I guess you took that the wrong way, Doxa. I didn't mean any harm with the comparison. I just wanted to underline that ABBA did well on the lists with their new release.
(And maybe pre-empt the predicable ABBA bashing...)

Don't bullshit, Stoneage. I know what you exactly mean. We are not that stupid.

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-17 00:33 by Doxa.

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Stoneage
Hate or not - when was the last time our band (RS) landed a new single on UK Top Ten first week of release?

They're not your band. If you were a fan of their music, you wouldn't write all this shit stuff.

What is this - the inquisition? Well, I'm not going to take part of it. Save your grudge to yourselves.

Since Stoneage is so interested (?) in old Rolling Stones single chartings in UK let us come up with some statistical facts:

The last Top Ten single in UK charts was "Start Me Up" (1981) - just slightly making better than the newest ABBA release by making #7.

The last Number One by The Rolling Stones in UK charts was "Honky Tonk Women" from 1969. Since it ABBA has had 9 (nine) number ones in UK.

Rolling Stones, those losers...

This must be orgastic times in Sweden (and anti-Stones circles) I suppose.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-17 01:07 by Doxa.

Okay, thanks I didn't know that. I thought maybe "Living in a Ghost Town" did well on the lists. Hard to compare I guess since there are so many different lists these days.

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Stoneage
Okay, thanks I didn't know that. I thought maybe "Living in a Ghost Town" did well on the lists. Hard to compare I guess since there are so many different lists these days.

My pleasure. Interested to hear how Ed Sheeran and Drake are doing on charts - if you like some real comparison? (ok, Ed #1, and Drake having three songs in UK top ten.)

- Doxa



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-17 01:13 by Doxa.

Their songs still sound great all these years later.And Cher did an amazing job on those songs.
New tunes are strong too,

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Doxa

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Stoneage
Hate or not - when was the last time our band (RS) landed a new single on UK Top Ten first week of release?

And that's the only thing that matters, right?

Some people here always seem to find a way to put down the Stones.

If one is happy about the great success of some oldie's Swedish disco band in today's pop charts, what a @#$%& that has to do with The Rolling Stones? Now the Stones mean a shit since ABBA made top ten in some bloody chart?

Oh jeez...


We just lost Charlie Watts and people are coming with that shit.

Bitch, bitch, bitch... There always must be a new way to bitch about the Stones... Just wait a litte bit.. Someone out there is doing something we can once again put down the Stones..


- Doxa

What's wrong with you? The Stones i.e. Mick Taylor and ABBA got something in common: They're very catchy, talented, and foremost: very melodic. I like them both. No more ace to play.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-09-18 21:07 by TheflyingDutchman.

I finally listened to the new Abba album "Voyage" last night. I liked it, though it wasn't what I was expecting. I understand the mixed reviews. It's not really a party/dance record, and it doesn't compare to a Greatest Hits collection (but should anyone expect it to?)

Even the more upbeat songs have a bit of a dark edge to them. To me the darker songs were weird and interesting partly because they were unexpected. It's not an album that feels like they were just rewriting their hits. It seems a couple of verses intentionally didn't rhyme. I think I heard two instances of that.

Yep, bland reviews. And I agree. The two first singles seem to be the strong tracks. They lack strong dance, pop songs. Which is their signum. I blame it on Benny. These are the type of songs he has been writing ever since ABBA left in 1982: Musical songs (Chess, Kristina Från Duvemåla) and Swedish folk music. If the girls had been allowed to participate more in the songwriting it would have been better. Not so saggy. More classical ABBA. Seems to me this is Benny's album. Let's see how it goes with this avatar thing now...

Agree, Stonage. Those first two songs are outstanding - the rest is easy to forget.

ABBA Voyage is in Germany #1 in the Top-100 Album-Charts - [www.OffizielleCharts.de] .

The German Edition of the Rolling Stone gave the Album a 3 out of 5 ranking: [www.RollingStone.de] - I would agree with that. And the Pop-heavy Magazine [www.Musikexpress.de] gave a 4 out of 6 ranking.

[SuperDeluxeEdition.com] on the other hand gave a 4 out of 5 ranking - which is surely a matter of personal taste.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-11-12 18:15 by Irix.

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Stoneage
If the girls had been allowed to participate more in the songwriting it would have been better.

Did they ever participate in songwriting re ABBA? I doubt it.

You're right, Dutch. Agneta did a lot of songwriting before and after ABBA though. I guess I meant input. They should have been more involved in the making of the album.
But you're right, Benny makes the songs and Björn puts words to them. He seems to have forgotten how to make catchy pop songs though.

