Customer Reviews

Agnetha Faltskog - That's Me: Greatest Hits

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Agnetha became famous as a member of Abba, during which time she was the lead singer on the majority of their hits. This compilation includes three Abba tracks (Winner takes it all, Slipping through my fingers and That's me) but mainly focuses on Agnetha's recordings after Abba broke up.

Agnetha's first solo album was released in 1983 and is represented here by The heat is on, Can't shake loose and the title track, Wrap your arms around me.

My favorite solo album of Agnetha's is Eyes of a woman from 1985. It was produced by Eric Stewart of 10cc and is represented by I won't let you go, Eyes of a woman and One-way love.

Her 1987 album, I stand alone, produced by Peter Cetera, is represented by The last time (not to be confused with the completely different Rolling Stones song of that title), Let it shine and I wasn't the one (a duet with Peter Cetera).

The other tracks include Queen of hearts (previous unreleased), various B-sides not released on original albums, a track from a soundtrack and a duet with a Swedish singer.

Agnetha's voice is as good as ever and there are inevitably echoes of Abba in her music. It is a fine collection that Abba fans everywhere will enjoy, though it is difficult to see who would enjoy this without enjoying Abba.

I have been a fan of ABBA for many years, but I have to admit that I always liked Agnetha better than the other members. It could be because of her magical voice, her timeless beauty, or simply because she sang lead vocals to some of my favorite songs. Don't get me wrong, I love Frida, whose I Let The Music Speak is one of my favorites but I found that her post-ABBA records were simply not as good as ABBA. The exception, of course being her latest release, Djupa Andetag, which is superb and the song I Know There's Something Going On which is just addictive and gets stuck in your head for days at a time. But back to Agnetha, I found her solo work to be more ear-pleasing, shall we say, and more reminiscent of the ABBA sound. This collection is perfect for a good overview of Agnetha's solo career and in my mind, the ultimate greatest hits. The CD does not include any of her Swedish work but there are plenty of other albums which do, so it's nice to have an English greatest hits. The tracklist is as followed:

1-The Heat Is On: I hate this song and I don't know why it is Agnetha's favorite from her solo years, it is the only song I can't stand on the compilation.
2-The Last Time: One of Agnetha's best songs, it has the 80s flavor and could have been a huge hit with more promotion.
3-Let It Shine: Like The Last Time, this song is from Agnetha's I Stand Alone album, produced by Peter Cetera. The song is good but not exceptionnal.
4-The Winner Takes It All: One of ABBA's last big hit songs which Agnetha performs flawlessly. Some say it is her best performance.
5-I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye): Duet with Peter Cetera, amazing song.
6-The Way You Are: Duet with Ola Hakansson, it is one of my favorite songs on the CD.
7-It's So Nice To Be Rich: Fun song, good beat, very 80s.
8-I Won't Let You Go: Great song, the lead single off her Eyes Of A Woman album.
9-Never Again: Duet with Thomas Ledin, lovely ballad, Agnetha's is so beautiful whenever she sings a duet.
10-Eyes Of A Woman: Good song, has a nice beat, kinda reminds me of ABBA's Voulez-Vous days in a way.
11-Slipping Through My Fingers: In my mind, this is the best Agnetha performance in an ABBA, the spanish version is equally wonderful. Great choice to use this little-known song from the last days of ABBA when their sound had matured and to me, was at its best.
12-One Way Love: Sounds like I Won't Let You Go but still quite enjoyable.
13-Can't Shake Loose: Sounds like a country/rock song, not my favorite but blends in well with the album so there is no need to skip it.
14-Wrap Your Arms Around Me: The best solo-Agnetha ballad, one of my favorites.
15-The Queen Of Hearts: English version of a Swedsh song written by Agnetha that had been recorded as a demo and resurfaced for this collection. Another favorite.
16-That's Me: Fun ABBA song from the Dancing Queen days when they were on top of the world. Agnetha's favorite ABBA song.
BONUS TRACKS:
17-Turn The World Around: B-Side to the One Way Love single. Great song, 80s pop.
18-You're There: B-Side to the I Won't Let You Go single, great ballad, I love it.
19-Fly Lke The Eagle: B-Side to The Way You Are single. A nice song to end a great collection.

