I'm totally on Joe's side. How can you not hear the sadness in the lyrics and in the awesom blending vocal harmonies of Agnetha and Frida? How can you not hear the excellent melodies and arrangments of Benny and Bjorn? My favourite album is Super Trouper and then the four other later albums follow straight behind. Their third is indeed their transitional record and the first two are the ones you don't need in your collection if you have a decent singles compilation. Favourite songs: Dancing Queen, The WInner Takes It All, Knowing Me Knowing You, Gimme Gimme Gimme and Our Last Summer.
@@ryankramzer1256 Maybe ABBA uses a more European musical language to express that duality. It might explain why I don't feel those kind of emotions in the work of more than one acclaimed American pop group. Thanks for your reaction. Most of the listography episodes I'm on your side, but this time I was surprised you didn't feel what Joe and I feel. But these differences in taste keep the debate alive.
@@spoteach Honestly I think some fans of The Beach Boys would like ABBA? Or in the 70s even other groups like The Eagles? Apparently the song Eagle was actually inspired by The Eagles, and The Name of the Game by Boston's More Than a Feeling.
just listened to my "The Visitors" LP and now "Super Trouper" whilst taking down the Christmas decorations. Funnily was listening to the double CD The Definitive Collection on Sunday whilst playing board games with my two teenage sons and we were singing along to all the hits!
Not really. I had all the Abba for a lifetime and the next back in the 70s. It is like a vaccination that makes you immune. It also worked against The Sweet and Bay City Rollers, Carpenters and Osmonds and others like that. Nostalgia only works for things you feel you have lost.
ABBA The Album for me-my parents played it all the time when I was young. Cannot even begin to tell you how huge Abba were here in the UK from 1974-1982.
Yes they were definitely the biggest singles act in the UK through that period. I was quite young at the time and their dominance put me off them, but I started to gradually appreciate them more over time and bought the Abba Gold compilation when it came out in the early '90s.
I love metal. I love Megadeth, Metallica, Maiden, Queensryche and lots of more obscure bands. Abba wrote some incredibly well-crafted songs, much of their stuff is extremely complex and they have a sound like no group before or since.
Björn and Benny are some pretty amazing songwriters, and I've always respected ABBA for that. Growing up in Norway (Anni-Frid is from Arctic Norway) they were kind of "our" band too and played to death on radio and TV in the 70s and 80s. So I've grown pretty tired of their hits, but when I "rediscovered" them as an adult I fell in love with some of their deep cuts. I love their use of synths, and Led Zeppelin did too which is one of the reasons they recorded their last album in their studio in Stockholm! 8. Ring Ring (Dissilusion is the only song I play occasionally) 7. Waterloo (My Mama Said is the highlight) 6. ABBA (S.O.S. and Intermezzo No. 1 are pretty OK) 5. The Arrival (Tiger and My Love, My Life are my favorites) 4. Voulez-Vous (Disco's not really my thang' but it is pop music perfection) 3. Super Trouper (have hits that I still can listen too, like The Winner Takes it All and Happy New Year - Lay All Your Love On Me is a pretty killer disco song) 2. The Visitors (The least happy album of them all, and that might be why I rank it so high. Also like the production and synths on this one very much. 1. The Album (Deep cuts like Eagle and I'm a Marionette are pretty darn good!)
Yeesh! First, good on ya Joe for appreciating ABBA. As for the other two, I can certainly understand not caring for ABBA. We all have our own taste. But it's always going to strike me as odd when someone can't appreciate at least their skill, in writing, performing and production. Jason in particular reminds me of all those early music critics who were just clueless about ABBA, writing them off as mere artificial fluff. If there is anything significant in the ABBA phenomenon, it is just how many who wrote them off at first came around to thinking "I was wrong about them...damn they were better than I gave them credit for!" That includes consumers, critics, musicians, you name it. I don't know a single musician, from any genre, who doesn't have some appreciation of ABBA in musical terms. Probably the most bizarre "not getting it" aspect of Jason's and Kramzer 's take had to do with the vocals - portraying them as utterly cold, artificial and devoid of real emotion. This is twilight-zone land. ABBA possibly more than any group I've ever seen, is known to bring their fans - even non-fans - to tears! Aside from discussions among ABBA fans, you can see tons of ABBA reaction videos, especially to their ballads, bringing tears to the eyes of first time listeners. Agnetha (the blonde) in particular had an early reputation before ABBA as the something like Connie Francis of Sweden, "the girl who cried with her singing." She has a wide reputation among fans, critics and those who worked with her, as being superb at interpreting lyrics, and inhabiting the character in the lyrics. It is within the stylistic confines of the Scandinavian reserved temperament, so possibly that is throwing some USA folks off. Unlike the penchant for over overwrought delivery and/or Melisma/oversinging many north american singers seem to associate with "emotion," Agnetha's delivery is often honest, straight-forward, only what the song demands, and feels more authentic for this IMO. I think this perhaps comes across more obviously when watching her performances. A couple of examples here: Chiquitita "Live" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2PDlNMbQiCo.html She sang one of the most heralded break up songs of all time, Winner Takes It All, the lyrics about divorce, right as she and ABBA's lyricist had divorced: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-E8bCwmZp5W8.html
I didn't think I will ever see so much hate for ABBA. It would be interesting to know what kind of music those two guys are into. I mean ABBA kinda has everything for everyone: their lyrics cover all emotional spectrum, their vocals are super vibrant, melodic and unique, same could be said about their instrumental parts. I don't know how anyone can call their music not emotional, when songs like Winner Takes it All or When All Is Said And Done or Happy New Year are emotional masterpieces. ABBA is one of those bands that are in the league of their own, their music doesn't sound like any other band that ever existed before or after.
