Customer Reviews

Definitive Collection

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I remember ABBA from the 70's but I was never really a fan.
I rediscovered ABBA when my daughter gave me the ABBA Gold CD to listen to. After one listening session I was hooked on ABBA. I purchased the Definitive Collection CD and most recently purchased the DVD. I love the DVD. I read some reviews criticizing the quality of the videos (or promotional films as they were called). However you have to remember these were made in the 70's before MTV. As far as I'm concerned these "films" were terrific. The only thing better than listening to ABBA is to watch them. The version of "Dancing Queen" at the Swedish Opera House in front of the Queen of Sweden was great. I found all the films entertaining. I couldn't stop stomping my feet and clapping my hands. If you love ABBA and want to see them perform instead of just listening to their music, then this DVD is for you. As far as I'm concerned, you won't be dissapointed. I know I wasn't. Buy it, you'll love it.

With thirty-five videos to view on one disc, this truly is the ultimate ABBA collection. Although music videos were progressive in the seventies, these still look very dated. Most are just poor lip-synching with bad sets, but that's okay. ABBA was about the music more than anything and the quality of the sound is fantastic. The video that truly stands out is, "The Day Before You Came". The song has always been under-rated and it seems like a lot of thought was put into this filming.

It's too bad this is not available on DTS Surround Sound, but maybe in the future it will be available on that and SACD! To top it all off, the profiling against face-on head shots is hilarious. You know they had fun with those. In the end, however, it is all about what four Swedes accomplished in a very short period of time. ABBA made a huge mark on the world of music and this is a great way to celebrate it.

The face of music was forever changed in 1981 with the debut of MTV. Suddenly, artists who had not been exposed to a wide audience were being seen -- and heard -- by millions. The music video format did not begin with MTV, though. Prior to MTV, bands created what were then known as "promotional clips." This was not a particularly common practice, although groups like The Beatles took advantage of film as a promotional tool.

ABBA, a band not fond of touring, were early pioneers of the music video format. "ABBA: The Definitive Collection" gathers a decade's worth of these videos as released by the band and its label, Polar. The bulk of the clips were directed by Lasse Hallstrom ("My Life as a Dog, "The Cider House Rules"), and are now finally available collectively on DVD.

The budgets for most of the clips were miniscule. Time has not treated them well, and the DVD format only reveals those flaws. But that's beside the point. This is not a DVD for the video purist. Although the packaging states the videos were re-mastered from the original negatives, it's hard to tell at times. Grainy with artifacts and washed out colors, this is not the DVD to pop into your new progressive-scan player to impress your friends, unless your friends are all ABBA fans. Still, this is probably the best these clips have ever looked, and given the production values, some of them look pretty good. The colors in "SOS" are actually pretty vibrant, and "The Winner Takes it All" also looks great. Director Hallstrom, unfortunately, shot many of the videos against a white background, which when presented with the clarity of DVD, is fairly blinding.

Starting with 1974's "Waterloo," and concluding with the group's last video, "Under Attack," "The Definitive Collection" is a must-have. Almost all of the songs have been remastered to 24-bit sound (according to the packaging), so while the video quality is poor, the sound quality is pretty good. I'm assuming Dolby Digital 2.0, as the songs don't sound like 5.1, nor is that fact mentioned on the DVD packaging.

It's also a kick to see the 1970s wardrobes on display, which range from almost normal to the bizarre. It's all part of the ABBA package. Nearly all of their singles are here (with the exception of "Lay All Your Love on Me"), as well as a few Spanish-language clips intended for the South American market, and an appearance on Swedish television, in period costume, performing "Dancing Queen" for Sweden's King Gustaf.

The DVD extras are sparse, the usual band biographies and still photographs. The liner notes booklet is actually very well done, about 17 pages, with lots of photographs and background information on the clips. It doesn't make up for the lack of a director's commentary track, but it comes close.

I wonder what went wrong when Universal put together this dvd? It has loads of little and major errors that should have been corrected before the release:

1. Starting off with Waterloo, someone totally ruined this clip by inserting the wrong piece of film at around 1:52 where the girls lip synch while the music is an instrumental piece!

2. Ring Ring - the original clip had the UK 1974 remix as soundtrack, however on this dvd, Universal took the US 1974 remix and used as soundtrack.

3. A lot of the clips are out of sync - take for instance On and On and On - scandalous. Universal did however use the long version of this song, albeit only in mono as the stereo master reportedly is lost.

4. Some clips that were originally taped on video have been mastered from film - take for instance Chiquitita, Eagle, Head Over Heels, Thank You For The Music which are so blurry that the previosly available clips on the Gold and More ABBA Gold VHS tapes are of better quality. Scandalous!

