ABC Album Reviews

The Lexicon of Love (1982)                 ****.5 (4.5)

Beauty Stab (1983)                               *** (3)

How to Be a Zillionaire! (1985)           ***.5 (3.5)

Alphabet City (1987)                            *** (3)

Up (1989)                                               *** (3)

Absolutely (1990)            GH               **** (4)

Abracadabra (1991)                            **.5 (2.5)

Skyscraping (1997)                             ***.5  (3.5)        

The Lexicon of Live (1999)                ** (2)

The Look of Love – The Very Best of ABC ****(4)

The Lexicon of Love – Deluxe (2004) ****(4)

Gold (2006)                        GH            ****(4)

Traffic (2008)                                       **.5 (2.5)

When ABC’s debut album The Lexicon of Love arrived in their native homeland, the Brits went absolutely nuts over it, proclaiming it a modern masterpiece. It was so well received in fact, that every subsequent release was considered a disappointment (some major, some minor) in comparison. Stateside, ABC’s debut didn’t have quite the same impact and this allowed their later work to be judged more fairly. Lexicon, meanwhile, has grown in stature and is now regularly considered one of the highlights of the early 80s British Invasion. “Poison Arrow” and “The Look of Love” remain the two best known songs from the album, but they are far from the only delights as “Date Stamp” “All of My Heart” “Show Me” and “Tears Are Not Enough” remain favorites. These lads could write a clever lyric or two as well as “If you judge a book by the cover, then you judge the look by the lover” ably demonstrates and there are more to be found. “Me? I go from one extreme to the other” probably describes most adolescents and young person’s emotional lives as well.   And check out the awesome album cover too! These guys knew their way around drama!!

Beauty Stab was greeted with outright hostility in the UK when it failed to continue nicely and logically from the debut. The songs aren’t as good or as catchy but it seems the less-than-precise production is what annoyed everybody. And what’s with the emphasis on guitars/drums over synths? Whatever. 30 years on, these are minor quibbles as the album is far from bad, though “That Was Then, This Is Now” is the only track that really comes close to anything on Lexicon. After the brutal press treatment, lead singer Martin Fry and guitarist/synthesizer whiz Mark White shuffled off the band moniker (and the other members) and essentially became a duo, though there would be occasional other members, who would essentially stop in for a bit of tea.

The resulting album How To Be A Zillionaire! provided their biggest US hit to date in “Be Near Me” and an equal classic in the (almost) title cut (“How to be a Millionaire!”). One suspects that had this album been the direct follow-up to Lexicon, ABC might have been spared some of their harshest press notices. The best songs on here are equal to anything on the debut, but that being said, there’s considerably more filler in this excursion and this filler sounds fairly dated too.

Alphabet City contains their final hit single “When Smokey Sings” which cracked the Top 5 in the US. Curiously, they’d never crack the Hot 100 Singles chart ever again. The accompanying album included the superior “The Night You Murdered Love” but nothing else was particularly memorable. Plenty of artists have gone on to release incredibly worthwhile albums long after their hit-making days are over, but it’s unlikely anyone but diehard fans will be particularly interested in any of ABC’s later work. This is a shame, actually as much of their latter albums are of essentially equal quality. Up contains “Where is the Heaven,” one of their best album tracks.

They began the 1990s with the very necessary hits compilation Absolutely though if anyone thought this was a “part 1”, they were sadly deluded. When ABC said goodbye to the 1980s, they also said farewell to their hit-making years. Abracadabra exists almost outside of time. There are no concessions to the 1990s and this album sounds defiantly 80s in tone and production. It’s also, unfortunately, unremarkable. Not bad, but nothing of particular interest either. Abracadabra was the final album to feature founding member Mark White. Afterwards, lead singer Martin Fry (who had been the primary leader for a decade) would essentially be a one-man-band continuing to tour and release albums sporadically.