@Marvin Morawski ABBA impresses me a lot more than Madonna in terms of vocal beauty, memorable melodies and emotional resonance. Their lyrics are also more meaningful to me.
"The Winner takes it all" is one of the most emotional songs ever written and performed! How can the naysayers Kramzer and Joseph knock the emotional content of their music !!!
This is a lot of fun and highly interesting - thanks. Especially your discussions of the girls' singing. I heard a Danish podcast a couple of years ago analyzing Anni-Frid's and Agnetha's vocals, exploring their singing in the light of the Scandinavian folk music traditions. There was also a section on the differences between how European and American singers tend to express emotions etc: Very simplisticly put they talked about a more minimalistic respectively a more maximalistic approach, which may be one of the reasons why two of you have a hard time hearing what for me appears as soaring emotions and loads of melancholy in A+A's vocals.
Tretow the engineer experimented with double/triple tracking voices. And Benny Andersson wanted to create a wall of sound like Phil Spector. Some of them definitely had folk roots, though Frida had liked to sing American standards and not just schlager. There's a schlager aspect to some songs now and again, Move on is one of the better ones. Some folk dance also sometimes shows.
Big up Joe! Really out on a limb on your own on this vid, you must have some European blood in you! I completely agree about the heartache and melancholy in their music and the emotionally charged vocals. Some people say they are a guilty pleasure. No need to feel any guilt, just enjoy the pure pleasure!
ABBA are the GOATS of pure pop. Everything from the third album on is pretty brilliant. And they got better with time. The Visitors is their best album, IMO, followed by Super Trouper.
Just discovered your videos. Loving them so far. I'm a big ABBA fan, so this was right up my street. The Visitors will always be my number one but of course, that might change if and when this new album/ material arrives.
There were 9 ABBA studio albums, 113 songs. Here are the album & and song rankings: ALBUMS 1) THE ALBUM * 3 Top tens 2) VOULEZ-VOUS * 1 Top ten 3) THE VISITORS * 1 Top ten 4) ARRIVAL * 2 Top tens 5) SUPER TROUPER * 1 Top ten 6) VOYAGE * 0 Top tens 7) RING, RING * 0 Top tens 8) ABBA * 2 Top tens 9) WATERLOO * 0 Top tens SONGS 1) MAMMA MIA 2) TAKE A CHANCE ON ME 3) THE NAME OF THE GAME 4) EAGLE 5) DANCING QUEEN 6) FERNANDO 7) SOS 8) DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW 9) UNDER ATTACK 10) THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
I write this before watching the video. I do this because I'm Swedish. ABBA was the first band I ever heard, 43 years ago. I consider them to be equal to the Beatles in terms of songwriting skills (probably better) and definitely superior to them as far as musicianship and singing goes. I really shouldn't be watching this video because I'm bound to get hurt. This is way too personal for me. But I watch everything else you do, so what the fuck. Here we go. 🤢 edit: Jesus Christ, that hurt. The only one of you who got it was Joe. He alone understands that ABBA isn't a damn party band but that each and every one of their albums is filled with bittersweet songs of Nordic soul. Not surprising, perhaps. I mean, he even looks Swedish! Anyway, glad that at least one of you knows how to listen.
@@SpaceCattttt You're trying to tell that Bjorn or Benny is a better musician than Paul McCartney who can basically play any instrument there is? I guess Shane is right with your bias, if you weren't Swedish you would have never said that.
Looking forward to this one guys. I tried to do an ABBA rankings video at new year, and after much agonising I finally gave up. I like them all, that's it.
ABBA are very well considered in Europe ,even in the hard rock & metal scene. My Ranking: 1. The Visitors 2. Arrival 3. Super Trouper 4. Voulez-Vous 5. The Album 6. Abba 7. Waterloo 8. Ring Ring Greetings from Canary Islands (Spain)
It’s great to see you young guys comment on these albums and songs that are now so entrenched in our lives. A fresh opinion. Your ABBA and Depeche Mode discussions are the best 👍👍👍 PS. My choices are closest to Joe: 8. Ring Ring 7. Waterloo 6. Super Trouper (Flawlessly perfect - probably their best album commercially and objectively) 5. Voulez-Vous 4. ABBA (my first ever ABBA album so it’s a sentimental favourite) 3. Arrival 2. The Album 1. The Visitors (Perfectly flawed. The dawn of a beautiful new era that never happened).
I’ve always been a closet ABBA fan though I rarely admit it. My favourite would either be Voulez/vous or The Visitors. Strange putting Arrival last, Jason. It’s often regarded as their best and by the way did you know When I Kissed the Teacher is Agnethas favourite ABBA song? Either way they’re a much better band than Jason and Kramzer make out. They’re arguably the greatest pop group in history, I feel sorry for people who don’t ‘get it’ Interesting fact. Suzy Hang-Around was Benny’s only ever lead vocal on an ABBA song
@@OutOnTheTiles No he’s not. At least half his catalogue is rubbish. When was his last great album? 1983? Plus The Beatles were a rock band to my ears, not pop. Especially for the 60s. But either way, of course The Beatles were better, because they’re better than everybody
It’s seems to be an American malady: especially with baby boomers, not enjoying a beautiful melody attached to a song. ABBA wrote a ton of music with beautiful melodies. That along with their perfection in the production studio is what makes their music great. But many guys, yes mostly guys my age would rather listen to abrasive screeching guitars, virtually absent of any kind of melody. I like rock and roll as much as the next person, but a good rock song can also be backed up with a great keyboard artist or a good saxophone player. This allows the melody to shine through as it should. ABBA music is unique and timeless. I do think the younger Americans do appreciate it more than my generation of heavy metal freaks. On the other hand, musical tastes are subjective. So to each his own.
