Album Description: Abba are following in the footsteps of The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson with the Number Ones concept, and we're assuming that the designation applies to charts from around the world. There are 18 songs on the album, but no Abba song ever hit #1 in Canada, 'Dancing Queen' was the only one to do it in the U.S., and seven singles did it in the U.K. So the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest winners must have made a major impact in a number of non-English-speaking territories. A collection of all the international #1 hits on one CD delivered to the Abba fans.
Great Album What's there to be said? It's ABBA!! All the great songs and memories.
Global Sucess! These eighteen ABBA's songs represent the best and you probably won't tire of them. It is amazing that four Swedes (Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as writers and Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog as the main singers) could take such simple English clichés and turn them into pop music magic. Despite sometimes maddeningly simple lyrics, the song arrangements were unnervingly catchy and the multi-level layered compositions are fascinating. The keyboards and synthesizers were used in some of the more ingenious ways during the seventies to produce that unmistakable ABBA sound. The energy and nearly anthemic enthusiasm emanating from each song marked them all as instant classics, no matter how jaded or cynical the listener. It is doubtful if you read the song list here that you would not know the melody. The one ironic thing about this groups phenomenal success, is that of over 400 million album sales, they only had one number one hit in the US - "Dancing Queen" - but when you look at world-wide markets, each one of these songs hit the number one spot at some time. That's quite an achievement.
Something new? Anyone? The stars I give are, I assure you, for the songs themselves. I have been an Abba fan from the beginning and bought the 45s, the LPs, cassettes and CDs. But this is getting to be a little much. We get repackages of THE SAME SONGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN! Come on now, all the fans know that there is a lot of suff in the vaults just waiting to see the light of day (the oft-bootlegged "Just Like That" comes to mind), not to mention demos and alternate takes. I know that Benny & Bjorn are perfectionists but it's been long enough. Let's hear some 'new' Abba - it's not like the original songs are going to vanish. Heaven knows we have enough copies of them.
ABBA Number Ones is Number One! I received this album as a gift and now I listen to it constantly. I bought it for the person who gave it to me. She and I both agree that you can't choose a favorite song on this album because they are all so great. Any ABBA fan should include this album in their collection because the 18 songs on it really capture their talent and they're just so much fun to sing! I love that the album comes with lyrics, also. In my opinion, out of all ABBA hits albums, this one is the best, especially for the price; you won't find a better value for your money. It has all the songs that made ABBA so popular and continues to keep their music alive today. You won't be disappointed and you'll want to play it loud again and again.
Couldn't escape if I wanted to The writing team of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and their respective partners in music and life, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad, basically invented Europop when they pooled their collective talents and became ABBA. One supposes keeping their past-affiliations names (Hep Stars or the Hootenanny Singers) wasn't quite as catchy. But then they wrote "Waterloo" for a Eurovision song contests and the musical universe suddenly altered.
That one song pretty much laid out the template for Abba's world domination to come. Frothy melodies wed to instantly catchy choruses sung with frothy harmonies by the twin female singers. "Number Ones" captures that cotton candy in all its seventies glory, as the band rocketed from pop-stars to international phenomenon. As their songs moved from the catchy singles like "Ring Ring" and "Waterloo" into the later seventies, ABBA wisely embraced disco and created the immortal "Dancing Queen." They were so insanely wealthy from their worldwide hitmaking that they were forced to take payments in commodities instead of cash, that is how omnipresent the likes of "Dancing Queen" and other dancefloor smashes like "Voulez-Vous" and "Gimme Gimme Gimme" became.
Thus we have yet another ABBA greatest hits. The standard before this was "ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits," and at a slightly higher cost (but frankly, with more songs than I needed) was "The Definitive Collection." While "Number Ones" boasts remastered sound over "Gold," we lose "Does Your Mother Know" and "Lay All Your Love On Me." ("The Definitive Collection" includes those as well as "Ring Ring.")
It also becomes obvious why this compilation was released as soon as the first song begins to play. Thanks to Madonna, who nicked the hook for her own "Hung Up," "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" has opened the door for a whole new generation of ABBA fans. That is all fine by me - if a new crew of kids can learn the value of genuine musical composition, then I am willing to give "Number Ones" a hearty recommendation.
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