“Stranger Thing” leads off Skyscraping and it’s easily their best song since “When Smokey Sings.” In fact, the whole album is surprisingly strong. “Who Can I Turn To” and the title cut are also of similar quality. Of course, the entire album sounds nothing like 1997 and seems designed to appeal to those who still love 1980s music but this is primarily a smoother more mellow sound. Then “Rolling Sevens” comes along and makes the listener question that assessment because it’s such an amazing and modern song.  The album does lose a bit of steam near the end but this is probably the best ABC album since 1985.

Unfortunately, lackluster is the only way to describe the follow up album The Lexicon of Live. Recorded live, nearly every song is missing the punch of the studio version and matters aren’t helped by an extraordinarily muddy recording.

Greatest Hits compilation The Look Of Love – The Very Best of ABC followed in 2001 and although the track listing is very similar to Absolutely, this is the compilation worth owning. Remastered sound and a groovy layout make this a winning package. Also, there are no remixes (like on Absolutely) leaving room for a few more (including newer) tracks. This was re-issued as Gold in 2004 with a 2^nd disc full of remixes and rarities. Another retrospective released at this time, the deluxe edition of The Lexicon of Love includes a 2^nd disc of live tracks and rarities. Those already in love with the original will enjoy this, but all newbies are directed to the original release 1^st.

Traffic arrived in 2008, eleven years after ABC’s last new studio album. While one would expect nostalgia to be the order of the day here (after all, would anyone who didn’t love ABC’s earlier work even consider owning this album), Martin is not looking back here. He’s not going to reinvent the wheel and he’s secure with his spot in 80s history, so he just gets on with another rollicking set of songs. Not as good as Skyscraping as no individual songs jump out as readily as the best there. For whatever reason, this album reminds moi more of Adam Ant than the classic ABC sound (though “Love is Strong” the only single sounds like vintage ABC.) Was this intentional? No idea.

All in all, if you enjoy 80s music, there’s a lot more to ABC than “Poison Arrow” or “Be Near Me” so do yourself a favor and check some of it out. This writer doubts you’ll be sorry.

ABBA

Reviewing ABBA's Albums

Ring Ring (1973)                                                                           ***.5 (3.5)

Waterloo (1974)                                                                            *** (3)

Abba (1975)                                                                                  ***.5 (3.5)

Greatest Hits (1975)                                                                     **** (4)

Arrival (1976)                                                                               **** (4)

The Album (1977)                                                                        ****(4)

Voulez Vous (1979)                                                                      ****.5 (4.5)

Greatest Hits Vol 2 (1979)                                                           **** (4)

Gracias Por La Musica (1980)                                                    ***(3)

Super Trouper (1980)                                                                  ****.5 (4.5)

The Visitors (1981)                                                                       ***.5 (3.5)

The Singles: The First 10 Years                                                  ****.5(4.5)

Abba Live (1986)                                                                          *** (3)

Gold: Greatest Hits (1992)                                                          ***** (5)

More Abba Gold (1993)                                                              ****(4)

Thank You For The Music (1994)                                             ***(3)

The Definitive Collection (2001)                                                *****(5)

The Essential Collection (2012)                                                 **** (4)

Live at Wembley (2014)                                                             ***.5 (3.5)

WHERE TO START: Gold Greatest Hits (1992)

OVERALL BEST ORIGINAL ALBUM: Super Trouper (1980)

OVERALL BEST COMPILATION: The Definitive Collection (2001)

For approximately an eight year period, ABBA were the world’s most successful musical act. In the 1970s, they brought more money into their home country of Sweden than anyone or anything besides Volvo. Millions of albums sold, #1 singles and albums in nearly every country in the world and sold-out tours. Such huge success almost invariably leads to a backlash and by the mid-80s, ABBA had become an act hipsters made fun of. Of course, the critics and the "serious" rock fans had always hated ABBA. Their resurgence in the 1990s and a re-evaluation of their work has led to something in the 2010s the act never had in their commercial heyday: critical respect! And why not? These are some of the greatest, most melodic pop songs ever constructed. Sure there's some corn, but if you can’t tolerate some cheese and schmaltz in your music, you’re going to pass most of this by anyway.

