Mamma mia! ABBA has never sounded or looked better than on the new CD+DVD package ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition) (Polydor/Polar/UMe), released December 7, 2010. Featuring all of the group's hits and more--and the videos for each of them--this Special Edition package brings together 1992's six times platinum ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits CD and its gold-certified homevideo companion of the same title, both newly remastered.

The CD, which as a stand-alone album has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, embraces 19 classics including the gold #1 anthem "Dancing Queen"; #3 gold "Take A Chance On Me"; Top 10s "Waterloo" and "The Winner Takes It All"; Top 20s "SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Fernando," "Does Your Mother Know" and "The Name Of The Game," and Top 40s "Mamma Mia" and "Chiquitita."

The DVD features all 19 video clips, taking full advantage of the progress in digital technology since they were last remastered. Notably, most of ABBA's videos were directed by Lasse Hallström, since acclaimed for such films as My Life As A Dog, What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Chocolat. Also included are bonus selections in the form of "before-and-after" split-screen comparisons of five original film clips and their remastered versions. In addition, the DVD adds a recently discovered cartoon version of "Money, Money, Money," circa 1977. This rarity was briefly screened at the time and has not been available in complete form since.

Nearly 30 years later as one of the most commercially successful pop groups in history, the music of ABBA dances into the future with ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits (Special Edition).

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There is a whole new generation of kids listening (or perhaps pretending not to listen) to ABBA's music as interpreted by the new Swedish group, the A-Teens. I must say, I'll have to stick with these originals. If you think you need only one silly seventies pop-dance album, this may be the one for you.

Most of ABBA's songs are syrupy sweet with a dance-able swaying thump in the background, ala Dancing Queen, Fernando, Knowing Me, Knowing You. I love them all. I can never quite decide whether these are smirky camp or absolutely serious, but perhaps that is part of the appeal. The enigma of ABBA.

What surprised me, revisiting some of the early songs, like SOS and Waterloo, is the almost rock and roll feel. The beat is harder and faster before the group went completely disco.

Still, I think if ABBA has a live-forever pop classic, it has to be Dancing Queen, which has pride of place here as the first track. This really sums up everything you need to know about Pop.

54 of 59 found the following review helpful:

Excellent PopOct 16, 2002
By Lonnie E. Holder "The Review's the Thing"
It would be easy for me to give any Abba CD less than 5 stars, if you consider their music in comparison to all rock music. However, if you consider their music in comparison to all pop, the rating must be different. Abba didn't create good pop, they created excellent pop. Bennie and Bjorn could churn out one catchy tune after another, and Agnetha and Frida could sing in harmony well enough that those of us that watched them on tv fell in love instantly and became immediate Abba fans.

This CD collects the majority of Abba's biggest hits, though they may have been hits in Germany or England or the United States. I know that when I bought this CD (which I purchased after "More Abba Gold" - which I'll talk about momentarily) I recognized nearly every song, which says that most of them did get good airplay.

Most of these songs are classic 70s pop songs, with very little if any disco influence. And while most of the songs are catchy and do little to press the boundaries of rock music, there are a few songs that transcend the genre. Most particularly "Lay All Your Love On Me", "I Have a Dream", "Fernando", "One of Us", and "Thank You for the Music", which in hindsight is the group's goodbye and thank you to fans.

I enjoy Abba's music. It's generally easy on the ears, you can sing or hum it, and pretty darn well written. However, Abba is much more than the music on this CD. If you like this CD you may want to try "More Abba Gold", which has miscellaneous hits of somewhat lower stature (less sales) than those on this CD. While the "More Abba Gold" CD songs sold less than these, I think the music is more complex in some cases, and often shows that Abba was more than just catchy tunes. One step further would be to buy the albums and catch Abba as they were originally released and appreciated by those of us who bought their albums.

Yes, it's a bit of nostalgia from the 70s and early 80s. It's music we heard so often on the radio, and perhaps even more often on our record players (that thing that plays those round black plastic thingies with the grooves on each side). It's takes us back to a fun time when maybe life was just a little less complicated. And yes, it's very listenable and among the best of pop music...go have fun listening...

