Abba All-purpose VOYAGE Thread*
- Thread starter Chris Mills
- Start date
Murray
Well-Known Member
I bought it for a relative, who lives in a small town with no place that still sells CDs. Amazon will be shipping it directly to them, so we'll just wait it out.
I was at Walmart today, and thought that I'd pick up a copy of the CD for myself, but they didn't get any. This evening, I phoned the record store in the mall, and they told me that they're expecting their shipment in the next week or two. Likely a pandemic-related delay.
I've only heard 3 songs so far -- "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down," plus one other that the title escapes me. Harry's right, it definitely sounds like ABBA - especially "Don't Shut Me Down," it's like stepping into a '70s time capsule.
Although they have never been one of my absolute favorites, several of their tunes have wormed into my desert-island list..."S.O.S." being my favorite Abba tune. I was an early fan of "Waterloo" too and still love that tune.
I wish they would take the holograms on tour, but it looks like it's only going to be in one location in England, at least so far. I can see that show doing killer business at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Vegas. I would see it partly because my wife is a big fan, and the technology angle intrigues me (plus I do like the music).
Although they have never been one of my absolute favorites, several of their tunes have wormed into my desert-island list..."S.O.S." being my favorite Abba tune. I was an early fan of "Waterloo" too and still love that tune.
I wish they would take the holograms on tour, but it looks like it's only going to be in one location in England, at least so far. I can see that show doing killer business at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Vegas. I would see it partly because my wife is a big fan, and the technology angle intrigues me (plus I do like the music).
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
I can’t wait to get my CD next week. Looking forward to hearing this album. I got the alternate artwork.
The alternate artwork CD was in stock at my local Target store today.
Never say never. If this new one sells in the gazillions (which it might or might not, depending on what their streaming expectations are) I wouldn't be surprised to see a follow-up. But, 40 years is a long time and a lot of those old ABBA fans may not even hear about this being out. If not for this forum I don't think I'd have heard of it yet.
I remember many artists who have said they were retiring only to decide otherwise. Although, this particular group is kind of an anomaly - after their previous last album, they did virtually nothing as ABBA for forty years, which most of the other retirees can't say -- they usually only last a couple or three years before they go on tour again. So, who knows? I mean, if Motley Crue can make a comeback after saying "never again," anybody can. Those guys should all be dead by now.
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Chris Mills
That was funny....like the dark vomited up
You can't please everyone !
BBC reports:
Voyage: 'Vintage Abba' or 'bafflingly retrograde' - comeback album splits opinion
BBC reports:
Voyage: 'Vintage Abba' or 'bafflingly retrograde' - comeback album splits opinion
It sounds like ABBA to me. I've never really listened to ABBA on an album basis. To me they were always a singles band, and it sort of follows through with VOYAGE. But I can also say that there are some moments where this album flows a little better than some of their early albums.
I listened to it last night. I can't remember the last time I listened to a full ABBA album -- like you, to me they have always been a singles band. I wasn't a huge fan of the opener, "I Still Have Faith In You" -- it's a nice song but would have been better as a closer. One of the uptempo tunes would have been better as an opener.
It didn't seem to have as many super-catchy songs as I expected it to have, but I'm planning to give it another listen soon and maybe I'll change my mind on that.
It is pretty amazing how their voices haven't changed AT ALL in the intervening years.
I was kind of hoping for one male vocal tune.... an old song of theirs, "Does Your Mother Know," was a fave of mine and it had the guys singing.
It didn't seem to have as many super-catchy songs as I expected it to have, but I'm planning to give it another listen soon and maybe I'll change my mind on that.
It is pretty amazing how their voices haven't changed AT ALL in the intervening years.
I was kind of hoping for one male vocal tune.... an old song of theirs, "Does Your Mother Know," was a fave of mine and it had the guys singing.
Because Universal owns EVERYTHING (except for what's owned by Sony; and of course they no longer possess what was lost in the fire, though they DO own it -- in every sense of the word)...
But back to the topic... I like what I've heard so far. Their sound is instantly recognizable!
--Mr Bill
I don't think record labels mean a thing to Universal anymore--seems they just channel releases to whatever label markets to a certain demographic. Same as how they labeled some A&M releases with a Verve logo since it was "jazz".
I'm surprised they wouldn't put Richard's album on A&M. Is this the first time he's had something that DIDN'T say A&M on it?
It's because the project was spearheaded by a lady at Decca UK. It's in the liner notes, but I've forgotten her name. Rachel sonething?
Electroliner
Well-Known Member
I'm very pleased with this new release! So far my road trip song is "Keep An Eye On Dan"...I love the ending to this song. That's all I will say not to spoil it for others...
- Ken
- Ken
Jeff uk
Well-Known Member
Just listened to the new abba album, and must say not very impressed at all. Think they should have not bothered. very disappointing, what did you think?My thanks to member Scott B. who tipped me off that RICHARD CARPENTER'S PIANO SONGBOOK has already been released in Japan. I ordered it on Monday and it arrived today! It's an SHM-CD for all the good that is.
Quite a day today - I've gotten two new albums - one from ABBA and one from Richard Carpenter. That would have been totally unthinkable just a few years ago, yet here they are, ripping into my computer as I speak.
