Fernando [Spanish Version][*] - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
Track Listings (11) - Disc #5
Eagle
Take a Chance on Me
One Man, One Woman
The Name of the Game - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
Move On - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
Hole in Your Soul
The Girl with the Golden Hair: Thank You for the Music
The Girl with the Golden Hair: I Wonder (Departure) - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
The Girl with the Golden Hair: I'm a Marionette
Al Andar [*] - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
Gracias por La Música [*]
Track Listings (16) - Disc #6
As Good as New
Voulez-Vous
I Have a Dream
Angeleyes
The King Has Lost His Crown
Does Your Mother Know
If It Wasn't for the Nights
Chiquitita
Lovers (Live a Little Longer)
Kisses of Fire
Summer Night City [*]
Lovelight [*]
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) [*]
Estoy Soñando [*]
Chiquitita [Spanish Version][*]
¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame! [*]
Track Listings (13) - Disc #7
Super Trouper
The Winner Takes It All
On and on and On
Andante, Andante
Me and I
Happy New Year
Our Last Summer
The Piper
Lay All Your Love on Me
The Way Old Friends Do
Elaine [*]
Andante, Andante [Spanish Version][*]
Felicidad [*]
Track Listings (16) - Disc #8
The Visitors
Head Over Heels
When All Is Said and Done
Soldiers
I Let the Music Speak
One of Us
Two for the Price of One
Slipping Through My Fingers
Like an Angel Passing Through My Room
Should I Laugh or Cry [*]
No Hay a Quien Culpar [*]
Se Me Esta Escapando [*]
The Day Before You Came [*]
Cassandra [*]
Under Attack [*]
You Owe Me One [*]
Track Listings (11) - Disc #9
Waterloo [Alternative Mix] - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smokey/Midnight Special - ABBA, Traditional
Thank You for the Music [Doris Day Version]
Summer Night City [Full Length Version]
Lovelight [Alternative Mix]
Dream World [Outtake]
Voulez-Vous [Extended Remix]
On and on and On [Full Length Version]
Put on Your White Sombrero [Outtake]
I Am the City [Outtake]
ABBA Undeleted: Scaramouche/Summer Night City/Take a Chance on Me/Baby - ABBA, Anderson, Stig
This box set will comprisse 9 CDs & 2 DVDs, plus a full colour booklet with timeline and photos. A separate booklet will contain lyrics to all the songs contained in the box set. This will mark the first ever release o... more »f a complete ABBA studio recordings set since the bands formation 33 years ago, and the first set to tell the ABBA story both through audio and video content. The 2 DVDs, featuring all the promo videos ever released by the band, THE HISTORY documentary which covers the overview of the ABBA story, and a previously unreleased concert, which was originally a part of the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA. 5 of the performances from Dick Cavett will be included.« less
This box set will comprisse 9 CDs & 2 DVDs, plus a full colour booklet with timeline and photos. A separate booklet will contain lyrics to all the songs contained in the box set. This will mark the first ever release of a complete ABBA studio recordings set since the bands formation 33 years ago, and the first set to tell the ABBA story both through audio and video content. The 2 DVDs, featuring all the promo videos ever released by the band, THE HISTORY documentary which covers the overview of the ABBA story, and a previously unreleased concert, which was originally a part of the television special Dick Cavett Meets ABBA. 5 of the performances from Dick Cavett will be included.
CD Reviews
What EXACTLY you're getting with this complete boxed set
Daniel W. Kelly | Long Island, NY United States | 01/07/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"As a long time fan of Abba, I purchased the original import releases of all of their albums years ago, along with Greatest Hits volulme 2 for Gimme Gimme Gimme and Summer Night City. Then, I had to supplement. I bought More Abba Gold to get "I Am The City". I bought the "Thank You for the Music" boxed set to get a whole load of previously unreleased tracks. I RE-bought the domestic release of Voulez Vous to get the original version of "Lovelight." I bought the Definitive Collection to get the 12" of Voulez Vous. Now-I've gotten rid of ALL of that, because it's ALL on here, and the remastering sounds better than ever, even on their very first albums.
