Abba

People need love pre-dates the recognized Abba line-up, as it features Benny, Bjorn and a female singer who has slipped back into obscurity. Ring ring was their first major recording. It failed to get Abba the Swedish nomination for Eurovision 1973 but it was a big hit in Sweden, Australia and some other countries. It was a hit in Britain, but only after Abba had established their reputation by winning Eurovision 1974 with Waterloo (not included here). The last new Abba single, Day before you came, is one of my favorite Abba songs. It was only a minor hit but would have been a much bigger hit if Abba had still been at their peak. Angel-eyes was one half of a double-sided hit that also featured Voulez-vous (not included here). Three other outstanding Abba hits -Winner takes it all, Fernando and One of us - are also featured.

Thank you for the music is a brilliant song that was not released as a single until Abba had broken up. Eagle, from the same original album, was released as a single in some countries but not the UK, where it would surely have been a huge hit. So long was not a UK hit but I believe it was a hit in some countries. The remainder of this collection is made of great album tracks. All of them are good enough to have been hits but none were released as singles in Britain or America and I've not heard of them being hits anywhere else.

So this is a great collection of big hits, minor hits and album tracks. All the songs here can be found elsewhere so Abba fans do not need this, though some (like me) may opt to buy it anyway just because it is so well compiled. This is a great introduction to Abba's music for the uncommitted, who will discover that there's a lot more to Abba than just the hits.

Zeitlos Modern      5 von 5 Punkten
Auch knapp 30 Jahre nach ihrem Waterloo-Erfolg in Brighton hören sich die Musikstücke der Gruppe ABBA so an, als seien sie erst vor kurzem aufgelegt worden. Die vorliegende "Millenium-Edition" zeigt einen Querschnitt der musikalischen Vielfalt der vier Schweden. Es sind nicht die absoluten Hits auf diesem Album, warum auch? Die haben eingefleischte ABBA Fans sowieso schon alle, die Mischung von geläufigen Melodien und selten gehörten Stücken macht den Reiz dieses Albums aus. Lieder aus der Anfangszeit, "People Need Love", wie aus der Endphase "The Day Before You Came" sind darauf vorhanden und zeigen die musíkalische Entwicklung einer Gruppe auf, die wahrlich Musikgeschichte geschrieben hat.

Klassiker und unbekanntere Höhepunkte      5 von 5 Punkten
Altbekannte Hits, vermischt mit weniger bekannten Songs. Sehr schön MY LOVE MY LIFE und IF IT WASN'T FOR THE NIGHTS- weniger bekannt, aber immer noch zeitlos gut;und dies, obwohl schon über 20 Jahre vergangen sind. Von welcher Gruppe kann man dies noch sagen?