What is really hard to listen to is this review. ABBA is beloved world wide. They are fantastic. Good thing your opinion is simply your opinion. Joe is the only sane one.
I like the banter in between the albums, I found your early vids were a bit too edited down. Don't be afraid to leave that stuff in, it adds to the experience.
I think it's awesome that you guys covered ABBA! One of the first tapes I ever had as a kid was ABBA Gold circa 1993/94 when I got my first boombox. From there I was an ABBA fanatic for awhile and had a lot of their albums. I remember Super Trouper was my favourite back then but not sure which one I would pick now, I want to revisit them after watching this. This discussion was a lot of fun.
#8 Ring Ring #7 Waterloo #6 ABBA #5 ABBA - The Album #4 Super Trouper #3 Voulez-Vous #2 The Visitors #1 Arrival Ring Ring, Waterloo and S/T are a mixed bag with some awesome songs. The other 5 albums are pretty solid.
I consider myself a fairly intelligent rock fan, having a massive music collection, seen live a host of leading artists from the 70's up to now and I'm not ashamed to say that I rate ABBA as one of the greatest artists of all time. Yes, even higher than everybody's darlings: The Beatles. So, Joe, I'm with you in your love for ABBA and to me all of their albums are brilliant but if I had to rank them, it could look like this: 8. Ring Ring 7. Waterloo 6. Voulez-Vous 5. Super Trouper 4. ABBA 3. Arrival 2. The Visitors 1. The Album
Now the Beatles are my favourite artist of all time, but I agree with you on Abba as well. Hugely underrated because they wrote such great pop songs, which in itself is immensely undervalued as a skill. Many of their songs are so well structured as well. Definitely one of my guilty pleasures along with Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.
@@toonhkuitjes6382No need to feel guilty for loving ABBA but if you don't mind me saying it, you should definitely feel guilty for liking Barbra Streisand. As for Neil Diamond, great songwriter, no doubt but he doesn't figure in my music collection. I would say that my main guilty pleasure has to be: The Carpenters. Who could have predicted that one of the greatest guitar solos of all time was to be found in one of their songs: Goodbye to Love.
As I said in my own comment: I put Björn & Benny next to Lennon & McCartney as the best melody writers of all time. Their record sales prove it. When you begin to analyse their songs you notice how complex many of them are.
Awesome! My take on the vocals (which I LOVE, especially on the ballads) is that's what Swedes sound like while trying to mimic a language they didn't really speak or entirely understand at the time (at least for the ladies in the early years). Loving your picks. And still pulling for a New Order list in the future!
My experience with people in Sweden is that almost everybody there speaks English. They need to, just like the Dutch, because they travel a lot and nobody outside their countries speaks Swedish or Dutch. In Stockholm you can go into any bar or shop or restaurant and talk to the people without knowing any Swedish word.
@@roxannewalsh You're right. Benny and Bjorn spoke English pretty well, but--at least at the start--Anni-frid and Agnetha learned the songs phonetically.
@@kevingibson3881 That's something of an urban myth. They both a decent grasp of English from the beginning. Anni-Frid had been singing Jazz standards and songs from the Great American Songbook in hundreds of concerts as a soloist for many years. She and Benny gave an interview for a New York radio station in 1974 and the only difficulty she had was understanding certain American slang words and colloquialisms. Agnetha was the least comfortable speaking English but even she had a reasonable understanding of it. What was noticeable as they improved, including Bjorn's lyrics was that their accents became less evident, although there were still hints of it to the end.
This video brought me joy today. I was alive and in my tweens and teens when each of these albums came out. My mom bought all of them and I was in love with listening to records while reading lyrics and liner notes, so I would have too hard of a time ranking them; all of these albums mean too much to me. I really love this band. Nostalgia aside, I LOVE the bass and their interesting use of synthesizers. Kramzer, I love that you spotted their influence... In a way, they did get recognition for their innovation in 2010 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame (same year as Genesis). I remember when "Does Your Mother Know" came out. My mom thought the song was inappropriate and almost wouldn't buy "Voulez Vous," but I begged until she relented. I was too young to know how creepy "Does Your Mother Know" was and I really dug the groovy melody and that the guys were on vocals. This was around the time I had to pretend not to be into them... The whole disco sucks movement came along and suddenly it became uncool to admit that you like them, but their album sales told a whole different story. 😂 Joe, I totally get what you're saying about the juxtaposition of the almost detached vocals with the happy, more upbeat, sometimes even sappy music. I've always appreciated that. I don't think emotional vocals would have worked with their music. That said, I do get where Jason is coming from. Frida had a solo hit post-Abba "I Know There's Something Going On"-- the video is here on RU-vid. Her vocal style did not change much, but does have slightly more feeling. Sadly, the song did not age well. Very '80s. Of course I love the '80s so I still love the song and I still love Abba. Awesome job, guys. I'm going to make an attempt at a top 10 song list tomorrow ✌️💜🎶
P. S. Every Abba fan should enjoy the movie Muriel's Wedding starring the always amazing Toni Collette. Check it out if you haven't seen it already, Joe. ❤️
I think Does Your Mother Know is the opposite of creepy. A teenage girl is hitting on a guy and he declines because she's way too young. Sounds perfectly appropriate to me. There are plenty of 'sweet sixteen' songs from the '60s that are way more questionable.
