Wow, more beauty, bliss and emotion, expertly delivered as usual through the expertly crafted instrumentation and vocals. "Like an Angel.." though was so unique, so subdued, quietly stunning... Thanks for watching! 🥰
'Soldiers' is a pretty good song. Agnetha in a very correct interpretation. 'Like an angel...' although it doesn't sound like ABBA, it is an excellent song, and one that Frida❤ makes grow, taking it to something extraordinary... it always gives me chills and gives me goosebumps... Take care, men✌️ Love ❤️ from Chile 🇨🇱🤗👍
“Slipping Through My Fingers” and “Like An Angel Passing Through My Room” are my favourites of all Abba songs, on what was, at the time, a perfect album by which to end to their career.
Like an angel passing through my room is one of my favourite ABBA songs - I'm very happy you like it! People like to overdramatise this one though - to me it is sheer nostalgia - sitting in a comfy chair with a drink, watching the fire in the fireplace as it grows dark..... ❤ And these are probably Frida's finest vocals. Ever.
Ooh, that is such a big call, saying that it's Frida's finest vocals, considering she has done some amazing work: Fernando, When All Is Said and Done, Money Money Money... but I think I agree with you. Although the haunting vocal gymnastics she does on "The Visitors (Crackin' Up)" is really stunning... and without the help of auto-tune!
@@JohnDoe-lt8fd No auto tune (as it didn't exist, of course). But some vocoder, flanger or similar! It's very obviously an effect on her voice, distorting some consonants or syllables heavily. (In my book, her best work was in _"I let the music speak"_ and in _"Andante"._ 😇 But _"When all is said"_ is great too, among others.)
Yes, yes, and yes! Oh, I have already reacted to The Day Before You Came...funny, that song has actually been stuck in my head today! Thanks so much for watching and being first today! 🥇
@@retroreactions.... Brandon, I’ve just looked back and sure enough, as I suspected, I heard and commented on your ‘The Day Before You Came’ reaction, back then. 👍🏼 This is happening to me a lot, I think it must be a age thing. 🎶❤️🎶
Oh don't worry....even I can't remember all my past reaction songs and I'm only pushing 50 LOL! Almost 600 videos made so far, it's bound to happen to all of us here... 🙂
You need to check out the bonus track on the Deluxe Edition of the The Visitors CD. "From A Twinkling Star to A Passing Angel". This shows the many phases that ABBA tried before they settled on the final version of Like An Angel Passing Through My Room. They did this with most of their songs and just shows why the finished songs are just so good because they tried them in so many ways
Agree.This saved outake (in a medley form) has revealed an unbelievably interesting way of diverse styles from soft to uptempo dance beat genre,some even with 'full' Abba vocals and shows the real hard work put by them during their creative studio sessions that developed until the final release.
Two great and contrasting songs. I remember being quite struck at the time that despite all their success and lavish lifestyles even ABBA were worried about the Cold War in the early 80s, just as we all were. It was almost a 4th wall moment, reality breaking through... Like An Angel though, is pure ABBA bliss, as Frida lulls them and us to sleep for 40 years in true fairytale-style...
Brandon, thank you SOOO much for reviewing Soldiers, I think it is maybe my favourite "not well-known" of all of Abba's catalogue, it is not particularly sad but it does pull on my heartstrings for some reason. The melody, the lyrics and Angnetha; s voice... Just magic! Thank you again 🙂
Nice to hear you give Frida the props she deserves. For many fans, Agnetha is the standout voice, but for me they are both on the same god tier level - although their voices are very different, (yet blend divinely). Any band would have been lucky to have one singer like that. Having two is an insane luxury. And that's obviously what makes them stand out to this day. That and the brilliant songwriting of course. The Visitors is such an underrated album. It's their masterpiece, to my ears. And I agree it's beautifully closed with Like An Angel Passing Through My Room. There's a chilling quality to it, in the sound of Frida's processed vocals and in the brittle music box notes. It could be an illustration of a depression, or it could be that winter has arrived, figuratively or literally. It's widely known that the band had a rather miserable time recording this album, and it took a long time to finish. There's a clip on RU-vid of how Angel evolved through several versions. Listening to that, it becomes clear that they were perfectionists and never settled for "good enough". Turns out it pays off. :)
7:30 It's almost never Björn on electric guitar. Most often Lasse Wellander or Janne Schaffer on records (often Wellander and Mats Ronander on stage). Björn writes the lyrics, participates in the composition, and produces the sound with M.B Tretow. If he plays anything on the records it's typically acoustic guitar (also mandolin on this LP). Yes, the bass (played by Rutger Gunnarson) is inspired by the fusion style (Pastorius et al) here, somewhat more prominent in the mix than usual too.
