Maps of Music

ABBA: The Album (1977)

Where the lyrics of ABBA: The Album take you, and where it was really made.

Its UK release came weeks after the Scandinavian one, because the pressing plants could not keep up with the pre-orders.

Key places

Recorded and mixed at Marcus Music (1977)

Recording site Marcus Music, Stockholm — Discogs notes say the album was recorded and mixed at Marcus Music in Stockholm. The point uses the candidate coordinates for this site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed at Metronome Studio (1977)

Recording site Atlantis Studios — Discogs notes also list Metronome Studio in Stockholm as a place where the album was recorded and mixed. The point uses the candidate coordinates for this site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Name of the Game mixed at Bohus Studio (1977)

Recording site Bohus Studio, Kungälv — Discogs notes say The Name of the Game was mixed at Bohus Studio in Kungälv, not the whole album. The point uses the candidate coordinates for this site. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• ABBA: The Album is the fifth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA
• Released in Scandinavia on 12 December 1977 through Polar Music
• UK release delayed to January 1978 after pre-orders overwhelmed the pressing plants
• Released alongside ABBA: The Movie with the same cover, functioning as its soundtrack
• Nine songs in total, several of them featured in the film
• Two UK number-one singles: Take a Chance on Me and The Name of the Game
• European hits Eagle and Thank You for the Music

Background

• Three songs come from the 1977 tour mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair
• The mini-musical was performed during each European and Australian show in 1977
• Thank You for the Music, I Wonder (Departure) and I'm a Marionette were kept for the album
• Get on the Carousel was rewritten as the up-tempo track Hole in Your Soul
• Fältskog and Lyngstad shared the lead role in the mini-musical, wearing matching blonde wigs and costumes

Recording

• Album recorded and mixed at Marcus Music and Metronome Studio, Stockholm
• The Name of the Game was mixed at Bohus Studio, Kungälv
• Additional overdubs done at Glen Studios, Stockholm
• Recording sessions ran from May 1977 to November 1977
• The last three tracks are presented as 3 scenes from a mini-musical

Cover

• Polar's official cover, made by art director Rune Söderqvist, has an entirely white background
• The white cover is the basis for current CD versions
• Epic's UK LP used a blue background fading to white at the bottom, with a gatefold sleeve

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
• Their name is an acronym of the members' first names; it was officially adopted in 1973.
• Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson first collaborated as songwriters in 1966 and became hit writers in 1969.
• Stig Anderson, founder of Polar Music, pushed the pair toward international success.

Members

• Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus were married from 1971 to 1980.
• Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were married from 1978 to 1981.
• Fältskog sang lead and backing vocals; Lyngstad sang lead and backing vocals.
• Ulvaeus played guitar and sang; Andersson played keyboards and sang.

Career

• The group won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 for Sweden with "Waterloo".
• Hits include "Dancing Queen", "Fernando", "Mamma Mia" and "The Winner Takes It All".
• They disbanded in December 1982 after their final public performance.
• ABBA Gold, released in 1992, became a worldwide best-seller.
• Mamma Mia! the stage musical premiered in 1999 and was adapted into a 2008 film.
• The group reunited in 2016 and released the album Voyage in 2021.
• ABBA Voyage, a concert residency with digital avatars, opened in London in May 2022.
• In 2024 all four members were appointed Commanders, First Class, of the Royal Order of Vasa.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Music Week gave the album its album of the week rating
• Music Week said the band had maintained consistently high levels of musicianship and originality
• Music Week said they had a steady grasp on the pulse of popular taste
• Record Mirror gave a grudgingly good review, calling the album partly superb
• Record Mirror singled out One Man One Woman as the best track
• Record Mirror also praised Eagle and The Name of the Game highly
• Record Mirror said the second side was a sharp drop in quality
• Record Mirror rated the album four stars out of five

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Bruce Eder wrote retrospectively that the album marked a step forward for the group
• Eder noted the group absorbed influences such as the laid-back California sound of Fleetwood Mac
• Rolling Stone's John Rockwell gave the album a favorable review
• Rockwell described it as an interesting departure from innocently superficial lyrics toward a more mature and intelligent record
• NME, reviewing it when it turned 30, wrote that the album still sounds pleasantly nostalgic

Records

• The album debuted at number one in the UK and stayed there for seven weeks
• It ended as the third biggest selling album of the year in the UK
• It finished behind the movie soundtrack LPs of Saturday Night Fever and Grease
• It reached number one in many territories
• In the US it became ABBA's highest-charting album during their original run

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The inner gatefold of Epic's UK LP was designed to look like an air mail envelope, with a photo of ABBA inside a stamp in the corner.
• Epic's UK design was the first and only time Epic radically broke away from the standard Polar Music design for an ABBA album.
• The album's last three tracks were originally from the 1977 tour mini-musical and are listed from A to C.
• The Name of the Game was mixed at Bohus Studio in Kungälv, outside the main Stockholm studios.
• The UK release came late because pressing plants could not meet the pre-orders before Christmas 1977.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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