Check out my other Tier Lists... ru-vid.com/group/PLz-voH7EJ1YPFoimWWHajwx5r09BdzhH_ Check out my top 5 albums by year videos… ru-vid.com/group/PLz-voH7EJ1YOdHgm2R95ctqH-03Qt-O7g&si=ceVzVhQaUgja1glN
I'm with you on SUPER TROUPER being a perfect album, and definitely ABBA's best. They had so many classic albums. My rankings: 1. SUPER TROUPER, 2. ARRIVAL, 3. ABBA - THE ALBUM, 4. VOYAGE, 5. THE VISITORS, 6. ABBA, 7. VOULEZ VOUS, 8. WATERLOO, 9. RING RING. I think starting with the ABBA album in 1975 they essentially kept releasing classic albums. As for VOYAGE, "I Can Be That Woman" has some *amazing* vocals, I think it will grow on you, similarly "Keep Your Eye On Dan", which is a pretty great track describing life perspective where they are now.
Interesting your rankings and throughs if I have to use these clasification, My order is 1) The Album Masterpiece of versatility all songs no under 8 pts The name of the game, Take a chance on me, Thank You for the music, Eagle 2) Arrival Masterpiece of pop music masterpiece Dancing Queen underrated heartbroken My love My life hits Knowing me knowing You & Money money money 3) ABBA with the Masterpiece of Masterpieces S.O.S. the iconic Mamma Mia and underrated lovesong I've been waiting for You 4) Super Trouper with two songs stand out The winner takes it all & Super Trouper 5) Voyage inexpected and beautiful Don't shut me down is New Masterpiece I still have faith in You is emocional also greatest Kep an eye on Dan & Ode to Freedom 6) The Visitors Slipping through my fingers is beautiful also good One of us, The Visitors 7) Voulez Vous Chiquitita stand out, greatest hit in LatinAmerica also goods three disco songs like As good as new, Voulez Vous, If it wasn't for the nights 8) Ring Ring when ABBA wasn't a proyect My favourite is He is your brother & Ring Ring beautiful Disilusion & Another town another train 9) Waterloo the most joyful and first masterpiece Waterloo also good Honey honey and ballads
I love how you view their albums. Very intelligent. On the personal side I am surprised at the title album review. I love Hey Hey Helen, one of their best. I love Rock Me and definitely I am crazy about Intermezzo!! I've been listening to them since 1979!! Own all their albums!!
I pretty much agree with your ranking and enjoyed hearing your thoughts on your favorite songs. I don’t like ‘Two for One’ anywhere near as much as you do but I’m with you on ‘If it wasn’t for the Nights.” Such a fun disco tune is spot of the sad lyrics. Nobody mentions the string arrangement but it reminds me of Barry White and the Love Orchestra. One of my other faves is ‘I let the Music Speak.’ I love how it changes from 3/4 to 4/4 and back again and at the end it switches the 4/4 section to a 3/4 rhythm. How clever. Probably one of the most creative of all the ABBA songs (of which there are a lot!).
My ranking is quite similar to yours. I would rank Voyage a little higher, but from the rest it's OK. Those four albums you have given a S are the best. Four masterpieces that have passed the test of time
Pretty good assessment and nobody would (or should) agree exactly. Think you underrate a couple of tracks, especially 'Don't Shut Me Down' (absolute standout on Voyager) and odd that you have it in for 'Why did it have to be me' - it's a great rocker!
Great review! Seems fair and balanced for your preferences. Love "If It Wasn't for the Nights" and "I Am Just a Girl". For the more rock songs - I do prefer the live versions of "ABBA The Movie" (1977) and "ABBA In Concert" (1980). I guess because the whole band is playing live and are less produced than the album versions. Unfortunately - ABBA left a bunch of songs without a studio album (singles and bonus tracks) like "Fernando", "Summer Night City", "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!", "The Day Before You Came", and "Under Attack" for example. There are also all 15 Spanish versions of some of the songs they recorded. ✌
Disagree on the third album - how can you love "Waterloo" but not "So Long" - similar styles, and love the sax at the end of "So Long" "I've Been Waiting For You" is also a superb ballad.... Exceptional reviews and descriptions overall! "If It Wasn't For The Nights" and "That's Me" should've been singles - would've been huge hits. "Move On" might be my favourite ABBA song! I also like "Hole In Your Soul" - it's a great rock opera-type song with a driving bass line and great guitar work - prefer it to "On And On And On".
