Maps of Music

ABBA (1975)

Where the lyrics of ABBA take you, and where it was really made.

A review at release ignored SOS and Mamma Mia, the songs that later became hits in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Key places

Recorded in Stockholm (1975)

Recording site Master Plan — The album was recorded at Glen, Metronome and Ljudkopia in Stockholm, Sweden. The map point is set at the city centre, not at a studio address. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• ABBA: third studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA
• Originally released on 21 April 1975 through Polar Music
• Features the hits "SOS", "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "Mamma Mia"
• Tracks are written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, except where noted

Background

• Came after the Eurovision success of "Waterloo", which brought the group worldwide recognition
• "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" topped the charts in Australia, and "Mamma Mia" did so shortly after
• "SOS" and "Mamma Mia" became hits in both the United States and the United Kingdom
• The album has the group dabbling with reggae on "Tropical Loveland"
• "Intermezzo No. 1" is a grand, pseudo-classical keyboard instrumental in the tradition of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, with an early working title of "Mama"

Recording

• Recorded in Stockholm, Sweden, at Glen, Metronome and Ljudkopia
• Producers: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who also arranged the album
• Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
• Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang lead on different tracks
• Björn Ulvaeus sang lead on tracks 5 and 8
• Benny Andersson played piano, clavinet, marimba and synthesizer
• Additional musicians include Janne Schaffer, Finn Sjöberg and Lasse Wellander on guitars, Rutger Gunnarsson and Mike Watson on bass, and Ola Brunkert and Roger Palm on drums
• String arrangements by Sven-Olof Walldoff on track 1, and by Björn J:son Lindh on track 9
• Björn J:son Lindh also wrote the tenor saxophone arrangement on track 5

Cover

• Cover photograph by Ola Lager
• Album design by Sten-Åke Magnusson

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
• Their name is an acronym of the members' first names; it was officially adopted in 1973.
• Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson first collaborated as songwriters in 1966 and became hit writers in 1969.
• Stig Anderson, founder of Polar Music, pushed the pair toward international success.

Members

• Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus were married from 1971 to 1980.
• Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were married from 1978 to 1981.
• Fältskog sang lead and backing vocals; Lyngstad sang lead and backing vocals.
• Ulvaeus played guitar and sang; Andersson played keyboards and sang.

Career

• The group won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 for Sweden with "Waterloo".
• Hits include "Dancing Queen", "Fernando", "Mamma Mia" and "The Winner Takes It All".
• They disbanded in December 1982 after their final public performance.
• ABBA Gold, released in 1992, became a worldwide best-seller.
• Mamma Mia! the stage musical premiered in 1999 and was adapted into a 2008 film.
• The group reunited in 2016 and released the album Voyage in 2021.
• ABBA Voyage, a concert residency with digital avatars, opened in London in May 2022.
• In 2024 all four members were appointed Commanders, First Class, of the Royal Order of Vasa.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Disc: gave a mixed review, calling ABBA a good singles band but "a mediocre albums band"
• Disc: gave the album one star out of four
• Disc: singled out "Bang a Boomerang", "I Do" and "So Long" as the good tracks, and dismissed the rest
• Disc's review completely ignored the future hits "SOS" and "Mamma Mia"
• Record Mirror: also gave a mixed review, but mentioned "SOS" and said it would make a good single
• Record Mirror: said the album was more adventurous than Waterloo, but "patchy in parts"
• Record Mirror: described the album as "flash, pash pop for under fifteens"

Reappraisal

• The later singles "SOS" and "Mamma Mia" were overlooked by the first critical review
• Record Mirror picked out "SOS" as the album's strongest candidate for a single

Records

• Topped the charts in Australia, Norway and Sweden
• Reached the top ten in the Netherlands, Finland, Italy and New Zealand
• "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" topped the Australian charts
• "Mamma Mia" topped the Australian charts shortly after
• "SOS" and "Mamma Mia" became hits in the United States and the United Kingdom

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• On the original UK cassette release, "Bang-A-Boomerang" was split in two, faded out during the second verse at the end of side one and continued at the start of side two.
• The first CD release came in Japan in 1986 from Polydor Records, with a slightly different mix of "Man in the Middle" that is not on later CD pressings, which makes it sought after by collectors.
• The album came to CD across Europe in 1987, also from Polydor, with five songs from the Waterloo and Ring Ring albums added.
• Polar Music released a Swedish CD in 1988 with only the original 11 tracks.
• A 2001 reissue used updated cover artwork with the group's ambigram, which was first used on their next album, Arrival.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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