Guitarmutt
Well-Known Member
Just had a friend say, they thought it was quite good. Fit in nicely. Take into account the years. Haven't listened myself.
Can we compare really, now to forty years ago? And! Is that fair?
Totally disagree. The history of ABBA tells us that they never really did have an official break-up, but that they just started a break and for years never got back together. A good word from the institution of marriage would be "estranged."
All those years went by with offers to get back together in the millions, but these four were content with their body of work and didn't feel the need to prove anything. As time passed into recent times, we got word that they might get together for one song. Then the rumor was two songs. Then the rumor was that the two songs were official and going to be released. Then it was a whole album and a motion capture show.
I was quite skeptical about this new stuff. It seemed legitimate, but there were many "tease" announcements. I stated at one point that if they wanted to release a new album, then bring it on - stop teasing and let's hear it. Finally, a number of weeks ago, those two singles were released in a worldwide special. Dutifully, I ordered both right from the ABBA store. Though the singles were limited editions, I don't think they will ever be worth a great deal. There were too many of them.
The artwork on display at the TV special/YouTube event was quite interesting. The four eclipse images and the motion capture pictures were quite dramatic looking, and the two songs were quite interesting - and like most ABBA songs, given time, they do invade your brain with their clever and infectious melodies.
The album was released one week ago today, and I received it in the mail, and as I said above, it came on the same day as the Richard Carpenter album from Japan. Being the curator of the Carpenters Recording Resource, I felt it a duty to explore Richard's album first and get that information up to both our Resource and to Discogs. All the meanwhile, a lot of stuff was being explored by others on the ABBA album.
Finally this week, I got to listen to the VOYAGE album all the way through and I found it quite good. I think a lot of the negative-review people will come around at some point. Listening to a new ABBA song is something many are out-of-practice with. Their catchy melodies and hooks sometimes take a couple of spins to begin affecting you.
As I sit here in the cold light of morning with no music playing, I'm looking at the track list and all I can hear in my head is "Don't Shut Me Down" as it's been played the most for the last few weeks and with each playing of the album. As I listened to the album for the first time, I remember hearing each song and thinking, yes, this is ABBA, those sounds couldn't be anyone else. It still sounds like ABBA to me, through and through.
Much has been written about the sound of the album. The first reports speak of really dirty, grungy-looking vinyl, making the dust on the vinyl look like a powdered-sugar doughnut. I've seen some horrendous pictures on the web, I hear stories of bad delivery experiences with the vinyl, with bent corners and warped vinyl. I've heard some say that their colored vinyl was great, others that it was horrendously noisy. I read that someone had switched from their micro-line stylus to an elliptical stylus to improve the noise level somewhat. I've heard stories about cassette versions being muddy and sounding a bit better if equalized. And I've heard the usual stuff about the LP sounding less compressed than the CD, if you can find one without problems.
I instantly ordered the plain-jane CD when this album was available on Amazon. CD remains the perfect medium for me as it provides instant access to be ripped into my computer, and remains available on the shelf for play anytime away from the computer. I've read a lot of folks saying that the CD is too maximized and loud - I have a different take. I have *always* felt that ABBA is best experienced with a good bit of compression. Their sound was designed that way. Björn has explained in interviews how he was always taken with the Phil Spector wall-of-sound approach to recording, and he's steered ABBA's sound in that direction at every turn.
I got a kick the other day at reading someone answering a question: "Do the earlier singles sound better than the album?" The answer given by another said, yes, the singles sounded less compressed than the album. So just for the heck of it, I loaded the single version and the album version of "Don't Shut Me Down" into Audacity for comparison. At first glance, they looked identical, much like a comb with even teeth-spacing. But a closer look showed me a little more headroom on the album version than on the single. It is my belief that they are near-identical sounding, with perhaps a tiny bit more compression on the single version. But as I said, I think ABBA *want* their records to sound that way. They've been pretty consistent about that over the years.
Is every song a winner here? No. I think there are a few missteps in the project. To me, ABBA was always a singles band. I listen to their hit singles most, and every now and again one of their album tracks will grab me. But not too often. When I grab an ABBA album, it's usually not to hear the album as a whole, but to listen to a song or two off of it. Their albums don't seem to have a cohesiveness to them as works of art. To me, they are just collections of songs thrown together. In that respect, VOYAGE actually hangs together as an album just a bit better than some other ABBA albums.
There's a lot of flack out there about the song "Little Things", which is a gentle tune about Christmas and grandchildren. Many feel that a Christmas song is out of place on the album, especially being the third track in. But listen to how the next track, "Don't Shut Me Down" starts with Agnetha singing about it getting dark and the kids having left the park. Though I'm not a fan of a Christmas song being on the album, it does flow nearly seamlessly into the next track.
I was impressed enough with the CD that I decided to go up to our local Target store and grab a copy of the alternate cover artwork. Target had the US exclusivity to the cover with the four members of ABBA pictured on the cover. There's also a track list printed on the back. Other than that, the two are identical. Even the numbers around the hub of the CDs are identical. But I wanted it as it's a more interesting artwork presentation. The booklet with lyrics is the same as well.
So, my recommendation: If you've heard the album once, listen to it again - and maybe again. It might grow on you. If you've gotten an LP, go out and get a CD and give yourself a break from trying to clean the darn thing. Or you could always go the download route, if that gives you comfort.
