Audio CD review:
ABBA - Love Stories

ABBA - Love Stories

Band: ABBA Title: Love Stories Rating: Release Date: 2006-03-25 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Fernando 2: The Name of the Game 3: Chiquitita 4: The Winner Takes It All 5: I Have a Dream - ABBA, Ulvaeus, Bjorn 6: The Day Before You Came 7: One of Us 8: Andante, Andante 9: One Man, One Woman 10: Eagle 11: Slipping Through My Fingers 12: My Love, My Life 13: Our Last Summer 14: Like an Angel Passing Through My Room 15: I Wonder (Departure) - ABBA, Anderson, Stig 16: I Let the Music Speak 17: The Way Old Friends Do

A beautiful collection The songs tell of different kids of love; romantic, child/parent, friendship and the end of a love too. ABBA's music has been the soundtrack to my life! I love that "someone" thought to make an anthology of their love songs. God, how sad is "The Winner Takes It All"?. . . . While I cherish this album, I gave it a four because I think some important ABBA love songs were forgotten. Also, I don't like "Eagle" and it made it on the CD. Oh well. Interesting compilation Of these, the first five tracks all made the top two in the UK and One of us, their last major international hit, made number three. The first seven tracks on this compilation were all released as singles in the UK. Among those six, I've never been keen on Chiquitita but the other five are pure magic and very different from each other. The day before you came, very touching and one of my favorite Abba songs, was their last new single. The UK singles buyers had lost interest in Abba by the time it came out but I wonder what it might have done if it had been available a few years earlier. The remainder of this collection features a selection of album tracks, some of which were considered for singles release. Eagle was released in some countries as a single but not in the UK. One man one woman, My love my life, Our last summer and The way old friends do are outstanding. This is not a hits collection and was never meant to be, but it is a fascinating compilation. ABBA Were Balladeers, Too... and First-Rate! (4.5 stars) Don't get me wrong, I like these songs, but ABBA's true artistry was even better expressed in slower numbers. Yes, ABBA is not only "Waterloo", "Mamma Mia", or "Take a Chance on Me". Really, if I had to choose one ABBA CD to take with me to a desert island, it would be this one. There are some of my ABBA top favourites ever, including "Chiquitita", "I Have a Dream", "Andante Andante", "Our Last Summer" and "My Love, My Life". From the chartbreakers, "The Name of the Game" is flawless. Interestingly, "Love Stories" does not include the biggest ABBA hit, the ubiquitous "Dancing Queen", for obvious reasons. The collection can easily do without it, though. Apart from the lyrics, the booklet contains excellent liner notes by John Tobler, who is not afraid to compare ABBA with the Beatles. Neither am I. Some call ABBA a 'guilty pleasure'. Why it should be 'guilty' is beyond me. This is good music in the first place. A great compilation. Wonderful collection of ABBA classics and lesser-known gems For that reason, I feel that it would be a great collection for those who are not familiar with ABBA's music because six of the songs are some of their biggest hits (on "ABBA GOLD"), five are from "More ABBA Gold", and I think the best six were never released as singles. This album combines some of the best ABBA classics heard on "ABBA Gold" with some lesser-known ABBA gems which are not found on "ABBA Gold", "More ABBA Gold", "Complete Gold", or any of the other major collections. Therefore, they show what a great and versatile band ABBA were. As the liner notes state, even though it is called "Love Stories", a more appropriate title could simply be "stories" because the songs deal with topics other than love as well - -such as the visionary feel of "I Have a Dream", a mother's feelings of regret as her daughter goes off to school and grows up before her eyes in "Slipping Through My Fingers", many interpretations of "Eagle", the mysticism/religiosity of "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room", and an artist's inspiration in "I Let The Music Speak. " These lyrics of many of these songs were very well-written and deeper than those of some of ABBA's catchy, hook-laden earlier work and that for which they are best known (and which is also superb). Furthermore, six pages of liner notes on ABBA are included as well as the lyrics to all of the songs. I have not found lyrics in any other ABBA CDs. Therefore, I recommend this either as a great introduction to ABBA or a great collection for fans who want a change of pace from the greatest-hits albums or the original albums. A great compilation. One of my favorites and I have every album and just about every ABBA compilation album available!. You can see a complete list of all ABBA discography, or go back to the ABBA tabs