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And in all that time, my love for it has only grown.It's one thing to listen to this lush and wonderful production as a little boy and imagine what kind of people could be making these sounds. "Eagle" wasn't their biggest hit by a long shot, but it's still one of my Top 5 favorite ABBa songs (if not #1). So, you could sort of believe the nine songs on the original LP have been in my heart, mind and ears ever since I was a baby. This is another one of those items that evokes happy childhood memories. (Another example of this notion rests in the song, "I'm a Marionette," in which the proverbial "Girl with Golden Hair" has lost control of her life and career. And, I heard the whole album half as many times.
In any event, the song that still does it for me is "Eagle." When my CD copy of this record arrived, I probably played "Eagle" about a dozen times.
All those perfect vocal lines, harmonies you can almost bite into like an apple and beyond-incredible instrumentations.
and two men, or that all four of them had to learn English (or approximate it) to create all those wonderful hits that have endured for more than thirty-five years.
ABBA - The Album had already come out (1977/78) when I came out (1980).
In my opinion, the song itself, the performance and the production are right up there with 60's and 70's offerings by Phil Spector like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "Imagine," "Be My Baby" and even "River Deep-Mountain High." I do believe this song alone is neck & neck with that first Tina Turner solo single.And of course, I was too young to know that ABBA was a Swedish foursome with just two women (how did they get all those parts from TWO WOMEN).
In retrospect, this may be the record that first taught me that pop music could be more than just a song and its singer.
(Of course, my first music hero was Neil Diamond, and his music also proved that in a big way).
And though Bjorn's and Benny's musical reach goes significantly beyond the ABBA spectrum, it's very plausible that their best work was with this band.
From what I heard about Agnetha's post-ABBA career moves, that song could unknowingly have been written literally about her.All that said, to Bjorn, Benny, Frida & Agnetha, I say "Thank you for the music - for giving it to me."
"The Album" is unique in the ABBA canon: it is their one LP that can be considered as 'progessive' music. Apart from the 3-song suite from their "mini-musical" of the time, the LP also includes "Eagle" (at nearly 6 minutes an anamoly in their repertoire), a unique conceptual track which opens the album and tells the listener this is not Just Another ABBA Album. The mini-suite that closes the LP predates the Ulvaeus/Andersson musical "Chess" by several years, yet reveals their burgeoning talent for writing sophisticated pop show music. Overall probably their most ambitious album, and one of their outstanding works.
I have the deluxe edition of Abba's epic The Album. This is one of my favorite Abba releases along with Arrival and Voulez Vous. As with all of the Polar reissues, the CD and booket are great. The DVD for this set features mostly music videos, but there are some great moments like Recording The Album. Every song on The Album is a classic, and my favorites are Eagle, Take A Chance, One Man One Woman, The Name of the Game, Hole in Your Soul, Thank You For the Music, and I Wonder. If you're looking to get Abba The Album I highly recommend the Polar Deluxe Edition which includes the CD and DVD.
Aside from "Take A Chance On Me", "The Name of the Game" and "Thank You for the Music" being favorites from "Mamma Mia.", this is another solid album in which, suprisingly and is a little ironic, this is my fourth favorite album, though I like all the songs featured except the bonus track. "Eagle" is one of those "motorcycle" freedom songs that one sees in a movie. "One Man, One Woman" is, to me, a great way to describe most failed marriages. And "Hole in Your Soul" along with the Three Scenes of a Mini-Musical are also stand outs and I can see why "Hole in Your Soul" was used as the closing number for some of their concerts.
I'm a metal music lover and if pop music was like this and not crappy things like Britney Spears and stupidities like that I would be listening to it. ABBA is the finest and the greatest Pop group.
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