This is my favourite of all ABBA songs, replacing The Day Before You Came. The lyrical picture of a city as one entity and that means every possible conceivable thing (air, sounds, streets, bars, people and their thoughts, actions, and dancing (!)) as you also explained in your reaction. This is consistent with my spiritual belief that reality is one unbroken movement, no other song explains this as well as this song does, or with such a catchy smooth and upbeat melody.
A separate comment, before your reactions to Voyage album We are going to start the last chapter of ABBA, and I think that, regardless of the musical quality of their songs, which may be liked more or less, according to the taste of each one, what it does represent is what I consider the most incredible and unexpected extraordinary musical comeback of all time in rock and pop music in the 1990s there was a resurgence of ABBA's music, through various simultaneous means. Two Australian movies took their songs for their soundtracks The group Erasure released covers of them And as the Swedish company Polar had sold ABBA's catalogue, the new company releases a new compilation album "Gold" in 1992, which will become ABBA's best-selling album of all time, whose stay in the rankings is continuous. even today (in the UK it is the second best-selling album in history, but the first to exceed 1000 weeks in the Top100, the last 300 in a row, actually #18) Towards the end of the decade, Björn and Benny agree to make a musical with ABBA songs: "Mamma Mia", which becomes a massive success for more than 20 years. What later motivated them to make a movie: "Mamma Mia". ”, with a subsequent saga “Mamma Mia, here I go again” with the acting participation of Maryl Streep and Pierce Brossnam, which is another sweeping success At that time, ABBA received a billion-dollar economic offer to return and tour 100 live concerts, which they absolutely rejected. And the years went by, and the questions about possible reunions continued In 2005 for the 50th anniversary of Eurovision , the song "Waterloo" was voted the Best song of oll Eurovision history In 2010 ABBA was inducted into the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame in 2015 their signature song "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Grammy Awards Hall of Fame. in 2013 ABBA opens its own museum in Stockholm, while Agnetha releases a solo album And in 2016 the milestone that for me changes history takes place: the 50th anniversary of the first meeting of Björn and Benny. ABBA had already been present together for first time in decades in the inauguration of a new venture: 'ABBA Party' ; but at that private celebration in Stockholm, Agnetha and Frida went up on stage and sang "The way all friends do" together. And at the end, Benny and Björn went up on stage and the four of them hugged, while all the guests at that party applauded standing up And there is a phrase by Frida that will not go unnoticed: "Do you want the four of us to sing together?" It was figuratively relaxed and joking, with laughter from them and finally it happened ABBA was already with the proposal of the Virtual Concerts with their holograms And at some point in 2017, the four of them got back together in Benny's private recording studio, and recorded two new songs, as an initial part of that project And they announced it through their Instagram account in April 2018, to be released in a special at the end of that year for the BBC Times got complicated, and the Covid pandemic arose, and everything was delayed, and the new songs still didn't come out. 2019, until finally completing a new album in 2021 Yes, the album that they could not make in 1982/83 in the midst of their human and musical crisis, they did it in 2017/2021, at a totally different stage of their life, it was the internal debt they had with themselves, musical and human. , this album is a reflection of the resilience of these Fabulous Four from Sweden But before there was a world vigil for all the fans Taking advantage of the fact that in May 2021 the official video for "Dancing Queen" exceeded 500 million views, ABBA remastered it and invited a few daily sessions through its Instagram account, reviewing its 100 songs in chronological order for 100 consecutive days, most of them them with comments from one of its members And at the end of this ABBA Journey we were invited to subscribe to a new website, ABBA Voyage, and to wait a week And it was announced by a livestream on RUclips on that new page in September 2021, with Benny and Björn in London in a report, and several simultaneous locations where fans congregated, covered by the broadcast in Stockholm, Rejkiavik, Berlin, Vienna, New York, Sao Paulo , Japan, Australia , that we are following with intense emotion the release of the first two new ABBA songs in 39 years, which became a worldwide trend in its first 24 hours streaming on all platforms. As that was not enough, they also announced the release of his new album Voyage and his new Voyage Concerts at the new ABBA Arena For all this, I think that ABBA is unmatched in the world history of rock and pop music. To think of something of an almost similar magnitude, I have to go back to 1995, when the three surviving Beatles were recording a new song after 25 years, based on an old demo of John Lennon with his voice, brought closer by Yoko Ono and joined by Paul (including backing vocals) George and Ringo But here are the Four Original and Founding Members of ABBA, who also in the months prior to this release