My Daughter and I will jam to ABBA in the car, we love their music. The best way I can rate their albums is by what we listen to the most. So here it goes... 8...Waterloo(Kind of a hodge podge that doesn't work that well together.) 7...Arrival(I personally don't care for Dancing Queen. It's been played to death. When I kissed the teacher is probably my least favorite song of theirs. ABBA has done so much better. This album doesn't do much for me.) 6...ABBA the Album(Better than Arrival in composition. Really love Eagle.) 5...Super Trouper(Many great songs. I can feel the pain in this album. The members were breaking up at the time and I can feel the emotion in the lyrics) 4...Ring Ring(I really like this album. It is different. I'd also have to say it's my daughter's top pick. I think we probably listen to this one the most together, but my personal favorites are what I'm going with.) 3...ABBA(Very few songs on here I don't like. It is what I believe is the album that cemented their style. It's always a good listen.) 2...The Visitors(Hard to place at #2. It's an all out great album. Love the vibes I get from it. 1...Voulez Vous(#1 because it just has the most of my favorite ABBA songs on it. Summer Night City, The King Has Lost His Crown, Does Your Mother Know, Chiquitita..Etc. It think it's their best production. The way the tracks blend works the best for me too. I'm not a huge disco fan but I just love the power and energy in this album.) So that's my personal picks. I know I'll probably be slammed for my Arrival pick being so low, but really it is not their best. And as for Dancing Queen, we usually skip that track.
ALL 8 ABBA STUDIO ALBUMS, ARE TO ME GREATEST HITS. MY FAVE GREATEST HITS ALBUM FROM ABBA: VOULEZ VOUS. ABBA, PERFECT BLEND OF: POP, ROCK, FOLK, REGGAE, CLASSICAL, COUNTRY, FUNK AND DISCO MUSIC. I BOW DOWN IN RESPECT ❤💖💝💘
I grew up through the ‘70’s, ABBA’s music is what helped get me through the crappiest childhood! I couldn’t possibly rank their albums as I love them all! Even the supposed unpopular songs. To this day, ABBA’s music is the one thing to cheer me up! ABBA Voyage, their latest album is also a must listen, definitely more than once if you’re new to ABBA or aren’t a fan. If you’re a fan you’re totally gonna ‘get’ this album! #abbaisthebest #abbaforever
Haha! I just had to re-visit this video just to see Jason try to justify his choice of Arrival being his No.8 😂Went to the ABBA Voyage concert yesterday so I'm having an ABBA reminisce day. LOVE ABBA!!
Another interesting countdown. I'm a massive ABBA fan and love about half the tracks from each and every album. But the only album I truly love is Voulez-Vous. My favourite song from the original release is the buried track Lovers (Live a Little Longer), but it's the expanded version that really does it for me, containing my number one favourite ABBA song Summer Night City, my favourite non-LP B-side Lovelight, and the great third bonus track Gimme Gimme Gimme.
Being Swedish, it's interesting as well as weird to see how Americans view ABBA. I don't understand at all how anyone can see ABBA as being not much more than this super happy fun loving pop group. They certainly have that side to some of their songs, but there's a deep sense of melancholy and sadness to their music which is pretty overt in my opinion. Songs like "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "When All Is Said and Done" and especially "Happy New Year" are almost hard to listen to sometimes. Even songs like "Dancing Queen" are pretty sad when you consider the lyrics. There is a Swedish word called "Vemod". It doesn't really have an English counterpart, but it could be described as a sort of beautiful sadness and missing something you had or maybe never had, as well as longing for something even if you don't really know what is is. I get that feeling at the end of every summer, and I think ABBA captures that feeling in a great way. Perhaps you need to be Swedish to really understand it. Joe seems to get it pretty well though. I found this definition at thelocal and it describes it pretty accurate: "The closest English translation is probably melancholy, or perhaps wistfulness - it’s a kind of sorrow, lined with a longing for things that have been and are still to come. They’re not quite within your reach, but you know that they’re there, and you know they’re not yet lost. Picture the solitude of the vast northern Swedish forests, the feeling of regret at the end of summer, the weariness as you know that spring is right around the corner but winter just won’t seem to let go, the excitement and sadness of moving to a new country." Not trying to insult you or anything, but it's just weird how different music can sound to different people. With that said I really enjoyed the video, and you made me (re)discover som great tunes that happened to end up at my top 10 songs list. When it comes to their albums I think one of the albums sucks, and it was not only completely unnecessary, but also contained weak songs and performances. Most of their albums are good though, and the top three are essential pop albums. Albums ranked: 9. Voyage (2021) ★★ 8. Ring Ring (1973) ★★★ 7. Waterloo (1974) ★★★ 6. ABBA (1975) ★★★ 5. The Album (1977) ★★★ 4. Voulez-vous (1979) ★★★ 3. Super Trouper (1980) ★★★ 2. Arrival (1976) ★★★★ 1. The Visitors (1981) ★★★★½ ★★★★★ - Masterpiece ★★★★½ - Really great ★★★★ - Great ★★★½ - Really good ★★★ - Good ★★½ - OK ★★ - Bad ★½ - Really bad ★ - Awful ½ - The worst
Hello guys, nice to see yours Top 10 so differents How difficult is only an ABBA Top 10 They have made 100 songs and more than 50 are so good, with 20 hits and masterpiece And doesn't the same if I say "the best" or "more important" or "my favorite" And this list could change in the time but I try to do it 1) "S.O.S." good lyrics, great intro, marvelous chorus and fantastic Agnetha in lead voice 2) "Dancing Queen" the greatest intro and their best harmonies 3) "Waterloo" their best song under three minutes, the most powerful 4) "The winner takes it all" their best lyric and the best interpretation by Agnetha 5) "Thank you for the music" or when a song was an hymn and how change from the original 'little musical' to a song with own life 6) "Hole in your soul" the most extraordinary live perfomance in London 1979 the melodical bridge is heaven 7) "The name of the game" seems like a rythm blues, so catchy chorus and melody sounds as BEATLES 67s 8) "Knowing me knowing you" deep lyrics with catchy melody and power chorus 9) "Chiquitita" greats intro and ending instrumental, hope lyrics, beauty and power harmonies 10) "Fernando" good lyrics, slowly vocals and music, classic harmonies 11) "Take a chance on me" their most powerful and catchy chorus in a constant rythm 12) "Mamma Mia" the most iconic pop song Special credits to another greates songs like: People need love He's your brother Ring ring I've been waiting for you I do I do I do I do I do My love my life One man one woman Money money money Summer night city Voulez vous Does your mother know Gimme gimme gimme Super trouper The way all friends do One of us Sleeping through my fingers When all is said and done Hovas vittne
@@TastesLikeMusic It's true I made a Top 12 and credit to 18 more and I forgive Disilussion Ninna pretty ballerina Honey honey Bang a boomerang Tiger Eagle As good as new I have a dream Andante andante Under attack ... etc.
