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© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Here we go again: ABBA records first new songs in 35 years
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starpunk
Ever hear the Erasure EP CD 'ABBA-esque'? It's pretty good. The videos of the 4 tracks show the 2 Erasure members dressed as the ABBA ladies! It was that way for Erasure concerts too.
starpunk
I liked their first album 'The Sign'/'Happy Nation', the big big BIG seller but subsequent albums got lamer and not very exciting. The song 'Lucky in Love' is a weak ABBA rip-off. The 1998 album 'Cruel Summer'/'Flowers' is a total bore rehashing the 'Sign' formula with tedious results. The 2 ladies later left, 2 others took their place and Ace of Base soldiered on with an 'electroclash' sound - that's the last I read about them. How the mighty fall.
albaleo
I should stick to Embarrassment by Madness.
lucabrasi
@Jim
Only when google is my friend.... ; )
Jimizo
@Luca
Har! I missed that one.
Are you a closet music snob?
lucabrasi
@Alba
Sunshine of MY love? Maybe bit tricky. ; )
Jimizo
Not sure on that one. I get the feeling Cream would be regarded as quite cool but Clapton’s solo stuff wouldn’t be.
Any music snobs out there able to adjudicate this one?
‘Oops I did it again’ is a good song though. Catchy and fun.
starpunk
Britney Spears is an 'oops' herself. She and her whole career is a pathetic JOKE.
albaleo
@Jimizo,
Where do those who can play "Sunshine of my love" rate on the cool scale? Somewhere in the sad category I guess.
I'm not a great fan of Abba songs, but I'd be stupid to deny their musical talent. In order to prove that Abba songs are terrible, I looked at the UK charts for the week that Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo, expecting to find all kinds of great songs. I found the Bay City Rollers and the Wombles. I'm beginning to remember why punk started about two years later.
Luddite
Ace of Base were excruciatingly awful.
Jimizo
It just seems the ‘cool’ music lovers I’ve come across can play one of the following:
The opening notes to ‘Purple Haze’ or ‘Hey Joe’
The opening notes to ‘Lithium’
The opening notes to ‘Smoke on the Water’
The opening notes to ‘Stairway to Heaven’
The opening notes to ‘Aqualung’
The ones with a bit more persistence may have learned the opening to ‘Wish you were here’.
My elder brother, a very handy musician, used to deliberately piss off music snobs in our family by doing an excellent ‘Oops, I did it again’ on acoustic at Christmas get-togethers. The kids loved it but the snobs/cool types pulled faces like someone farted. Great fun.
Nippori Nick
Love that photo, but I would not even wear clothes like that to a Halloween party.
albaleo
Oh, Jimizo. And you were the one waiting for the music snobs.
starpunk
ABBA, Europe, Roxette, Ace of Base - Sweden can make good pop-rock.
'Dancing Queen' is a great pop song from an era of cruddy music. And after ABBA Benny and Bjork wrote the play CHESS f/ the superhit 'One Night in Bangkok'. The 2 ladies went on solo careers. ABBA influenced the Eurodance scene and even Hi NRG.
There's been a lot worse stuff than ABBA -- Hootie + the Blowhards, Celine 'the wounded feline' Dion, Los del Mar, Alanis Screechy Morrisette, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears = RUBBISH.
I can't imagine how so many losers in the mid 90s -00s decade could sell 10 million copies of a crap platter CD and yet no one wants to remember that garbage because it doesn't stand up. ABBA stands up because they're better than that.
Lizz
There is nothing kitsch or cheesy about Abba just because their lyrics are soft and mostly optimistic. The studio production is absolutely top notch, from genius melodies to deceptively simple tight harmony, plus they can actually sing.
Alex80
I love ABBA!
Lizz
They earned their fee with Dancing Queen alone which is I think unquestionably one of the best pop songs ever, and definitely the most meaningful and thought provoking.
Kurt vonMeding
I'm glad that they will do something new. I was beginning to think that no one ever listened to me. It just goes to show you, that once you overcome fears, your natural talents will always shine through. Maybe more to come?
Netgrump
The worst things 'Made in Sweden' besides stuff from IKEA are the compositions and singing skills by ABBA ..bah !
Strangerland
Anyone who tries to claim ABBA isn't good is ignoring the crazy amount of people who have loved their music, from the '70s until now.
And that's the only thing that defines music as good or not; whether or not people like it. And a lot of people have liked their music.
Pukey2
Loved ABBA as a child. I have most of their songs on my smartphone. Coincidence, but I was playing ABBAVevo videos on Youtube non-stop these past few days. Lyric-wise, not the best group, but really catchy melodies. You can recognize their songs just from hearing the first second. Natsukashii. Their new songs may be a total flop, but we'll always have their back catalogue.
Jimizo
@luca
Yep. the thumbs down probably from the types who can play the opening notes of ‘Purple Haze’.
I almost always find people who can actually play and understand music tend to be a bit more appreciative of different genres. Particularly when it’s well written.
Come back when you write something as successful as ‘Dancing Queen’. Even playing the piano licks might be a bit tough for them...
lucabrasi
Exactly, Jim. Nothing wrong with ABBA. Pop at its best. I prefer rock to be honest, but I can recognise the talent.
Miles better than that ‘hip-hop’ and ‘house’ nonsense the young folk are into these days... Mutter, mutter....
JonathanJo
1974 photo. Nothing says 'old' like black and white!
Pukey2
They've written two songs and they're not even going to sing it live once?
Jimizo
Cue the sneers from the music snobs...