worked together in the development of an Unpublished Concert, with images of Them captured and recreated in their figures from the last tour in 1979/1980 , 20 songs that since May 2022 are performed in a new stadium with a capacity for 3,000 people, the ABBA Arena, in London, which has a live support band of 10 members, specially selected by Benny, who continue to sell tickets until May of next year, and with plans to take these productions to other places such as Asia, Australia, the United States And the four members of ABBA attended the inauguration on May 26, 2022, and this year for the first anniversary there were three of them (only Agnetha was missing) And next year we will have the special 50th Anniversary of ABBA's triumph in Eurovision with their iconic song "Waterloo", which will also take place in Sweden at Eurovision 2024, so there are many expectations to see all ABBA members together again, be it at Eurovision (Sweden) or at the ABBA Arena (UK) ABBA, despite themselves, who are very humble and grateful, and despite the geographical and cultural disadvantage of being from a relatively small country (10 million inhabitants) and without English as its original language, managed to transcend cultures, geographies and generations. , and be today Legends in the History of Rock & Pop music history, in The Podium of The Greatest (and Podium is only for three)
It's hard to describe how momentous the release of this song was in 1993, really second only to Voyage in terms of a watershed moment for ABBA fans who had accustomed themselves to the idea of ABBA never reuniting. Benny and Björn have been very protective of ABBA's catalogue, and famously stubborn about unreleased tracks, and for them to relent and have this included on More ABBA Gold was just... And then to have it actualized into this brittle, brisk synthpop exercise.... and my 21 year old self had to basically keep this song to myself, because ... ABBA was still kitsch at this point. It was all about Curve, Mercury Rev and Royal Trux. 😊
I have been waiting for you to get to this one! I love this one. It is their most synth pop and Agnetha's voice is powerful and strong on it....especially during the lines like "...and you feel a strange attraction".... I love the bouncy off-beat synth patterns (almost circus like). The lyric is interesting too, I never heard of a song sung from the point of view of a geographical place before. The ending is so chaotic, it goes back and forth between the choruses, verses, bridges... crazy arrangement. I love it!
Sooooo looking forward to your reaction to the Voyage album. This was tear inducing for a lot of us. Hearing them for the first time for decades together, new lyrics and new music. It was a sensation.
Hello Matt - I've been thoroughly enjoying your ABBA journey! They were the soundtrack to my spotty, flared-trousered teenage years, when all my cooler-than-cool peers were enthusing over the likes of Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc... I totally get why you don't react to music videos, but you really should have a look at the one for 'I Still Have Faith in You' which REALLY enhances the song; and it may just give you an insight as to why so many ladies and gentlemen of my vintage (me included) were reduced to pathetic, sobbing wrecks when they watched the world premiere on the BBC 😏
As a city boy who was accidentally born on a farm (which I left at my first opportunity....when I was 18 about 30 years ago) I love this little gem! And rhyming "famous hotels" and "funny smells" always makes me smile 😊
"I am the city" released in the recopilation album "More ABBA Gold" (1995) 13 years after the unofficial ABBA breakup I honestly think that "I am the city" is an excellent song, that deserved to be taken into account in its time to be an A-side single, what Agnetha and Frida do vocally is absolutely fascinating and the synths are amazing Another great song, in the style of the lasts that you react, "Under attack" & "You owe me one" I think that in addition to the personal circumstances that the members of ABBA were going through, it is probable that the low ranking of "Head over heals" as a single in the UK affected and disappointed Them, and this was later confirmed with the successive last two singles "The day before you came" & "Under attack" It is that, despite their humility, ABBA was not used to positions 32 or 25 on the charts, good numbers for any artist or group, but low for ABBA's level of self-demand. But that's how it was, unfortunately at that time They couldn't get out of that situation, and those songs were relegated And they are all very good, also there's another song, "Just like that" is still in high demand by fans, Thank GOD, for Themselves, life brought them together in the studio after 35 years, and with Voyage (album and concerts) They gave us the Golden Brooch to their extraordinary career Now we hope for your Voyage reactions take your time, please, relax, Have a nice week My best regards from Buenos Aires, Argentina South America
If Im not mistaken this song was intended for a possible album after The Visitors, but of course they broke up. Makes me kinda sad because this is a bop
hey Matt don’t expect to hear ‘modern Abba’ in the comeback/farewell album Voyage.Cause they all 4 decided consciously (as the guys said,) to record a ‘trendblind’ album with non generic faceless music,non autotuned but more raw n organic with retro dashes and some folksy vibes.Critics got divided when this came out but fans responded with gratitude.
