Customer Reviews

Ring Ring

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

 

 

To put it bluntly the worst songs ever made by ABBA are in this album but since this album has 12 songs to choose from there are still hints of future success of the group. At the time known as Agnetha Bjorn Benny And Frida the group messed around with different techniques to find the perfect sound for the group. Although not found in this album there are a few songs such as :RING RING , ANOTHER TOWN ANOTHER TRAIN AND NINA PRETTY BALLERINA show that this rookie group could go far if they worked more on their melody. This is a reasonable beginning but not too flash. Definately not a very good ABBA album but still they were only just starting out and the albums after that pretty much showed how well they could be. Die hard fans will love it but the rest of us stick to greatest hits albums to get the better of the songs on this album.

When ABBA arrived in the US via Atlantic Records in the early/mid 70's; the earliest work you could get of them was the "Waterloo" album. Although some tracks from "Ring Ring" did show up on their "Greatest Hits" LP in '76, most of us had never heard the rest of the tracks from this, their first album. I am delighted to finally be able to add this first album to my ABBA collection. Although some people find the tracks on this album to be inferior to their later releases, I find this album to reflect their "roots" if you will. Most of the tracks reflect a happy upbeat time in the groups career; a far cry from some of their later releases which reflected sadder times in the members personal lives. The best tracks on the disc include "Ring Ring," "Another Town, Another Train," "He Is Your Brother," and "Rock 'N Roll Band." And yes, while it is easy to tell that this album was the beginning of what would become a phenominal sensation all over the world, the mood of this album is more true to life of what the group was all about. If you're a fan of the group as a whole, you will want this album. If you're only a fan of their biggest hits, you might want to skip it.

While hardly a masterpiece in the league of the great, late albums, 'Ring Ring' is a vast improvement on patchy albums like 'Waterloo'. The grotesque prog-rock indulgences that marred that work are largely absent; the one exception, 'I Saw it in the mirror' is redeemed by sad lyrics and moving backing vocals.

By this tage of their career, Abba had yet to find their true voice, so 'Ring Ring' largely comprises some excellent pastiches (eg the Carole King of 'Disillusion'; the Animals of 'She's My Kind of Girl').

Full of exhiliratingly tuneful dance pop, the Abba aesthetic can be glimpsed in the frothy stomp/melancholic subject matter of the title song; the haunting 'Another town, another train' reminiscent of the astonishing late ballads; and 'Nina, pretty ballerina', an early stab at what would become their euphoric masterpiece, 'Dancing Queen'.

I originally purchased this album on vinyl (anyone remember that format?) from a Swedish record dealer during the late 1970s. At that time an ABBA obsessive, I was rather confused as to why "Ring, Ring" had never been released in the U.S. After hearing the tracks on this album, I understood why Atlantic had chosen against issuing it stateside. While some of the songs, particularly "Ring, Ring" itself, Agnetha's compilation "Disillusion" and "I'm Just a Girl" are pleasant enough, others, such as "Rock 'n' Roll Band" and "Me and Bobby's..." are shockingly bad. To be fair, every ABBA LP contained at least one song that should have remained in the vaults, and this effort was issued very early in their collective career. The preponderence of awful songs on this album, however, makes it one to skip for all but the most die-hard fans.

Listening to this you may be forgiven for marvelling how ABBA became as great as they did. Even as a first album it's a dud, full of clodhopping songs with clumsy lyrics, and as such is fit only for the absolute fanatic.

Madonna and Britney Spears had great first albums. However, this isn't one of them. While I enjoy ABBA's later albums, this one never quite rises above silly with a bunch of fillers. One example is "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brither." Gosh, it's annoying now!!! I used to like it. After ABBA evolved into more mature artists (by next years 'Waterloo,' they were already MUCH better) they are more enjoyable. Far more than this ... piece of immature ....

Alright, I can definitely see why so many people have a problem with this album. It contains a bunch of *extremely* fruity, severely dated throwaway filler tracks. But the thing is (and this is a BIG DEAL in my mind) this little collection of pop songs is amazingly *diverse*. When listening to this album, you will immediately notice that each track sounds much different from the previous one.

Diversity is pretty important in my world, especially when it comes to pop music. Diversity helps you appreciate each track individually. Yes I know, what I'm saying here sounds really fruity (much like the music itself) but it's true!

In addition to that, Ring Ring also happens to be one of those rare occasions where I find the tracks on the second side stronger than the first. This VERY rarely happens. Like, the odds of me preferring side 2 over side 1 happens once out of every 50 albums. I like the unpredictability factor there, hehe.

Anyway, the title song is a catchy, upbeat pop song. I like it, especially the rhythm. My favorite songs however, are the ones that sound like straight pop songs in the same style as say... oh I don't know... not quite the Beatles I suppose, but maybe the Zombies or Paul Revere and the Raiders.

These songs are "She's My Kind of Girl", "Another Town, Another Train", "Nina, Pretty Ballerina", "He Is Your Brother", and "Love Isn't Easy". I LOVE these songs, hence my 4 star rating.

Other songs are satisfactory as well, such as the dramatic ballad "Disillusion" and the atmospheric style of "I Saw It in the Mirror".

I can definitely do without "People Need Love". I don't like that one, haha. Other than that, this qualifies as a really good pop album. Oh sure, hearing this album repeatedly in one sitting would drive any sane person up the wall, but it's not like you'd listen to any other Abba album repeatedly either... or would you?

ABBA entered the song Ring Ring in the 1973 Eurovision contest and lost. Agnetha was glad they lost because she was pregnant. They won the contest the following year in Brighton, England. Ring Ring was the title track on this first album. Their four names were on the cover. Manager Stig had coined the acronym, ABBA, but first had to negotiate with a fish canning company of the same name. "ABBA" is a word for father in the Bible, appearing three times in the New Testament. Ring Ring was re-released following the Eurovision victory. Neil Sedaka wrote the English lyrics. Listen to Benny run his finger down the keyboard. It is called glissando.

This album wasn't released in USA so I didn't own the CD until fairly recently, already having all the other ABBA albums. Technically this is not an ABBA album as it was originally released under the name of "Bjorn, Benny & Anna, Frida" in 1973. Recorded in the early seventies, the ABBA sound as we know it today is not present on this LP. In fairness, the group started of as being a duet with just Bjorn and Benny. In fact one of their singles, "She's My Kind Of Girl" is included in this set. Bjorn and Benny frequently asked their girlfriends (Agnetha and Frida) to record backing vocals for them and their voices gradually started becoming more and more prominent on the recordings. This LP is the result, no hint of the group's name ABBA which came a year later. So with this in mind, Ring Ring is a fascinating insight into the progression of the group in its earliest years. There are a few songs here that I don't like (unlike the later ABBA albums), and a few hidden gems (Another Town Another Train, I'm Just A Girl, Nina, Ring Ring). Definitely not their strongest but I wouldn't be without this CD.

I am a 36 year old male and always haveand always like ABBA. It's one group that I really unwind to and also havegrown up with them in a sense. No collection is complete without atleast one CD from this group. Harold Conner