As for the packaging-the CDs are made to look like vinyl LPs, and they are black coated, so the bottoms of the discs look like Playstation 1 games if you've ever seen one of those. The box itself is a soft velvety sky blue with a pull off top. Inside, there are slots for the 9 CDs, 2 DVDs, a hardcover book of liner notes for all the CDs, and a hardcover booklet with lyrics for every single song on every disc. There are actually MORE slots than components, so the box is bigger than it needs to be, but you can at least space your discs apart to get them out easier. Each of the 8 ABBA albums comes in mini cardboard record sleeves, with the art work from the original LP on front and back. Inside, each disc is in a clear plastic slip case, and there's a single sheet insert with the track info for that disc. Unfortunately, since this box is set up so that each of the 8 albums includes all the bonus tracks recorded at the period of that album's release, the original artwork on the disc sleeves does not list the bonus tracks, so you either have to remove the insert or use the hardcover book to reference them.
The ninth CD is all the bonus material, unreleased tracks, long versions and extended versions. And here's where you find the only two big disappointments. A previously unreleased alternate mix of Waterloo is included-but as the liner notes state, it's mastered from vinyl because the original master couldn't be found-and it sounds like it. But the BIGGEST disappointment is that for the first time ever, the long version of "On and On and On" is included-but a stereo master was unavailable, so a MONO source was used. And considering this is such a clean, bass heavy dance track, the mono is painfully shrill and dull. Bummer. This version features an added bridge of lyrics and an extended fade at the end. Maybe someday a stereo master will be found, and we'll have to do supplementing once again with a future "Ultimate Abba Collection with one previously unreleased track!"
And don't forget-unless you have an all region DVD player, you won't be able to play the 2 overseas DVDs.
Bottom line: hardcore fans should not HESITATE to get ALL their Abba all in one place."
We need a clarification from the sellers about which edition
Philip A.Cohen | Bay Harbor Islands, Florida United States | 12/09/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I think that it's important for all the sellers of this 9-CD + 2-DVD set to clarify about which pressing that they're offering:the European import with PAL format DVD's or the Canadian pressing with NTSC format DVD's.As for the CD's,fan feedback on the official ABBA website has been quite favorable concerning sound quality.As for the DVD's,they're a not quite complete collection of the group's promo videos("When I kissed The Teacher" from "More ABBA Gold" is omitted for unknown reasons).As for the live performances from the "Dick Cavett Meets ABBA" T.V. special,only 5 of them are included,because,supposedly the rest no longer exist in Swedish T.V. archives.Actually,the complete performance was once released on Japanese VHS(By "Shochiku Home Video") as part of a program called "Dancing Queen",so the footage defintely DOES exist.And as for the CD's many fans are still frustrated by not getting a complete release of the widely(but poorly) bootlegged song "Just Like That"(though an excerpt appears as part of "ABBA Undeleted")."
LUXURIOUS BOX... ALL ALBUMS...LOTS OF EXTRAS... GREAT!!!
Paulo Leite | Lisbon, Portugal | 11/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Well... we all know that, somehow, ABBA has a place in music History.
After winning the Eurovision context with a song called "Waterloo", the group composed by two couples (Agnetha Faltskog/Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lynqstad/Benny Andersson) took Europe by storm with an incredible array of catchy, melodic, funny, romantic, songs that made them the must famous Swedish brand after Volvo. From 1975 until their break up in the 80's, they were an international household name.
Many were the songs that crowned the incredible output of the quartet: Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All, Super Trouper, Money Money Money, Mamma Mia, Voulez-Vous, Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) and Thank You for the Music... are just a few songs that everybody on Earth has heard a thousand times. And just like the great bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, ABBA belongs to the group of those bands whose work gathers new fans every day... despite the fact that the quartet has never got back together in public since their brake up nearly 20 years ago.
And that's just part of the mythology... that all fans are eagerly expecting a new comeback someday (myself included!!!!).
AND HERE WE HAVE THE ULTIMATE THING any fan must have: a big, lavish, expensive big box containing all of their work (like if we didn't have it already!!!) along with 2 tons of candy no fan can live without.
This box is composed by:
- All their original albums: Ring Ring (1973), Waterloo (1974), ABBA (1975), Arrival (1976), ABBA - the Album (1977), Voulez-Vous (1979), Super Trouper (1980), The Visitors (1981)... and Live (1986).