5. Pixelation. Throughout the dvd, a lot of compression artefacts are present which is not Universal's fault but the compression company's. The clips are blurry and grainy and do not give the excellent picture quality that they could have, had they been given professional treatment.

Reportedly a lot of people have problems watching the disc. Their players lock up - obviosly the disc is not compatible with industri standards.

I cannot recommend this disc before Universal have corrected all the above problems. It's a slobby job which is a shame since the dvd COULD be absolutely fabulous and live up to the name of the greates pop band in the world: ABBA.

Any true ABBA fan will know that there was never a video containing more than 15 of ABBA"s videos. This is a brilliant DVD containing 35 songs including some rare videos. I have seen nearly all these rare videos before, but not the Spanish versions of 'I Have A Dream' and 'When All Is Said & Done'. The video also contains the Remix version of 'Ring Ring' which was released in 1976 in Australia because the original 1973 version was too weak. There are a couple of hits missing off this DVD but that's because there were no videos taken for these songs - I refer to 'Happy Hawaii' (a B side hit in 1977), and 'Lay All Your Love On Me' (a 1981 European dance floor hit). But overall, this DVD allows any ABBA fan to have 35 videos on one disc - what more could you really ask for? Well, maybe a few bonus Agnetha and Frida solo hit video's (eg. Can't Shake Loose, I Know there's Something Going On). Oh well, the DVD is still perfect. BUY IT NOW...

I recieved this DVD as a Christmas gift and watched it all in one setting. This is the DVD of their video output from "Waterloo" until they broke up in 1982 with "Under Attack" . There are 35 videos on this DVD and I finally get to see all the videos that were never really shown in the US. The best videos include "The Day Before You Came","Chiquitta" with the huge snowman,"The Winner Takes It All","Super Trouper","Ring Ring","SOS","Mamma Mia","Eagle" ,the beautiful "Happy New Year","Voulez Vous","Money Money Money" and "Fernando". The videos show the couples as happy in the beginning to their break up not only in song but visually as well. The DVD comes with a very informative booklet about every single video and all but a few were directed by Lasse Hallstrom that showcase not only his talents as a future movie director but the group's fun and serious sides as well. The DVD also features a 21 minute photo gallery where you can use your remote to change the music to 6 different "radio" type channels so that there are at least 6 different songs going at anytime while the photos flash by. Buy this DVD and enjoy not only the music but finally see the faces of Agnetha,Bjorn,Benny and Frida in action.

I am writing this review for those not yet familiar with the music of ABBA. I am old enough to remember them in their heyday, but was not into the music of the 1970's at the time. I became an ABBA fan after having the chance to see "Mamma Mia" twice in New York City. I bought the CD that goes with this DVD and I was hooked with their very singable peppy lyrics. If you are not familiar with their songs, give their music and this DVD a chance and you will find yourself becoming pleasantly addicted. The only flaw I can find with this DVD is that it doesn't include Honey Honey.

A strong dislike of touring meant that ABBA had to find another way to promote themselves, so they opted for "promotional films" (as they were called back then). In the mid-1970s, pop video was very much in its infancy, (go on - apart from Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody', what other pop video can you remember from the mid-70s?), so this was quite an impressive way back then of selling a nice looking act to family-oriented TV stations worldwide.

All bar two of these clips are directed by Oscar-nominated Swedish director Lasse Halstrom - but it really must be stressed that ABBA's notoriously tight-fisted label forced him to work on the tightest of budgets and sometimes at ridiculously short notice. And it quite often shows. BUT, all of these promos were shot way before the explosion of the MTV-era video phenomenon and they really ought to be viewed in that light.

So, what's the deal? Fabulous music. Some audacious fashion, uhm, "statements". A fair number of hair don'ts. But this is pure, unadulterated entertainment. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll sing along. You'll wonder why blue eyeshadow was ever so fashionable. You'll wonder if people *really* danced like that in the seventies (and I am reliably informed that, yes, they did). And that's why this DVD gets 5 stars: it scores very high on the fabulousness scale . In Europe, these videos are iconic. US viewers will be seeing many of them for the first time. View this collection as an un-narrated biography of ABBA, if you must. The only (minor) downside is the photo gallery: Anders Hanser was ABBA's house photographer during the second half of their career and, to my eyes, his work is a bit cold. Treat yourself to "ABBA The Book" (by Jean-Marie Potiez) as a glamorous pictorial accompaniment to this DVD.

And finally... ENJOY!

Before Madonna, before Michael Jackson, hell before Queen and "Bohemian Rhapsody", ABBA was churning out music videos before anyone knew what to call them. While most of the Swedish quartet's videos were more straightforward performances than the story - within - a song videos we see today, there is still a certain originality when you see these 30 year old MTV precursor.

