Abba Gold - Greatest Hits

Amazon.com

For those who love Abba (and if you're reading this, chances are you do, even if you don't know it yet), ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits represents a happy, joyous compilation of 19 of the Swedish supergroup's numerous videos (it omits 13 that were on Abba: The Definitive Collection but adds "Lay All Your Love on Me" and "I Have a Dream"). Granted, they all seem to have been filmed on the same soundstage (even the firelit "Fernando"), but they retain their appeal and infectious charm. Fans can thrill to these vintage clips, which provide an opportunity to rediscover who was the most natural in front of the camera (Agnetha), who was the best dancer (Anna-Frid, a.k.a. Frida), who was the most demure (Benny), and who was the worst lip-syncher (Bjorn--always Bjorn). Lassé Hallstrom, later an Oscar®-nominated filmmaker, directed most of the early videos, and it shows in their natural, no-fuss style; it wasn't until Abba tried to make the jump to '80s-style electronica that they faltered in both style and content. In addition to old standbys like "Waterloo" and "Take a Chance on Me," there's a 25-minute historical documentary and a 1992 version of the "Dancing Queen" video. To this we say: Thank you for the music--and the videos! --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews:

Voulez-vous listen, avec moi?.......2007-07-19

Why I bought this tape: My father is a big fan of ABBA and we have the audio cassette tape for one of our vans (it has a standard-grade sound system) and the audio CD for our other van (that has a system one level above standard, and sounds really good to me). My father saw a brief clip of ABBA performing on television, and wanted to see more, so I bought the VHS version of ABBA Gold. While there is a DVD version, my father has a VHS player and no DVD player.

If you're unfamiliar with ABBA, Wikipedia has a good description of them. They are from Sweden, they were active from 1972 to 1982, their music was a mix of pop and disco, and the four members were: Benny Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog (who married Bjorn Ulvaeus in 1971), and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad.

I am the right age to have known ABBA in its early years, but I didn't. I've always been out of synchrony with music trends, but I enjoy what I enjoy, when I enjoy it. I "discovered" ABBA in the late twentieth century (Man, that makes me feel old!), and still enjoy them. At first, they come off as "ear candy, and a few of their songs are just pretty fluff, but an examination of the lyrics (yes, there are real words accompanying that powerful beat and those lush melodies) shows that there is some depth there. Not always, but more often than you might think, and not always where one might expect it.

"Dancing Queen" - Okay, I just talked about depth, but then we start with one of the fluffier songs. It does create the image that some girls have of being the star at a big dance, but there is little depth beyond that. This one has a high cotton-candy factor: very sweet, but too much can give you a stomachache (look at the word, "stomachache," as it's a strange word, just to look at).

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" - Well, here we get a bit more meaning. This one, to me, is all about picking one's partners in Life carefully. That might not be profound, but it is a good idea to include in a song. The melody is fairly rich for this song, and the beat is fairly strong. A lively song. It also implies that an incorrect choice can mean a lot of pain and broken dreams for quite a few people.

"Take A Chance On Me" - This is a very lively song with lyrics that should be taken with a grain of salt, as that "take a chance on me" statement implies potential danger (otherwise, why would someone need encouragement like that?). A good song, though.

"Mamma Mia" - This one is lively and fun and good to dance to and lively and fun. I don't see the lyrics as having a lot of meaning to them, but the song did inspire a musical, so I guess that some people see an important story in there. To me, it's just a good fun song.

"Lay All Your Love On Me" - Like "Take a Chance on Me", this is a good song, that has the message of "I want you to love me, but be careful, as that is a risky thing to do." Here, though, the risks are more clearly stated, as is the challenge to try love anyway. An interesting song, with a good beat and a good melody.

"Super Trouper" - This one has a powerful beat and a good melody. The lyrics are nothing fancy, but it does make me want to sing along, and it is very cheerful.

"I Have A Dream" - This happy song is an ode to optimism and an anthem for the cheerful people of the world, set to pleasant music, and featuring nice, clear vocals. It reminds me, in its spirit, of "The Happy Wanderer".

"The Winner Takes It All" - Is this Donald Trump's theme song? No, I guess that would be "Money, Money, Money". This one talks about taking chances, and the concept of "nothing ventured, nothing gained." Risk-taking is something that we all have to think about, as a risk untaken is an opportunity lost, but that opportunity might have been a path to disaster, too.

"Money, Money, Money" - Now, we have Trump's anthem. It might seem out-of-place on this generally upbeat album, but I think its superficially-jaded message is really a lampooning of greed. It's not one of my favorite songs here, but it's good.

"S.O.S." - Oh, this is one of my favorites! The music flows richly, the beat is good, and the message is a simple and strong one: "We had it good, it's gone now, I don't know what went wrong, and I want to know what the heck happened!"

"Chiquitita" - This one makes me want to not only sing along, but to march! The melody is rich, the vocals are great, the beat is powerful, and the lyrics are inspiring. A+

"Fernando" - For me, this is the best of the album. Not only do I love the sad melody and the rich vocals, but the lyrics are packed with meaning. Even though I have never been much of a rebel, this song clearly conveys the idea of "We might have failed, but the attempt was worth it, because our cause was just." Wow.