The thing with Voyage is it's a more distilled version of ABBA. While it has layering, it's not as full vocally as their previous material. Some of this is probably due to scheduling. Yes, they had a few years to record it, but I think these weren't the days when they would put in 12 -14 hour days, for weeks. I think they all had limitations on time. So you don't have redo after redo trying to get the intricate layering. Also, they're all in their 70s...voices change, become more limited. It happens. One more thing to note: the absence of Michael Tretow, their engineer, iss evident. He had a great influence on the sound, giving ABBA that sheen and sparkle. What we have is an older group, who just made music and worked together for the fun of it. Not to conquer the charts, trying to be relevant on the music scene...which many found charming. Like you said, it was trendblind on purpose. They stuck to what they knew. Personally, I'd love to see them do another album, because I feel Voyage was more a project where they were trying to figure out how or if it still worked, working together. But it's understandable why they insist it was their last. And that's ok with me.
@@jamesbachmann7376 Benny stated that he told 'let's do it and if we don't like it we won't release it'.Yes they had fun doing it and enjoyed this.Yes M>TRetows absence made the album's sound non-crispy and more compressed.I suspect that if he wasn't ill and had participated in it then he would have used technology to the max even autotune.Who knows.But I missed him.Voyage is for me not their best one but a charmingly imperfect album.A grower,raw, warm and grounded.I'm emotionally connected with it.Thanx for commenting.
@@jamesbachmann7376 p.s.I get that V was an 'honest' album contribution from Abba's heart to the Abba fans not an album 'for the masses',I think you may get the same view as me. So glad Voyage went no1 in 18 countries and almost top 5 everywhere ending up 2nd best seller worldwide on sales charts for 2021 (with only Adele’s Hcomeback album above) and also in the top 10 regarding all formats available with streamings included.That’s really big deal after 4 decades of ‘absence,
I love a two-fer ABBA morning. When this was released on More ABBA Gold, I think we all thought it was going to be the last time we would hear a "new" song featuring these amazing voices. Looking forward to your thoughts on Voyage!
One of my favorite ABBA songs. When I first heard it 5 years ago, I fell in love with it. With the personification of the city, it’s one of their most lyrically unique, and the 80s vibe is very cool. A tantalizing glimpse of where they would have gone, had they stayed together a bit longer. I highly recommend you give the Chess concept album a listen. It eventually became a stage musical with music by Benny and Bjorn, and lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King). Unfortunately, the story never completely worked, but the music soars above the plot problems, with its combination of pop and symphonic elements. It definitely has some sublimely ABBA-esque moments that make it well worth listening to.
Hi Matt, Thanks again for this ABBA journey. Looking forward so much to Voyage, The first track ,i still have faith in you, is so good. You cant believe this is ABBA in their 70's. You probably wont have the same reaction as us fans because you will be going from The Visitors straight to voyage, but we waited 40 years between. When i heard it i was so emotional it actually made me cry
Parts of the song were tried out in the studio in 1981, recorded as I Am The City in May 1982 and shelved. Demos were made using the melody during CHESS recording sessions and the ABBA version leaked on bootleg cassettes in the mid 80s. It wasn’t until June 1993 that it was actually released.
Singing and listening to ABBA's music had kept me going until they put the band on "pause". Changes in my life made me move to France where we didn't hear them much. They were considered "has been". When my record player died, I didn't replace my vinyl records with CDs. ABBA was always in my heart but corresponded to a bygone period in my life. A long time later, someone gave me ABBA Gold with "I am the city" which I didn't know existed. I had moved on and didn't really enjoy that song. Just like "You owe me one" and "Under Attack", I didn't really like the turn taken by the group musically at that time, while continuing to like them because they were a very deep part of me. Today I really like "I am the city". Here, the text sticks to the music, the girls transmit the energy, the agitation, the feverishness of the city extraordinarily well. The theme of the city has inspired Björn several times (Tiger, Summer night city). And then in 2021 came the album "Voyage"... just when everyone needed it most. I am one of many who say that ABBA pulled them out of the black hole of depression where the Covid/vaccination situation had plunged them. I could never say thank you enough to them for that, even if the timing was not on their own, I like to think they were the instrument of the universe to help us.
