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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 4, 2021 21:06:31 GMT
Although hype and expectation will generate album sales initially, radio airplay remains the fuel for long-term success. The good news is that Europe's biggest radio station, Radio 2, has added both the new songs to its A list straightaway. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2qNJsnjYFvbLrK9CZ0CfYfM/radio-2-new-music-playlistHowever, whether the album sells well in the long term, beyond the first month, will depend on airplay from the commercial stations and particularly for future singles. There was always going to be a lot of excitement for these initial songs. Reviews have generally been very positive to date, most giving around 4 stars (out of 5) and slightly favouring Don't Shut Me Down where they've expressed a preference. I've only seen two negative reviews so far (The Telegraph 2/5, and an Irish paper). Here are some of the good ones: NME - 4/5 'a classy and heart-warming comeback from the pop greats' www.nme.com/reviews/track/abba-new-songs-i-still-have-faith-in-you-dont-shut-me-down-review-3036793Independent - 4/5 'New songs are the band’s gold standard; Guardian 4/5 (Still have faith), 5/5 (Don't shut me down) - 'a perky, moving return to pop’s highest peaks' 'Then Agnetha appears, singing alone, before harmonising with Anni-Frid – to hear these two women singing together again after 40 years is incredibly moving. The sound of these voices together has always been one of the greatest things in pop, creating a sound that’s almost impossibly bright but also tender and delicate.' Please add further reviews, positive or negative.
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Post by Alan on Sept 4, 2021 21:38:56 GMT
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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 4, 2021 22:06:38 GMT
Thanks - great review. Thoughtful and positive but not over-the-top!
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Post by jj on Sept 5, 2021 16:39:12 GMT
This Italian guy admits he's not a huge ABBA fan, but he seems to understand deeply what the lyrics are saying both in the context of their comeback as well as in the sense of four people of a certain age. He gets a big kick out of how clever and multilayered ABBA's message is and seems to genuinely love the song, too. His spontaneous reactions and joy to what he's hearing seem very natural and they're very enjoyable as a result of that. It seems he's genuinely impressed, even though he's not a die-hard fan, and that's a nice thing to behold.
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Post by jj on Sept 8, 2021 12:16:23 GMT
Here's some food for thought. It's not exactly negative, but it does make you look at all of this more objectively.
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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 9, 2021 8:06:18 GMT
So, the two songs are now in the UK airplay chart with DSMD just ahead (20) of ISHF (23). The airplay charts are important as airplay fuels album sales in the long term, and also determines whether songs become known by the wider world, generally, or just the fans who buy them. These positions on the edge of the top 20 could be mainly due to Radio 2 playing them loads. Has anyone heard the songs on other stations at all? ukairplaychart.com/uk/rolling_week/
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Post by jj on Sept 9, 2021 16:35:11 GMT
A search on the website for THE NEW YORK TIMES produces an article there, dated 3/9/21, with the title
"Abba Previews First Album in 40 Years, and 11 More New Songs"
This can be construed as meaning that ABBA have an extra song that we don't know about, apart from the two we do know, and including the 8 others that we know of only by their titles.
Unfortunately it's behind a paywall.
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Post by abbafanie on Sept 9, 2021 18:01:35 GMT
A search on the website for THE NEW YORK TIMES produces an article there, dated 3/9/21, with the title
"Abba Previews First Album in 40 Years, and 11 More New Songs"
This can be construed as meaning that ABBA have an extra song that we don't know about, apart from the two we do know, and including the 8 others that we know of only by their titles.
Unfortunately it's behind a paywall.
I could be wrong but I think the article in question is a wrap-up of a selection of new music from last week. The "11 More New Songs" in question refers to new releases from last week from other artists, but I'm open to correction.
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Post by gary on Sept 9, 2021 18:38:18 GMT
On ABBAtalk the other day, someone posted a screen grab from a site selling Voyage, and it mentioned there were 11 songs on the album. I can’t find it now, but it’s probably still up there.
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Post by Alan on Sept 9, 2021 21:49:55 GMT
On ABBAtalk the other day, someone posted a screen grab from a site selling Voyage, and it mentioned there were 11 songs on the album. I can’t find it now, but it’s probably still up there. Unless there’s a hidden track on it? I thought they’d died a death years ago though. I remember Robbie Williams’s second album (I’ve Been Expecting You) having two decent hidden tracks, but in the days of CD you had to sit through 10 to 15 minutes of nothing before it came back to life. However, some German website revealed that the album is only 37 minutes long. This makes a hidden track unlikely unless it starts straight after “Ode to Freedom” (and that the tracks are quite short apart from ISHFIY). PopJustice claims to have a second or third hand report of someone hearing the whole album (and not mentioning an 11th track) so it’s difficult to really take it too seriously. ABBA’s last three albums each had an additional track courtesy of the first single’s b-side. B-sides don’t really exist anymore, having morphed into additional tracks on simultaneously-released deluxe editions (though these similarly appear to have died a death) so Voyage does lack something. An 11th track in some form would definitely be welcome.