And now, a video - by - video analysis:

"Waterloo" - this 1974 promo was the first video the group ever shot. It's basically them performing (the vocals are naturally lip - synched) to a white background and a bust of Napoleon. Very boring and of the times.

"Ring Ring" - basically the same as the "Waterloo" except it doens't have the Napoleon bust.

"Mamma Mia" - a slight variation of the first video, with split screen images and different (meaning atrocious) costumes.

"SOS" - this was the first ABBA video shot outdoors. It's a visual stunner seeing the group perform giddily along the Swedish country side.

"Bang-A-Bommerang" - a clip for a song never released as a single, it once again is filmed outdoors and the group really seems to be enjoying theirselves.

"I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - very similar to the "Waterloo" and "Ring Ring" films except for a different background and a not so good picture quality. A good song backed by a not so good video.

"Fernando"- the picture is again a little shoddy, but the idea of the group sitting around a campfire, singing this delightful classic in the dead of night is ingenius. Great video.

"Dancing Queen" - the group's biggest hit has a clip that keeps itself within the song's feel - good mood, with shots of kids dancing and having a good time, much like the girls do when performing it.

"Money, Money, Money" - a breathtaking video. Frida really looks the part of the song here, and the shots of the group riding in the car plus the outfits and the visuals are really a sight for sore eyes to see. Best video yet.

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" - shot in the snowy Swedish countryside in the dead of winter, I love the way they do those quick alternating shots of the group during the instrumental break.

"That's Me" - this is basically a slapped together montage of clips from other videos plus new shots. Song and video not that great, but I love at the end when they have the shot of the dove.

"The Name Of The Game" - shot in Agnetha and Bjorn's own home, this is definitely one of the group's all time best videos. I especially love the alernating color shots and the garden scenes.

"Take A Chance On Me" - ah, my favorite video. In keeping in the mood of the song, this video is playful and upbeat. And Frida looks so damn hot with that cheerleader outfit, knee - high boots and uh, that crimped hair. Just gorgeous.

"Eagle" - a visually stunning video. This looks video looks like it was one big hallucination after downing abiut six bottles of qualudes, and yet that's the beauty of it.

"One Man, One Woman" - I never liked this one. Frida looks terrible.

"Thank You For The Music" - again, sucks.

"Summer Night City" - brilliantly filmed. Really shows the Swedish nightlife in action, and the band really seems to be having the time of their life.

"Chiquitita" - a nice video, I like the snowman in the background. Look for the trespasser at the end. It's pretty funny.

"Does Your Mother Know" - basically a bunch of kids dancing.

"Voulez - Vous" - see above.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - just shots of the group in a studio. Not good.

"On And On And On" - just still photos the group. Not good.

"The Winner Takes It All" - an amazing video. In keeping with the song, this is a very poignant video, from the opening shots of the group to that lost closing frame of Agnetha crying.

"Super Trouper" - a very sweet video, I love the animated shots at the end with each member singing the "Su - papa, Trou - papa" lines. One of my favorites.

"Happy New Year" - again, a very sad and beautiful video. I love the shots when the group are back to back and spinning around. Kind of reminds me of "Knowing Me, Knowing You".

"When All Is Said And Done" - I absolutely think this is a lovely video, especially the shots with Frida when she's standing on the seashore just looking at the ocean. I also liked the shots where the members of the group give each other the stink eye (although it may have hit a little to close to home, since by this point the group had divorced marriage wise and were getting fed up with working with each other).

"One Of Us" - my second favorite video, it is so sad but so beautiful. Agnetha is so natural at showing emotion, that if there was a music video Oscars, she'd win.

"Head Over Heels" - a very funny video, especially Bjorn playing the bored husband to Frida's energetic socialite. Plays like a so - so "Saturday Night Live" sketch from the Dick Ebersol era set to music. Also, look for director Lasse Halstrom (who directed video on here except "Chiquitita", "On And On And On", and the last two videos).

"The Day Before You Came" - with this video, ABBA had truly entered the MTV age. This is such a great video, however I wish they hadn't wasted the last minute and a half on a train pulling away.

"Under Attack" - their last song, their last video. You can't say they necessarily saved the best for last (a video for "The Visitors" would have been awesome), but this is still a really good video. Just wish they saved "When All Is Said And Done" for last. It works better as a farewell.

The bonus videos are good but not great, but the photo gallery is excellent. This dvd is defintely worth the purchase.

Almost all these videos are exceptionally good and I don't think they look dated. I think these ABBA videos looked good then and look REALLY good now. They are watchable and aren't flashing images like what MTV has been playing the past 10+ years where the MTV "diva" women look like retired porn actresses and the men like ex convict metal rappers who are never shown for more than a secord or two and thank God for that.

The ABBA women still are cool to look at in these videos. Excellent videos!