Abba - Voulez-Vous. Is it an underrated album?

LOL, yes, that song is terrible.

 

I like it very much !!! There are much more worse songs in the ABBA catalog...

 

I agree completely. It´s OK to dislike this song, but I love it. In fact, it´s one of the best tracks on "SUPER TROUPER", IMO.

 

I tend to feel that way too.... It's like they heard Chic and a bunch of other things, and said "Okay, so that's how it's gonna be now, eh?" And then briefly ended up in Miami to follow that muse.... VV came out just a few months before Chic's third LP ("Good Times") ....

always? still ?

That was huge chunk of my life ! and I still have most of 'em, including hundreds of Grateful Dead tapes. Yep, I said that.

I should probably consider doing that ... ... Also, staying up all night on the SHF, then drinking black coffee.

I'm okay with the record ... but in the live '79 show it's borderline unbearable ... and then Björn says "Wonderful kids ... Would you like to hear some more?"

 

I'm struggling to think of any after 1974. What can I say, I'm probably not European enough to appreciate it.

 

I'm not saying it's terrible but .... there's a thread here for least favorites and it's on my (short) list.

 

I have a knee jerk reaction against that sort of prancing about playing a tin whistle (or a fiddle) fake Eurofolk stuff - partly from watching Eurovision, where it seems like somebody tries something like that every year.

 

The Piper is one of my favorites.

Oh well, we all cant like the same things.

 

I agree, but then again, as a sometimes hired gun myself, there sure as hell are worse gigs. They got to watch Aggie and Frida from behind for a little while.

Can I say that on here?

 

You've said it!

 

Are you still allowed to call her that ?
I remember someone here did not like that at all.

The sidemen got to see the good and the bad, I'm sure...

Oh great, the sun's coming up. I'm done.

 

I've given my opinions on Voulez-vous in the ABBA song-by-song thread. Suffice to say I do consider it a bit of a hiccup in their string of albums. It's a matter of taste. Some people love the fact that it was a disco-oriented album, but I thought embracing disco rather rather lazy.

The only song of the album that really did it for me was "Angeleyes", which I still regard as one of their best.

 

yeah somebody got his panties in a bunch over that. Big deal. He can sue me.

good point.

still, couldnt have been a horrible experience unless working with them in general was a problem... and it seems like they kept a lot of the same guys for a long time. Either the pay was exceptional or it was overall a pleasant experience. Benny must have been a trip to work with, musically.

 

Article about Voulez-Vous
The Quietus | Features | Anniversary | As Good As New: 40 Years Of ABBA's Voulez-Vous

 

Third favorite behind Arrival and The Album, for me.

 

I can't decide which album I prefer...it always depends on my mood...sometimes it is ARRIVAL, sometimes THE ALBUM or VOULEZ-VOUZ or SUPER TROUPER...the strongest albums in my opinion.

 

this has to be from a european point of view.... in my slice of america anyway, Abba was NOT "the pop band of 1978" with "number 1 hit after number 1 hit" -

I dont know who would have worn that crown in the USA then... but it wasnt Abba. Not where I lived anyway.

 

+1

 

I think Side 1 of Super Trouper is fantastic - but IMO The Piper is the best song on Side 2, and is probably what saves the second side from being a bit of a letdown.

 

They are from Sweden. I think it's quite reasonable to talk about them from "a European point of view".

They were certainly huge here. I'd say their peak year in Australia was probably more like 1976, but the hits were still coming thick and fast in '78. Molly Meldrum can take much of the credit for "breaking" them in Australia. In fact they probably owe him a huge debt, because I think after the hoo-hah about Waterloo died down it was beginning to look like they might be a one-hit group, until they suddenly started getting massive sales in Australia, and then eventually most of the world.

Their huge popularity here led to their songs being featured in two Australian films - which in turn has ensured that many more people remember the songs by association, like a positive feedback loop.

 

No, I think it's over rated.

 

No, its not. That article states that they were hugely popular all over the world, at the time.... they were not in the USA. Not like that.

 

If some band was popular in the USA, the UK, Australia and nearly every other developed country, except, say, not in Germany, I'm sure you'd be saying they were popular all over the world. It does not have to mean every single country, just in a large number of countries that are geographically widely scattered.

 

good grief.

except that the USA has 240 million MORE people than Germany.

You arent going to win this against me. I've been here a long time and hear the same statements, much like yours, over and over, to suggest that somehow Abba was a lot more popular in the states in the 70s than they really were.

And almost always these statements come from people who were not alive in the USA, listening to the radio and buying music, in the USA, in the 70s.

the article flatly pronounces Abba to be huge stars all over the world... OK, with the exception of the USA, which was the single largest music buying public in the world.

 

That's not what I said, and you know it.

As for "not going to win this against you", if "winning" consists of converting you to my point of view, clearly that was never going to happen. Arguments of this sort are rarely actually "won" or "lost", since it's rare for either party to change their stance. However I did think it was worth pointing out to people (not just yourself) that the US-centric viewpoint is not the only one that makes sense. I believe that point is now made, so job done.