Hats off man!You just described what many of us felt and still feel for them.Abba was 'our fairytale' as another fan once said and 'who ever it was , i'm a fan'.
The six 1982 tracks of which five now are bonus tracks on The Visitors were meant for a never completed 1982 ABBA album. But instead they gave up and put four of them out as singles/on the "The Singles" collection, buried the other two and then went on hiatus for the next 35 years.
Correction: Should I Laugh Or Cry Berlingske to the original The Visitors session- and it was the B-side of One of Us. So it was only I AM The City that were put away for about 12 years before it was released on More ABBA GOLD!
A slight SPOILER alert here, as I think you might want to know this Matt. Now that you are about to embark on a 'voyage' reacting to the latest ABBA album, it's worth pointing out that initially only 2 tracks were meant to be recorded, tracks 1' I still have...' and 4 'Don't shut...'., both to be included in the digital 'Abbatars' show. If you can, try and focus on the lyrics of those tracks, one concerns the dynamics of the relationship between the group themselves, while the second has a clever subplot which is a message to fans about the group and the 'Abbatar''s. Best wishes, Stephen.
Love this song. I’ve probably listened to this one as much as their bigger hits. I always thought this was ABBA’s rap song, there has to be 500 or 600 words in this. Thanks Matt 👍
I love this track! This reminds me of the track Tiger off the Arrival album which has a similar theme. In this one, the City is not as scary as described in the Tiger.
It's OK, I suppose. Again, there is a cold sound to the track with no real warmth to it and I still think they had yet to figure out getting their sound right recording in digital. That annoying synth motif in parts I assume is an emergency services vehicle whirling by with its siren blasting away in the city. We come to the end of Abba Mark 1 here. Mark 2 fills me with trepidation. Still have only listened to three tracks from Voyage. Guess I may have to now. The dilemma of do you let sleeping dog lie and let the fans remember you at your peak or do you risk the legacy with something that is not so good or merely just meh. We shall see and hear.
@marvinpoprockfan My fear for Voyage is I suspect a lot of the songs will be more like first draft songs. They are of an age where patience is less, time is naturally more pressing and they wont redo, tinker, improve, discard songs like when they were young where you do think you have all the time in the world. The clue to this is them not doing a new vocal for Just A Notion. There was no reason not to except a why bother, just use the old one. Again a reluctance to spend time on the songs. Another clue seems to be all the tracks are very short. I will listen to them all and write what i think when Matt does each. I wont sugar coat what i think either. I say that as a fan who was at their concert in Sydney in 1977 as a kid. I'm no new generation fan. I'm a life long fan who will call out what's good and what's not. Today's generation label everything a masterpiece. The term so diluted now to be rendered meaningless.
@marvinpoprockfan Even Benny has said prior to Voyager they probably wrote(as Abba) 10 or so really good songs overall and 4 or 5 great ones. An honest appraisal of the artist themselves and probably most artists would say the same of their whole catalogue. Even they say they wrote a lot of likable but meh stuff, but fans seem to have to think everything is fantastic and ,of course- a masterpiece!.
I hate that ABBA released tracks they'd previously rejected because of the bootleg market. I mean, I get why they did it but I hate they felt the need to. This and White Sombrero are so sub par.
Sombrero was never bootlegged. It was totally new to everyone when it was released. Even Benny and Björn had forgotten it’s existence until it was discovered in the vault in 1993.
This song is real BANGER!
The Most underrated ABBA song.
This is my favourite of all ABBA songs, replacing The Day Before You Came. The lyrical picture of a city as one entity and that means every possible conceivable thing (air, sounds, streets, bars, people and their thoughts, actions, and dancing (!)) as you also explained in your reaction. This is consistent with my spiritual belief that reality is one unbroken movement, no other song explains this as well as this song does, or with such a catchy smooth and upbeat melody.
A separate comment, before your reactions to Voyage album
We are going to start the last chapter of ABBA, and I think that, regardless of the musical quality of their songs, which may be liked more or less, according to the taste of each one, what it does represent is what I consider the most incredible and unexpected extraordinary musical comeback of all time in rock and pop music
in the 1990s there was a resurgence of ABBA's music, through various simultaneous means.