@@nickchristoforou7850 Totally agree and what a rocker ‘Hole In Your Sole’ is. In my opinion Andersson and Ulvaeus are the Lennon and McCartney of the 1970s.
For me their final two albums (before the split) had some of their best work. The Day Before You Came was a brilliant track imo. Don't get me wrong they did some classic stuff in the 70's.
My 8 ABBA albums in preferance; 8-Ring Ring - 7- Waterloo -6- ABBA -5- The Visitors -4- ABBA-The Album-3- Arrival -2- Voulez~Vous -1- Super Trouper. The early albums were really about the band finding their feet and own styles - still pretty impressive that huge world wide hits came from the early albums for a band who's native tongue wasn't English. Each album still delves into different genres but they'd found their sound by Arrival and the genres are blended into that. I'm shocked Joe doesn't get any emotion in the vocals! Benny & Bjorn are still writting new material but the hits (like the ladies solo albums) have been sparce without Agnetha and Frida's voices.
If you think that ABBA sounds cheesy or you will get headache by hearing ABBA, please stay away. But I think ABBA classics are Arrival and the Album. SOS and Summer Night City were also good songs.
This was one of your best videos, guys. One of you knows ABBA, the other two probably just rushed trough the albums in order to be able to rank them. All of you made valid interesting remarks. I like ABBA.
I agree with you Joe 👍 Led Zep are my favourite band of all time but I’m also a big Abba fan , great songs and we where brought up on them here in England.
Just watched the whole episode and I’m pretty much with Team Joe. Even with my love for prog and extreme metal I totally love ABBA! I also totally get what he’s saying about the emotion in the performances. Kind of surprised how one can NOT hear emotion in Agnetha’s delivery, tbh.
Yep, i'm on the Joe team on this one! Love them, and love all the albums starting with Abba. I do agree that some of these albums are better with those extra non album singles tacked on at the end... like, Gimme Gimme Gimme should really be on Voulez Vous. That said, My list, worst to best: Ring Ring, Waterloo, Abba the Album, Visitors, Abba, Super Trouper, Voulez Vous, Arrival.
Some of it is that some just like a less produced style. Exactly the same reason why some dislike 80s pop, just purely on the production sound. When someone loves one kind of music so much they don't want to really engage fully with another. It is hard adjusting to styles. But you miss out on some great melodies.
@@starry2006 I'm not taking sides either way. I just enjoy the disparity of opinions. If they all agree it is still entertaining, but when they disagree it's much more fun.
@@jackde1965 I've got no problem with people disagreeing. If someone doesn't like a song I like it doesn't bother me really, Normally you probably get more from people who have more understanding of a musician. Not obviously from people who pretend to like someone a lot or those who just think some music is hip lol. So I do prefer honest opinions. And you need a balance as well. Saying ABBA had as much good music as The Beatles feels like it's over the top to make a point. In ABBA's case they were uncool among some listeners and now they are considered more cool, so that suggests there's been a disparity at some point. Any musician who sells so much music in a competitive era like the 70s obviously should be reviewed.
Very interesting discussion. It’s hard to rank them once I get through #8 Ring Ring and #7 Waterloo, both of which have some great tracks (He is Your Brother & Ring Ring from RR, Suzy-Hang-Around & Gonna Sing You My Love Song from W), but it’s clear they’re still finding themselves. But since you asked… #6 The Album (too short, not a fan of musicals, but 4 of their best songs - Eagle my fav song, The Name of the Game-my 3rd fav song of theirs, Move On, Hole in Your Sole, so that kinda tells on me and how much I love them), #5 Arrival (at least today-When I Kissed the Teacher-def in my Top 10 ABBA songs, That’s Me-for the fun backing harmonies, Knowing Me Knowing You for the craft and in my top 10, and My Love My Life for the vocals), #4 ABBA (c’mon -I Do x5, Mamma Mia, SOS, So Long, and especially I’ve Been Waiting For You are 5 of the best pop songs ever produced IMO), #3 The Visitors (this was a tough call for me because of the strong opener with awesome title track and since Like an Angel Passing Through My Room is my 2nd fav ever from them, but too short and uneven, and they were getting tired), #2 Super Trouper (still in their heyday and has my 4th fav song of theirs with The Piper and very consistent), and… #1 Voulez-Vous (great from beginning to end, and includes another top 10 favorite song If It Wasn’t for the Nights, and a couple surprises IMO with Lovers and The King Has Lost His Crown, and when the weakest track is Does Your Mother Know-which was a Top 20 US single, it’s a no brained for me). Joe totally on board with you man. Keep the faith!