Thanks for a lovely reaction. Bothe songs are excellent. Frida shines on The Visitors album, which probably is the best album they made. It's experimental, innovative and - at some places - really dark. Love it.
Thank you so much, Brandon for your outstanding reaction here! I appreciated it so much. Once again, you pair the two perfect songs to do a reaction from Abbas the visitors album. I love both songs and they're rarely reacted to, I'm so glad you did it. Love your analysis as always and I had tears in my eyes with like an angel passing through my room, especially watching you react to it a top moment. Thank you
Like An Angel Passing Through My Room is my favourite ABBA song (of quite a few I love). Frida is down surprisingly low vocally in it: I found a karaoke version of it, kept fiddling with the key to try to make it suit my range; finally I tried it at pitch, and that worked best! Thinking of that, and having just come to this reaction from viewing a new Harri Best Carpenters reaction, it dawns on me how marvelous it would have been to hear Karen Carpenter sing it...
Both 'The Album"1977 and 'The Visitors" 1981 are Abba albums with 'darker shades" as you stated.Abba have many deep cuts that are like 'burried diamonds" that a 'conventional" Abba listener wouldn't suspect they exist but have become favourable choices of even... non-Abba fans.This band fails to bore you.Their music box is full of unsuspicious surprises.
'The Visitors' album didn't do as well, commercially, as it's predecessors (although it still topped the charts in a few countries) but Wow, the quality and artistry was as high as ever. 'Soldiers' , like the title track was written at a time when the Cold War was a worry, especially given Sweden's position across the Baltic Sea from the old Soviet Union. On 'Like An Angel........' apparently, Frida sang closer to the microphone to help create the feeling that the listener is in the room with the narrator. 'The Visitors' is the favourite ABBA album for many fans.
Catchy themes and melodies like only Abba can, very special drum pattern and proeminent guitars on Soldiers, a bit outside of what they use to offer, nice pads under the voices, I would have rated this one higher. Angels passing felt like a Christmas night lullaby for me, you can feel the clock. I remember 1981 and I were actively listen to music then, this album "Visitors" were among my favorite from Abba.
Great reaction Brandon! Love me some ABBA, and these two songs are certainly included amongst my favourites. I will debate anyone who says that ABBA was just disco - they have such a varied sound - and these two tracks certainly exemplify that! Cheers.
The best Agnetha vocals on The Visitors is on Slipping Through My Fingers. Very moving. My fav song from The Visitors is When All Is Said And Done (Frida lead vocal).
Still stalking you about IQ my friend. After seeing your eargasmic reaction to 'Further away' again (it's been 9 months), I notice that Alex also recommended 'Leap of Faith' running into 'Came Down' (about 14 mins). Always loved Abba BTW.
@@retroreactions.... Cassandra is another great one from The Visitors. And if you like it when Frida stretches the notes you should react to 'Andante Andante', 'Our Last Summer' or 'One Man, One Woman'. 🥰
A fan once criticized me for saying that The Visitors was an album for "mature" people (perhaps meaning "easily rotten fruit"). As with Voyage, in my opinion some songs are a bit short and compositionally lacking and not very imaginative. I still stand by this as an old man, aha!!! But the brilliant The Visitors, then the two inconspicuous Soldiers and The Angel should not be underestimated: for me, this trilogy represents the re-emergence of the Cold War at the beginning of the 80s with the excessive armament or, privately, the internal tensions (see cover), because ABBA never changed took a longer break for fear of missing out on the chart.
I never liked Abba but they're great fodder for cover (Erasure, anyone?). Thank you Brandon for your diversity, and immediate Patreon! But what's the link?