Complete selected discography of ABBA

The Definitive Collection [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [EXTRA TRACKS]

Is there anything that simply screams the 1970s' most indelible pop cultural clichés--the sunny romanticism, perfect vocal hooks, feathered hair, stacked heels, and flared sateen britches--more than the Swedish pop phenomenon Abba? And while many a pundit snootily dismissed them during their prime as some sort of prefabricated aberration, their worldwide popularity peaked somewhere just south of Beatlesmania. Indeed, Abba's music was as finely tooled and crafted as anything to come from a Volvo or IKEA factory--if occasionally more economically potent. This double-disc, 37-track anthology comes neatly on the heels of Mama Mia!, the smash, if unlikely, Broadway show based on the band's hits, and documents every single released by the band's Polar label in their home country as well as key tracks released internationally. This is the canon from whence the term "Europop" sprang. With a continental sense of vocal neoclassicism, informed by just the right ethnic clichés (and oft wed to the era's insistent 4/4 disco beat) to make songs like "Mama Mia," "Fernando," "Chiquitita," and "Voulez-Vous" work on a global scale, the writing team of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and their respective partners in music and life, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad, developed the seamless, wall-of-sound productions contained herein. The Definitive Collection features a rare single remix of "Ring, Ring" and a 1979 promo-only extended mix of "Voulez-Vous" as bonus tracks, as well as a concise, illustrated history of the band and each track.

Gold/Greatest Hits

Anyone looking for the key to Abba's enduring appeal should look no further than "Voulez Vous" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" for their answer. There was an innocence to the Swedish quartet, even when they were singing about one-night stands and the invitations to them. Gold establishes that the band, while appreciated as campy, were actually multifaceted in their execution. "S.O.S." has a raw urgency in its chorus, and "Does Your Mother Know" draws its energy from classic '50s rock & roll. Likewise, you don't have to be Priscilla to swoon over "Mamma Mia" or "Dancing Queen." And when it comes to drama, those soaring vocals on "The Winner Takes It All" turn the song into a bitter anthem of every relationship that has ever fallen apart. The much-covered "Lay All Your Love on Me" is practically epic.

Mamma Mia! (The Musical Based on the Songs of ABBA) [CAST RECORDING]

Put together by Abba's own Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Mamma Mia! manages to cram over 20 of the Swedish supergroup's songs into a threadbare plot. It goes a little like this: Young Sophie is getting married and she's trying to identify which of three men is her father. That's about it. Wisely, the musical doesn't mess around with the songs, save for the insertion of some dialogue or for having some of them performed by a man (it works amazingly well). Abba fans will jump on this import of the London production, but traditional fans of musical theater should consider it as well. After all, Andersson and Ulvaeus's songs have always felt as if they were more than isolated pop gems and actually belonged to a longer narrative.

Super Trouper [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [EXTRA TRACKS]

Super Trouper is generally considered Abba's finest album. The overheated disco flourishes of Voulez-Vous were dropped and the sequencing was very nearly perfect. What's more, silly lyrics metamorphose into things of wrenching beauty. The overall tone is rather somber--the unraveling of the band members' relationships underscores every track--but as usual Abba turn melancholy into uplifting pop music. This digipack version of the 1981 album includes two extra songs. "Put on Your White Sombrero" was recorded during the Super Trouper sessions but was replaced on the album by the title track; it's in the band's Spanish vein and comes with a throbbing synthesizer hook. "Elaine," meanwhile, was the B-side of "The Winner Takes It All" single. An uptempo number, "Elaine" is far from being a throwaway.

Voulez-Vous [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] [EXTRA TRACKS]

Voulez-Vous is Abba's Eurodisco album, and if you decide to go there, be ready for some serious histrionics. Typical of the record's wall of sound is "Does Your Mother Know," in which the disco pulse leads into power guitar riffs laid out over a boogie piano. The sound is equally mammoth on the title track (which had been partially recorded in Miami with disco group Foxy), "Summer Night City," and "If It Wasn't for the Night." Released in 1979, the album showcases the band at its most jet-setting, top-of-the-world glamorous. This CD's bonus tracks include the infamously campy "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" and "Lovelight," the latter the B-side to the "Chiquitita" single.