Two Australian movies took their songs for their soundtracks The group Erasure released covers of them
And as the Swedish company Polar had sold ABBA's catalogue, the new company releases a new compilation album "Gold" in 1992, which will become ABBA's best-selling album of all time, whose stay in the rankings is continuous. even today (in the UK it is the second best-selling album in history, but the first to exceed 1000 weeks in the Top100, the last 300 in a row, actually #18)
Towards the end of the decade, Björn and Benny agree to make a musical with ABBA songs: "Mamma Mia", which becomes a massive success for more than 20 years. What later motivated them to make a movie: "Mamma Mia". ”, with a subsequent saga “Mamma Mia, here I go again” with the acting participation of Maryl Streep and Pierce Brossnam, which is another sweeping success
At that time, ABBA received a billion-dollar economic offer to return and tour 100 live concerts, which they absolutely rejected. And the years went by, and the questions about possible reunions continued
In 2005 for the 50th anniversary of Eurovision , the song "Waterloo" was voted the Best song of oll Eurovision history
In 2010 ABBA was inducted into the Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame
in 2015 their signature song "Dancing Queen" was inducted into the Grammy Awards Hall of Fame.
in 2013 ABBA opens its own museum in Stockholm, while Agnetha releases a solo album
And in 2016 the milestone that for me changes history takes place:
the 50th anniversary of the first meeting of Björn and Benny.
ABBA had already been present together for first time in decades in the inauguration of a new venture: 'ABBA Party' ; but at that private celebration in Stockholm, Agnetha and Frida went up on stage and sang "The way all friends do" together. And at the end, Benny and Björn went up on stage and the four of them hugged, while all the guests at that party applauded standing up And there is a phrase by Frida that will not go unnoticed:
"Do you want the four of us to sing together?" It was figuratively relaxed and joking, with laughter from them
and finally it happened ABBA was already with the proposal of the Virtual Concerts with their holograms And at some point in 2017, the four of them got back together in Benny's private recording studio, and recorded two new songs, as an initial part of that project And they announced it through their Instagram account in April 2018, to be released in a special at the end of that year for the BBC
Times got complicated, and the Covid pandemic arose, and everything was delayed, and the new songs still didn't come out. 2019, until finally completing a new album in 2021
Yes, the album that they could not make in 1982/83 in the midst of their human and musical crisis, they did it in 2017/2021, at a totally different stage of their life, it was the internal debt they had with themselves, musical and human. , this album is a reflection of the resilience of these Fabulous Four from Sweden
But before there was a world vigil for all the fans
Taking advantage of the fact that in May 2021 the official video for "Dancing Queen" exceeded 500 million views, ABBA remastered it and invited a few daily sessions through its Instagram account, reviewing its 100 songs in chronological order for 100 consecutive days, most of them them with comments from one of its members And at the end of this ABBA Journey we were invited to subscribe to a new website, ABBA Voyage, and to wait a week
And it was announced by a livestream on RUclips on that new page in September 2021, with Benny and Björn in London in a report, and several simultaneous locations where fans congregated, covered by the broadcast in Stockholm, Rejkiavik, Berlin, Vienna, New York, Sao Paulo , Japan, Australia , that we are following with intense emotion the release of the first two new ABBA songs in 39 years, which became a worldwide trend in its first 24 hours streaming on all platforms. As that was not enough, they also announced the release of his new album Voyage and his new Voyage Concerts at the new ABBA Arena
For all this, I think that ABBA is unmatched in the world history of rock and pop music.