- B sides.
- An exclusive "Rarities" CD with versions we never heard before.
- Exclusive Live performance from Dick Cavett meets ABBA.
- A DVD with all the promotional videos.
- A documentary "The History".
- A book with the complete ABBA lyrics.
- A beautiful color booklet with lots of photos and an ABBA timeline.
Everything here is beautifully made and I am sure it is worth it. The price is a little too salty... specially if you think the ABBA CDs' average price goes around eleven dollars. But these big editions are always a feast for the eyes and the tribute the band deserves.
Beware that the box does not contain everything ever released... the 1979 live concert DVD, for example, is not here.
I am not sure if all the existing fans (who already have the nine CDs) will buy this box. But it is good to know that new fans can choose between just the CDs... and this big luxurious have-it-all-and-plus set.
Me? I'm too busy dreaming about a comeback...
"
Flash: Universal almost gets it right!
Curmudgeon | West Australia | 04/27/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The remastering of ABBA's music (supposedly from original analogue tapes) on this mammoth box set is the best I've ever heard - there is a transparency and depth missing from even the recent 24-bit remasters (I think a different process and source materials were used). So if you want to hear ABBA at their best, this set provides the goods; however, you will be paying inflated prices for the packaging and dvd add-ons. The box itself is a nice idea, but the sleeves don't fit smoothly into the moulded plastic grooves, and if you want to view the album titles printed on the spines then the discs will fall out as you remove the sleeves from the box (a stupid design mistake). The faux-velvet coating on the box is extremely vulnerable to scuffing (and the colour should have been darker to appear less cheesy and mask fingermarks, etc). The dvd component feels like an afterthought: "The History" documentary was first released with ABBA Gold in 1999 and is inessential, and the obviously truncated Dick Cavett special seems even worse than the prospect of its complete exclusion (it's a lousy performance by a group at the end of its tether, and the omissions make it feel very choppy and unsatisfying). It's great to have all the videos, including The Last Video, on the one disc, even if there's no annotation or pics on the sleeve.
So, in summary, this is a set for fans willing to overlook its shortcomings. The sound is fantastic, which is ultimately what matters most, and bar one or two unreleased or omitted tracks or remixes you get everything ABBA actually completed and released."
Nice post christmas gift but...
James Tg Fuentes | quezon city Philippines | 01/05/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Like any other fan, I waited for this set with great anticipation. when the name "masters of audio sweden" appeared in the mastering credits, i felt my enthusiasm was doused cold; they were the same guys that botched up the initial pressings of frida's "something's going on" and Agnetha Faltskog's "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" 2005 remasters. I was hoping for the best, but feared the worst.
A thorough listen to the "Ring Ring","Waterloo" and "ABBA" albums gave me the assurance that I won't find remastering clinkers. Although it seems like they went easy on the noise reduction, I didn't have to go far to find some...
"Arrival" started with a cleaner sounding "When I Kissed the Teacher". On Track 2 - "Dancing Queen", I was expecting it to be free of any glitches since the pre-digital era editing flaws were already corrected on "the definitive collection" and the album's 2001 remasters counterpart. I was wrong. They made another attempt at "correcting" it by making their own edit - which leaves the listener with a feeling that that same part was punched in. Another casualty is "Knowing me, Knowing you". On this collection, the engineers stuck to the analog era version which contained the (very) obvious punch-in that has all disappeared in "the definitive collection" and the 2001 remaster of "arrival". Ironically, entire set was mastered at a studio called "masters of audio".
Another issue I have with this supposedly complete collection is the exclusion of "Gracias Por La Musica", their spanish album. The spanish tracks were instead shared with the rest of the 8 "official" albums as bonus tracks. This album will go down in history has the most "mistreated" in the ABBA canon. It was properly recorded, had it's own album cover and was the first ABBA album to appear worldwide on a single label (septima) and was a hit in the latin american countries - even in far away japan. I hope someday, it will be given its due.
Speaking of complete, where is the U.S. remix of "Lay All Your Love on Me" and the extended version of "The Visitors"? They would have been better alternatives to a "ABBA Undeleted" which is on "Thank You for the Music" and is still available."
Track Listings (19) - Disc #1