no a conspiracy between evil-hearted bigots to judge their success too harshly and attempt to make them seem "less than what they were". Its especially bad on the euro-centric abba forums, where anything less than praise for the group, is somehow interpreted as american anti-gay rhetoric. These "were abba really successful in the USA" threads are mind-boggling to me. I've never seen such history revision anywhere, from people who werent even alive when the group was recording. If you wanna start that argument all over again you can. I've said my piece about it already.
Anti-gay? Odd. Never heard that. Spent my life between Japan and the US - they were mega-popular in Japan. The reunion is big news here. Time to pull the old CD’s off the shelf.
How can you not have them ordered in terms of chronological releases? - and I am envious about those Discomate CDs
Good point. Maybe it comes from having worked in a record store as a kid - as long as it’s under the tab with the group name, you can find it. I’ve actually been to the ABBA Museum in Stockholm and it’s not that creepy - just kind of silly. Museum is not the greatest attraction but a fun place. I took my picture sitting in the helicopter from the cover of the Arrival LP.
From your perspective, do you think the avatars could be improved to the level where people would pay $50+ to see them in concert?
wait, I'm confused. They arent using photos of the museum wax dummies to make the 3D avatars for this hologram tour are they? Cos I didnt think that looked anything like Agnetha. Benny looked more.. well, like what I expect Benny to look like.
The original press release about the tour suggests that this will be on another level than the museum holograms, though it's still kept pretty vague: Pop superstars ABBA teaming up with Simon Fuller and Universal Music Group to launch new digital experience - UMG
No, but I think that an immersive experience that uses state of the art digital technology could fill arenas. The Michael Jackson hologram that “performed” at the Grammys looked pretty good and that was outdated technology. The Jackson Cirque de Soleil show played multiple nights at all major arenas across the globe and grossed some crazy amount. So the audience for this kind of stuff is definitely there, depending on the artist.
Though I guess the difference here is, would you go see a digital version of MJ if he was still alive?
I wouldn’t, but I get the sense that the audience isn’t going to see the artist but to enjoy the music in a different context. Like the Beatles’ “Love”, except with a much broader, multi-generational appeal. My kids love Abba, and know their music far better than I do, if only from Glee, the musical and the movie.
Quite possibly. I currently go to a local venue where an MJ tribute band plays - and they are pretty good. I realize they are not avatars or holograms. It would depend on how they present the music. Just seeing Jackson on a screen and hearing a recording - that is not going to fly with me.
i've posted this before, but it probably bears repeating - something like is what I expect. Its HUGE in Japan. Real people playing the music and a 3D animated singer.
Agreed. The avatars in the video were done in 2016 or earlier as the video was uploaded in 2016. As the technology improves, the final result should be better. On this video, it looks like Benny and Bjorn came out the most realistic to me. The girls need some work to make them more realistic. I do believe they are also currently getting lipsyncing imaging from Agnetha, Frida, Benny, & Bjorn to get the mouth movements more accurately. We have not seen the latest development of the avatars and they could be steps ahead of what we see in this video.
Bjorn talks about the avatar technology.... or should I say, the "Abbatars." . Bjorn says the result is absolutely both amazing and spooky... Go to about the 15 minute mark. The previous 15 minutes of the video are about a very serious and different topic.
this is a crappy idea ! sounds like sci-fi and will be the beginning of the end of live music ! see live stuff while you can before it disappears ! with robot rubbish!
Here is a performance by Frida & Jon Lord from 2004. OMG! Frida brought me to tears with this magnificent performance. Enjoy!
she was pretty close to Lord, from what I understand, they both lived or had houses in Zermatt. Lord apparently wrote the song for her, in light of her difficult times, the deaths of those so close to her. I wonder how she felt when he passed too.
Looking forward to hearing that third voice that is created when Agnetha and Frida sing together. Can't wait.
This is a new Spanish vocal, or is it the one from 1980 less Agnetha? Obviously it's a different instrumental track. Anyone have insight on this?