To think of something of an almost similar magnitude, I have to go back to 1995, when the three surviving Beatles were recording a new song after 25 years, based on an old demo of John Lennon with his voice, brought closer by Yoko Ono and joined by Paul (including backing vocals) George and Ringo
But here are the Four Original and Founding Members of ABBA, who also in the months prior to this release worked together in the development of an Unpublished Concert, with images of Them captured and recreated in their figures from the last tour in 1979/1980 , 20 songs that since May 2022 are performed in a new stadium with a capacity for 3,000 people, the ABBA Arena, in London, which has a live support band of 10 members, specially selected by Benny, who continue to sell tickets until May of next year, and with plans to take these productions to other places such as Asia, Australia, the United States
And the four members of ABBA attended the inauguration on May 26, 2022, and this year for the first anniversary there were three of them (only Agnetha was missing)
And next year we will have the special 50th Anniversary of ABBA's triumph in Eurovision with their iconic song "Waterloo", which will also take place in Sweden at Eurovision 2024, so there are many expectations to see all ABBA members together again, be it at Eurovision (Sweden) or at the ABBA Arena (UK)
ABBA, despite themselves, who are very humble and grateful, and despite the geographical and cultural disadvantage of being from a relatively small country (10 million inhabitants) and without English as its original language, managed to transcend cultures, geographies and generations. , and be today Legends in the History of Rock & Pop music history, in The Podium of The Greatest (and Podium is only for three)
It's hard to describe how momentous the release of this song was in 1993, really second only to Voyage in terms of a watershed moment for ABBA fans who had accustomed themselves to the idea of ABBA never reuniting. Benny and Björn have been very protective of ABBA's catalogue, and famously stubborn about unreleased tracks, and for them to relent and have this included on More ABBA Gold was just... And then to have it actualized into this brittle, brisk synthpop exercise.... and my 21 year old self had to basically keep this song to myself, because ... ABBA was still kitsch at this point. It was all about Curve, Mercury Rev and Royal Trux. 😊
This is one of their coolest songs, it’s the aural equivalent of a disco ball made of diamonds.
I have been waiting for you to get to this one! I love this one. It is their most synth pop and Agnetha's voice is powerful and strong on it....especially during the lines like "...and you feel a strange attraction"....
I love the bouncy off-beat synth patterns (almost circus like). The lyric is interesting too, I never heard of a song sung from the point of view of a geographical place before.
The ending is so chaotic, it goes back and forth between the choruses, verses, bridges... crazy arrangement. I love it!
Sooooo looking forward to your reaction to the Voyage album. This was tear inducing for a lot of us. Hearing them for the first time for decades together, new lyrics and new music. It was a sensation.
Hello Matt - I've been thoroughly enjoying your ABBA journey! They were the soundtrack to my spotty, flared-trousered teenage years, when all my cooler-than-cool peers were enthusing over the likes of Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Yes, etc...
I totally get why you don't react to music videos, but you really should have a look at the one for 'I Still Have Faith in You' which REALLY enhances the song; and it may just give you an insight as to why so many ladies and gentlemen of my vintage (me included) were reduced to pathetic, sobbing wrecks when they watched the world premiere on the BBC 😏
And in the wind,if you listen hard you'll hear me laugh.....it doesn't get better than this....
“You let me be “ ✨
This was actually released around 1993/1994, I think. On the compilation album "ABBA More Gold".
Definitely a little gem. Futuristic in sound but with all the usual ABBA trademark sounds.
I like this, very much 👍
The voices harmonizing with the synthz and each other.
Take care and hope to see you soon, Matt.
❤️🇨🇱👍
As a city boy who was accidentally born on a farm (which I left at my first opportunity....when I was 18 about 30 years ago) I love this little gem!
And rhyming "famous hotels" and "funny smells" always makes me smile 😊
"I am the city"
released in the recopilation album "More ABBA Gold" (1995)
13 years after the unofficial ABBA breakup
I honestly think that "I am the city" is an excellent song,
that deserved to be taken into account in its time to be an A-side single,
what Agnetha and Frida do vocally is absolutely fascinating
and the synths are amazing
Another great song, in the style of the lasts that you react,
"Under attack" & "You owe me one"
I think that in addition to the personal circumstances that the members of ABBA were going through,
it is probable that the low ranking of "Head over heals" as a single in the UK
affected and disappointed Them,
and this was later confirmed with the successive last two singles
"The day before you came" & "Under attack"
It is that, despite their humility, ABBA was not used to positions 32 or 25 on the charts,
good numbers for any artist or group, but low for ABBA's level of self-demand.