This was hard mainly because the first couple albums and the last three sorta blend together for me as far as songwriting and production. 1. The Album 2. Arrival 3. The Visitors 4. Super Trouper 5. Voulez Vous 6. ABBA 7. Waterloo 8. Ring Ring
I'm almost all the way in with Joe on this. I absolutely love Abba and at various points in my life have had a thing for both Agnethe and Frida 😂. The best pop band that ever existed. What made them special to me was the underlying melancholy and depth on some of their deep cuts, (Marionette, Eagle) underneath the pop champagne and hooks . Sure they recorded some dud songs like Fernando and a handful of others but they wrote a clutch of songs that will remain popular decades from now. The Album, The Vistors and Arrival are probably my favourite albums from them.
ABBA were huge here in Australia. They were so popular it forced their Australian record company to lift Mamma Mia as the second single off their 1975 self titled release. Fernando was included in the original track list on Arrival and remained number one for 14 weeks. It will be interesting to hear what the new album is like when it is finally released.
My top: 8:Waterloo(One half of the album is good, another half is horrible) 7:Ring Ring(I don't dislike any song except for I Saw It In The Mirror, but compared to the other ABBA albums it is one of the least outstanding) 6:ABBA(As many point out, ABBA already had a more defined style, but there are songs that fail a lot for me, such as Man In The Middle, Hey Hey Helen and Rock Me, the first two include funk in a failed way, however, like me love Mamma Mia and SOS, the album is saved a bit) 5:Voulez Vous(I love Voulez-Vous, the disco touch accompanied with soft songs I liked a lot, I think the style of Lovers (Live A Little Longer) ends up burying the album a bit) 4:The Album(The Album I think is one of the most underrated albums, all the songs are very good, although I don’t like much I Wonder (Departure)) 3:Arrival(Arrival has a lot of masterpieces, however it's not ABBA's best album at all, the songs aren't THAT developed) 2:The Visitors(This is undoubtedly ABBA's most complex album, although Two For The Price Of One and Head Over Heels do not have this style, I still like these songs a lot, they are all very good) 1:Super Trouper(Super Trouper has the best ABBA song: The Winner Takes It All, in my top the other songs are very close to the top 10 and 20, The Way Old Friends Do is the only song that I don't like so much, but the others are so good, with their use of synthesizers, and along with the depth of the album, this is why this is the best ABBA album)
The band i love for juxtaposition of happy vocals and music with completely scathing and morbid lyrics is The Beautiful South. If you don't know them you might really like.
I only own a greatest hits record and I don't intend to go beyond that. Never play it for myself, only when I'm with my family or at parties. I like the singles and the fact that they're kind of an inter-generational thing, my parents enjoy them, my wife and I too and so do my daughters (this is quite rare, can only think of The Beatles in the same situation). In Spain and Latin America they were, and still are, very popular. They released a record with versions in Spanish of a few songs. So, I guess I'm with Kramzer here. I enjoy them but I'm not crazy about them. Love the video and the vivid discussion
You cannot go wrong with ABBA Gold, the second one had a lot of filler on it. Would certainly recommend ABBA The Album & Voulez-Vous as purchases though.
@@eduardooscar309 yes, that's a good point you're raising, that's quite unique, apart from some Italian artists, no other artists made versions in Spanish of their catalog. Cheers
Jason, have a listen to a rockier version of Abba's "Summer Night City" by Therion. Here's my ranking, along with the best tracks on each album: 8. Ring Ring ("Another Town, Another Train", "Ring Ring", "He Is Your Brother") 7. Waterloo ("Waterloo", "Hasta Mañana", "My Mama Said", "Gonna SIng You My Lovesong" "Honey Honey") 6. Voulez-Vous ("If It Wasn't For The Nights", "As Good As New" ,"Does Your Mother Know" ,"Chiquitita") 5. Super Trouper ("Our Last Summer", "Super Trouper", "The Winner Takes It All", "The Piper", "Happy New Year") 4. The Visitors ("The Visitors", "When All Is Said And Done", "Soldiers", "I Let The Music Speak" "Head Over Heels") 3. "Abba" ("SOS", "Mamma Mia", "So Long", "I've Been Waiting For You", "Bang-A Boomerang") 2. Arrival ("Knowing Me, Knowing You", "That's Me", "My Love, My Life", "Money, Money Money", "Dancing Queen") 1. "The Album" ("Move On", "Eagle", "The Name Of The Game", "Hole In Your Soul", "I'm A Marionette", "Take A Chance On Me") non album tracks "Summer Night City 1979", "The Day Before You Came 1982" "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) 1979, "Fernando" 1976 Abba did many styles in their own way - glam rock/pop/schlager/classical/dance - and they did it well, influencing many others. They were a melody making machine.
For me, the vocal harmonies along with the keyboards are the central attraction that pulls me in and makes me want to listen to their best songs. , I also get a range of emotions from anger, to joy and sadness and sorrow as well. One example of this complexity is their most famous song Dancing Queen. The bluesy slightly sorrowful low pitched harmonies in the beginning soars into the high pitched somewhat desperate chorus. Since it was mentioned in the video, I would rather listen to ABBA than Neil Young. Recommendations for a discography. Would you be interested in reviewing Santana's discography?
