“We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio. So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we had only been away on a short holiday. An extremely joyful experience!”
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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I really like ABBA. They make me happy. Which is sort of ironic, because I get the sense that they’re intense people. But maybe I’m just projecting that on to them because they have chosen to not reunite … ever … When Redd Kross went on our nine-year hiatus starting around ’97/’98, I was about 31 years old. That was a rough time in my life. Because the band had started when I was only 11 years old, by the time I was turning 30 I had been living the “Eye of The Tiger” rock ‘n’ roll dream for nearly two decades. I began to think it might be just a wee bit irresponsible to still be chasing career goals I had formulated before I had even hit puberty. I found myself enrolling in classes at various community colleges around town. Of course, they were mostly music-related classes (old habits die hard), but still all the same I was going through a bit of a metamorphosis and found it hard to listen to a lot of the tunes I had always depended on to get me through the tough times. There was a tape stuck in the cassette player of my little pickup truck. I could only bare to listen to talk radio most of the time, but when I was feeling really brave, the copy of ABBA Gold that couldn’t be pried out of my player had a miraculous power to lift my spirits. I had grown weary of all my Beatles and Stones records. I guess I sort of blamed them for getting me into the damn predicament in the first place, and for whatever reason I just trusted that Benny and Björn understood. It was true, ABBA seemed to know exactly how to soothe and nurse me back to my rocking self. From the sheer pop ecstasy of “Dancing Queen” to the agony of “The Winner Takes It All,” I had all the recreational listening I would need for the next two years on that little nice-price cassette. I eventually crawled my way out of my funk. But I’m not sure it would’ve been possible without the playful, dazzling and sometimes melodramatic coaxing of Anni-Frid, Benny, Björn and Agnetha—also known as ABBA!
This is a total surprise given that Agnetha has had significant mental health issues and has essentially been a recluse for decades. Good on her to find the strength and wellness to take this on.
This is a total surprise given that Agnetha has had significant mental health issues and has essentially been a recluse for decades. Good on her to find the strength and wellness to take this on.
Wow I didn't know any of that, I just read an article that talks about the stuff that she's been through.
Can you imagine being a performer and believing that the fans cheers and adulation are actually signs of their hatred for her? Its the reverse of the Roman Reigns syndrome.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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As a lifelong fan this made me incredibly happy, it's too bad though that because of Agnetha's issues they will never tour again.
Maybe it's for the best, this new tour will use holographic versions of them, it will be very interesting to see how that goes.
I think it is for the best. health of the band members aside, how could them playing live ever live up to fan expectations?
this is one band I thought would never get back together and make new music . pretty cool they have.
even in my younger punk and head banging days, ABBA was always a guilty pleasure for me.
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Listening to many of the arrangements put together by Benny and Bjorn is like magic. Songs like SOS and Take a Chance on Me are so layered, musically and vocally.
Any time I hear ABBA, my mood instantly gets better.
Wonderful news for them and their millions of fans around the world.
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Listening to many of the arrangements put together by Benny and Bjorn is like magic. Songs like SOS and Take a Chance on Me are so layered, musically and vocally.
+1 - many scoff at ABBA as being uncool, or simple pop music. I posted this before about Mamma Mia, which is actually a complex arrangement, and has more hooks than a pirate convention:
Although they started off with simple Eurovision-styled ditties like "People Need Love" and "Honey Honey," the songwriting team of Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson rapidly progressed in prowess until they were able to craft pop nuggets that were almost symphonic in their complexity. "Mamma Mia" is a great example of this duo's ability to create densely crafted yet totally accessible tunes. The song draws its strength from a complex yet catchy melody full of serpentine twists that give it an almost Asian flavor. To give the song added variety, Ulvaeus and Anderson add a couple of melodic surprises in the form of a punchy pre-chorus bridge whose dramatic staccato sound revs listeners up for the chorus and a soaring mid-chorus bit designed to tug on the heartstrings. These surprise elements beef up the hook quotient of "Mamma Mia" while also giving it an unpredictable quality guaranteed to keep a listener enthralled. ABBA's recording of the song adds a layer of instrumental hooks, including a naggingly catchy xylophone hook that sets up the song and some sprightly string riffs that interact with the lead vocals in call-and-response fashion during the verses. The end result is a veritable funhouse of a pop song that became a big hit around the world and enduring favorite of ABBA fans.
Abba unites after 35 years and hits the studio