ABBA were Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Ani-Frida (better known as Frida). Yes, they were two couples and one can even somewhat follow their relationships (including marriage and eventual separation/divorces) through their music. But all that’s years down the road from Ring Ring released in 1973. This is by far their most ‘bubble-gum’ sounding record. Those familiar with their more popular period will be surprised how many songs the boys sing lead on in this debut. Highlights include “Another Town, Another Train” and “Disillusion.” There are no hit songs on this collection, making its listen-ability perhaps surprising. Yes, there are syrupy tunes such as “I Am Just a Girl” and “Me and Bobby and Bobby’s Brother” but then there’s a slight 70s cheese in much of ABBA’s work.

Waterloo gave Abba their first taste of chart success as the jubilant title track was a hit in numerous countries around the world. That song remains a classic but most of the rest of the album is fairly forgettable. “Sitting in the Palm Tree” passes the time nicely, but it’s unlikely you’ll remember a note of it once the album’s over. And that’s true for most of the tracks here. “Honey Honey” was the other (minor) hit single but “Hasta Manana” is probably the 2^nd best song on this collection.

Abba as we know them truly arrived with their 1975 album, appropriately titled Abba. Kicking off with ‘Mamma Mia”, this also includes ‘I Do I Do I Do…’ and ‘SOS” which is more truly the blueprint for Abba’s career. A mixture of pathos and joy that simply sounds fantastic, the booming chorus almost hides the fact that this is a love-lost song. There are still some lesser moments on here though such as “Rock Me” and “Intermezzo No” though it ends strongly with “Hasta Manana”. Highlights from the 1^st 3 albums can be found on Greatest Hits (1975) which may have seemed a premature release but was an enormous success at the time, becoming one of the best-selling albums of the 1970s. Regardless, it’s irrelevant now to all but completists as superior hits compilations have appeared in the digital age.

Arrival is the best of Abba’s first batch of albums. Classics that hail from this album include “Knowing Me, Knowing You” “Money Money Money” and perhaps their most overall popular song “Dancing Queen.” And there’s further stong cuts “When I Kissed the Teacher” “My Love My Life” and “That’s Me” – one of Agnetha’s vocal highlights. Also of note is the maturation in the songwriting of Benny and Bjorn – evident in “Knowing Me Knowing You” (which touches on divorce that would soon dominate much of Abba’s music) and more.

The Album contained one of their most successful US singles – “Take a Chance on Me” – which soared all the way to the top three in 1977. “The Name of the Game” and “Thank You For The Music” are the two other songs from this album that all Abba fans know. They’ve set the bar very high by this time and for the 1^st time, the new Abba album wasn’t really any better than the last. That would change with their next two albums – both of which can make an argument as Abba’s greatest overall album.

Voulez Vous arrived just as disco was beginning to die. While Abba’s music was always more ‘pop’ than ‘disco’, there was no denying that dance floors across the world had spun a lot of Abba music. The title track was probably Abba’s purest disco moment with its repetitive beats and chorus and was also one of the best disco singles of the decade. “As Good As New” kicked off the album in glorious fashion, as if announcing this foursome still had a few wonderful moments left in them. One of their most overwrought – yet undeniably appealing – ballads was “I Have a Dream” which became a showstopper in Abba’s live shows. “Does Your Mother Know” is the best song the guys ever sang lead on and may be seen as the counterpoint to “Dancing Queen.” “AngelEyes” “The King Has Lost His Crown” “Lovers (Live a Little Longer)” and “Chiquitita” round out this sterling effort.

