ABBA: The Album explained

ABBA: The Album
Type:studio
Artist:ABBA
Cover:ABBA - The Album (Polar).jpg
Recorded:31 May – November 1977
Studio:
Length:40:01 (Polar LP 1977)
Label:Polar
Epic (UK)
Atlantic (US original release)
Prev Title:Arrival
Prev Year:1976
Next Title:Voulez-Vous
Next Year:1979

ABBA: The Album (also known as simply The Album) is the fifth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in Scandinavia on 12 December 1977 through Polar Music, but due to the massive pre-orders the UK pressing plants were not able to press sufficient copies before Christmas 1977 and so it was not released in the UK until January 1978. The album was released in conjunction with , with several of the songs featured in the film. Altogether the album contains nine songs.

The album contained two UK number-one singles, "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Name of the Game", as well as European hits "Eagle" and "Thank You for the Music".[1]

Background and production

The album includes three songs from ABBA's 1977 tour mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair performed during each of their European and Australian shows in 1977. Andersson and Ulvaeus wanted to offer more than "a run through of their hits and assorted album tracks" for their concerts.[2] Although the songs received a "less-than-tumultuous" reception during the first performances of the mini-musical, three of the tracks ("Thank You for the Music", "I Wonder (Departure)" and "I'm a Marionette") were included on the new album. A fourth song written for the musical, "Get on the Carousel", was rewritten as the up-tempo track "Hole in Your Soul" with "a substantial part of the melody [being] incorporated into [its] middle eight". Parts of "Get on the Carousel" appeared in .[3] The "25-minute opus" had storyline about a talented "small-town girl leaving her hometown" on her "quest for stardom", with each song representing a different part of her personality. Fältskog and Lyngstad shared the lead-role and wore matching blonde wigs and costumes "for optimum dramatic effect".

Release

ABBA: The Album was released in Scandinavia on 12 December 1977.

ABBA: The Album was first released on CD in 1984. The album has been reissued in the format by PolyGram (later Universal Music) four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and again in 2007 as a two disc 'Deluxe Edition'.

On 3 November 2017, the album was released as a double vinyl mastered at Abbey Road Studios using half speed mastering.

Cover artwork

Polar's official cover made by art director Rune Söderqvist featured an entirely white background, and is the basis for current CD versions. However, Epic Records' original UK release of the LP featured a blue background on the front cover, fading to white at the bottom. It also featured a gatefold sleeve. The back cover was altered, incorporating a similar photo of ABBA to that used elsewhere in the world for the inner sleeve, and referencing tracks included in ABBA: The Movie. The inner gatefold was designed to look like an air mail envelope, similar to the style later used for Gracias Por La Música and even had a photo of ABBA incorporated into a stamp in the corner.

This was the first and only time that Epic radically broke away from the standard Polar Music design for an ABBA album. The UK design for ABBA: The Album has only been re-issued on LP format once, in the 2008 European reissue.[4]

Critical reception

The Album received positive reviews from music critics. Bruce Eder from AllMusic wrote that the album marked a "step forward for the group" since they "absorb and assimilate some of the influences around them, particularly the laid-back California sound of Fleetwood Mac (...) as well as some of the attributes of progressive rock" but "without compromising their essential virtues as a pop ensemble". John Rockwell from Rolling Stone gave the album a favorable review and wrote that The Album represents an interesting departure from their past formulas like "innocently superficial lyrics, bouncy Europop music, rock energy and amplification, soaring melodies" to a more mature and intelligent record.[5] NME wrote a short review to the album when it turned 30 years old, and wrote that the album "still sounds pleasantly nostalgic" and had "some delicious pop nuggets from their Swedish hatch".

Commercial performance

ABBA: The Album reached No. 1 in many territories. In the UK it debuted at the top and remained there for seven weeks,[6] ending up as the third biggest selling album of the year (behind the movie soundtrack LPs of Saturday Night Fever and Grease). In the US it became their highest charting album during their original run, where during 1978 ABBA undertook a big promotional campaign.

Track listing

All tracks written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus except where noted.[7]

Personnel

Cited from liner notes.[8]

ABBA

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1977–78)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 2
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[12] 25
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 9
Chart (2021)Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)[14] 41

Year-end charts

Chart (1978)Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 2
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[16] 42
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 4
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 5
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 3
US Billboard 200[21] 22

Notes and References

  1. Book: Guinness Book of Rock Stars. Rees. Dafydd. Crampton. Luke. Guinness Publishing Ltd.. 1991. 0-85112-971-4. Enfield. 1.
  2. Book: Palm, Carl Magnus. Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba. 2008-09-01. Omnibus Press . 9781847724199.
  3. Book: Tesch, Christopher Patrick. ABBA : let the music speak : an armchair guide to the musical soundscape of the Swedish supergroup. Christopher J N Patrick. 2008. 9780646496764. 1st. Fairfield Gardens, Qld.. 43–45.
  4. Web site: ABBA – The Album (2008, 180g, Gatefold,, Vinyl). 20 December 2021. Discogs.com.
  5. https://web.archive.org/web/20090114081029/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/abba/albums/album/189776/review/5947056/the_album. 14 January 2009. ABBA: The Album : Music Reviews. Rolling Stone. John. Rockwell. 23 March 1978. dead. 19 November 2011.
  6. Web site: Official Charts Company. www.officialcharts.com. en. 2018-05-09.
  7. Web site: Album the-album « ABBA – The Album Albums ABBA . 8 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170521051332/http://www.abbasite.com/discography/album/the-album/ . 21 May 2017 . dead .
  8. ABBA: The Album . . 1977 . booklet . . New York.
  9. Book: Palm, Carl Magnus. Abba : the complete guide to their music. Omnibus Press. 2005. 1-84449-505-1. London. 44–50. 60589495.
  10. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 10.
  11. Book: Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021. 2021. ABBA. 8. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Helsinki. August 24, 2022. fi.
  12. Book: Racca, Guido. M&D Borsa Album 1964–2019. it. 2019. Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp Print Us . 9781094705002.
  13. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9.
  14. Web site: Official IFPI Charts — Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) — Week: 45/2021 . . 29 November 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20211122135106/http://www.ifpi.gr/charts_el.html . 22 November 2021.
  15. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 1978 . Hung Medien . de . 20 October 2021 .
  16. Web site: Top 100 Albums of '78 . . . 20 October 2021 .
  17. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 1978 . . nl . 20 October 2021 .
  18. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts . . de . 20 October 2021 .
  19. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1978 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart . . 20 October 2021 .
  20. Web site: 1970s Albums Chart Archive . . everyhit.com . 20 October 2021 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091006222356/http://www.everyhit.com/chartalb3.html . 6 October 2009 .
  21. Billboard 200 Albums - Year-End . . 12 October 2021.