ABBA – Voyage: Album Review

ABBA – Voyage: Album Review
Expectations run high and the excitement could not be denied as we all waited for a brand-new ABBA model to makes its way out the door. Talked about for the last five years, delayed by virus madness just like the rest of the world. Equal to the drama that would greet a new Beatles album if one could be made forty years after their last.

Voyage ignites and takes off. Magic and power undiminished.

They exploded like Beatlemania in 1974, when they won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. Conquered the world with America lagging. The overnight sensations came from years of professional playing. They embodied the scope of Western popular music.

Bjorn Ulvaeus was a young Folkie and played in a popular Swedish skiffle band the Hootenanny Singers.

Benny Andersson led the Hep Stars, regarded as the Swedish Beatles.

Anni-Frid Lyngstad started with her own band in the Sixties. Gained some popularity in Sweden singing in a Cabaret Jazz style.

Agnetha Faltskog was a young musical prodigy in the Sixties and had numerous Number One singles. Wrote many of her own songs which was not common at all for women in those times.

They were a Super-Group of a sort when they came together through various projects in the early Seventies. A lot of work went into becoming the overnight sensations. The essential fifth ABBA was manager and producer Stig Andersson who played the Brian Epstein role.

I Still Have Faith in You. A ballad and a call to arms wrapped in one package. Many of the songs address their legacy and their enduring relationship. The song-writing partners were married to their Voices. Just as Lennon also regarded McCartney as a marriage partnership. There was a union of heart and mind/ The likes of which were rare/ A bitter-sweet song.

There is one piece of the mystery. They had that chemical bond which link sibling musicians, like the Everly’s or the Bee Gees.

Anni-Frid starts slow and measured, her voice a little lower but undiminished. The sound rises up in an anthem halfway through as the voices combine and the strings come in.

When You Danced With Me. Nordic Power Pop and the skirls of a great bag-pipe sound. Big Country do it with two guitars and effects pedals. Can’t tell if they’re guitars or keyboards here. A Scandinavian circle dance with Celtic rhythm.

Here we come to a problem with Little Things. A Christmas song that overloads on sugar. A children’s chorus at the end. An unashamed hook into the festive season market. Bloody hell Elvis did it, and this song would slot in perfectly on Phil Spector’s Christmas Album. And sound better than Frosty the Snowman or Winter Wonderland.

Still the greatest Christmas album by a country mile.

https://youtu.be/R31O-FMeGFw

Agnetha leads on Don’t Shut Me Down, a dramatic and teary opening. A great soprano voice undiminished. Energy is turned up when the heavy bass bottom enters and the signature Euro Disco sound breaks out.

I Can Be That Woman is the work of genius songwriters. A wife comes down to where her husband has been sleeping on the couch overnight. He’s been sleeping with Tammy. Tammy looks straight up into the wife’s eyes. Then jumps off and swishes her tail.

You’re not the man you should have been/ I’m not the woman I could have been. A Country song dripping with barely articulate pain and heartache. Agnetha manages to play both George Jones and Tammy Wynette. You say you’ve had it and screw you/ I say I love you. A woman’s companion to He Stopped Loving Her Today.

Throughout their career the two vocalists have had the final say on the style of how the songs are presented. Mix that in with relationship dynamics and it’s also players only love you when you’re playing.

Just A Notion. The Girl Group sound boosted with some Jazz colour. A great bass line which sounds a little James Jamerson. The music sounds like the Funk Brothers playing behind the Crystals.

Keep An Eye on Dan swings with some Eighties Electro-Disco and they mix in a bit of Stevie Wonderlove Funk.

Bumblebee starts and finishes with the pipes of Fernando. Honey Pop with strings. Great lyrics with the pastoral theme of the Carter Family’s classic Wildwood Flower.

They address politics on the concluding Ode to Freedom. Strings are dominant with the cellos lugubrious and sombre. I would like to think that freedom is more than just a word. The most orchestral tune on the album and a hymn to the fans. A nod to the Beatle’s Let It Be.

I would like to pretend that this is like Elvis and his ‘68 Comeback. After all, we had to endure the awful Mamma Mia movies. But the group has stated that this the real closing of the story. They are not going to revive a legendary career.

Cherilyn Sarkisian was a backing vocalist with Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. As Cher, she sang on the sequel movie and made a generally decent album of ABBA covers. The circle is closing and will with the forthcoming ABBA-tars tour.

Take your time to enjoy Voyage. It will reveal many layers. One of the best albums of the year.

Rev Orange Peel

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