The Definitive Collection

by ABBA

Overview

The titles of hits compilations always deal in superlatives: "Greatest," "Best," "Very Best" -- but the compilers of this ABBA collection have a special problem justifying the release of yet another such album after the multi-platinum success of 1992's ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits and its 1993 follow-up, More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits. (Indeed, the band was never shy about repackaging, issuing a Greatest Hits LP in 1976 as only its third U.S. album, followed by Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 in 1979 and The Singles [The First Ten Years] in 1982.) They have settled on The Definitive Collection and done their best to live up to the name. The 37-track double CD contains "for the first time exclusively collected in one package, each and every single as conceived and released by ABBA and their record company Polar Music between 1972 and 1982," writes annotator Carl Magnus Palm. That accounts for 30 tracks, with another five consisting of songs individual countries released as singles, notably "When All Is Said and Done" and "The Visitors," which Atlantic in the U.S. put out for chart entries. The remaining two tracks are a single remix of "Ring Ring," being given its first American release, and an extended dance remix of "Voulez-Vous," not previously released commercially. The remastered sound is excellent, and the nearly chronological order of the sequencing allows an appreciation of the band's development from light Europop to a disco-influenced sound and onto a more energetic, new wave-influenced approach, all with compelling melodies and dense arrangements in a Phil Spector Wall of Sound production style. Palm's informative liner notes tell the ABBA story single by single. (Who knew that "The Visitors" is about "the fears of dissidents in the Soviet Union"?) If this doesn't satisfy you, go ahead and buy the group's entire catalog. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	11/06/2001
Label:	Utv / Polygram
UPC:	0731454997423
Rank:	2133

Tracks

Disc 1

1. People Need Love
2. He Is Your Brother
3. Ring Ring
4. Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
5. Waterloo
6. Honey, Honey
7. So Long
8. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
9. S.O.S.
10. Mamma Mia
11. Fernando
12. Dancing Queen
13. Money, Money, Money
14. Knowing Me, Knowing You
15. The Name of the Game
16. Take a Chance on Me
17. Eagle
18. Summer Night City
19. Chiquitita
20. Does Your Mother Know

Disc 2

21. Voulez-Vous
22. Angeleyes
23. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
24. I Have a Dream
25. The Winner Takes It All
26. Super Trouper
27. On and on and On
28. Lay All Your Love on Me
29. One of Us
30. When All Is Said and Done
31. Head Over Heels
32. The Visitors (Crackin' Up)
33. The Day Before You Came
34. Under Attack
35. Thank You for the Music
36. Ring Ring
37. Voulez-Vous

Album Credits

Performance Credits

ABBA   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Agnetha Faeltskog   Composer
Stig Anderson   Composer
Tony Banks   Composer
Jon Astley   Remastering
Chris Stewart   Composer
Benny Andersson   Composer,Producer
John Silver   Composer
Bjoern Ulvaeus   Composer,Producer
Phil Cody   Composer
Neil Sedaka   Composer
Michael B. Tretow   Engineer,Remastering
Peter Gabriel   Composer
Marko Soederstroem   Compilation Supervisor
Carl Magnus Palm   Liner Notes
Bengt H. Malmqvist   Photography
Margareta Lundstrom   Project Coordinator
Anders Hanser   Photography
Ola Lager   Photography
Lotta Friberg   Art Direction
Jeanette Andersson   Project Coordinator
Niclas Hakansson   Art Direction
Anthony Phillips   Composer
Mike Rutherford   Composer
Anni-Frid Lyngstad   Composer