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ABBA - The Complete Studio Recordings
[2005 / CD / FLAC / Lossless / Log]
==
Release: 2005-11-07
Label: Polar Music International AB
Country: XE
Type: Album
Length: 523:16
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Tracklist:
CD 1: Ring Ring
1. Ring Ring
2. Another Town, Another Train
3. Disillusion
4. People Need Love
5. I Saw It in the Mirror
6. Nina, Pretty Ballerina
7. Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
8. Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother
9. He Is Your Brother
10. She's My Kind of Girl
11. I Am Just a Girl
12. Rock 'n Roll Band
13. Ring Ring (Bara du slog en signal) (Swedish version)
14. Åh, vilka tider
15. Merry-Go-Round
16. Santa Rosa
17. Ring Ring (Spanish version)
18. Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe steht
19. Ring Ring (German version)
CD 2: Waterloo
1. Waterloo
2. Sitting in the Palmtree
3. King Kong Song
4. Hasta mañana
5. My Mama Said
6. Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)
7. Honey, Honey
8. Watch Out
9. What About Livingstone
10. Gonna Sing You My Lovesong
11. Suzy-Hang-Around
12. Ring Ring (US remix 1974)
13. Waterloo (Swedish version)
14. Honey, Honey (Swedish version)
15. Waterloo (German version)
16. Hasta mañana (Spanish version)
17. Ring Ring (1974 remix, single version)
18. Waterloo (French version)
CD 3: ABBA
1. Mamma Mia
2. Hey, Hey Helen
3. Tropical Loveland
4. S.O.S.
5. Man in the Middle
6. Bang-A-Boomerang
7. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
8. Rock Me
9. Intermezzo No. 1
10. I've Been Waiting for You
11. So Long
12. Crazy World
13. Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton / On Top of Old Smokey / Midnight Special (1978 mix)
14. Mamma Mia (Spanish version)
CD 4: Arrival
1. When I Kissed the Teacher
2. Dancing Queen
3. My Love, My Life
4. Dum Dum Diddle
5. Knowing Me, Knowing You
6. Money, Money, Money
7. That's Me
8. Why Did It Have to Be Me
9. Tiger
10. Arrival
11. Fernando
12. Happy Hawaii
13. La reina del baile
14. Conociéndome, conociéndote
15. Fernando (Spanish version)
CD 5: The Album
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
10. Al andar
11. Gracias por la música
CD 6: Voulez-Vous
1. As Good as New
2. Voulez-Vous
3. I Have a Dream
4. Angeleyes
5. The King Has Lost His Crown
6. Does Your Mother Know
7. If It Wasn't for the Nights
8. Chiquitita
9. Lovers (Live a Little Longer)
10. Kisses of Fire
11. Summer Night City
12. Lovelight
13. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
14. Estoy soñando
15. Chiquitita (Spanish version)
16. ¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame!
CD 7: Super Trouper
1. Super Trouper
2. The Winner Takes It All
3. On and on and On
4. Andante, Andante
5. Me and I
6. Happy New Year
7. Our Last Summer
8. The Piper
9. Lay All Your Love on Me
10. The Way Old Friends Do
11. Elaine
12. Andante, Andante (Spanish version)
13. Felicidad
CD 8: The Visitors
1. The Visitors
2. Head Over Heels
3. When All Is Said and Done
4. Soldiers
5. I Let the Music Speak
6. One of Us
7. Two for the Price of One
8. Slipping Through My Fingers
9. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room
10. Should I Laugh or Cry
11. No hay a quien culpar
12. Se me está escapando
13. The Day Before You Came
14. Cassandra
15. Under Attack
16. You Owe Me One
CD 9: Rarities
1. Waterloo (alternate mix)
2. Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton / On Top of Old Smokey / Midnight Special (original album mix)
3. Thank You for the Music (Doris Day version)
4. Summer Night City (full length version)
5. Lovelight (alternative mix)
6. Dream World
7. Voulez-Vous (extended remix)
8. On and on and On (full length version)
9. Put on Your White Sombrero
10. I Am the City
11. ABBA Undeleted (medley of outtakes)
There's obviously going to be a certain amount of redundancy built into the purchase (or acquisition by gift) of an item like this -- anyone for whom it would possibly be appropriate as a possession is virtually certain to already own something close to 90 percent of what's here in some form or other. That said, this 11-disc (nine-CD/two-DVD) set is handsome enough, and such is the fandom of ABBA that the marketplace can easily absorb yet another compilation of their work. This release, reportedly limited to 25,000 copies worldwide, is appearing post-Mama Mia, after all, where the group has a showcase on Broadway (which reportedly, as of late 2005, has advance ticket sales stretching out years ahead) for their music, variously expanding and reinvigorating that fan base by the thousands in person on a daily basis. And there are aspects of its contents that make this box special and unique, though whether these are all positive is open to debate, depending upon how sensitive, sophisticated, or obsessive a listener one happens to be.