But that's how it was,
unfortunately at that time They couldn't get out of that situation,
and those songs were relegated
And they are all very good,
also there's another song, "Just like that"
is still in high demand by fans,
Thank GOD, for Themselves,
life brought them together in the studio after 35 years,
and with Voyage (album and concerts)
They gave us the Golden Brooch to their extraordinary career
Now we hope for your Voyage reactions
take your time, please, relax,
Have a nice week
My best regards from
Buenos Aires, Argentina
South America
Looooove
Love the way they blend the verse and chorus at the end of the song
If Im not mistaken this song was intended for a possible album after The Visitors, but of course they broke up. Makes me kinda sad because this is a bop
hey Matt don’t expect to hear ‘modern Abba’ in the comeback/farewell album Voyage.Cause they all 4 decided consciously (as the guys said,) to record a ‘trendblind’ album with non generic faceless music,non autotuned but more raw n organic with retro dashes and some folksy vibes.Critics got divided when this came out but fans responded with gratitude.
The thing with Voyage is it's a more distilled version of ABBA. While it has layering, it's not as full vocally as their previous material. Some of this is probably due to scheduling. Yes, they had a few years to record it, but I think these weren't the days when they would put in 12 -14 hour days, for weeks. I think they all had limitations on time. So you don't have redo after redo trying to get the intricate layering. Also, they're all in their 70s...voices change, become more limited. It happens. One more thing to note: the absence of Michael Tretow, their engineer, iss evident. He had a great influence on the sound, giving ABBA that sheen and sparkle. What we have is an older group, who just made music and worked together for the fun of it. Not to conquer the charts, trying to be relevant on the music scene...which many found charming. Like you said, it was trendblind on purpose. They stuck to what they knew. Personally, I'd love to see them do another album, because I feel Voyage was more a project where they were trying to figure out how or if it still worked, working together. But it's understandable why they insist it was their last. And that's ok with me.
@@jamesbachmann7376 Benny stated that he told 'let's do it and if we don't like it we won't release it'.Yes they had fun doing it and enjoyed this.Yes M>TRetows absence made the album's sound non-crispy and more compressed.I suspect that if he wasn't ill and had participated in it then he would have used technology to the max even autotune.Who knows.But I missed him.Voyage is for me not their best one but a charmingly imperfect album.A grower,raw, warm and grounded.I'm emotionally connected with it.Thanx for commenting.
@@jamesbachmann7376 p.s.I get that V was an 'honest' album contribution from Abba's heart to the Abba fans not an album 'for the masses',I think you may get the same view as me.
So glad Voyage went no1 in 18 countries and almost top 5 everywhere ending up 2nd best seller worldwide on sales charts for 2021 (with only Adele’s Hcomeback album above) and also in the top 10 regarding all formats available with streamings included.That’s really big deal after 4 decades of ‘absence,
I love a two-fer ABBA morning. When this was released on More ABBA Gold, I think we all thought it was going to be the last time we would hear a "new" song featuring these amazing voices. Looking forward to your thoughts on Voyage!
One of my favorite ABBA songs. When I first heard it 5 years ago, I fell in love with it. With the personification of the city, it’s one of their most lyrically unique, and the 80s vibe is very cool. A tantalizing glimpse of where they would have gone, had they stayed together a bit longer.
I highly recommend you give the Chess concept album a listen. It eventually became a stage musical with music by Benny and Bjorn, and lyrics by Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, The Lion King). Unfortunately, the story never completely worked, but the music soars above the plot problems, with its combination of pop and symphonic elements. It definitely has some sublimely ABBA-esque moments that make it well worth listening to.
Hi Matt, Thanks again for this ABBA journey. Looking forward so much to Voyage, The first track ,i still have faith in you, is so good. You cant believe this is ABBA in their 70's. You probably wont have the same reaction as us fans because you will be going from The Visitors straight to voyage, but we waited 40 years between. When i heard it i was so emotional it actually made me cry
This song is so happy and pop-rock it hurts. It lifts my spirits.
Parts of the song were tried out in the studio in 1981, recorded as I Am The City in May 1982 and shelved. Demos were made using the melody during CHESS recording sessions and the ABBA version leaked on bootleg cassettes in the mid 80s. It wasn’t until June 1993 that it was actually released.
Great song!
Singing and listening to ABBA's music had kept me going until they put the band on "pause". Changes in my life made me move to France where we didn't hear them much. They were considered "has been". When my record player died, I didn't replace my vinyl records with CDs. ABBA was always in my heart but corresponded to a bygone period in my life. A long time later, someone gave me ABBA Gold with "I am the city" which I didn't know existed. I had moved on and didn't really enjoy that song. Just like "You owe me one" and "Under Attack", I didn't really like the turn taken by the group musically at that time, while continuing to like them because they were a very deep part of me. Today I really like "I am the city". Here, the text sticks to the music, the girls transmit the energy, the agitation, the feverishness of the city extraordinarily well. The theme of the city has inspired Björn several times (Tiger, Summer night city).
