ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits

There is a whole new generation of kids listening (or perhaps pretending not to listen) to ABBA's music as interpreted by the new Swedish group, the A-Teens. I must say, I'll have to stick with these originals. If you think you need only one silly seventies pop-dance album, this may be the one for you.

Most of ABBA's songs are syrupy sweet with a dance-able swaying thump in the background, ala Dancing Queen, Fernando, Knowing Me, Knowing You. I love them all. I can never quite decide whether these are smirky camp or absolutely serious, but perhaps that is part of the appeal. The enigma of ABBA.

What surprised me, revisiting some of the early songs, like SOS and Waterloo, is the almost rock and roll feel. The beat is harder and faster before the group went completely disco.

Still, I think if ABBA has a live-forever pop classic, it has to be Dancing Queen, which has pride of place here as the first track. This really sums up everything you need to know about Pop.


Lively, Cheerful, Occasionally Thoughtful   January 26, 2003
C. MCCALLISTER (The waters of the Great Lakes)
60 out of 64 found this review helpful

I am the right age to have known ABBA in its early years, but I didn't. I've always been out of synchrony with music trends, but I enjoy what I enjoy, when I enjoy it. I "discovered" ABBA in the late twentieth century (Man, that makes me feel old!), and still enjoy them. At first, they come off as "ear candy, and a few of their songs are just pretty fluff, but an examination of the lyrics (yes, there are real words accompanying that powerful beat and those lush melodies) shows that there is some depth there. Not always, but more often than you might think, and not always where one might expect it.

"Dancing Queen" - Okay, I just talked about depth, but then we start with one of the fluffier songs. It does create the image that some girls have of being the star at a big dance, but there is little depth beyond that. This one has a high cotton-candy factor: very sweet, but too much can give you a stomachache (look at the word, "stomachache," as it's a strange word, just to look at).

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" - Well, here we get a bit more meaning. This one, to me, is all about picking one's partners in Life carefully. That might not be profound, but it is a good idea to include in a song. The melody is fairly rich for this song, and the beat is fairly strong. A lively song.

"Take A Chance On Me" - This is a very lively song with lyrics that should be taken with a grain of salt, as that "take a chance on me" statement implies potential danger (otherwise, why would someone need encouragement like that?). A good song, though.

"Mamma Mia" - This one is lively and fun and good to dance to and lively and fun. I don't see the lyrics as having a lot of meaning to them, but the song did inspire a musical, so I guess that some people see an important story in there. To me, it's just a good fun song.

"Lay All Your Love On Me" - Like "Take a Chance on Me", this is a good song, that has the message of "I want you to love me, but be careful, as that is a risky thing to do." Here, though, the risks are more clearly stated, as is the challenge to try love anyway. An interesting song, with a good beat and a good melody.

"Super Trouper" - This one has a powerful beat and a good melody. The lyrics are nothing fancy, but it does make me wants to sing along, and it is very cheerful.

"I Have A Dream" - This happy song is an ode to optimism and an anthem for the cheerful people of the world, set to pleasant music, and featuring nice, clear vocals. It reminds me, in its spirit, of "The Happy Wanderer".

"The Winner Takes It All" - Is this Donald Trump's theme song? No, I guess that would be "Money, Money, Money". This one talks about taking chances, and the concept of "nothing ventured, nothing gained." Risk-taking is something that we all have to think about, as a risk untaken is an opportunity lost, but that opportunity might have been a path to disaster, too.

"Money, Money, Money" - Now, we have Trump's anthem. It might seem out-of-place on this generally upbeat album, but I think its superficially-jaded message is really a lampooning of greed. It's not one of my favorite songs here, but it's good.

"S.O.S." - Oh, this is one of my favorites! The music flows richly, the beat is good, and the message is a simple and strong one: "We had it good, it's gone now, I don't know what went wrong, and I want to know what the heck happened!"

"Chiquitita" - This one makes me want to not only sing along, but to march! The melody is rich, the vocals are great, the beat is powerful, and the lyrics are inspiring. A+

"Fernando" - For me, this is the best of the album. Not only do I love the sad melody and the rich vocals, but the lyrics are packed with meaning. Even though I have never been much of a rebel, this song clearly conveys the idea of "We might have failed, but the attempt was worth it, because our cause was just." Wow.

"Voulez Vous" - This one is what it is: a powerful, primal invitation to love. The beat is strong, the melody is pretty rich, and the message is simple and straightforward.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - On the surface, this one seems like it's redundant with "Voulez Vous", but listen to the lyrics. While "Voulez Vous" is wanton and reckless, hedonism distilled, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is something different. It has a powerful, almost primal beat, and a whirlwind melody, but the lyrics are not about sex and impulsive love, but about safety, security, and keeping away the shadows, the evil of the night. This might be the deepest song of the album.

"Does Your Mother Know" - A catchy, upbeat tune, but it seems to lack the magic of the others. My least favorite of this bunch.

"One Of Us" - Okay, we had something, it's gone now, and I don't like losing what we had. Nothing complex there, but well-stated in this song.

"The Name Of The Game" - "Nobody else has figured me out, but you did, so what do I need to do to make this work?" That's the message here -- another invitation to a potentially risky relationship. Not the best song here, but not bad.

"Thank You For The Music" - I like this one. ABBA is thanking their fans, thanking each other, thanking God, for their success; that's how I interpret this catchy song. Fun, and good to sing along with.

"Waterloo" - A strong beat, a good melody, good vocals, very upbeat. Not their most profound song, but it closes out the album on a fun note.

If you're unfamiliar with ABBA, Wikipedia has a good description of them. They are from Sweden, they were active from 1972 to 1982, their music was a mix of pop and disco, and the four members were: Benny Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog (who married Bjorn Ulvaeus in 1971), and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad.


