Atlantic 1979
I decided to lump these last two Abba albums together for a couple reasons. First of all, it’s true what most say about Abba – you really only need the greatest hits collection (in the case of Abba there are several, but the consensus seems to be that Gold is the best). Secondly, after three Abba albums, they all start to kind of blend together anyway. As I’ve stated previously, they have a formula they do not deviate from too often – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
I found Voulez-Vous to be pretty odd in that it started off fantastic – “As Good As New”, the title track, and “I Have A Dream” are all instantly catchy blows to the ear – and ended up sounding wimpy, puttering off like an old Volkswagon with a bad muffler. It’s just very obviously front-loaded, and after how great those first three tracks are, there’s nothing on the rest of the record to really back them up.
Atlantic 1980
Super Trouper is a similar affair, though even less interesting. Here, the songs sound campier than ever, and this coupled with the even-cheesier-than-normal production make for a somewhat sluggish affair. It does contain one of their best songs, the excruciating break-up classic “The Winner Takes It All”, but nearly everything else slips into the filler category. Plus, the last track (“The Way Old Friends Do”) is an awkward live (or faux live) recording that seems to go for this grandiose ending, but just sounds really out of place.
Voulez-Vous: **1/2 Listening Again? Perhaps
Super Trouper: ** Listening Again? Doubtful
Tags: Abba, Disco, Mission: Immersion, seventies rock
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