Search - Abba :: Ring Ring

Underrated; you can already hear movement towards greatness.

darragh o'donoghue | 01/10/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"While hardly a masterpiece in the league of the great, late albums, 'Ring Ring' is a vast improvement on patchy albums like 'Waterloo'. The grotesque prog-rock indulgences that marred that work are largely absent; the one exception, 'I Saw it in the mirror' is redeemed by sad lyrics and moving backing vocals. By this tage of their career, Abba had yet to find their true voice, so 'Ring Ring' largely comprises some excellent pastiches (eg the Carole King of 'Disillusion'; the Animals of 'She's My Kind of Girl'). Full of exhiliratingly tuneful dance pop, the Abba aesthetic can be glimpsed in the frothy stomp/melancholic subject matter of the title song; the haunting 'Another town, another train' reminiscent of the astonishing late ballads; and 'Nina, pretty ballerina', an early stab at what would become their euphoric masterpiece, 'Dancing Queen'."

My least favorite "debut" album

Wow | CA | 07/24/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Madonna and Britney Spears had great first albums. However, this isn't one of them. While I enjoy ABBA's later albums, this one never quite rises above silly with a bunch of fillers. One example is "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brither." Gosh, it's annoying now!!! I used to like it. After ABBA evolved into more mature artists (by next years 'Waterloo,' they were already MUCH better) they are more enjoyable. Far more than this ... piece of immature ...."