Kate Bush week where Jason ranked The Dreaming last and Joe ranked it first also shouldn’t be forgotten. The Police episode was the greatest divide for me personally, with Reggatta De Blanc being my #1, a solid 9/10 and probably a top 5 spot in my 1979 list, while I recall Jason saying he hated every second of it. 😔
@Marvin Morawski I've seen a quote from Elvis himself that the piano part to Oliver's Army was directly influenced by Dancing Queen. I certainly hear the similarity.
Jason is so obviously uninterested!! Purchased Arrival on vinyl as a kid..it was my very FIRST LP I bought with my own loot!! I’ll have to say it’s timeless and my favorite ABBA album!! I loved your review guys!!
Hi guys, some interesting comments and choices from you! I was there back in the day and was fortunate to see them live in 1977 and 1979. If I may here is my list worst to best - 8.Ring Ring 7.The Visitors - It`s good but a liitle too serious for me in some ways. I don`t like that Anna and Frida don`t sing together much. It`s all solo`s. 6.The Album 5.Super Trouper 4.Voulez-Vous 3.ABBA 2.Arrival 1.Waterloo - First album of their`s I heard. Love the sponteneity, love the analogue production. They sound like a proper band here with distinctive bass and guitars. Later there would be too much production and keyboards. The girls are both great singers when singing solo but they sound dynamite when singing together. There was more of that on the earlier albums. A lot of people get hung up on `King Kong Song` and indeed it`s not the band`s finest moment. But when you get to `Hasta Manana` and onwards there is some fantastic pop songs! I don`t think `Watch Out` is bad at all. In fact I think it`s great. It adds variety to the album which you didn`t get further on down the line. `Gonna Sing You My Lovesong` is my favourite Abba song with Frida on lead vocal and it doesn`t get talked about much but I really love it. Oh, and the bass line on `My Mama Said` is something else! If you have a decent system stick this on(vinyl of course!)and turn that volume right up to hear just how good it is! All the best to you guys. Good that you did this list considering I can tell that not all of you are massive fans.
In my country you get certified platinum when you sell 15.000 copies of a record. Few albums ever achieve that. There are two albums however that went 16 times platinum here - one is Dark Side of the Moon, the other is ABBA Gold. I contributed to the success of one of them.
What's your country if you don't mind me asking? Super cool that you contributed to a success of an album and would love to know which and how ... also is that you on allmusic reviewing Pere Ubu? :D
@@UlyssesJonah I come from New Zealand. I bought the Pink Floyd LP back in 1973 (poster and postcards and everything included) - I even bought it a second time on CD when I switched to that medium. I sometimes make entries on allmusic or RYM if either there is not yet any review and I know the record or if I feel that my view on an album is not already represented by an existing one.
@@roxannewalsh Thanks for replying! Thank you for Taika Waititi :P I'm from Jordan but thanks to an offline encyclopedia in the 90's and the internet the first artists I discovered and still among my favourites are David Bowie and Pink Floyd! I was minus 18 when that album came out xD Anyway I enjoy your input a lot! Keep rocking!
'Gonna sing you my love song' is the best track on Waterloo for me by a mile and didn't get a mention! We all have different tastes. I also think a European review of these albums will differ from a north American one. I suspect environment and sounds around you play a bigger part than we realise in the choices we make. You don't have to be Nordic to hear the melancholy hidden in even the most upbeat tracks but I think European ears pick it up Quicker. Having said that, you can't get much further away from Sweden than Australia, and they really embraced ABBA. In the end I think there is America, and then the rest of world. It's a cultural and geographical difference that shows up in many ways, And there's nothing wrong in that! P.s Joe, you get the melancholy! Jason, you get the quirky! Kramzer, you gave it a try! Thanks.
@@nickchristoforou7850 You are so right. Frida sings about the pain that can be felt when being the 'Other woman'. It is SO not an upbeat track. But it is gorgeous and sad at the same time. I'm 'gonna' listen to it now!
so much changed agnetha felt that pain of the divorce.....and frida being orphaned till the age 32 affected her this gave melancholy and pain /hope to the music
_The Album_ is my #1, and "Eagle" is undisputedly my all-time favorite song of theirs (and "Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me" are also in my top 5). Their songwriting reached a new level of sophistication on this album and the production isn't as glossy and synth-driven as it would be on their last 3 albums. And WTF, Joe? No disco on _Super Trouper_ ? What do you call the title track, "On and On and On," and "Lay All Your Love on Me"?
@@TastesLikeMusic Also, as a point of interest, "Suzy Hangaround" is the only ABBA song on which Benny sings lead; Björn sings all the other male-sung tunes. I'm not sure why, but that's the case.
I actually really like Abba, especially the hits. One of the first albums I owned as a kid was the self titled and liked most of it. My favorite though is probably Voulez-Vouz based on the number of hits and non hits I like on it.
