![]() There are still some awkward moments, like another venture into reggae on ‘Tropical Loveland’, but ABBA just about sustains momentum for a full album.ĪBBA embraced disco on their sixth album – the title track and ‘Angeleyes’ followed The Bee Gees onto the dance floor. ‘SOS’ wasn’t the only hit from ABBA – there’s also ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’, while the forgotten glam of ‘So Long’ was actually the first single released from the record. Ulvaeus later stated that “ABBA found its identity as a pop group with the release of “SOS””. ![]() Despite the impressive achievement of creating a worthy comeback after so long away, Voyage still ranks in the lower half of ABBA’s discography.ĪBBA started to hit their stride with their third album. But there’s some genuinely strong material – ‘Don’t Shut Me Down’ is propulsive, the 1970s leftover ‘Just A Notion’ is a worthy addition to their stellar catalogue, and ‘Keep An Eye On Dan’ is fascinating. It’s often more kitsch than their 1970s heyday ‘Ode to Freedom’, ‘Bumblebee’ and the children’s choir of ‘Little Things’ all could have come from stage musicals. To ABBA’s credit, Voyage is a dignified return it follows the ABBA formula of catchy songs with dark undercurrents and it doesn’t chase trendy sounds. It’s unprecedented for a major group to release a new album after more than half a lifetime away. The minor hit ‘Honey Honey’ is pretty, but ABBA would release much stronger albums as they grew artistically. There’s oddball material like the reggae of ‘Sitting In A Palm Tree’ and the glam rock of ‘King Kong Song’. But like Ring Ring, Waterloo is the inconsistent output of a group searching for its identity. The title track of Waterloo famously won ABBA the Eurovision Song Contest, and it’s their first classic song. The single ‘Ring Ring’ was a minor hit, but it’s primitive compared to later triumphs. Despite the group’s collective talents, they hadn’t figured out their act – the men sing more often than on subsequent releases, and they try everything from country on ‘He Is Your Brother’ to a show tune on ‘I Am Just A Girl’. #9 Ring RingĪBBA didn’t yet have a name when they released their debut album – it was credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida. Here are ABBA’s nine studio albums, ranked from worst to best. But looking back at their career in retrospect, they have albums that are enjoyable the whole way through. This is justified with regards to their early work – they were creating worldwide hits like ‘Waterloo’ before they started making solid albums. Pooling their talents the four became phenomenally popular in the 1970s, scoring worldwide hits like ‘SOS’, ‘Dancing Queen’, and ‘Take A Chance On Me’.ĪBBA have a reputation as a singles band rather than an albums band. Fältskog was already a solo star in Sweden, while Lyngstad had enjoyed smaller-scale success as a jazz singer. Ulvaeus and Andersson both enjoyed success in folk bands in the 1960s and formed ABBA’s songwriting team. On this list, Voyage is weighed up against the albums that ABBA released between 19.ĪBBA is a quartet of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It’s not the longest gap between releases – niche groups like The Sonics, Fanny, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and The Standells have all taken longer between albums, but to less fanfare. It was the Swedish quartet’s first studio album in almost 40 years – an unprecedented gap in output for a superstar group. ![]() In November 2021, ABBA released their ninth studio album Voyage.
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