ABBA on CD

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by el supernautico, Jul 24, 2017.

  1. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    Good choices. I've recently found the German cd Honey Honey which contains almost the entire Ring Ring album. The Swedish version of the title song and one more track is missing. But it's sonically superior to the Polar and Polydor discs, imo.
     
  2. Alexlotl

    Alexlotl Forum Resident

    Location:
    York, UK
    I'll keep an eye out. Pity the missing track isn't Me & Bobby etc - that would be a positive selling point!
     
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  3. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Thanks to you both, I absolutely had no knowledge about the beauty of Swedish Polar's '75 ABBA!
    Concerning Ring Ring and Waterloo, I wasn't aware that there are differences between them and the Polydor.
    We're getting there!:edthumbs:

    What puzzles me bit is The Singles - The First Ten Years. Is it the better choice than Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits Vol. 2, or is it just that with The Singles, not too many tracks overlap?
    Wow, that's really useful to know! And the first time I heard about an App being more useful than the normal website! Great!:)
     
  4. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    I semi-have that compilation! My parents bought it when it came out, but I never cared for... always thought that it was a budget thing... fantastic to hear it has good sound, have to make a visit to my hometown!;)
     
  5. Alexlotl

    Alexlotl Forum Resident

    Location:
    York, UK
    It's more that I found it for £3 in a charity shop! It gives me some of the missing single-only tracks (Summer Night City, Gimme Gimme Gimme, The Day Before You Came, Under Attack), plus it's a better source for one or two tracks than the proper albums. Haven't seen the need to look any further.

    I haven't considered chasing down the Greatest Hits albums. Isn't one of the two (Vol 1?) rarer than rocking-horse poo on CD?
     
  6. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Daft prices abound for the 'park bench' GH CD. There's one on eBay now for £75. GHV2 is easier to find on CD. It sounds good though the channels are reversed. If you've got The First 10 Years, I wouldn't bother. Unless you're desperate for Rock Me.:)
     
  7. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Well, that's one bloody good reason!:D
    I don't know about the rareness of that first Greatest Hits album as my primary goal with this thread is to KNOW the best sources - what I might get myself afterwards depends on the results, my patience and, of course, my wallet!:)
     
  8. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Ouch! That's more than just a little too much money... and I didn't know about the reversed channels on GHV2, also!
    TFTY might be more available, but I have to confess that I REALLY dig Rock Me! :agree:
     
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  9. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I found the US Sanyo version of Greatest Hits Vol. 1 for £5 at a market stall in St. Austell last year. Genuine import copy with the MCPS sticker on the case. The rest of the selection was quite poor, although they did have the Polar Greatest Hits Vol. 2. I found my original copy of Greatest Hits Vol. 2 at the local Marie Curie charity shop for 50p. Every bit identical to the red face version, except the paint. I still don't see a lot of original Abba albums.
     
  10. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I think some other early Abba CDs have reversed channels too, but I can't remember which ones. TFTY is a great CD comp. I'd recommend that one. I bought it in 1986 and over the years the foam inserts in the fatboy case eroded and attached themselves to the label side of the discs! Luckily I managed to remove the residue. That's a lesson for everyone. If you have foam inserts in your fatboy cases, take them out! They rot as time goes by.

    GHV2 is a nice comp and worth having for nostalgic reasons alone. But if you have TFTY you don't need it. Though Rock Me does sound good.:)
     
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  11. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    I think I'm going to do some research concerning that reversed channels thing... Abba Plaza should be a good starting point...
     
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  12. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The Singles comp sounds very good except for the first five or six tacks (side 1) which sound more compressed. The UK vinyl has the same issue.
     
  13. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Thanks for that info!:)
     
  14. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    The Atlantic Super Trouper CD is excellent.
     
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  15. Wombat Reynolds

    Wombat Reynolds Jimmy Page stole all my best riffs.

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA, USA
    this is what I mean about this being totally subjective. I dont listen to my red faced Polydor Arrival, its trebly as hell and the bass is extremely weak.

    Then again maybe my ears are ruined, so there you go.
     
  16. el supernautico

    el supernautico A traveller of both, time and space Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    So the consensus so far goes:
    Ring Ring: 1988 Polar (POLCD-242)
    Waterloo: 1988 Polar (POLCD-252)
    ABBA: 1988 Polar (POLCD-262)
    Arrival: 1984 Polydor (821 319-2)
    The Album: 1984 Polydor (821 217-2)
    Voulez-Vous: 1984 Polydor (821 320-2)
    Super Trouper : 198? Atlantic (16023-2)
    The Visitors: 1983 Polar (POLCD 342) or Polydor (800 011-2), same mastering

    The singles (as some album cuts, too) seem best served on:
    Greatest Hits: 1983 Atlantic (19114-2)
    Greatest Hits Vol. 2: 1982 Polydor (800 012-2) or Polar (POLCD 312)
    The Singles - The First Ten Years: 1984 Polydor (810 050-2 YH2) or Polar (POLCD 400-2)

    I took the numbers from discogs.com. I find it interesting to see that there's absolutely no favorite JPN CD's.
    And foremost, I thank you all for your precious input!:righton::edthumbs::goodie:
     
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  17. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    And I also think the cover is one of the best-looking of all ABBA releases. So understated and elegant. (I also love the original cover for the first "GREATEST HITS" compilation, though that is neither understated nor elegant, just energetic and fun.) Not that covers matter that much - just thought I´d chime in with yet another opinion.

