Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Classic Rock Legends
• DVD Release Date: November 29, 2005
• Run Time: 132 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009QZ44C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,505 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

MUSIC IN REVIEW:ABBA 1973-1982 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the greatest ABBA dvd out there....., April 18, 2006

By 

S. Fennell "pianistcritic" (Somewhere out there.....beneath the pale moon light...) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music in Review Abba 1973-1982 2DVD Book Set (DVD)

This 2-disc set has several pros and cons. There actually is some decent analysis of the music by a few people (mainly the guys from the ABBA cover-band, "Bjorn Again") who know what they're talking about. They deconstruct several of the songs and demonstrate just how complex the arrangements really are. That's the good part. The bad part is that some of the other reviewers make some glaringly obvious mistakes; naming the incorrect lead singer a couple of times, (there is one instance where someone refers to Frida's lead vocals on "The Day Before You Came", all the while showing Agnetha singing the song on stage), incorrect references to album content and song listings, and over-simplified ratings of the albums themselves. (Super Trouper is only a 3 star album on a 5 star scale?? You're kidding, right??)
There is also one instance when a recording of a cover band called "Waterloo", (sheesh, that's original...) is played for discussion of the song "One of Us" instead of using the original ABBA recording. Licensing problems, maybe?? Picture quality is questionable throughout, and is inexplicably letterboxed, given that none of the ABBA clips were originally filmed in that format. Last but not least, the entire program runs a little over 2 hours and could have easily been presented on one DVD without interruption, but instead is spread out over 2 discs, presumably to drive the selling price up. Except for the worthwhile segments by the "Bjorn Again" guys and one or two other commentators, plus some rare "live" ABBA clips I'd never seen before, (which, by the way, contain audio and video that are occasionally out of sync with each other), you'd be better off buying either of the documentaries, "The Winner Takes It All: The ABBA Story", or "Super Troupers: 30 Years of Music". This one is good for a rental, only.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad...for new ABBA fan, December 22, 2005

By 

J. M. Gonzalez (Vineland N.J. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music in Review Abba 1973-1982 2DVD Book Set (DVD)

This is what it says. Just simply a review of ABBA's biggest hits and a general review of each album. If you are a die hard ABBA collector and have every tape of every rare performance and TV appearances you may pass this up. But if you are new to ABBA you may find interesting the clips used in this presentation. Much of these clips have never been on DVD before, TV appearances in Japan, Germany, ect. However they are not complete and only highlights. Still this is an interesting collection since it speaks only about the music, the reviewers some that belong to an ABBA tribute band give very good insight as to the songs construction. If you are a fan, this is interesting stuff, 2 DVD's , extras include photo gallery and a book. Not bad.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Interesting Commentary & Rare TV Appearances Makes This 2 Part Critical Review Worth Seeing, December 29, 2006

By 

E. Valero "Eterno" (Woodbridge, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music in Review Abba 1973-1982 2DVD Book Set (DVD)

"ABBA: Music in Review 1973-1982" is a 2 DVD collection that asks several experts; music critics, performers etc to evaluate ABBA's individual albums and their most famous singles.

This collection may appeal to the die-hard ABBA fans because it does feature some rare television performances and interviews that have not appeared in any of ABBA's recent DVD releases. They show very little of ABBA's actual promotional videos (the ones that have appeared on countless DVD's and videotapes) and concentrate more on their rare appearances; "Abba-Dabba-Doo", "ABBA in Japan", "ABBA in Germany"...etc. However, the actual ratings of the original albums are what may surprise several of their most passionate fans. I was pleased to find that ABBA's much loved "Arrival" (considered to be one of ABBA's finest studio albums by many fans and music critics) received a perfect 5 star review and that the runners up; "Waterloo", "The Album", "Voulez-Vous" and "The Visitors" all received no less than 4 stars. What was surprising is that their 1975 album titled "ABBA" received a lower rating (3 stars) than their 1974 effort, "Waterloo" (4 stars). Many fans and critics agree that the 1975 LP was superior to their previous record in almost every way. But the biggest surprise came when the much loved "Super Trouper" album received only a 3 star rating therefore reducing it to the same level as ABBA's first studio album "Ring Ring". That doesn't make sense to me.

For the most part, several of the people interviewed do nothing but praise ABBA for their talents (Benny/Bjorn are praised for their songwriting abilities and Agnetha/Frida are admired for their considerable vocal talents) and their contribution to the world of popular music. However there were some errors in research and evidence of sloppy work. One of the things that bothered me was that they referred to ABBA's 1977 hit "The Name of the Game" as "What's The Name of the Game?" It may be a minor issue but there is more to come. When analyzing the "Voulez-Vous" album, they concentrated mostly on "Summer Night City" and "Gimme Gimme Gimme", 2 great songs but they were not a part of the original 1979 studio album (In later re-issues of "Voulez-Vous" these 2 songs were inserted as bonus tracks but what about the other songs that made up this particular record originally? "Angeleyes"? "I Have a Dream"? "If It Wasn't For the Nights?" etc). When making reference to "One of Us", one of ABBA's last glorious recordings, they chose to play, not ABBA's original but another version sang by some unknown singer that sounded inferior to ABBA's and did not do the song justice. Another annoying bit on this documentary was when one of the experts referred to the 1974 song "Honey Honey" as "Money Honey" (wrong). This same individual later makes reference to "Frida's vocals" in "The Day Before You Came" (wrong again) when it is in fact Agnetha who sings the lead in that track.

"ABBA: Music in Review 1973-1982" is somewhat informative, somewhat interesting and when the group is revealed doing their thing, always compelling. But it may not be to everyone's liking. A lot of these commentators do nothing more than confirm what ABBA fans have been saying for the last 30 years, that they were amazingly talented musicians who crafted and performed ravishingly beautiful music enhanced by rich, intricate vocal harmonies. We don't need a panel of 10 people to tell us this. The ratings of the individual albums are also inconsistent. However, if you have the extra cash to spend, this 2 DVD collection is worth it if only for the rare archival footage, especially the live performances (even though there is constant talking over the footage).

Keep in mind that there is a 3-DVD pack titled "ABBA: The Ultimate Review" which contains these 2 DVD's along with "ABBA: In Performance" and it's about the same price (minus the books) so you may want to purchase that instead. That is, of course, if you don't mind losing the literature.