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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 10, 2021 20:13:52 GMT
It's hard to exaggerate the importance of airplay. To stay in the top 10 singles chart for more than the briefest of times, you need a ton of airplay www.ukairplaychart.com/ which the new Abba songs just aren't getting, although it's great news that Europe's biggest station (Radio 2) has A-listed them. Don't Shut Me Down has risen to #13 in the airplay chart (from 20) with Faith in You down at 24. This might be largely due to Radio 2 - has anyone heard the songs much elsewhere at all? Airplay will get your songs known by the masses (rather than just the fans) and will also fuel long-term album sales (high sales for the first few weeks of Voyage are an absolute cert). Airplay will also determine in the long term whether the new songs are considered alongside the old, or whether they melt away and don't get played anymore, as happened with All for One, the Stone Roses big comeback single after a 15 year break, which no longer gets played at all. Anyway, the key thing is the Abba comeback has been very warmly received, the album will sell more than enough for B&B to be encouraged to write more songs - it just won't go on to be an Adele Atkins/Ed Shearer type mass seller (unless many more radio stations start to play songs from it).
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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 19, 2021 22:26:51 GMT
Nice new review of DSMD in this weekend's Guardian. 'It's the greatest band that ever existed returning after the longest absence in pop history, on a song of such a high standard, it'd fit right in on Abba Gold, the longest charting album in UK history. The closest we'll ever get to a true pop miracle.'
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Post by thetowerbridgefox on Sept 19, 2021 23:06:59 GMT
Both Singles are Fantastic I tryed not to listen to them before I got the new album but that was impossible, Classic ABBA they both sound like scenes frm a musical I love them.. as for the charts, Im now going by the offical big chart for singles(formaly the nework chart) and the offical album chart for album. as radio one is no longer the station it was when the Visitors came out. PS ABBA dont shut me down 3 in TOBC this week. thats offical enough for me.
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Post by Alan on Sept 20, 2021 10:45:33 GMT
Both Singles are Fantastic I tryed not to listen to them before I got the new album but that was impossible, Classic ABBA they both sound like scenes frm a musical I love them.. as for the charts, Im now going by the offical big chart for singles(formaly the nework chart) and the offical album chart for album. as radio one is no longer the station it was when the Visitors came out. PS ABBA dont shut me down 3 in TOBC this week. thats offical enough for me. Unfortunately the BBC (and therefore Radio 1) has always used the official chart, as now compiled by the Official Charts Company. The Network chart has never counted.
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Post by onlyabba4meagain on Sept 23, 2021 17:57:47 GMT
So, none of the Tracks on 'Voyage' are Instrumentals. Which ends the speculation, (of some ABBA Fans), that 'Ode To Freedom' might be an Instrumental.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 23, 2021 19:20:09 GMT
Relief indeed! But that sounds like a statement from someone who has heard the album (in which case, I'm kinda envious) or you've heard from someone who has heard the album.
Is there anything else you can share? You can preface any comment with a bold "SPOILER ALERT" in case anyone doesn't want to know.
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Post by onlyabba4meagain on Sept 23, 2021 19:54:14 GMT
HOMETIME -- The 'No instrumentals' News, is from the latest Edition, of the ABBA Fan Club Magazine. They would not state it, if they had not been given 'Official' Notification.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 23, 2021 20:14:32 GMT
Ah. I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive. It's good to have these little titibits of informtion. Thanks, Colin. Off topic... It's probably nothing more than a minor and meaningless coincidence but, when I was listening to Vinterhamn on YouTube, I spotted the similarity between the two graphics... If I was a silly-billy conspiracy theorist, I might wonder whether this could possibly hint at the possibility of Little Things being a rewrite. Possibly. #ConspiracyTheoriesAreNeitherBigNorClever
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Post by joseph on Sept 23, 2021 21:41:37 GMT
I'm also relieved there's no instrumental and happy that Bumblebee isn't a tweaked old demo. I'm thrilled we have new music from ABBA and I have no complaints so if this is the last music we get from them, I'm more than happy. Of course I have a wish-list but I'm fully aware that all this is more than I ever dreamed possible so it's like all my birthdays have come at once. I'm sure the same is true for us all.
BTW, I was on here before and lost my login details...well, password. Try as I might, I could not get back in. Nothing worked. Password reset...nothing. Went to my email...nada. Was about to give up then thought I may as well create a new account. And hey presto, it worked. I trust everyone is well and for some reason Edmund is on my mind. I hope he's managed OK during this dreadful pandemic. It's been hard on me, I won't pretend, but somehow I'm still here.
