 anthem "Dancing Queen"; #3 gold "Take A Chance On Me"; Top 10s "Waterloo" and "The Winner Takes It All"; Top 20s "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Fernando," "Does Your Mother Know" and "The Name Of The Game," and Top 40s "Mamma Mia" and "Chiquitita."
The DVD features all 19 video clips, taking full advantage of the progress in digital technology since they were last remastered. Notably, most of ABBA's videos were directed by Lasse Hallström, since acclaimed for such films as My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. Also included are bonus selections in the form of "before-and-after" split-screen comparisons of five original film clips and their remastered versions. In addition, the DVD adds a recently discovered cartoon version of "Money, Money, Money," circa 1977. This rarity was briefly screened at the time and has not been available in complete form since.
Nearly 30 years later as one of the most commercially successful pop groups in history, the music of ABBA dances into the future with ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition). --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.
There is a whole new generation of kids listening (or perhaps pretending not to listen) to ABBA's music as interpreted by the new Swedish group, the A-Teens. I must say, I'll have to stick with these originals. If you think you need only one silly seventies pop-dance album, this may be the one for you.
Most of ABBA's songs are syrupy sweet with a dance-able swaying thump in the background, ala Dancing Queen, Fernando, Knowing Me, Knowing You. I love them all. I can never quite decide whether these are smirky camp or absolutely serious, but perhaps that is part of the appeal. The enigma of ABBA.
What surprised me, revisiting some of the early songs, like SOS and Waterloo, is the almost rock and roll feel. The beat is harder and faster before the group went completely disco.
Still, I think if ABBA has a live-forever pop classic, it has to be Dancing Queen, which has pride of place here as the first track. This really sums up everything you need to know about Pop.
This CD collects the majority of Abba's biggest hits, though they may have been hits in Germany or England or the United States. I know that when I bought this CD (which I purchased after "More Abba Gold" - which I'll talk about momentarily) I recognized nearly every song, which says that most of them did get good airplay.
Most of these songs are classic 70s pop songs, with very little if any disco influence. And while most of the songs are catchy and do little to press the boundaries of rock music, there are a few songs that transcend the genre. Most particularly "Lay All Your Love On Me", "I Have a Dream", "Fernando", "One of Us", and "Thank You for the Music", which in hindsight is the group's goodbye and thank you to fans.
I enjoy Abba's music. It's generally easy on the ears, you can sing or hum it, and pretty darn well written. However, Abba is much more than the music on this CD. If you like this CD you may want to try "More Abba Gold", which has miscellaneous hits of somewhat lower stature (less sales) than those on this CD. While the "More Abba Gold" CD songs sold less than these, I think the music is more complex in some cases, and often shows that Abba was more than just catchy tunes. One step further would be to buy the albums and catch Abba as they were originally released and appreciated by those of us who bought their albums.
Yes, it's a bit of nostalgia from the 70s and early 80s. It's music we heard so often on the radio, and perhaps even more often on our record players (that thing that plays those round black plastic thingies with the grooves on each side). It's takes us back to a fun time when maybe life was just a little less complicated. And yes, it's very listenable and among the best of pop music...go have fun listening...
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