ABBA: The Album

ABBA: The Album
Studio album by ABBA
Released 12 December 1977 (1977-12-12)
Recorded 31 May – 22 November 1977 (1977-11-22)
Studio Marcus, Metronome and Glen Studios, Stockholm and Bohus Studio, Kungälv
Length 40:01 (Polar LP 1977)
Label Polar
Epic (UK)
Atlantic (US original release)
Producer
ABBA chronology
Arrival
(1976)		 ABBA: The Album
(1977)		 Voulez-Vous
(1979)
Original UK album cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
NME7/10[2]
Rolling Stonefavorable[3]

ABBA: The Album is the fifth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in Scandinavia on 12 December 1977 through Polar Music, but due to the massive pre-orders the UK pressing plants were not able to press sufficient copies before Christmas 1977 and so it was not released in the UK until January 1978. The album was released in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie, with several of the songs featured in the film.

The album contained two UK number-one singles, "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Name of the Game", as well as European hits "Eagle" and "Thank You for the Music".[4]

Overview

The album includes three songs from ABBA's 1977 tour mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair. These songs are "Thank You for the Music", "I Wonder (Departure)" and "I'm a Marionette". Altogether the album contained just nine songs.

ABBA: The Album reached No. 1 in many territories. In the UK it debuted at the top and remained there for seven weeks,[5] ending up as the third biggest selling album of the year (behind the movie soundtrack LPs of Saturday Night Fever and Grease). In the US it became their highest charting album, where during 1978 ABBA undertook a big promotional campaign.[4] Due to the Cold War, Western music was actively discouraged throughout Eastern Europe at the time. Despite this, ABBA: The Album sold an unprecedented one million copies in Poland in 1977, exhausting the country's entire allocation of foreign currency. In Russia, only 200,000 copies were permitted to be pressed; however, demand within the USSR indicated they could have sold 40 million copies.[6]

ABBA: The Album was first released on CD in 1984. The album has been reissued in the format by PolyGram (later Universal Music) four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and again in 2007 as a two disc 'Deluxe Edition'.

Cover artwork

Polar's official cover featured an entirely white background, and is the basis for current CD versions. However, Epic Records' original UK release of the LP featured a blue background on the front cover, fading to white at the bottom. It also featured a gatefold sleeve. The back cover was altered, incorporating a similar photo of ABBA to that used elsewhere in the world for the inner sleeve, and referencing tracks included in ABBA: The Movie. The inner gatefold was designed to look like an air mail envelope, similar to the style later used for Gracias Por La Música and even had a photo of ABBA incorporated into a stamp in the corner.

This was the first and only time that Epic radically broke away from the standard Polar Music design for an ABBA album. The UK design for ABBA: The Album has only been re-issued on CD format once, as part of a limited edition boxed set released by the Japanese arm of Universal Music in 2004.

Track listing

All tracks written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus except where noted.[7]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Eagle" 5:51
2."Take a Chance on Me" 4:05
3."One Man, One Woman" 4:33
4."The Name of the Game"
4:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Move On"
  • Andersson
  • Anderson
  • Ulvaeus
4:42
2."Hole in Your Soul" 3:41
The Girl with the Golden Hair: Three Scenes From a Mini-Musical
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
3."Thank You for the Music" 3:48
4."I Wonder (Departure)"
  • Andersson
  • Anderson
  • Ulvaeus
4:33
5."I'm a Marionette" 3:54
Total length:40:01

Singles

  1. "The Name of the Game"/"I Wonder" (live) (October 1977)
  2. "Take a Chance on Me"/"I'm a Marionette" (January 1978)
  3. "One Man, One Woman"/"Eagle" (Edited version) (1978, Taiwan)
  4. "Eagle" (single edit)/"Thank You for the Music" (May 1978)
  5. "Thank You for the Music"/"Eagle" (edited version) (1978, Chile)
  6. "Move On"/"Mamma Mia" (1978, Chile)
  7. "Thank You for the Music"/"Our Last Summer" (1983)

Non-album tracks

  • "Billy Boy"

An early version of "Take a Chance on Me". A brief excerpt of the track was released in the box set Thank You for the Music.

  • "I Am an A"

A song written for the 1977 Tour with lyrics written by all four, jokingly depicting themselves as A, B, B and A. The song was never considered for a studio version, but parts of the chorus were later reused in "Free as a Bumblebee", and as that song never progressed beyond the demo, the chorus surfaced during the songwriting sessions for the stage musical Chess, as the UK number 1 hit single "I Know Him So Well".

  • "Get On the Carousel"

Another song from the 1977 Tour, written for the mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair. The song was considered too weak to progress as a studio recording, but the chorus surfaced as a melody line in "Hole in Your Soul" (the part "...ahaa-, the songs you sing are too romantic..."). "Get On the Carousel" appears in ABBA: The Movie.