Pete Townsend did. However John Lennon seems to be a bit of an urban legend. There’s no known background to this comment. It’s never been recorded anywhere, either verbally or written. It’s just something that people say now. And probably incorrectly.
You should also listen to "Summer night city.." which was a outtake (single) from Voulez Vous. Awesome song. Its featured on the CD. Another single was "The day before you came". Both tracks are today viewed as among their top songs..
My two favourite Abba albums are ”Arrival” and ”Super trouper”. And that especially the first three tracks on ”The visitors” is total knockout. One controvercial opinion of mine, is that I’m not particularily fond of ”The album”. My ranking is (”Voyage” intentionally not included): 1. Super trouper 1. Arrival 3. The visitors 4. Voulez-vouz 5. Abba 6. Ring ring 7. The album 8. Waterloo
Great video! I find that on the whole I quite agree with your assessments. Maybe I would downgrade Super Trouper to A, as I think it is not of the same standard as e.g. The Album and The Visitors, which are my two favourites. Also, I would upgrade Voyage to A. It's funny that you feel the exact opposite way about the songs on that album. For me, the first three songs are barely okay, but from then on it is all pure enjoyment for me. Goes to show that there's no accounting for taste! 🙂 I will definitely look out your other ranking videos as well, very enjoyable!
REASONS I LOVE THESE SONGS (& LOVE OTHERS TOO.): I Am Just A Girl - An exquisite song sounding like it came from the 60's! Honey Honey - Awesome blend of greatness! Especially on Headphones. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - A great song for a sing-along! Why Did It Have To Be Me & Dancing Queen - My top two from their masterpiece album! Take A Chance On Me - Vocals & Instrumentals are awesome! As Good As New - Puts you in a disco mode in a beautiful way! The Winner Takes It All - Perfection elevated by Agnetha's emotion filled vocals! I Let The Music Speak - This is so theatrical & beautiful! Slipping Through My Fingers - A perfect mother/daughter song! Just A Notion - Incredible song & fun to sing! Ode To Freedom - So beautiful & so grand! Don't Shut Me Down - A great song to say "We're Back!!! I Can Be That Woman - ABBA goes country in a beautiful way! I Still Have Faith In You - ABBA members saying how great it is to be back together. Don't Shut Me Down - ABBA telling fans "We're back & slightly different but give us a listen."
If it wasn't.. is my favourite from Voulez-Vous and Eagle from the Album. Super Trouper is peak their polished creativity and you can hear they've come 80's immediately.
I think you’ll learn to appreciate Voysge more over time. Side 2 is a detour from side 1 but shows their advanced maturity and willingness to explore alt genres like country, folk, synth rock and classical. I’d rate it as one if they’re best.
I love Ring Ring. Every song on that album, I would give it S. Waterloo is my least favorite album of all the Abba albums, with "only" five strong songs, Gonna sing you my love song, My mama said, Dance (while the music still goes on), Ring Ring (one of my favorite songs of all of their songs) and Waterloo. The songs I do like, I absolutely love and therefor I would give this one A. Abba, only has three songs that I don`t like, which are Hey, hey Helen, I do x5 and Tropical loveland. The next five albums, every album is an S for me. I would give each album more, but since this is your rating scale.. Voyage is not their strongest, but some really good songs and to me, the true value lies in the fact that they did it. And how they did everything surrounding the album, the whole concept of the album, the tv-show when they came back, the Abbatars, building the Abba arena, even the timing after the worst face of Covid-19 pandemic.. It was like meeting your dearest friends after such a long time, hearing those gorgeous voices again singing in harmony.. I cried like a baby watching it home alone. They`ve been in my life for 45 years. I love this band more than I can tell. Through thick and thin, Abba`s music has always been there for me. And always will be. Thank you for your review.
