Super Trouper [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

ABBA | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 16, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B00005CDNJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,219 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > Swedish Pop
  • #55 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Sweden
  • #71 in Music > Pop > Dance Pop > Euro Dance

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Super Trouper is generally considered Abba's finest album. The overheated disco flourishes of Voulez-Vous were dropped and the sequencing was very nearly perfect. What's more, silly lyrics metamorphose into things of wrenching beauty. The overall tone is rather somber--the unraveling of the band members' relationships underscores every track--but as usual Abba turn melancholy into uplifting pop music. This digipack version of the 1981 album includes two extra songs. "Put on Your White Sombrero" was recorded during the Super Trouper sessions but was replaced on the album by the title track; it's in the band's Spanish vein and comes with a throbbing synthesizer hook. "Elaine," meanwhile, was the B-side of "The Winner Takes It All" single. An uptempo number, "Elaine" is far from being a throwaway. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Super album from those Swedish Troupers, March 9, 2004

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Super Trouper (Audio CD)

If Voulez Vous was their disco album, the followup, Super Trouper, a slang term for the giant spotlights used in their live shows and stadia, maintained a sound consistent with winning albums like their self-titled effort and Arrival, but with the energy of Voulez Vous. The result is one of their best albums.

And it did give them two more UK #1 singles, making a total nine. One is the title track, sung by Frida, about a singer who's going to be blinded by the giant spotlights on the stage of her concert, but won't mind, because somewhere out there, among the thousands of people, is her loved one. "Feeling like a number one?" Chartwise, definitely. Its B-side is the galloping "Elaine." This was a B-side? Should've been an A-side, as its frantic energy recalls other barnburners like "So Long" and "Tiger."

The other #1 is the bittersweet "The Winner Takes it All," a song inspired by Bjorn and Agnetha's divorce, but more about the pain of such a split-up. The song veers from the couple's split to an analogy to the judges decision in some competition. There's a biting sense of predestination, of one not being in control of one's destiny: "The gods may throw a dice/their minds as cold as ice/and someone way down there/loses someone dear."

The Top Ten single "On And On And On" with a mighty insistent stomping drums and synth rhythm, blaring synths, and an energy rivalling their previous albums.

"Andante Andante" is indeed an andante song. In music, it means moderate tempo, faster than adagio, but slower than allegretto. It makes a leisure slow-dance song, highlighted by the usual harmonies by the ladies.

With a fanfare like keyboard synth opening that continues throughout the song, "Me and I" explores the dual nature many people have, Jekyll/Hyde, and how normal it can be is encapsulated in the snappy chorus, "We're like sun and rainy weather, sometimes we're a hit together/me and I/gloomy moods and inspiration, we're a funny combination/me and I." And not to worry: "I don't think I'm different or in any way unique/think about yourself for a minute/and you'll find the answer to it/everyone's a freak." One of the best songs here, and it's definitely allegretto allegretto.

Another andante andante song is "Happy New Year" and the group is definitely one for New Year's Resolutions and new starts, where the vision of "a world where every neighbour is a friend." The fact that it had just turned 1980, and how ABBA was a group of the 70's, makes Agnetha wonder "what lies waiting down the line, in the end of 89." Oh, if only they knew!

Frida sings in the wistful "Our Last Summer," a personal song by Bjorn, the fond remembrance of a teenage summer in Paris during the Summer of Love, and how the feelings haven't changed years later.

I first heard "Lay All Your Love On Me" when the Information Society covered it on their first album. After hearing the original, I detect a hint towards 80's techno in this song of how an initial meeting with someone yields possessiveness and jealousy on the part of the affected party. The choir-like harmonies in the chorus give this song a kind of hallowed atmosphere. One of my favourites here. Definitely allegretto allegretto.

And now for an adagio adagio song, the Auld-Lang Syne atmosphere of "The Way Old Friends Do," recorded live at Wembley Stadium, with the harmonies, orchestra, and synths reaching a heavenly pitch. The farewell-type aura of this song seems to herald their imminent dissolution.

"Put On Your White Sombrero," sung by Frida, was only put on the Thank You For The Music box set and finally here when Bjorn finally decided that it was actually a good song. There are cowboy motifs in this goodbye song of someone who thinks life is a movie and rides off into the sunset for some meeker senorita.

However, ABBA's penultimate album shows them still in top form, with stronger sounds, well-constructed songs and melodies, with little indication that their next album would be their last. And it's official: instead of Arrival, I deem this my favourite album by them. It's super, troupers!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was shocked by how much I liked this, November 6, 2004

By 

Eric Bukowski - See all my reviews

This review is from: Super Trouper (Audio CD)

Ever since I bought a turntable, a whole new realm of cheap music that I would never have dared paid a rediculous CD price for (or thought of buying in the first place) opened up to me.

Looking through some used album bins, I found some ABBA stuff, and hey, for a dollar a piece there's no reason not to buy them! So I picked them up, laughed at myself, and brought them home and listened.

I bought The Album and Arrival, besides one or two good album cuts they were just all about the hits. "Eh, just what I expected, a singles band with mediocre albums" I thought to myself. Then for some unexplained reason, I bought Super Trouper. There was just something about the oh-so-glamourous cover I guess.

So I drop the needle, and "Super Trouper" starts, which I already knew but never cared much for. For some weird reason, it sounded really good! Then "Winner Takes It All," which I've never heard before, completely nailed me with that incredible, emotive vocal performance. By the time I got around to the chorus of "On And On And On" and found myself dancing furiously as only a white guy can furiously dance I knew I was in the presence of one incredibly stupid-fun album.

By the time I got through the joyously pompous synth-brass blasts of "Me And I," the reflective ballad "Happy New Year," the quasi-Gentle Giant recorder breaks of the absurd track "The Piper" up through the over-the-top closing piece "The Way Old Friends Do" I came to the conclusion that I had just experienced one of the most rediculously entertaining albums I've heard for a while.

There isn't a single song on this album that I don't enjoy immensely, with the exception of "Our Last Summer" which I think kind of kills the otherwise perfect flow of the album. The other ABBA albums I have (Arrival, The Album, and Voulez Vous) are nowhere close as far as having the tremendous hooks, variety, and entertainment value that Super Trouper offers.

I never thought I'd see the day, but my Yes, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and King Crimson albums sit comfortably and proudly next to ABBA albums, Super Trouper in particular. Get it today!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the masterpiece of ABBA's catalog, January 5, 2006

By 

Da Man "Da Man" (Pekin, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Super Trouper (Audio CD)

Abba is a group who never truly had a bad album, but they crossed all boundaries with their 1980 release Super Trouper. Toning down the disco-pop from Voulez-Vous and replacing it with a more sophisticated adult new wave pop beat. Abba saved themselves from the disco backlash (although their best disco song, LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME, is featured in this collection)with these set of songs. The Winner Takes It All was the first single released. A tear-jerking ballad about divorce, became Abba's fourth and final US top 10 single (yep, it seems like they had more...), the song is so highly emotional that anyone who has heard it must admit it's power. SuperTrouper is the first song and second US single, a pleasant record although not a great. Our Last Summer is an incredible ballad. Happy New Year is also beautiful. Me & I is an irresistably fun new wave record about cloning (or multiple personalities, however you look at it). The Piper is very Irish sounding and cute. Andante Andante is also a gorgeous soft song. This album is the definitive Abba album.