The discs are designed to look like black vinyl (similar to what was done with the CDs in ABKCO's Rolling Stones CD singles boxes), and the eight original albums are packaged in mini-LP sleeves re-creating the art and design of the quartet's original releases; one also gets two books that encompass, respectively, the song lyrics and a lavishly illustrated time line for group's history and work. Each of the albums represented here has been augmented with the presences of relevant bonus tracks -- usually alternate mixes or alternate language versions (favoring Swedish or Spanish); the ninth disc is the rarities volume, which includes such tracks as an alternate version of "Lovelight" and a previously unheard alternate mix of "Waterloo" (mastered from a vinyl source), and an extended version of "On and On and On" (in mono -- all that was available). Speaking of availability, the DVD inclusion of the live performances off the Dick Cavett Show is limited to five songs, the rest having never officially been preserved in the Swedish television archives (although they were on a videocassette issued in Japan sometime in the 1980s). The DVDs encompass a documentary as well as the core of their video collection, but the 1979 ABBA Live is not included in this set, and there are a few odd tracks that aren't here, ranging from some odd version of "Dancing Queen" with the extra verse, and a version of "Under Attack" that only appeared on an American cassette, to an oft-discussed but never quite finished single "Just Like That," which is to ABBA approximately what the extended version of "Bluebird" was to Buffalo Springfield. It is fortunate that the rarities, even when they aren't variants of international hits, are as eminently listenable as the group's main catalog, and their presence greatly expands choices that one has for listening, even on a casual basis.
The mastering will be a separate issue to some listeners. Rather than draw upon the digital masters done for the 2001 reissues of the ABBA catalog, the producers appear to have gone back to the original analog tapes for a fresh pass, which at times yields impressive results -- the sound here is often downright glowing, but so was the sound on the last round of reissues -- but it also means that they've done their own fixes of the various anomalies that existed in the original tapes, independent of the work that was previously done so successful on The Definitive Collection. In many instances, only noise-freaks and those with producer's ears will notice the differences, but it's to be left to the individual listener to decide for themselves whether the new masters work 100 percent or not. Some people may possibly prefer the seemingly greater fidelity to the original analog tapes. In terms of overall design, on the plus side the producers have made this set a little more convenient to organize for actual listening (as opposed to sitting on one's shelf) than is usual for boxes such as this, except when it comes to organizing or presenting relevant information -- each album has been augmented with bonus cuts, but to keep track of the latter or their origins and raison d'etre here, one much consult a separate insert sheet or go to the accompanying book. And one other important consideration for almost anyone buying this set, because of the presence of the DVDs, is that they make sure that whatever edition they're buying -- especially if they're ordering it online -- is mastered for the video format used in their locale. They all seem to be Region 0, but must be NTSC for the United States and Canada and PAL in most other parts of the world. Otherwise one will be limited to enjoying those discs on computer playback, or will need to own an all-region player. This is an expensive set, to be sure, particularly at the official list price, but also one that's easily enough enjoyed.
The discs are designed to look like black vinyl (similar to what was done with the CDs in ABKCO's Rolling Stones CD singles boxes), and the eight original albums are packaged in mini-LP sleeves re-creating the art and design of the quartet's original releases; one also gets two books that encompass, respectively, the song lyrics and a lavishly illustrated time line for group's history and work. Each of the albums represented here has been augmented with the presences of relevant bonus tracks -- usually alternate mixes or alternate language versions (favoring Swedish or Spanish); the ninth disc is the rarities volume, which includes such tracks as an alternate version of "Lovelight" and a previously unheard alternate mix of "Waterloo" (mastered from a vinyl source), and an extended version of "On and On and On" (in mono -- all that was available). Speaking of availability, the DVD inclusion of the live performances off the Dick Cavett Show is limited to five songs, the rest having never officially been preserved in the Swedish television archives (although they were on a videocassette issued in Japan sometime in the 1980s). The DVDs encompass a documentary as well as the core of their video collection, but the 1979 ABBA Live is not included in this set, and there are a few odd tracks that aren't here, ranging from some odd version of "Dancing Queen" with the extra verse, and a version of "Under Attack" that only appeared on an American cassette, to an oft-discussed but never quite finished single "Just Like That," which is to ABBA approximately what the extended version of "Bluebird" was to Buffalo Springfield. It is fortunate that the rarities, even when they aren't variants of international hits, are as eminently listenable as the group's main catalog, and their presence greatly expands choices that one has for listening, even on a casual basis.
The mastering will be a separate issue to some listeners. Rather than draw upon the digital masters done for the 2001 reissues of the ABBA catalog, the producers appear to have gone back to the original analog tapes for a fresh pass, which at times yields impressive results -- the sound here is often downright glowing, but so was the sound on the last round of reissues -- but it also means that they've done their own fixes of the various anomalies that existed in the original tapes, independent of the work that was previously done so successful on The Definitive Collection. In many instances, only noise-freaks and those with producer's ears will notice the differences, but it's to be left to the individual listener to decide for themselves whether the new masters work 100 percent or not. Some people may possibly prefer the seemingly greater fidelity to the original analog tapes. In terms of overall design, on the plus side the producers have made this set a little more convenient to organize for actual listening (as opposed to sitting on one's shelf) than is usual for boxes such as this, except when it comes to organizing or presenting relevant information -- each album has been augmented with bonus cuts, but to keep track of the latter or their origins and raison d'etre here, one much consult a separate insert sheet or go to the accompanying book. And one other important consideration for almost anyone buying this set, because of the presence of the DVDs, is that they make sure that whatever edition they're buying -- especially if they're ordering it online -- is mastered for the video format used in their locale. They all seem to be Region 0, but must be NTSC for the United States and Canada and PAL in most other parts of the world. Otherwise one will be limited to enjoying those discs on computer playback, or will need to own an all-region player. This is an expensive set, to be sure, particularly at the official list price, but also one that's easily enough enjoyed.
codice:
http://filepost.com/folder/263736a5/
codice:
http://filepost.com/folder/b9331e5b/