87 of 99 found the following review helpful:

Re-Mix, not Greatest HitsDec 02, 2003
By No Name
I recently bought the ABBA Gold Greatest Hits CD and something just doesn't sound right! I have the original recordings on LP and 45, so I have a reference other than memory. Someone has done some serious re-mixing on this compilation. It almost sounds like they are singing in a living room with overstuffed chairs. The rhythm track sounds like someone beating on a plastic garbage can with a broom. The originals had heavy compression on the vocals and lush reverb which was an integral part of the ABBA sound. It sounds like in this version they are using some sort of noise gate on the vocals, because they tend to unnaturally disappear between syllables. I was amazed that of all the 173+ reviews only one shared my disappointment with this compilation from a technical standpont. I certainly agree with that review. that "the new (1993) version is extremely boring and in no way reproduces the musical excitement of the real ABBA from the 70s and 80s." The recordings, as originally released, were masterpieces that did not need to be "improved upon".The A-Teens recordings sound closer to the originals in terms of production technique than this collection does.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ONE YEAR LATER, November 26, 2004..... I wrote my original review of ABBA Gold back on December 2, 2003, and my opinion of it has not changed. It does not sound like the original ABBA recordings, even though Michael Tretow, the original recording engineer produced this CD. I have gained some insight into the magic Michael Tretow put into the original mixes. I recently purchased The Winner Takes it All (The ABBA Story) DVD. Michael talks about doubling up the instruments and the vocals to make the recordings sound bigger than life. The doubled instruments and voices were also changed in pitch slightly to enhance the sound. If you listen closely to the original ABBA vinyl recordings, you can hear this chorusing effect. The sound is sort of like a choir of angels singing along with the 4 ABBA vocalists. This effect is lacking on the ABBA Gold CD, where the vocals tend to get lost in the mix, particularly low listening levels. It has nothing to do with some special ethereal quality of phonograph records versus compact discs. ABBA Gold is a re-mix. It is nearly impossible to duplicate all of the aspects of the original mix, a decade and a half later. I wonder if the original 2-track mix tapes that were sent to the record pressing plant are still in a vault somewhere. It would be wonderful if they could be put on CD. You think ABBA Gold is good? The original mix on CD would blow you away!

26 of 28 found the following review helpful:

ABBA PlatinumApr 22, 2000
By Michael Kyriagis
Gold is an impressive and valuable mineral. But the most impressive and enduring of all is platinum and for that reason alone, this album should be retitled for future editions.

It is almost superfluous trying to review a body of the "greatest" work from arguably the best pop-act the music world has ever known. How do you evaluate a collection of songs that has seeped into the consciousness of pretty much anyone who was around in the mid to late 70's and which continues to impress even the most cynical music listener today?

The best that you can do is merely to remember the exhiliration on first hearing the soaring strings and harmonies of "Dancing Queen" and not quite believing a song could sound so beautiful. Or to recall the moment you thought you might stop breathing as you listened to the aching resignation and almost gorgeous pain in "The Winner Takes it all". Or to decribe the marvel when you first recognised the maturity and balance contained in the mini-opus "The name of the game". Or maybe to smile at the day you knew you had died and gone to pop heaven whilst being serenaded with the delightful suggestiveness of "If you change your mind, I'm the first in line, Honey I'm still free, take a chance on me". And I could go on in similar vein with and each and every one of the remaining tracks.

"ABBA Gold" is a only a sample of music that has transcended time and genres and (now it can be said) generations. A souvenir if you like of the joy and fun and the sheer brilliance of being alive which was contained in just about all of ABBA's 3 to 4 minute pop gems.

Hyperbole and exaggeration? Maybe. But the fact remains that ABBA's music and genius continues to impress people and critics all over the world with its timeless simplicity and complexity, its technical brilliance and a mastery of that most essential element of all great songs - the "hook". Add to that the glorious sounds of Agnetha and Frida harmonising together (every time) and you know that ABBA will never be bettered.

The real point to buying this album is not to be reminded of the days when a pop song could be equally sublime and fun nor to confirm in one sitting that ABBA were (and are) the absolute masters of songwriting and singing the perfect tune. The real point of this collection should be to lead you to discover the wealth of treasures contained in ABBA's lesser known albums and album tracks.

27 of 30 found the following review helpful:

Uncool? Not anymore!Sep 16, 2000
By Candace Scott
I also was in Jr. High School and High School when Abba was cranking out top 10 hits. In those days I snuck into the record shop and hid my Abba albums under the cover of Led Zeppelin and then ditched the Zeppelin at the check out counter. It was imperative to hide your face while purchasing Abba albums. They were that uncool. To admit you loved Abba in geometry class was to court disaster and be ostracized for the rest of your life.

Such nonsense mattered as a 14 year old, now I can openly say Abba's music is wonderful and their arrangements were as innovative as anything coming out of the 70's. It is simply impossible to listen to Dancing Queen or Take a Chance on Me and not want to hear the songs again and again. The vocal intricacies on Take a Chance are equal to the harmonies on most Beach Boys records. How about Waterloo? Three minutes of the most pulsing, catchy music ever put on a disc.

Abba's music sounds better today than it ever did, particularly when you know what dreck was produced by other bands in the intervening years. They might not have been Dylanesque lyrically, but few have ever written songs with such clever hooks, bridges and infectious rhythm. Thirty years after the fact, the impossible has happened: Abba has finally become cool!

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