ABBA

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ABBA

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The third album by the Swedish quartet is not only one of my favourites by them, but established their staying power by two Australian #1s, one of which spent eleven weeks at the top, and made them more visible by their putting promotional film clips, nowadays called videos, for four of their songs. It's also more tightly produced than Waterloo, which was a proving ground for superstardom.

First, the song that became ABBA's second #1 UK hit and the eleven-week Aussie hit: "Mamma Mia" with its bursts of guitar, catchy dual harmony vocals by Agnetha and Frida, and synths that have a slightly classical tinge to it. One thing in learning about these guys is that they were a big hit in Australia, small wonder then that this song and other ABBA references were heard in the Adventures of Priscilla movie, Australian, of course.

The worldwide hit and third single, "SOS" featuring a pleading vocal from Agnetha set amid the usual awash guitar and synth, was considered by many to be ABBA's first classic single, but I tend to give that honour to "Waterloo."

The slower-paced "Hey Hey Helen," punctuated by a hard rock guitar and bass, portrays the cost of a woman who's free from the responsibilities of motherhood and getting that second chance, at the cost of leaving behind her husband and children. A song fitting with the rise of feminism in the 70's. And at least alternative group Lush saw fit to cover it on their Gala album.

The mid-paced "Tropical Loveland" is their shot at reggae. Some Stevie Wonder-like keyboards and guitar open the Bjorn-sung "Man in the Middle," about something really living the life of Riley, "drinking champagne in his limo" having lots of servants in his mansion, no conscience, and someone who deals with the Devil.

The galloping rhythm section and scat-like words used in the chorus of "Bang-A-Boomerang" make this another favourite. They wrote the song for a Swedish group who lost out in the Eurovision Song Contest, and thought it was too good to let go to waste. So do I. Like "SOS," and "Mamma Mia," there was a promo clip for this one, and the next song.

With a title like "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do," one wonders if the song's about five people at the wedding altar. It isn't, but it does involve emotional commitment. Soundwise, think of a country song with a sax instead of a steel guitar. They got inspiration from 50's orchestra leader Billy Vaughn's sax-laden music. This was another #1 Australian single. It's B-side, the Bjorn-sung "Rock Me," peaked at #4 and one wonders if his voice was in shreds the way he shrieked the vocals.

The instrumental "Intermezzo No. 1" is a brisk, racing classical-like piece incorporating electric guitar, synths, and orchestral strings. It's well-named, as in classical music, an intermezzo is a short orchestral piece or movement separating major sections of a symphony, or in this case, separating two songs.

"I've Been Waiting For You" is my favourite song here, showing Agnetha putting her all, backed by string-synths and acoustic guitar. The mood's quiet when she sings "And finally it seems my lonely days are through," then she and Frida lay out the title to as close as operatic splendour as they can.

"So Long" is a more jamming rocker, with a protagonist unimpressed by a showoff's fancy car and money, not even flowers. One particular line has three rhyming words, an interesting rhyming device: "Tracy, Daisy, they may be crazy." The band's accompanying lower-register harmonies singing "honey honey" or "money money" is a direct contrast to Agnetha's vocals.

"Crazy World" is my second favourite song, as it's a leisurely ballad sung by Bjorn about a guy who gets a rude surprise when he sees a man closing his girl's front door. However, it's not what it seems, fortunately, but he realizes that yes, it is a crazy world. It was originally the B-side of Arrival's "Money Money Money."

The traditional folk medley done at the end has ABBA's brisk arrangements on "Pick A Bale Of Cotton," something not so PC now, while more relaxing sounds permeate "On Top Of Old Smokey" and an Elton John like rocker on "Midnight Special" which rounds out one of the quartet's best albums.

Friends who love sound quality don't let friends buy this distorted mess. If you care about sound quality, stick with the 1992-1993 Gold and More Gold versions of the hits. I had the "Thank You for the Music" boxed set from 1994 and sold it thinking these remasters would be much better. I didn't like the tinny sounds of the highs on that set. I even disregarded other reviews saying the sound of these 2001 remasters was bad. After I bought this, I read up on it which versions were best and went to the used shop to get Gold and More Gold, and these sounded so much better when I compared. This remaster is distorted and the sparkle is gone from Agnetha's voice on my favorite song, SOS. The version on Gold has dynamics, sparkle and just sounds good - I love that version. I just regret that "Hey, Hey Helen" is only on this remastered CD because it's a good song that is hacked up on this remastering as are all the rest. I imagine the other 2001 remasters are the same and I will stay away from them, which is too bad. In this case, newer is definitely not better, as I mistakenly thought. Stick with the old.