ABBA's 1975 album ABBA is the Swedish foursome's world music album. No kidding - there's the German biergarten oom-pah of "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do," the Jamaican reggae of "Tropical Loveland," the British glam-rock of "Hey, Hey Helen" not to mention the Italian titling of "Mamma Mia." "So Long" would even made a decent single for the Scots in the Bay City Rollers, and if you get the 2001 CD reissue, you're treated to a rocked-up medley of Americana like "Pick a Bale of Cotton" and "Midnight Special" recorded for a West German charity release. This is the last of ABBA's goofy European cheese albums, but almost all of it works, including aforementioned medley and bubblegum "Bang-A-Boomerang," a title so bad it makes me gag just writing it. ABBA, actually the band's third album, only made #174 in the US despite its three Top 40 singles. One of them, "SOS," has a swirling keyboard arrangement that pointed the way to the band's twirling future, as "Dancing Queen" would be released at the end of 1976. Grade: B+
0 Comments
|
Walburgh's BlogMostly retro, mainly music, but generally whatever's on my mind. Archives
June 2017
Categories
All
|