Star Ratings for The Album

My most favourite ABBA album, so five stars (and a half ). I'm not able to rank the songs - it's like choosing your favourite child.

Oops
I am sure Alan can transfer it over.

The Album was the second ABBA album I bought. I loved the hits but (being 13) found some of the more adult-oriented material harder to gel with at the time. I was captivated by Move On when I heard it on radio. That chorus is enormous. I'm A Marionette is a song that properly grew on me in recent years, to the point it has really shot up the rankings for me.

I think that it might be the best recordings that ABBA released. The arrangements could be cluttered in lesser hands but everything has so much space around it, everything is crisp. (You really notice the difference if you go from this record to Voyage). My rankings shift all the time, but my No.1 and my No.9 are almost set in stone. Having said that, TYFTM has grown on me. It's very pretty, beautifully sung, and the production is pristine but the song is freighted with a bit too much tinsel. That, and it's a bit overplayed.


1. The Name Of The Game
2. One Man, One Woman
3. I'm A Marionette
4. Take A Chance On Me
5. Eagle
6. I Wonder (Departure)
7. Move On
8. Hole In Your Soul
9. Thank You For The Music

Now 13 years old (in early 1978) I still liked the pure pop but some more mature songs caught my ears.

1 Take a Chance on Me - still in my top 5 - sublime
2 Eagle - majestic with headphones - like a lot of their recordings
3 Move On - improves after the first verse
4 The Name of the Game - could do without the middle bit. I quite like the dual vocal version too.
5 Hole in Your Soul - brilliant, unexpected - and a Voyage show highlight for me !
6 Thank You for the Music - first heard in ABBA - The Movie - I was disappointed by this version - always preferred the 'movie' version's backing track.
7 One Man, One Woman - mature, beautiful. not keen on the video though
8 I'm a Marionette - first heard in ABBA - The Movie - I was disappointed by this version - always preferred the 'movie' version.
9 I Wonder - prefer the live version from TNOTG single - this is too stilted

"The Album" is an ABBA album unlike any other. It's somewhat edgier and got a somewhat stronger character than the others. The painted cover on white ground looks so elegant and classy, and all its little references to "The Movie" add to this impression. It got an A-side that's possibly the strongest of all ABBA albums, a rundown of four solid 10/10 tracks. Then, the B-side is unlike any other as well, with another one of these really strong album tracks being followed by what could be a rocky album closer already, leading up to the mini-musical that explores different temperatures and brings a theatrical quality to the table. All in all, as I think that, as close as they were already there with "The Album", ABBA were still going a little uphill to a peak they were yet to reach, I'll give it a 4,5/5. I approve of all nine songs though. My ranking is as follows:

1. Eagle - this has only recently emerged as my favourite. I love the unique, subtle and warm sound it creates with the voices and the instruments, and the majestic feel of it.
2. The Name Of The Game - a complex and nuanced piece of art
3. Take A Chance On Me - infectous bop
4. One Man, One Woman - Back in the early/mid 00s, when the Definitive Collection 2-CD was my ABBA go-to, the official ABBA site had a different one of the promo videos up every day. I remember how it felt like magic as this song filled my room for the first time, with its raw emotion and the sheer beauty of the harmonies. This was when I knew I had to dive deeper into ABBA, for only a band of exceptional talent could have such a song as a mere Album track.
5. Move On - wonderful maritime flair and really, really strong. I prefer the Spanish Version though for I prefer the extra Agnetha verse to Björn's spoken intro that sounds a bit dated to me, and the overall production/mix is juicier, poppier and sunnier.
6. Thank You For The Music - it tends to get overplayed, particularily in documentations and such, but if you can look overlook this, it's actually a really lovely song. I kind of always felt the album version is somewhat overproduced or a little rigid. The mix from The Movie is more supple and warmer, and the Doris Day Version benefits from its more cabaret and silky treatment. The 1982 Nöjesmaskinen performance is stunning too.
7. I Wonder (Departure) - again, the B-Side live version is possibly the warmer and smoother option to listen to the song, despite its technical imperfections (that never bothered me anywhere as much as Michael B. Tretow though). It looks lower in the ranking than I feel about it really.
8. Hole In Your Soul - another live version preference of mine, this time 1979 Wembley, where it can play out its energy to the fullest and more free. The studio version to me feels a tad tensed and screechy to me, the "ahaa, you paint your world and use all colours" part has a magic to it they couldn't replicate live though.
9. I'm A Marionette - surely amongst the furthest ABBA has ever ventured into different territories, not only (obviously) musical theatre, but also prog rock. To me, it's a success, but still a song I don't come back to very often. It grabs me though, when I do.

Agreed Gary. The Album is just as mature as The Visitors but more accessible. It doesn't have throwaway songs like TFTPOO.

It is a bit Fleetwoid Maccy in parts and should be considered a classic. It is also traditional ABBA with TACOM and HIYS and of course Musical.