Story of a Heart

Benny Andersson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 2, 2010)
• Original Release Date: March 2, 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B002BW79YU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,432 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Glasgow Boogie

2. Trolska

3. Story Of A Heart

4. Bed Of Roses

5. You Are My Man

6. Cirkus Finemang

7. Fait Accompli

8. Sng frn andra vningen

9. Fdelsedagsvals till Mona

10. (If This Is) Our Last Dance

11. Jehu

12. Schottis i Tyrolen

13. The Stars

14. P.S.

Editorial Reviews

The history of the world's greatest Pop band has hardly taken a pause in the past 35 years, from the 380 million albums sold to the record-breaking musical and blockbuster film which is Mamma Mia! But behind the scenes, there's another musical side to Benny Andersson. For the past 20 years he has been leading The Benny Andersson Band, a group of 16 exceptional musicians and singers who share his passion for the Swedish Folk tradition, not to mention Big Band, Bach, polka, waltzes, Celtic folk, '50s standards - and straight-ahead Pop music. The latter is showcased on the title track, the first new composition written by Benny with his ABBA song writing partner Bj”rn Ulvaeus in 15 years. Vocal duties on this, and three of the four other tracks translated into English for the first time, are taken by the Swedish star Helen Sj”holm; with additional vocals by Swedish singer, Tommy K”rberg. The 14-track album captures highlights from the three albums released in Sweden by the Benny Andersson Band along with some brand new recordings. 14 tracks. Universal.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story of A Heart Review, December 9, 2009

By 

ba-da-bing "piano dog" (Dearborn, MI USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Story of a Heart (Audio CD)

A fabulous CD. Benny Andersson has proven himself to be one of the most eclectic and inventive composers of the modern age. He has combined sounds of classical, Swedish folk and modern romance to make a memorable collage of musical sound. This is not an album for those seeking to listen to a single style or sound of music, but rather for those wishing to be swept up by variation and invention and pure enjoyment.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting solo effort from one of the "B's", March 9, 2010

By 

William Merrill "eclecticist" (San Antonio, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Story of a Heart (Audio CD)

Here's how Story of a Heart breaks down. There are five vocal songs, one very ABBA-like (the title track), the other four more like showtunes. The rest of the album is nine instrumental numbers, which range from light Celtic-sounding tunes, to oom-pah-pah teutonic waltzes, to Rota-esque romps. The four showtunes didn't do much for me, but the song "Story of a Heart" is a gem, with Helen Sjoholm singing very much in the Frida & Agnetha mode, with harmonies that are strikingly similar to ABBA's. I think the song would have been a radio hit for sure if it had come out in the '70s. As for the instrumentals, they are all gentle and pleasant to hear, but a couple of them are keepers for me. "Bed of Roses" is a sweet (Scott) Joplin-meets-Newman (Randy) piano and violin theme, and "Song from the Second Floor" is a beautifully melancholy piano piece. I generally enjoyed the entire album, but I would probably have gone with only three stars if not for two things: (1) the great title cut all by itself is almost worth hearing the album, and (2) Frids and Agnetha have had steady solo careers since leaving ABBA, but we haven't heard from Benny as often. So this is a welcome return from him.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BAO new album, August 21, 2010

By 

D. Carlos Suarez Cabrera "the avengers" (Las Palmas de GC, Canary Islands. SPAIN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Story of a Heart (Audio CD)

It's funny when I read some reviews and people talk about Benny Andersson's return to the music arena. It's true that after Abba Benny and Bjorn wrote the cult musical CHESS which was a best-selling album all around the world (and one of my favourite musicals too!) But after that Benny just vanished from the music business. Not true! benny decided to focus on Swedish folk music and created his own studio and label, Mono Music. Of course most of the tracks were instrumental with a few sung in Swedish. His first 2 albums are very good in my opinion but completely opposite to Abba style. After that he joined some friends to create a new concept named BAO (Benny Andersson Orkestra). he has always said that it was a combination of dance and music and that's the way the group performs it in Sweden. It sounds like music from the 40's and 50's to me, mixing different styles that work very well. Jazz, Polka, Waltz, etc....so as you can see nothing to do with Abba.
This new album, Story of a heart uses old tracks from previous albums and a few songs by Helen and Tommy. As some users have written before it's not a perfect album. I would have chosen different instrumental tracks from other albums and included other vocal songs. So for that reason I highly recommend Benny's first 2 albums.
The song "Story of a heart" sounds a little bit like Abba, that's true. But it's only that....a vague memory of a past time. And it's a pity because Abba is dead and they will never be together again. So, why do Bjorn and Benny try to repeat the same style again? After Chess and Kristina from Duvemala I was hoping something different. Don't get me wrong but I think it's time to forget Abba and go one step beyond.
For me Fait Accompli is the highlight of the album. Beatifully sung by Tommy Korberg is a English version from a previous song in Swedish. As I said before it's the typical song to be sing with an orchestra and people dancing all around. It's powerful and with beatiful lyrics.
So the question is: Should you buy this CD? Well, give it a try! But remember that Benny Andersson has many albums recorded before so this is just a example