And then in 2021 came the album "Voyage"... just when everyone needed it most. I am one of many who say that ABBA pulled them out of the black hole of depression where the Covid/vaccination situation had plunged them. I could never say thank you enough to them for that, even if the timing was not on their own, I like to think they were the instrument of the universe to help us.
Hats off man!You just described what many of us felt and still feel for them.Abba was 'our fairytale' as another fan once said and 'who ever it was , i'm a fan'.
The six 1982 tracks of which five now are bonus tracks on The Visitors were meant for a never completed 1982 ABBA album. But instead they gave up and put four of them out as singles/on the "The Singles" collection, buried the other two and then went on hiatus for the next 35 years.
Correction: Should I Laugh Or Cry Berlingske to the original The Visitors session- and it was the B-side of One of Us. So it was only I AM The City that were put away for about 12 years before it was released on More ABBA GOLD!
@@flemmingkristoffersen1896 SILOC belongs to The Visitors, yes. The sixth 1982 track is Just Like That, which still is buried away.
A slight SPOILER alert here, as I think you might want to know this Matt. Now that you are about to embark on a 'voyage' reacting to the latest ABBA album, it's worth pointing out that initially only 2 tracks were meant to be recorded, tracks 1' I still have...' and 4 'Don't shut...'., both to be included in the digital 'Abbatars' show. If you can, try and focus on the lyrics of those tracks, one concerns the dynamics of the relationship between the group themselves, while the second has a clever subplot which is a message to fans about the group and the 'Abbatar''s. Best wishes, Stephen.
Cheers, appreciate that insight, Stephen! Hopefully I don't forget like I did with your hint about the Cold War themes in The Visitors! :)
Love this song. I’ve probably listened to this one as much as their bigger hits. I always thought this was ABBA’s rap song, there has to be 500 or 600 words in this. Thanks Matt 👍
I love this track! This reminds me of the track Tiger off the Arrival album which has a similar theme. In this one, the City is not as scary as described in the Tiger.
Nice (complex!) song but compaired to the former still clearly a demo!
It is catchy and clever. But where are the emotions?
It's OK, I suppose. Again, there is a cold sound to the track with no real warmth to it and I still think they had yet to figure out getting their sound right recording in digital.
That annoying synth motif in parts I assume is an emergency services vehicle whirling by with its siren blasting away in the city.
We come to the end of Abba Mark 1 here.
Mark 2 fills me with trepidation. Still have only listened to three tracks from Voyage. Guess I may have to now.
The dilemma of do you let sleeping dog lie and let the fans remember you at your peak or do you risk the legacy with something that is not so good or merely just meh. We shall see and hear.
@marvinpoprockfan My fear for Voyage is I suspect a lot of the songs will be more like first draft songs. They are of an age where patience is less, time is naturally more pressing and they wont redo, tinker, improve, discard songs like when they were young where you do think you have all the time in the world. The clue to this is them not doing a new vocal for Just A Notion. There was no reason not to except a why bother, just use the old one. Again a reluctance to spend time on the songs. Another clue seems to be all the tracks are very short. I will listen to them all and write what i think when Matt does each. I wont sugar coat what i think either. I say that as a fan who was at their concert in Sydney in 1977 as a kid. I'm no new generation fan. I'm a life long fan who will call out what's good and what's not. Today's generation label everything a masterpiece. The term so diluted now to be rendered meaningless.
@marvinpoprockfan Even Benny has said prior to Voyager they probably wrote(as Abba) 10 or so really good songs overall and 4 or 5 great ones. An honest appraisal of the artist themselves and probably most artists would say the same of their whole catalogue. Even they say they wrote a lot of likable but meh stuff, but fans seem to have to think everything is fantastic and ,of course- a masterpiece!.
I hate that ABBA released tracks they'd previously rejected because of the bootleg market. I mean, I get why they did it but I hate they felt the need to. This and White Sombrero are so sub par.
Sombrero was never bootlegged. It was totally new to everyone when it was released. Even Benny and Björn had forgotten it’s existence until it was discovered in the vault in 1993.