  • "Love for Me Is Love Forever"

An early version of "Move On".

  • "Scaramouche"

A demo instrumental recorded during The Album sessions. Some parts surfaced in the recording sessions for Chess and resulted in a melody line in the track "Merano". A brief excerpt of this song was released in the box set Thank You for the Music as part of the ABBA Undeleted section.

Personnel

ABBA

Additional musicians

  • Ola Brunkert – drums
  • Lars O. Carlsson – flute, saxophone
  • Malando Gassama – percussion
  • Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
  • Roger Palm – drums (on "Take a Chance on Me", "One Man, One Woman", and "Thank You For the Music")
  • Janne Schaffer – lead guitar (on "Eagle")
  • Lasse Wellander – lead guitar, rhythm guitar

Production

  • Benny Andersson – producer, arranger
  • Björn Ulvaeus – producer, arranger
  • Michael B. Tretow – engineer
  • Rutger Gunnarsson – string arrangements
  • Rune Söderqvist – design
  • Barry Levine – photography
  • Björn Andersson – illustrations
  • Rune Söderqvist – illustrations
  • Jon Astley – remastering (1997 re-issue, 2001 re-issue)
  • Tim Young – remastering (1997 re-issue)
  • Michael B. Tretow – remastering (1997 re-issue, 2001 re-issue)
  • Henrik Jonsson – remastering (The Complete Studio Recordings box set)

Charts

Album

Country/Chart (1977–78) Position
Australia 4
Austria[9] 2
Belgium 1
Canada CRIA Chart 7
Canada RPM Chart 8
Finland 2
Germany 2
Japan 9
Mexican International Albums Chart 1
The Netherlands 1
New Zealand 1
Norway[9] 1
Rhodesia 2
Sweden[9] 1
Switzerland 1
UK Albums Chart[10] 1
USA Billboard 200 14

UK chart position by week

According to The Official Charts Company, the album spent 39 consecutive weeks (and total weeks) in the top 40 from 4 February 1978 to 21 October 1978. It was also the first ABBA album to debut at number one.

Weekly chart positions from 4 February 1978 to 21 October 1978:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-5-5-5-6-5-5-4-5-2-4-5-7-6-9-14-14-15-18-22-27-20-20-20-20-24-38-36

For the first 14 weeks the album charted along with Greatest Hits and Arrival. All three were in the top 15 at the start of March 1978.

Singles

Singles – UK

Year Single Chart Position
1977 "The Name of the Game" UK Singles Chart 1
1978 "Take a Chance on Me" 1

Singles – Norway

Year Single Chart Position
1977 "The Name of the Game" Norwegian Singles Chart 3
1978 "Take a Chance on Me" 8

Singles – USA and Canada

Year Single Chart Position
1977 "The Name of the Game" Billboard Hot 100 – USA 12
1978 Billboard Adult Contemporary – USA 9
"Take a Chance on Me" Billboard Hot 100 3
Adult Contemporary 9
1977 "The Name of the Game" RPM Singles – Canada 14
RPM Adult Contemporary – Canada 12
CRIA Singles – Canada 15
RPM Singles – Canada 3
RPM Adult Contemporary – Canada 7
CRIA Singles – Canada 7

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[11] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[12] Platinum 57,618[12]
Netherlands (NVPI)[13] Platinum 100,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[14] 200,840[15]
Germany (BVMI)[16] Platinum 500,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[17] Platinum 20,000*
Sweden (GLF)[18] 753,420[19]
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r37
  2. ↑ "NME Album Reviews – Abba". NME. UK. 23 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Rockwell, John (23 March 1978). "ABBA: The Album : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  4. 1 2 Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Guinness Book of Rock Stars. Enfield: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 1. ISBN 0-85112-971-4.
  5. ↑ "Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  6. ↑ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 201. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
  7. ↑ Album the-album « ABBA – The Album | Albums | ABBA
  8. ↑ http://www.abbaomnibus.net/songs/whosings.htm
  9. 1 2 3 "swedishcharts.com". Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  10. ↑ "Number 1 Albums – 1970s". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Abba – The Album". Music Canada. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
  12. 1 2 "Abba" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
  13. ↑ "Dutch album certifications – ABBA – The Album" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 5 August 2018. Enter The Album in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  14. ↑ "Norwegian album certifications – Abba – The Album" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  15. ↑ Hultin, Randi (8 September 1979). "Abba The World". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Abba; 'The Album')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
  17. ↑ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1979". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
  18. ↑ NO certyear WAS PROVIDED for SWEDISH CERTIFICATION.
  19. ↑ Schulman, Leif (8 September 1979). "Abba The World". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  20. ↑ "British album certifications – Abba – The Album". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-08-28. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Enter The Album in the search field and then press Enter.
  21. ↑ "American album certifications – Abba – The Album". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2013-08-28. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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