Search This Blog

Thursday, November 5, 2009

ABBA: The Album


ABBA: THE ALBUM (1977)

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

"Getting serious" is not a concept that works well with ABBA. In fact, once ABBA and Arrival had firmly put them up on the big screen, it is hard to imagine how it would have been at all pos­sible for them to "get serious". Start donning black leather? Teach Björn the essentials of chain­saw buzz guitar? Hire Lou Reed as a lyricist? Recast the girls as Debbie Harry lookalikes? Do all these things at once — and come out as the ultimate clowns in the entertainment?

Naturally, they did not resort to anything of that type. And still The Album manages to be that one ABBA record which even the professional haters might somewhat appreciate: sacrificing none of the trademarks of their classic mid-1970s sound, it injects a few extra elements that sug­gest going beyond cheap entertainment — and, might, in fact, indirectly be responsible for the fact that the band's legacy has so far remained above ground. Who knows: if it weren't for 'Eagle' and 'I'm A Marionette', we might not be listening to 'Honey Honey' and 'Mamma Mia' today.

Just like Arrival, this next record is almost frighteningly consistent — all the more amazing con­sidering the band were superstars now, jet planes and megatouring and parties and all. Its one and only attempt at straightahead rocking ('Hole In Your Soul') is, as usual, questionable — certainly catchy and exciting, but there is always something cringeworthy in the lines 'there's gotta be rock'n'roll to fill the hole in your soul' if the song that contains them is not rock'n'roll at all. But other than that, each song nails its pur­pose, and quite a few of these purposes are well worth knowing.

At the heart of the album is its "mini-musical", 'The Girl With The Golden Hair', dedicated to the undying issue of the ups and downs of show-business. The innocent and charming young heroine happens to be musically endowed ('Thank You For The Music'), gets whisked away from her little hometown by the temptations of showbiz ('I Wonder'), is sucked into the paranoid whirl­wind of the entertainment machine ('Get On The Carousel'; for some reason the song never made it onto the album, but can be seen and heard performed, e. g., in ABBA: The Movie), and finally realizes that she has become a helpless victim of the monster — but, of course, it is too late alrea­dy ('I'm A Marionette').

The subject is as old as show business itself, but nobody forced the band to go in for all the dark overtones, and for that they deserve a bit of praise; what matters most, though, is the excellence of the music throughout. 'Thank You For The Music', like it or not, is an anthem for the ages, bound to be treasured by sissies around the world just like 'We Will Rock You' is treasured by all the tough guys (and it is advisable to check out the silly cutesy cover version by the Carpenters — who had their share of admirable covers, but totally missed the boat on this one — just to see whatever makes the original so great in the first place); 'I Wonder' is not a favourite, but works well as a solid Broadway-style sendup; and 'I'm A Marionette', ABBA's grimmest offering so far, shows that the girls can pull off a convincing 'desperate plea for help'-style song even in spite of all the Swedish accent. Do not miss Janne Schaffer's exquisite guitar battle with the strings arran­gement during the lengthy instrumental section, either.

This final three song-kicker is not even the best stretch on the album, though. The biggest shock comes at the beginning, when 'Eagle' welcomes you with its swelling synth blast and mountain­ous sound — first and last time the band starts off an album with something that rises high above an effective, but superficial pop hook. 'Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky' does not look that great when it's on paper, but few songs I have heard in my life really capture that feel any better with their musical arrangement. The acoustic guitars, the pounding majestic synth riff, the post-psychedelic electric guitar trimmings, the soaring vocals, no other ABBA song does the job of transporting you somewhere else that effectively. Perhaps 'Tropical Loveland' did conjure images of hot beaches and papayas, but what's that next to snowy peaks and heights and swooping up and down along with the torrents of trippy electric licks, and looking down at the world from the stratosphere? This is ABBA's masterpiece.

They could have instead chosen to open the album with 'Take A Chance On Me' — a song that, with its clever usage of the title as the main rhythmic basis for itself, represents further progres­sion over the 'Mamma Mia' approach. Or with 'The Name Of The Game', possibly their best hit in the 'multi-part mini-suite' category. Or with 'Move On', another whirwind-like anthem whose la-la-las are impossible to forget upon first listen. Or even with 'One Man One Woman', the album's most lyrically revealing moment where Frida lets you in on some of the boy-girl tensions within the band before concluding that 'it's never too late for changing' — optimistic, aren't they? — and gracefully ending ABBA's most underrated ballad in the entire catalog.

