Customer Reviews

Abba - A Tribute: The 25th Anniversary Celebration

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this CD (two in fact and gave one to a friend) and was not certain what to expect. I usually do not care for covers of songs. While I prefer the original ABBA versions, several cuts from this CD were more than pleasant surprises. Bananarama's Waterloo is a lot of fun. Honey Honey by Sofia/Michael Tretow is impressive (and a lot of fun as well). Knowing Me Knowing You by Evan Dando is pretty amazing, playing up the sadness of the song by it's sheer simplicity and melancholy. The a capella version of Dancing Queen is phenomenal! This song is worth buying the entire CD for (the arrangement and the blend of voices in this song are incredible!). Any ABBA fan will not be disappointed with this CD(unless you are expecting the various artists to sing the songs exactly the way ABBA did). This is definitely worth the purchase.

Usually tribute albums can be disappoining, but this one was quite enjoyable. My personal favorites are Real Group's & Frida's rendition of "Dancing Queen", done in an a capella style. Very cool! Its good to hear Frida appreciating her past glories. I knew of this song for quite a long time but never heard it until now. Its wonderful. "Honey Honey' is my next favirite, done with sassiness and attitude...I love the intertwining of the various ABBA songs throughout,its fun trying to pick them all out. This one should be released as a single. I think I almost prefer this version over ABBA's!! "The Name of the Game" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" are done in a slower, ballad-like style...and it works nicely! It took me a few listens to finally like "SOS", but eventually the song stuck in my head, same with "Waterloo". "The Visitors" and "Money Money Money" are great...and pretty much keep faithful to ABBA's versions. VERY disappointed that they didn't include the full-length bridal version of "Dancing Queen" from the movie "Muriel's Wedding" on the CD...THAT was abbasolutely idiotic! The rest of the songs didn't impress as much as the ones mentioned...but I'm very happy with the CD overall. Highly recommended for ABBA fans.

I personally like this CD. Unfortunately the spirit of ABBA is lost by some of those so-called artists out there. Some honorable mentions are E-Rotic's "Money, Money, Money" Bananarama's "Waterloo" and CoCo Lee's take on "Dancing Queen." Evan Dando's version of "Knowing me, knowing you" is mediocore, as well as Ash's "Does your mother know." The songs aren't bad, it's just, it sounds like the singers aren't even trying very hard. Some of the tracks sound like they were made in a matter of minutes, while others have careful attention paid to every vocal arrangement. That is why I scored the CD as 3 stars. Some songs are great, some aren't. It's a case of: either you like it, or you hate it. Which is a shame, because ABBA is a group that needs to be celebrated, just not like this. Anyway, I would rather spend the same amount of money on an actual ABBA album, than compared to this CD. Honestly, ABBA has so much more to offer.

what could be a more definitive tribute album than have one fourth of the swedish quartet featured (anni frid lyngstad)on one track?

just when you thought nobody could finesse "dancing queen", comes anni frid lyngstad's a capella version. this makes coco lee's version (on the same album) pale, almost literally, by comparison. other tracks worth an average abba fan's time are e-rotic's take on "money,money,money", never a personal fave but its rave beat gives what was originally a schlager flavored tune a new twist, erasure's "take a chance on me", chicago's peter cetera on "s.o.s", a kitsched up version of "hasta manana" by army of lovers and a sparse, minimalist but effective irma on "the name of the game".

I have been a Abba fan for many years and was not too happy with this CD. The only worthy tracks are the ones by Erasure, Banarama, Information Society and especially the one orginal member Frida did of Dancing Queen (probably the last we'll hear a orginal member of Abba sing one of their hits since they broke up) I guess I'm very protective of Abba's music and I think it is flawless and should be not be touched..they'll never be anyone who'll be able to top the orginal recordings. All I want is for Abba to get back together for one night and do a live concert and release it on Cd just once please I beg of you if any members are out there reading this...do something similar to Fleetwood Mac's The Dance, which had glorious results...

This album is a strange mix of Abba covers, some easily available and many not so. Whilst some of the early tracks feature on the Swedish Abba tribute album we are soon moved on to other interesting takes. The highlights for me are Sofia and Michael B Tretow's "Honey, Honey" and, like many of the other reviewers, The Real Group & Frida's acapella "Dancing Queen" - a true gem. A shame that a few of the tracks are too similar to Abba's orginal versions to be interesting. The sound quality is generally good although I'm rather mystified by the crackling throughout Mike Love's "On And On And On" which makes it sound like it has been sourced from vinyl. Sloppy editing of Magnus Palm's liner notes leads us to believe the CD includes Svenne & Lotta's "He Is Your Brother" which is in fact exclusive to the cassette release (a blatant marketing gimmick as there is plenty of space for this on the CD). All in all, though, quite a good compilation which I would recommend to all Abba fans.

Tribute albums are always hit and miss affairs and this is no exception, but there are a few classic reworkings here. The undeniable highlight is Michael B and Sofia Tretow's "Honey Honey," which mixes a number of ABBA songs into its musical web to great effect. E-Rotic's "Money, Money, Money" is another winner.

Here's part 2 of the first tribute cd of Swedens greatest groups around of cause I'm talking about Abba and as before i loved the songs and the groups that done them.

Rondall Banks

You only need to be a music fan to like this. A few hard-to-find tracks are finally available. Sound quality is great, even though it's not remastered. Love the track Honey Honey, which reminds me of Aqua's Barbie.

This is a wonderful happy cd for anyone who was a teenager in the 70's. the most wonderful track is Bananarama's take on 'Waterloo'. that should really have the dance floors jumping.