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Stoneage
You're right, Dutch. Agneta did a lot of songwriting before and after ABBA though. I guess I meant input. They should have been more involved in the making of the album.
But you're right, Benny makes the songs and Björn puts words to them. He seems to have forgotten how to make catchy pop songs though.

It's a double edged sword, isn't it? They're usually dismissed for being a fluff bubblegum dance music act, and then when they grow older and tackle some more mature themes, they just get more criticism or not being poppy enough.

This album isn't really being judged against the other Abba studio albums, but against their Greatest Hits collections. I'd imagine any artist would find that a daunting challenge.

I liked Voyage. It's a more complex and interesting collection of songs than I was expecting it to be, and I enjoy that. The off-rhymes bug me, but I can live with that. I think the album rewards those who listen to it again. Clearly it's not going to live up to Abba Gold.

Abba first week sales in the UK:

#1 203,909 ABBA - Voyage [148,471 CDs, 29,891 vinyl, 21,342 streaming points, 4,205 cassettes]

Number 1 in Holland too

__________________________

Unsurprisingly, there are songs that I like, and not like. "No Doubt About It", uh, some people like this song. This is Abba by numbers.

Unsurprisingly, I like "Don`t Shut Me Down". "Keep An Eye on Dan" was a pleasant surprise. Thumbs up for "I Still Have Faith in You" too.

"Little Things"; -Mmm, not good at all, and I don`t like the swinging "Just A Notion". "Bumble Bee", ah, this album has too much of songs like this.

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georgelicks
Abba first week sales in the UK:

#1 203,909 ABBA - Voyage [148,471 CDs, 29,891 vinyl, 21,342 streaming points, 4,205 cassettes]

Nice words from Superdeluxe edition about these numbers.

[superdeluxeedition.com]

CD – the ‘Voldemort’ of the music industry

ABBA’s Voyage album has gone in at number one on the UK charts with massive sales of almost 204,000 units. The official charts company reported that 90 percent of sales were physical; the splits (not published) were as follows:

148,471 copies sold on CD
29,891 copies sold on vinyl
4,205 copies sold on cassette

Impressive stuff, although in the press release to announce this news, the official charts company literally wrote nothing about the enormous CD sales and instead focused on vinyl, choosing to point out that, with those figures, Voyage was “the fastest-selling vinyl release of the century” (it actually beat a three-year-old record of the Artic Monkeys, whose last album sold almost 25k vinyl in week one in 2018).

Anyway, if ever you wanted evidence of ‘the industry’ trying to ignore the continued success of the CD format, this is it. The album had “the biggest opening week of any album in four years” and that achievement has nothing to do with streaming, it’s nothing to do with vinyl, but has everything to do with the CD sales. Yet this “inferior sonic storage system” (© Elvis Costello) – is not mentioned at all in the press release to announce this feat.

The CD is the Format-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, quite clearly. It’s the Dark Lord that threatens the narrative of vinyl being more popular than CDs. I say this as a fan of both formats.

Who are these forty two hundred people using cassettes? I'm amazed that new music cassettes are still a thing at all.

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jahisnotdead

Who are these forty two hundred people using cassettes?

Truckers or/and Collectors?

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ironbelly

The CD is the Format-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, quite clearly.

Because of the possibility of bad Mastering.

Vinyl on the other hand cannot be 'brickwalled' due to physical limitations, as mentioned by yourself - [iorr.org] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021-11-13 21:55 by Irix.

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Irix

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ironbelly

The CD is the Format-That-Must-Not-Be-Named, quite clearly.

Because of the possibility of bad Mastering.

Vinyl on the other hand cannot be 'brickwalled' due to physical limitations, as mentioned by yourself - [iorr.org] .

It is possible to master CD without brickwalling. All in the hands of the engineer at the console.

PS. Maybe it is another conspiracy plot within music industry? They make CDs sound bad on purpose .

WtF.

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ironbelly

They make CDs sound bad on purpose .

To sell it twice .... (or more) .

Nice to see the album reached #1 on the British and across some European charts, although with Adele and Ed Sheran releasing albums too, I suspect it’s stay will be a short one. It’s fantastic to see ABBA’s new release garnered such unexpected and strong CD sales. I wonder if this has anything to do with the demographic they attract, though?

"The demographic they attract". -A risky matter to go into. Music for people who don`t like music. A couple of the ballads have such a worn concept that a lot of songs through the years probably sound similar. I will keep a long distance to this album. -Have never been an Abba fan in the first place, but I like "Soldiers", "Eagle" and Frida`s "To Turn The Stone" and "There`s Something Going On".

Congrats to ABBA!

_____________________________________________________________
Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

That Adele single is something. The girl can sing. Hard to beat that one. And I hardly ever listened to Adele before...