But they opened it with 'Eagle', and that was a clear signal that the band did try to "grow", if not in overall image or lyrics quality, then at least in terms of complexity, inventiveness, and raw emotion. No matter how much I listen to the song or the album, I can't help admiring all the little tricks and touches that are all over the place. For me, this is unquestionably ABBA's highest point — subsequent records never managed to even begin matching it in terms of exploration (with the possible exception of The Visitors, an album whose "interestingness", however, does not catch up with its lack of consistency). In fact, this just might be the highest point of 1970's "Europop" as a whole — one of the few reasons that prevent us from forgetting the thing ever existed.

4 comments:

  1. The final perfect album, and the perfectest of all. This is right after the halfway point (fifth out of eight) and it is where you notice that ABBA are getting darker. No "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother" on here. First of all, there's "Eagle", which is, hands down, THE best ABBA song EVER. I won't try to describe it, because George, you did that way better than I could hope to. "Take a Chance On Me" is fun. "One Man, One Woman" is pretty. "The Name of the Game" is great, especially with its never-ending chorus. "Move On" has a pretty chorus (even though the spoken verse is COR-NY). "Hole in Your Soul" is even cornier, but it's definitely a guilty pleasure. "Thank You for the Music" is very, very pretty; so is "I Wonder", but it's more Broadway than ABBA, so I kinda like it less. But "I'm a Marionette", if not for "Eagle", would be the best ABBA song ever. It rocks and is desperate and its instrosection is AWESOME! Thank you, ABBA, and thank you, George.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Being from 1963 Abba is very much connected to my teenage years. The very first record I bought was the single Money, money, money. Only a few weeks later I discovered Made in Japan and understood I had to hate Abba. Still today I really can't. The hits are simply too well written.
    Sure I'm not going to comment on them, with one exception: Eagle. But I only want to remark that it has some innovative and great guitar play, especially in the coda. This should say something, coming from somebody who practically worships Blackmore until he quit hardrock (well, post 1980 only on stage).

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The single greatest proof of the album's greatness is that MNb likes this band. I don't think MNb has ever been so positive about an album ever, and that is more than enough to prove this album's worth.

    "And still The Album manages to be that one ABBA record which even the professional haters might somewhat appreciate: sacrificing none of the trademarks of their classic mid-1970s sound, it injects a few extra elements that sug­gest going beyond cheap entertainment — and, might, in fact, indirectly be responsible for the fact that the band's legacy has so far remained above ground."
    I honestly don't know what they did as a whole to make this sound like a piece of art rather than just a commercial record. Each song has something they did to make it more powerful. My best bet is the girls have really mastered their vocal techniques, adding even more gorgeous harmonies than before and even adding elements of drama to the vocals. Another thing is that it is a bit more diverse, but it succeeds in its diversity, which shows that Benny and Bjorn have matured as songwriters. And the minor touches of course, the synth blasts of "Eagle", the moody bass of "Name of the Game", the classical majesty of "Thank You For The Music", etc. But yeah, it is not easy to define as a whole, but that makes the band even greater than they already are!

    " there is always something cringeworthy in the lines 'there's gotta be rock'n'roll to fill the hole in your soul' if the song that contains them is not rock'n'roll at all."
    Eh, I don't see that as a big deal. The lyrics are dumb, but since when has ABBA's lyrics mattered? The melody is catchy as hell, and that's all there is to it: there is nothing wrong with an ABBA song if it works melodically.

    " 'Thank You For The Music', like it or not, is an anthem for the ages, bound to be treasured by sissies around the world just like 'We Will Rock You' is treasured by all the tough guys"
    Comparing it to We Will Rock You is kind of denigrating the song in my opinion. We Will Rock You is a dumb, cocky anthem made to be an arena favorite. However, Benny and Bjorn truly were trying to make art with that song and make it a masterpiece, and that is exactly what it is.

    " gracefully ending ABBA's most underrated ballad in the entire catalog."
    YES! I have always felt this way. The vocal harmonies are so beautiful, and the tension but hope in the song makes it complex and meaningful. Anyone who thinks ABBA's music had little substance will be disproven with that song, let alone the other masterpieces of the album.

    Good review George! This is one of my favorites, and I am glad you have always supported the band even when people call them pop nonsense.

    ReplyDelete