Excellent Pop   October 17, 2002
Lonnie E. Holder (Sullivan, Illinois United States)
42 out of 47 found this review helpful

It would be easy for me to give any Abba CD less than 5 stars, if you consider their music in comparison to all rock music. However, if you consider their music in comparison to all pop, the rating must be different. Abba didn't create good pop, they created excellent pop. Bennie and Bjorn could churn out one catchy tune after another, and Agnetha and Frida could sing in harmony well enough that those of us that watched them on tv fell in love instantly and became immediate Abba fans.

This CD collects the majority of Abba's biggest hits, though they may have been hits in Germany or England or the United States. I know that when I bought this CD (which I purchased after "More Abba Gold" - which I'll talk about momentarily) I recognized nearly every song, which says that most of them did get good airplay.

Most of these songs are classic 70s pop songs, with very little if any disco influence. And while most of the songs are catchy and do little to press the boundaries of rock music, there are a few songs that transcend the genre. Most particularly "Lay All Your Love On Me", "I Have a Dream", "Fernando", "One of Us", and "Thank You for the Music", which in hindsight is the group's goodbye and thank you to fans.

I enjoy Abba's music. It's generally easy on the ears, you can sing or hum it, and pretty darn well written. However, Abba is much more than the music on this CD. If you like this CD you may want to try "More Abba Gold", which has miscellaneous hits of somewhat lower stature (less sales) than those on this CD. While the "More Abba Gold" CD songs sold less than these, I think the music is more complex in some cases, and often shows that Abba was more than just catchy tunes. One step further would be to buy the albums and catch Abba as they were originally released and appreciated by those of us who bought their albums.

Yes, it's a bit of nostalgia from the 70s and early 80s. It's music we heard so often on the radio, and perhaps even more often on our record players (that thing that plays those round black plastic thingies with the grooves on each side). It's takes us back to a fun time when maybe life was just a little less complicated. And yes, it's very listenable and among the best of pop music...go have fun listening...


THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC!   May 14, 2006
Matthew G. Sherwin
37 out of 48 found this review helpful

Abba's music is electric, vibrant and fresh despite the passage of time. The group, as Amazon so correctly points out, had a special versatility that enabled them to produce many different types of songs. There's the classic "Dancing Queen" that almost everybody recognizes as being distinctly Abba with their 1970's pop sound; but there's also the rock and roll style of "Does Your Mother Know." "Does Your Mother Know" is just one of the many songs on this CD that has a great musical arrangement as well.

Abba was also very capable of capturing the intensity of one's feelings about love affairs and romance. I enjoyed how they compared a romance to Napoleon's infamous battle with their song entitled "Waterloo." "The Winner Takes It All" also captures the intense bitterness of a lost romance. They sing of other universal themes such as the quest to become rich ""Money, Money, Money" and the sheer delight of celebrating love without ties with "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."

"Lay All Your Love On Me" has a beautifully haunting disco flavor that deserves recognition all on its own. Powerful! The musical arrangement is strikingly beautiful and very sensitively delivered. I also particularly enjoyed the somewhat autobiographical song entitled "Thank You For The Music." The lyrics are very well written:

I'm nothing special; in fact I'm a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
'cause everyone listens when I start to sing
I'm so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing
Thanks for all the joy they're bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Although some people may be tempted to say that the lyrics to Abba songs are just too sugary sweet to be enjoyable; I for one disagree. There is a refreshing honesty to the lyrics that reminds me of a naivet? I myself once had and lost when I learned some painful lessons along the way in my life. That nostalgia probably helps me enjoy Abba's music even more; and I would imagine that at least some other people would feel the same way that I do.

One note: if you want longer "dance" versions of some of these songs, you'll be disappointed here. The CD gives you 19 songs so there's not much time for longer versions. That's a minus, admittedly, but this CD remains quite strong anyway. Hey, the proof is in the pudding: despite being released years ago, the CD is still a big seller! SMILE

The quality of the sound is excellent and the song set is nicely laid out.

The liner notes are excellent. John Tobler contributes an extensive essay about the history of the group that also includes some information about their personal lives. The liner notes include song credits, pictures of the covers of their record albums and quite a few nice color pictures of the group. You won't get the lyrics to the songs, though.

All in all, this is an awesome CD for Abba fans as well as people who want to get to know Abba. I would also recommend this CD for fans of great pop music with a 1970's flavor to it. Try this CD--you won't be disappointed.



Uncool? Not anymore!   September 16, 2000
Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA)
29 out of 31 found this review helpful

I also was in Jr. High School and High School when Abba was cranking out top 10 hits. In those days I snuck into the record shop and hid my Abba albums under the cover of Led Zeppelin and then ditched the Zeppelin at the check out counter. It was imperative to hide your face while purchasing Abba albums. They were that uncool. To admit you loved Abba in geometry class was to court disaster and be ostracized for the rest of your life.

Such nonsense mattered as a 14 year old, now I can openly say Abba's music is wonderful and their arrangements were as innovative as anything coming out of the 70's. It is simply impossible to listen to Dancing Queen or Take a Chance on Me and not want to hear the songs again and again. The vocal intricacies on Take a Chance are equal to the harmonies on most Beach Boys records. How about Waterloo? Three minutes of the most pulsing, catchy music ever put on a disc.

Abba's music sounds better today than it ever did, particularly when you know what dreck was produced by other bands in the intervening years. They might not have been Dylanesque lyrically, but few have ever written songs with such clever hooks, bridges and infectious rhythm. Thirty years after the fact, the impossible has happened: Abba has finally become cool!