I would definitely swap Voyage and Waterloo. That surprised me the most. Waterloo has the title track, Honey Honey and Hasta Manana, nothing from Voyager comes remotely close to the quality of those 3 tracks alone. Those are classic pop singles. Suzy Hang Around is a lost gem also. I also think it’s a step up from the debut. I wish I could rank it higher than 7 but the others are so strong. Voyage just doesn’t hold a candle to their vintage era. It’s an easy last for me. I’ve pretty much forgotten most of it already and will probably never listen to it again. I was very disappointed by it. Even the singles aren’t as good as their album tracks from the 70s and 80s albums. It’s boring sadly. The other 8 albums i love. Here’s my ranking, this is taking into account bonus tracks as well. 1. Voulez Vous 2. The Visitors 3. Arrival 4. Super Trouper 5. ABBA 6. The Album 7. Waterloo 8. Ring Ring 9. Voyage
I agree with you, Voyage is my worst too, it’s rather average, bland even, Waterloo is very good. My list… 1. Arrival 2. The Visitors 3. Voulez-Vous 4. Super Trouper 5. The Album 6. Waterloo 7. Abba 8. Ring Ring 9. Voyage
That’s definitely a fair point. I do agree that the good songs on Waterloo are better then the good songs on Voyage but on the flip side I do think the bad songs on Waterloo are worse then the ones on Voyage and I feel that Voyage has more consistency throughout but I would say the 2 albums are very close for me and I only like Voyage very slightly more
I think you have to listen to Voyage a lot to give it the artistic value it has. I do not agree with the comparison with Waterloo If you have to compare it, is with Ring Ring because they are the only two that were NOT an album in their genesis Ring Ring emerged after the successful testing of two singles (People need love & He is your brother), when ABBA quartet didn't exist nor was it a priority project. Voyage was an unexpected and long result of the enthusiasm of the first two songs recorded after 35 years, plus other three subsequent two years later, album's decision was in the last year 2021 and as songs itself Don't shut me down is a new ABBA Masterpiece of the New Milenium in My New Top5 of all ABBA songs with the classic ABBA worldwide hits like Waterloo, S.O.S., Dancing Queen, The Winner takes it all
@@JCStorm76 yes, I like "Voyage" album , is better than others First of all: have two Masterpieces that stand out "I still have faith in You" & "Don't shut me down" Second : a lot of greatest songs When you dance with me is lovely Kep an eye in Dan is fantastic Ode to Freedom is majestic the remix of Just a Notion is pure joyful and the rest are fine Third : the return of Agnetha & Frida is wonderful both are singing together with beautiful mature voices
20:54 about Lovers live a bit longer, I've always found the chorus vocals repetitive and screechy (too high pitch), but the verses are superbly flowing.
The men did tend to push their vocals a little too much on occasion, esp. Agnetha whose voice was already very high. There are several songs where I agree, she's screaming, not singing, and that on the men pushing her, not Agnetha herself. Lovers is one of their most sexy and sensual songs. If I was straight, Frida would have completely seduced me with her sultry vocal delivery. 🤣
They did it on Me And I as well, the lines "part of me is acting while the other stands beside" and "I just want to say a lot of that applies to me", I cannot hear Frida at all in those lines.
Hmm... I think for me, it's Visitors, Super Trooper, Voulez Vous, Arrival, Voyage, The Album, ABBA, Waterloo, Ring Ring. I don't hate all the rock or Bjorn led songs but yes, some of them are pretty tragic, especially the early ones. Frida barely has any clunkers, Agnetha has some standouts, but others I find overrated. I can't stand Thank You For The Music and Chiquitita is a bit corny, if you ask me. Most of the hits are deservedly considered some of the best pop songs ever written, and they have tons of underrated or lesser known tracks that are deserving of more attention. This band had it all... brilliant songwriting mixed with impeccable vocal talent. Every member added something special that contributed to the sound and with one of them missing, they may never have had their music heard beyond Sweden.
The Album and Super Trouper my favourite Abba albums. Voyage is so disappointing except the 2 main singles, I can be that woman and Ode to freedom. Keep an eye on Dan could have been better arranged. The Irish song, the worst song. Little things, are you serious ? Just a notion a demo. Bumblebee so cheesy. No doubt about it, I doubt it very much.
I find that "Two For the Price of One" is the weakest song on the Visitors. Doesn't fit the mood (perhaps they wanted something lighter?) and lyrically it's a bit creepy. "Should I Laugh or Cry" would have been better.