"Voulez Vous" - This one is what it is: a powerful, primal invitation to love. The beat is strong, the melody is pretty rich, and the message is simple and straightforward.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - On the surface, this one seems like it's redundant with "Voulez Vous", but listen to the lyrics. While "Voulez Vous" is wanton and reckless, hedonism distilled, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" is something different. It has a powerful, almost primal beat, and a whirlwind melody, but the lyrics are not about sex and impulsive love, but about safety, security, and keeping away the shadows, the evil of the night, that can lurk in the dark of the world, or within ourselves. This might be the deepest song of the album.

"Does Your Mother Know" - A catchy, upbeat tune, but it seems to lack the magic of the others. My least favorite of this bunch.

"One Of Us" - Okay, we had something, it's gone now, and I don't like losing what we had. Nothing complex there, but well-stated in this song.

"The Name Of The Game" - "Nobody else has figured me out, but you did, so what do I need to do to make this work?" That's the message here -- another invitation to a potentially risky relationship. Not the best song here, but not bad.

"Thank You For The Music" - I like this one. ABBA is thanking their fans, thanking each other, thanking God, for their success; that's how I interpret this catchy song. Fun, and good to sing along with.

"Waterloo" - A strong beat, a good melody, good vocals, very upbeat. Not their most profound song, but it closes out the album on a fun note.

Beyond the music: Why buy a video instead of a CD? For the visuals. How does this music video do on the visuals? I would give it a B+. If you want to see the four members of ABBA as they perform, this VHS tape gives you a lot of that. If you are seeking stunning backdrops and dazzling visual effects, it does not give you that. The different songs have different sets to match the music, but the variety of sets are limited.

The settings list includes:

Montages of stills of the group performing

Tape of the group performing on stage

Scenes of people dancing to the group's music in disco settings, replete with multi-colored strobe lights

The group interacting, like in a skit, while singing, on a very spartan set, with white floors and walls, and a few chairs

The group walking around in a pleasant village-like setting, while singing

The group eating or playing a board game together, with lots of smiles and laughter

The group standing atop a snowy mountain, with a giant snowman in the back

The group sitting around a campfire, in a very dark place.

As I said, the settings are matched to the mood of the song, with varying degrees of success. The best setting-song match is the campfire setting for "Fernando".

Did this video give me what I sought? Absolutely. The sound quality matched our better-than-basic sound system with the audio CD, the picture quality was good, the song choices matched our albums (what we wanted), and we certainly got a good chance to see ABBA doing what they do, and appearing to enjoy making the music they make.

Abba Gold.......2007-03-08

I have loved Abba music since I first heard it in the mid to late 70's. I started buying their CD's to play in my car. Mostly "Greatest Hits" I never get tired of listening to them. I would buy more videos but I don't want a lot of the same stuff on each one. I'd like to find some of the CD's or videos with some of their music that didn't make the top 10.

ABBA Gold DVD video.......2005-09-02

The videos are a bit old compared to todays and there are places where the lipsink is not the best but the music is fantastic, the group if classic and the music is simple and pure. Magnificant voices and utter joy to an ABBA fan. Can't wait to go to Vegas and see Mamma Mia again and be a part of 3000 people singing all the ABBA classics with the performers on the stage. It is a great video.

Pure Pop From Sweden!!!!.......2005-07-25

having owned the "Gold" cd i never saw most of the videos, but watching this dvd made me like the songs even more! the 4 members of abba are very entertaining, its funny to see the 70's clothes and how cheesy the concepts were for the early videos,the sound and video are great for there age, they can compete with dvds released today, if you like pure pop with unbelievable harmonies you cant go wrong with ABBA GOLD its even cheaper than the cd!!! (under $10!!!)

Good overview of Abba for the price.......2005-03-21

I just wanted to take a trip down memory lane. And for that Abba Gold is a lot of fun! It also has an interesting documentary of Abba's history as told by Bjorn and Michael Tretow their recording engineer. The DVD also adds a 1992 version of Dancing Queen. Though frankly I didn't see how the 1992 Dancing Queen was much different from the original one.

The video quality isn't that great, but it reminds me of how I saw it when I was a kid dancing in front of the tv. The costumes, tons of blue eyeshadow, the 70's hairstyles, the bad lip synching, the disco all bring me back. It's all before MTV and the production values by today's standards are very amateurish. I find it charming. And hey, my 3 year old daughter loves this DVD!

Okay, so maybe the Definitive Collection is a better DVD of Abba's videos, but it's twice the price and doesn't have a documentary. If you're a die-hard Abba fan and will buy multiple DVDs, then this isn't the DVD for you. But if you just want to buy one ABBA DVD, then this gives you a lot for your money.

Abba (3 Pack) In Concert 1979 /Gold - Greatest Hits/ The Winner Takes It All - The ABBA Story

Average customer rating:

Abba (3 Pack) In Concert 1979 /Gold - Greatest Hits/ The Winner Takes It All - The ABBA Story

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0009ZF88A

Product Description

This Dvd will play on all Region 1 DVD players - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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