    But don´t agree with me - my favourite ABBA cover of all time is the one denounced by its designer, "VOULEZ-VOUS". A man of good taste I may not be, but - all together now: "I know what I like".
     
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  18. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I like the 'park bench' GH cover but thought the original sleeve was hideous.:D They made the right decision in changing it.

    As for good Abba artwork...there wasn't a lot of it.:D I, like you, think The First Ten Years is nice. Arrival too. A lot of the covers looked cheap though with often ugly graphics. Still, once you got the records on it didn't matter, did it?
     
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  19. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    The only Abba cds I have are all the albums from Ring Ring to The Visitors in The Abba Remasters series. Some have bonus tracks and they date from 1997.
    Michael B. Tretow is involved with these remasters and I believe he is a respected figure in the Abba world. They always seemed ok to me and I am not a big enough fan of the albums to really justify multiple versions although I regret not getting the card sleeves from Japan. My original vinyl versions are well worn and have on occasion been lent out to friends and relatives.
     
  20. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    The park bench cover is cozy and whimsical, but I prefer the original drawing. Not stylish, but a lot of energy in it. The park bench version is less of a happening.

    I agree that "THE SINGLES" and "ARRIVAL" were two of the better ones. I also like the "ABBA" one - but that´s more for nostalgic reasons than anything else. I love the colour blue, especially the one they used for "VOULEZ-VOUS", so that might have something to do with liking that cover. Also, 1979 was a special year for me, so that ABBA album, Bee Gees´ "SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN", Cliff´s "ROCK´N´ROLL JUVENILE", Olivia´s "TOTALLY HOT" - well, I bought it in 1979... - and many other albums from that year have certain connotations that make me love them. And you can´t really argue with feelings like that.

    But as you say - what´s important is what comes out of the speakers when you play them.
     
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  21. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    Yeah, the 1975 Abba album had a cool sleeve.

    And The Visitors artwork really represents the music on the album.:)
     
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  22. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    Yes, it´s rather positive. They are living the high life in those photos - "I´M A MARIONETTE" hadn´t become a reality yet.

    Painfully, I do agree about "THE VISITORS" cover - elegant, in its own way, but so cold, and very reflective of what was going on in the band. I´m not that fond of the colour brown as used here, but the lighting is beautiful. So, mixed feelings about that one.

    Great to see them laughing and enjoying themselves on the photos for "THE SINGLES" - the photographer commented on how pleasant it was to have that as his last photo session with the band. They were getting on again by that time, and they had recovered their energy. Not enough to want to work together again, but that´s understandable.
     
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  23. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    I think they were smiling on the cover of The Singles because they knew it was almost over.:D
     
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  24. Jarleboy

    Jarleboy Music was my first love

    Location:
    Norway
    Maybe, but as far as I remember, they had been seeing less of each other for a while by then, so the old punch line comes into play: Perhaps they were just glad to see each other? :shh: Or?

    Seriously, though - the photographer noticed a real difference in the air. They seemed happy and to be enjoying each other´s company. It might have been for the reason you give, but I hope not.
     
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  25. Luxury_Liner

    Luxury_Liner Senior Member

    Location:
    Paradise City
    This is a run down of my favorite sounding versions of the main albums. As others have said, it’s all subjective. (I for one cannot listen to the 2001 remasters or the blue box...)

    Ring Ring: Swedish Polar but with a few EQ moves, mostly the high end. Once that’s fixed it sounds great. Second option: 2013 Deluxe Edition

    Waterloo: Swedish Polar. Second option: 2014 Deluxe Edition.

    ABBA: Swedish Polar -though there’s a noticeable volume glitch on S.O.S during the second verse. Second option: 2012 deluxe edition (to be honest I can barely tell these two apart)

    Arrival: Japanese Discomate (or Polydor, they’re clones) My favorite sounding version of Arrival on cd. Sounds close to the european Polydor but with better EQ (a bit more high end so it doesn’t sound so muffled) and none of the dropouts and tape glitches of the Euro Polydor. Slightly longer fadeouts too.

    The Album: oh dear... you gotta pick your poison here. Mine is the European Polydor but I replaced the terrible sounding The Name of the Game with the itunes remaster (I’d rather have a properly mastered lossy file than the original lossless with the distortion during the choruses. I can’t listen to it...) I guess the second option would be the 1997 remaster but I don’t like Jon Astley’s EQ... it sounds “congested” I don’t know how else to describe it. (And what the hell did he do to Eagle? It sounds like a remix! Augh...)


    Voulez-Vous: Japanese Discomate or Polydor (though the channels are reversed) The Euro Polydor is not so bad save for the constant drop outs. Second option: 2010 Deluxe Edition. A bit loud but impressive. Plus it’s a rare instance where I don’t find the bonus tracks intrusive.

    Gracias por la Música: Japanese Polydor (I’ve not heard the CBS cds) The Deluxe edition is a bit of a mess... The cut and paste job they did on the spanish Gimme Gimme Gimme where they pasted the outro of the English mix is an atrocity.

    Super Trouper: US Atlantic. I love it. Second option: 2011 Deluxe Edition. I should check out the Japanese one (Polydor) but I never get around it.

    The Visitors: Original Polydor -I’ve noticed that this is the only version where the channels match the original LP. Every subsequent remastered issues, of all them, have the channels reversed... what’s up with that?
     

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