The only thing I agree with Jason on is that I don't have Arrival at number 1. 1. ABBA Favorites: SOS, So Long, I Do, I Do, I Do all in top ten songs. Also think man in the middle is interesting with funny lyrics and a kind of a tongue and cheek sleezy funk feel kind of like the slimy politician in the limo in Diamond Dogs which the album cover reminds me of. Also Mama Mia, Bang a Boomerang and I've Been Waiting for You are also really good and has some of the serious urgent tone of Super Trooper but more hopeful and innocent. My favorite sounding album in terms of production. Even like Hey, Hey Helen addressing the harshness of a woman suddenly confronted with the freedom of living alone and having to make it on her own, and rock me is interesting for its mix of slow staggered paced European cabaret mixed with rock. Most consistent album for me with a lot of variety. Like every song except for the glaring misfire of Tropical Loveland. 2. Super Trooper Winner Takes It All best ABBA song, Happy New Year, Put on Your White Sombrero, the Piper great Celtic flair, 3. Arrival Dancing Queen second best ABBA song for me, Knowing Me Knowing You and Tiger are great top 10 ABBA songs too but not as consistent as the top albums for me, 4. Voulez Vous Chiquitita is great, Angel Eyes and As Good as New are really good, neat disco vibe 5. Waterloo Love Waterloo and Honey Honey top ten, also like Hasta Manana King Kong is cool not so much into the other songs 6. The Visitors 7. The Album 8. Ring Ring
I went into this expecting Jason to be the biggest Abba proponent ever, did not expect that lol. Those last 2 albums are absolutely fantastic. I think anyone who doesn't sing along to the Super Trouper chorus should be put on a list just in case.
Feel like I'm somewhere in between you guys on ABBA. Think their best songs are awesome, and most of their other stuff I don't really love or hate. 1. Dancing Queen 2. SOS 3. Knowing Me, Knowing You 4. The Winner Takes It All 5. Waterloo 6. Angeleyes 7. Lay All Your Love on Me 8. One of Us 9. Does Your Mother Know? 10. Take a Chance on Me
In the version of Arrival, released in Australia, Happy Hawaii was replaced with Why Did It Have to be Me… same tune, but more mature lyrics. And Arrival has Knowing Me, Knowing You… the second greatest break-up song of all time (after Winner Takes it All). And Fernando! C’mon, Jason!
Happy Hawaii was only ever released (in ABBA's lifetime) as the b-side to Knowing Me Knowing You. Why Did It Have To Be Me was an earlier version of Happy Hawaii and included on all releases of Arrival. Apparently ABBA thought Why Did It....was the better version.
I really love your Pronunciation of the swedish names -Yes I’m swedish. 😊 8. Waterloo 7. Voulez vous 6. Ring Ring 5. Abba 4. Arrival 3. Visitors 2. The album 1. Super Trooper
After Erasure released an album of ABBA covers in the 90's, I went out and bought some of their albums. The Visitors and Voulez-Vous are really good. And I liked AnaFrid's solo album (she went by Frida, produced by Phil Collins) back in 1982 or so
I hadn't listened to some these albums all the way through for ages. It was an interesting exercise. I found that if I kept my personal relationship with the songs at bay, there is a solid argument to be made that every album the band released was better than the one before it. Benny and Bjorn are nothing if not craftsmen and their talents as songwriters, arrangers, and producers only improved over time. They also got better writing English lyrics and inched away from emulating others to developing their own style as their career progressed. Having said that, the music of ABBA has been a part of my life since I moved from elementary school to junior high (grade 8), when I purchased Greatest Hits, which contains the hits from the first three albums, plus non-album single, "Fernando". That compilation LP was quickly followed by Arrival, whose single "Dancing Queen" preceded it and whichI heard for the first time at my first after school dance in the gym. Arrival and The Album were in regular rotation on my, and my friends', stereos through high school. Voulez-Vous was an interesting one, being the disco album. Social politics being what it is, I was not supposed to like it. Still, it became a hit with my sisters and mom and her friends, so I was exposed to it regularly and found myself singing along to the singles, especially "Does Your Mother Know" (which I play in cover bands to this day). I had moved on to Blondie, The Cars, etc. by the time Super Trouper arrived and had only heard the singles until recently. Those later albums are solid slabs of adult contemporary pop, as we used to call it. Anyway, regardless of how my inner, detached, critic may rank the albums (each album better than the one before it), I'm going with the ranking below. Note: I'm including the recent reunion album, Voyage, in my list, which even my inner critic would agree is just a notch below Super Trouper and The Visitors. 1) Arrival 2) The Album 3) Super Trouper 4) The Visitors 6) Voyage 7) ABBA 8) Waterloo 9) Ring RIng
As a self-confessed ABBA fan, I’m a little perplexed about this discussion. Placing *“Arrival”* as your least favorite LP is almost an admission that you don’t get ABBA at all…Jason (Although I do applaud you for putting “The Visitors” on top). Individually, Agnetha (it’s pronounced AN-YEE-TA) and Frida’s voices are powerful, distinctive and yes, they convey emotion. Examples of that would be SOS, Slipping Through My Fingers, One Of Us, When All Is Said and Done, and so on. Together, I’ll say, it’s a different entity but it’s not totally deprived of humanity. So yes, I’m perplexed.
I am a lover of Abba and I can't really make a ranking, and if I do it is not something definitive, because each album has its own energy and they are very different from each other, so it doesn't make much sense to compare. But I will make a little effort and put The Album, Super Trouper, Voulez Vous and The Visitors first, although there is no specific order. Another important thing, saying that something "is wrong" is absolutely subjective, something that for another person is a masterpiece may seem bad to me. Music is about what it transmits, and in that we are all different and we do not all perceive the same, so you cannot judge anyone for not interpreting things the way we do
Very interesting you guys finally did an ABBA album ranking. I did one on my podcast back in October and no one else on the internet seemed to care to do one except for some english guy that did a list that included compilations, so, I guess mine was the first proper one
I was surprised no-one mentioned "The Day before you Came", but I've just looked and it wasn't on a studio album. I wonder if it will get mentioned in anyone's top 10 songs?