If you like Agnetha or just love 80s music, I urge you to pick up this CD, you won't regret it. Agnetha's voice is about to be heard once again as she will be recording again in ENGLISH for the first time in 16 years. The backing tracks are ready and she should be in the studio shortly. We can expect a winter release from this angelic singer who will delight us once more.

This is what we can called "mature pop". The Abba sound still shines inbetween from the songs from the 70 ths. The reason for that it`s not get a 5 star is that it`s to much syntheseizers on some of the tracks, which disturbs the complete perfect soundpicture some times and pushes Agnetha`s voice back in the " backyard". But anyway. Here is value for the money. 18 tracks from the best of here solo stuff. The real goodies are the following tracks. It`s starts with the all time "tropical summer hit": 1.The heat is on. This is a real swinger, with enough tropical rythm that wanna get you in the real: "party,party mood". It was a big hit in Scandinavia back in the 80 ths. Track 3 Let it shine is also one of the winners.
It`s simple pure pop energy, and here voice is magic. To say it short: This one realy shines. Let`s skip the "discoinspired" stuff and go Track 11: Slipping through my fingers, written by Ex members of Abba Anderson and Ulvaeus. This is pure Abba energy, and a glory sound right trough. Thats what we can called harmony with a big H. Track 13: Can`t Shake Loose is a real tempo up beat song. Winning stuff, this one too.
Much moore goodies on this album, and a very good introduction to Agnetha Faltskogs solo stuff. Pure earorgasmic music with a voice with pure gold in it.

The Import CD of Agnetha Faltskog's "That's Me" CD, was everything I expected it to be and more! It contained some songs I'd forgotten about, like "Can't Shake Loose", and "The Last Time", but it also had some songs that I'd never heard before, such as "The Queen of Hearts", and "Fly Like the Eagle". The music may be somewhat dated (it's 80's), but the voice of Ms. Faltskog is timeless. She can reach the high soprano notes as in "Winner Takes It All" to the mid range and even mezzo-soprano notes as in "Wrap Your Arms Around Me". Not only that, but this CD shows a true artist at work. The depth of emotion, and variety of feeling expressed in the different song interpretations, reveal that Ms. Faltskog takes each song she sings to heart and makes it her own, and thus, unique. I do have to say, however, that Agnetha and Frida, along with Benny and Bjorn were a force never to be equaled...Agnetha's voice is magnicifent in it's own right, but the magic happened when she sang with Frida. This CD is excellent and I strongly recommend it to any ABBA fan or anyone who loves great music.

...you being this album! This is an abbasolute gem! Agnetha's perfect, crystal-clear voice shines through and carries every single one of the tunes on this CD fantastically. If you like ABBA, the chances are you'll love this album! still poppy, but with a slightly more mature, sophisticated edge than most ABBA songs. Combining anthems like "The Winner Takes it all" and "the last time" with ballads like "The Queen of Hearts" and upbeat pop like "I won't let you go" this album is a fantastic showcase of Agnetha's different singing styles. Anybody who appreciates a beautiful singing voice will adore this album!