Bring on November 5th.
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Post by Alan on Sept 23, 2021 22:11:09 GMT
Welcome back, joseph. I did wonder if it was you. You probably saw, but Edmund deleted his account very suddenly a while back. There was nothing that provoked it, so let’s all hope he’s OK.
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Post by joseph on Sept 30, 2021 20:55:34 GMT
Thanks Alan , yes, I think I saw his post. His old posts just say 'deleted' now. Shame. Perhaps he'll pop back. Anyway...lots to talk about ABBA-wise now, what with them being an active group once again. It makes my heart glad seeing them no longer listed on Wikipedia as 'was'. Or is it 'were'? "ABBA ARE a Swedish pop group...." Well anyway, they're back, that's the main thing.
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 1, 2021 12:11:33 GMT
I also had a funny feeling old comrade, that it was you.. I guess your name gave it away ..lol.. but you can never be sure... Like where are some of the old members on the old forum, but hey life moves on..
Glad to see you well and still with us... and good to know that there's another one who will post.....
I'm sure there will be loads to discuss, at least another years worth !! lol....
Back to topic subject.....
Radio 2 seems to playing ISHFIY a lot, haven't heard DSMD this week... whats going on ?
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Post by joseph on Oct 2, 2021 10:52:16 GMT
Thanks Graham. It was a nightmare trying to log in having forgotten my password and although I would occasionally have a look at this forum as a guest, I'd all but given up until I decided to re-register. I was so fed up checking my email for password reset to find nothing, not even in spam folder. Is Mike still moderating? It feels very much as though it runs itself here. Plus, there wasn't much news until Voyage was announced. I'm a little surprised there isn't much talk about the two new songs? Unless I've missed the posts? You know, which they prefer, etc. For me, I love them both for different reasons. I find ISHFIY incredibly moving the more I listen to it. Frida's vocal gets me every time. So delicate yet strong. I'm not sure I have enough adequate adjectives to describe how I feel, which is a little frustrating. DSMD was instantly recognisable as 'ABBA'. Björn's lyrics are incredibly clever. I immediately got the 'message'. Such a great wordsmith he is. A friend says he finds ISHFIY very 'musical theater' and that isn't his thing. I see what he means but that's no bad thing to me. Guess it's a question of taste. A lot of people shed tears and I was emotional as hell, too. Who ever thought we'd get two new songs?! A whole ALBUM? A concert experience? Just wow.
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Post by HOMETIME on Oct 2, 2021 11:38:50 GMT
Hi Joseph! (waves) Great to see you back.
I was also a little surprised by the low volume of chat about the new songs - especially after the breathless week we had in the lead-up to their release. I guess, despite everything, people are probably still a little dazed that an actual album is coming after all these years and dreams and fantasies.
As for the songs, it took me a couple of listens to get them both. Neither seemed especially instant. But the performance in ISHFIY is gorgeous. That final "I still have faith in you/It stands above the crazy things we did/It all comes down to love" is just beautiful. The way Frida stresses "faith" in that line... it carries so much feeling. It's a very intricate song and I pity the fool who decides to take it to the karaoke mic. You need serious singing chops to pull this one off. To my ears, the song could have come from either The Visitors, Super Trouper or The Album. It has that widescreen ambition that they toyed with on those albums. I think it suffered by being released at the same time as DSMD. It could probably have charted higher on the wave of goodwill surrounding the comeback. The video is lovely. All that said, it was a braver single choice than ABBA have ever made. To me, it feels more like a glorious album centrepiece rather than a single.
As for DSMD, it is constantly in my head. That chorus is 100% addictive. Agnetha is in lovely form for the verses but the way the two voices came together for the chorus just rolled the decades away and brought ABBA back, front and centre. I love that the second chorus arrives on a key change: it lifts the energy of the song so much. The song feels like it could have come from the 1982 sessions - to my ears, it's not a million miles away from Just Like That. It could also have come from the 1978 sessions - one of the songs that were great but wouldn't have chimed well with the disco feel of the Voulez-Vous album. A sister song to Just A Notion, maybe. The only thing I wasn't mad about to begin with was the instrumental break after the opening verse - the glissando seemed a bit calculated (as did the double-octave 'classic ABBA' piano flourishes in the chorus) and the sax synth sounded a bit rough. But the joy of the song as a whole has completely outweighed that for me now. And I love the early-'60s-sounding strings.
Can't wait to hear what the rest of the album has in store for us. I reckon that people's reservations about Just A Notion will be swept away when we hear the track.