 Super Trouper starts off with two of their greatest singles: the title track and the amazing “The Winner Takes It All”, which is one of their two overall greatest songs. One noted critic once stated that we never expected Abba to make us cry and then this song came along. Hyperbole aside, this is a powerful song about the end of a relationship and as both the relationships in Abba were dead or dying, it was hard not to see an autobiographical bent to the lyrics. “On and On and On” is a clever celebrity visit to a party. “Andante Andante” is another ballad that Abba were excelling with at this point in their careers. “Me and I” is a pissed off little number, completely forgotten and overlooked among the rest of the album, but nearly as good. “Happy New Year” was yet another heartbreak song. In fact, a general sense that life had become almost pointless permeated much of this album, even the more upbeat tracks (such as “On and On and On”). Not generally realized, but this is one of the greatest depressing albums ever made! “Our Last Summer” continued in that same vein. Perhaps the one upbeat note (well, if paranoid and possessive jealousy can be upbeat) is sounded in “Lay All Your Love On Me” that Erasure would cover so triumphantly in the 1990s.  The final track is “The Way Old Friends Do” which sounds another sad note. Not sure how to comment on “The Piper” so nothing shall be said.

The Visitors, ABBA’s 8^th and final studio album came out in 1981. By this time, both couples had separated and divorced. The feel good pop of earlier albums was missing. Instead, synths were prominent and songs of regret and sorrow were the order of the day. Ironically, this album received the best reviews ABBA had ever gotten from contemporary critics. Apparently, by being more ‘serious’, critics could see what had been right in front of them for years. The album cover says everything about the state of ABBA – the four members all stand or sit alone, aloof and apart from each other and everything in the room. There are, however, some great songs on this final package – “One of Us” ranks as one of their most bittersweet ballads. “Slipping Through My Fingers” grasped at a childhood disappearing. Musically “The Visitors” was one of their most unique tracks and both “Head Over Heels” and “When All Is Said and Done” kept up the high standards. Not their greatest album, but more than one critic has observed that it may be their most “interesting album”. It wasn’t actually planned as their final album (which seems hard to believe now) and they actually reconvened to record a follow up – but instead merely produced two singles (originally released on The Singles – The First 10 Years) but now added to nearly every edition of The Visitors and improve the track-listing tremendously because they are both great songs. “Under Attack” and “The Day Before You Came” became their final singles and in “The Day Before You Came”, they found one of their two greatest songs.

“Day…” was not initially a big hit, but it has grown in stature to where it places on top songs lists on a regular basis. There’s even great discussions and debates about what this song is about: the end of a relationship, the beginning of a relationship, murder, hiding that murder, murder victim. It goes on and on. The song is certainly amazing – both musically and lyrically - and it was a bold new direction for Abba, had they been interested in following it up.

Those final singles were the 2 new tracks on The Singles: The First 10 Years a nearly flawless two record set running through all of Abba’s biggest hits in chronological order. More pure pop pleasure can be found in its grooves than any single artist has a right to. This once essential set has been replaced by The Definitive Collection in the CD era. It was, however, a charming farewell gift to fans and even many of Abba’s harshest critics had to admit to its glories.

Abba Live was released during the great Abba slumber of the 1980s and went virtually unnoticed. Abba were (by all accounts) a dynamic live act but this album is really only for diehard fans. Everyone else is better off sticking to the original studio recordings.

Gold: Greatest Hits kicked off the Abba revival that has shown so signs of really ever ending. This particular compilation has become one of the best-selling albums of all time. It is an essential addition and has played at many a party and will continue to do so for many years. It’s missing a few gems, which are collected on More Abba Gold but the definitive collection is The Definitive Collection released in 2001 and is the best overview of the act ever released, covering all the hits and some choice album cuts too. Too long by half, the box set Thank You For The Music is for the devoted only. Sure, there’s a ton of great music onboard, but at this point, a wiser investment is the individual albums – all of which have been remastered and reissued in Deluxe Edition with bonus tracks and a bonus DVD telling the visual side of the story. 

There are other compilations out there (Love Stories, 20^th Century Masters, Number Ones) but these are redundant repeating the same tracks over and over again. In 2014, Abba Nation was surprised by Live From Wembley a never before released complete concert that is an improvement on their previous live set but, again, stick to the original studio versions until you’ve mastered them. Abba is proof positive that sometimes the fans are right and their contemporary critics are clueless. 40 years on, it all seems so obvious.