If it wasn't for this album, Abba fans around the world would never enjoy a beatiful and prevously unreleased songs like The Queen of Hearts, a typical romantic ballad in the style of Abba singing by the sweet and wonderful Agnetha's voice. The album is precious gift for all Abba fans and especially, of course, for all Agnetha's fans. The most famous songs that she record alone for her three solo albums after Abba are here, and is delicious ti listen to it once more time, but is even better to have the chance to listen to preocious songs like The Queen of Hearts, The way you Are, Fly like the Eagle and It's so Nice to be Rich in the precious Agnetha's voice, that were not well promotioned by their time and are unknown songs for many Abba fans. Maybe this album is the only way to listen to it and enjoy every one of these songs, which ones could have been major hits if they were well promotioned. So it is an obligation for any Abba fan to have it. But two questions I have in mind while I was listening to That Me album: one is why are not in this compilation of Agnetha's solo songs wonderful titles like Maybe it was Magic or Man? And the second is why, if the album is called The Greatest Hits and includes Abba hits performed by Agnetha like The Winner takes it All and Sliping Throurh my Fingers, doesn't include a major Abba hit like The day Before you Came, magistrally performed by Agnetha. It's unfair, for it wasn't for the missing songs I would like to listen to in this compilation, the album is perfect for Agnetha's fans and, why not?...for any really fanatic Abba fan.

This collection is really a service to the fans. It gathers A-sides, B-sides and rarities and, in doing so, helped a lot of fans complete their collections. The fact that the 80's production values employed throughout have dated is irrelevant: all retrospective collections bring some passé baggage with them. There are some great items here: in particular, 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me', 'Can't Shake Loose' and 'The Last Time'. And, of course, three Abba songs can never hurt. 'The Winner Takes It All' and the lesser-known gems 'Slipping Through My Fingers' and 'That's Me' stand out like beacons from the rest of this collection. For me they show a marked difference in Agnetha's singing: she never seemed to have much energy in her voice in her solo recordings - she seems to keep to her mid range and it looks as though her producers didn't exactly push her (especially on her 'Eyes Of A Woman' album). So, yes, there are also some minuses.... I have never been a fan of 'The Heat Is On': its calypso feel should have injected some zest but the pace is too slow and there is no sense of climax in the structure. The upbeat 'I Won't Let You Go' still sounds like an average Eurovision Song Contest entry. 'One Way Love' is a good song but would have been miles better if the songwriter (ELO's Jeff Lynne) had also produced - it could have had 'Xanadu'-type energy instead of this listless result... The rarer tracks - 'It's So Nice To Be Rich' and Agnetha's composition 'Queen Of Hearts' - are pleasant but not particularly special. 'Turn The World Around', a 1985 B-side, is just plain awful. 'You're There', another B-side is kind of sweet but the twee arrangement/production really let it down.

All in all, it's an okay collection. If I didn't find myself getting too bored to listen to the album all the way through or very often, I'd have given it a higher star rating. Certainly, it's a gem for Abba completists. The inclusion of the Bright Remix of 'Let It Shine' and the 7" edit of 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me' would have made this particular completist all the happier.... But for those of you who are not die-hard Agnetha fans but enjoy light, MOR pop, keep your eyes peeled for the mid-price edition.

Since this compilation was made in 1998 Agnetha has released
also a beautiful album "My colouring book" in 2004. This was also great album. Even "That's me" is so much better even not newer and reflects her entire story with Abba and beyond.

If you like ABBA, you may or may not like most of the solo works by Agnetha Fältskog. The material is very different. This is a great complilation for those of us who do. The true gems on this CD are the very difficult to find duets with Ola Håkansson (Secret Service). Not only do you have the A side to the single, "The way you are"; but you also have the B side "Fly like the Eagle". Only the A side is available on the double cd, "My love, my life". I like this complilation because this sticks to her English work. Though her work as a solo artist isn't on the same level as with ABBA, the work here does deserve merit because of talent and versatility. The Swedish accent pops up a few times; but it always has-even with ABBA. Once again, if you're looking for the ABBA sound-you'll have to settle for 1/2 the voice because the music is in a different style. This collection has been long overdue; and it's a shame that the US record labels have seemed to overlook this as well as most of her solo work.

If you are an Agnetha fan, this is a must. The songs are so beautiful on this CD, they will bring tears to your eyes. The songs really capture the beauty of Agnetha's voice. You will love "The Way You Are," "The Queen of Hearts," and the many others on this CD.