Customer Reviews

Abba: The Complete Guide to Their Music

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is an ABBA fan's dream: lots of arcane details with some gossipy tidbits tossed in, all rolled together with a list of every ABBA song ever recorded. Even though my ABBA-fandom was at its heights about 30 years ago, it's still a pleasure to read about each of ABBA's many songs. This book tells the reader what the lyrics are really about, what the atmosphere in the studio was during recording, and other information which lets me listen to the songs in a new light. The book also made me nostalgic, and even a bit sad - ABBA did have material for a "goodbye" album in them, but they just didn't have interest in recording it. Their departure always seemed so premature, and now that I have more insight into the lyrics of songs like "Cassandra" and "The Day Before You Came", it's obvious that their non-existent final album would have been one of their best.

As a long-time fan of Abba's inspired music, I found this relatively brief book an indespensable historical (contextually detailed) guide to Abba's eight studio albums as well as other music.

This Abba book delivers what the title promises - a track by track, album by album guide through Abba's entire discography. It reminds me of the Kiss Album Focus books by Julian Gill and Leppard Tracks, but is much less detailed. "Abba The complete Guide..." is a short read, completable in one sitting. So my only complaint would be that clocking in about 100 pages, it's not thorough enough. But the book includes nice notes and anecdotes about every album track recorded by the group.

Not much to say - the book does what it says. It's a great handful of information with some pics as well. Are you and ABBA fan? Buy the book.

This book is well written and researched. But if you already have most of the books written by Carl Magnus Palm (incl. Complete Recording Sessions), there is no need to get this book. However, if you are not that familiar with the music of ABBA and want to learn more, it's a good and inexpensive way to start!