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Post by Michal on Oct 2, 2021 13:29:00 GMT
I find it difficult to describe what exactly I like or don't like about the new songs. ISHFIY was a grower for me - I was not much impressed the first time but one of the reasons might have been that I didn't have the best sound during the live broadcast. DSMD seemed more instantly recognizable as ABBA but I fully started to appreciate both songs only when my CD singles arrived and I could play them on a decent system and listen through good speakers for the first time. Actually, only then I noticed Björn and Benny's backing vocals during the second chorus of ISHFIY (I guess noboby mentioned them here yet) and that was a moment when I really had goosebumps - that is the sound of ABBA as they once were. They are down in the mix but together with the blending of Agnetha's and Frida's voices it is so special!
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Post by jj on Oct 3, 2021 12:50:00 GMT
I must admit my initial reaction to ISHFIY was that it was a bit overblown and bombastic. ABBA always used to err on the humble side of things, especially when talking about themselves. They're clearly talking about themselves here, too, but in a kind of triumphant way. But it's grown on me, and if anyone has the right to be a little grandiose when talking about themselves, especially after their 10 years in the wilderness and their complete banishment from popular music circles, it's ABBA. But the melody itself is truly divine. (You only need to hear Benny's "Cirkeln" piano solo track "Kyssen" for proof.) ISHFIY has so many typical ABBA-flourishes, counterpoints and little additives, it's a bona fide ABBA track, with all the trademarks. As someone mentioned, it shares some of the sweeping majesty of "Eagle". It's certainly BIG and BOLD when they get to the "We still have it in us!!" sections! A degree of triumphalism in that part used to grate on me a bit. But not anymore. I agree that it definitely belongs to the "I Let the Music Speak" section of their oeuvre, the "musical theatre"-flavoured part of ABBA's work. Kind of like the girl from "I Wonder"' coming back to let us know she survived it all and she still has the power now, after the crazy carousel and marionette parts of her career.
"Don't Shut Me Down" is lovely. They haven't lost any of their pop-magic! That combined voice, plus I love how Agnetha injects emotion into certain key lyrics during her solo verses. She's always had this special talent and clearly hasn't lost any of it. She drops a subtle half chuckle into the line "in the shape I appear now". Amazing! Did anyone notice that? Haha! I love it!
Welcome back, Eddie!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2021 13:09:04 GMT
You're very welcome JJ ! It is nice to discuss all things ABBA again especially with the forthcoming launch of " Voyage " and The ABBAtars concert next year. I must admit I was very moved when I first heard ISHFIY and DSMD. " I Still Have Faith In You " is very beautiful and features a magnificent lead from Frida but when Agnetha joins in it gives me goosebumps. Simply wonderful. " Don't Shut Me Down " is completely different. A quirky catchy pop song with a dynamic very ABBA chorus preceded by Agnetha's unmistakably plaintive vocals. Both Agnetha and Frida never sounded better. The lyrics to DSMD are very clever and very appropriate " I'm not the same this time around ". ABBA have matured but continue to delight us fans.
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 3, 2021 13:47:19 GMT
Both have turned into ear worms for me, and haven't slept in 4 weeks !! lol
To a point its true, I wont go into my insomnia, but I do wake up with either floating around in my head. No other ABBA song has ever done that !!
That all said, ISHFIY, initially brought tears to my eyes upon first listening,( because I had waited nearly 40 years ??), and even now has a tendency to make me melancholic on subsequent listening . A very moving piece of music. However I feel its not single release material, a great album track. I think they had to go with the release because of all the years that we knew about it and the secrecy behind Voyage, so to 99.9 % of us we were only aware of 2 tracks...So had to go with it.. in Hindsight if they ( ABBA) knew now what they did then would it have been a single ?
DSMD , was instant, sing -a-longable.. a pure pop track , that's worthy of any of their more uptempo tracks.. I feel however it would have been a greater success , if there had been a proper video, instead of the Lyric one.. but hey who am i to know about marketing in this day and age, there may still be something up their sleeve for a full video, rumours are abound..
Very much intrigued on whats to come, and as said before I think Just A notion, could be a big surprise for the general public another instant ABBA track, could be a hit ? ( Whether thats down to familiarity who knows ), but its going to be a interesting few months coming up.....
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2021 14:27:30 GMT
Thanks Graham, interesting points raised. Do you think one of the new songs could be a potential re-working of " Just Like That " ? I do hope so.
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 3, 2021 14:45:55 GMT
I think Just Like That's boat sailed a long time ago, and alas will be the holy Grail of most of us until the bitter end..... I think we need to in the words of another song....Move On...
That all said ( and hedging his bets ..lol ) never say never.... but wouldn't surprise me if B&B had written into their wills never to release the track..lol
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