ABBA
Voulez-vous

THE REVIEW

"As good as new and growin' too
 Yes, I think it's takin' on a new dimension"

                                                  "As Good As New"

1979, two years after the punk revolution, during the full swing of the new-wave movement and coinciding with the decline of prog... "Voulez-Vous" is released. It's the first album recorded by ABBA in their Polar Studios in Stockholm which would soon become a recording benchmark for many artists (Led Zeppelin and Genesis in '79); it is an album that essentially celebrates the era of discos, warm and carefree nights. It embraces disco, funky, and soft rock sounds, often transforming their structure into a game of very interesting colorful combinations and interlocking pieces that lead to surpassing worn-out motifs and rhythms. So, after "The Album", two years later, the group maintains its success unchanged despite almost a radical change in sound. Europe warmly welcomes the album, demonstrating its ability to understand and grasp a phenomenon that will be of great commercial interest but has at its core a cultured foundation of the old continent that captures the more refined audience (in England "Voulez-Vous" will soar to number one in the charts).

The first track, "As Good As New", and the first surprise: a string section that fades into a strong funk sung by Agnetha with a simple simple opening again with strings, a lethal catchy chorus embedded in a complex song that finds a natural release in the refrain. The opening of the title track is quite different, a threatening synth part on a disco rhythm, well-calibrated and powerful bass sounds (the kick drum beats, beats, and you can feel it), a song sung by both voices in unison and hand-clapping, reprised with an Arabic-sounding synth. Third track and first ballad to catch a breath, "I Have a Dream" sung by Frida, a simple song set in a soft-rock framework. "Angeleyes", a pop-rock manual for a song with many nuances, accelerated in rhythm, a crescendo towards the chorus through verses emphasized by Frida and Agnetha's voices that in just over four minutes give voice to Andersson-Ulvaeus's mini symphony.  "The King Has Lost His Crown" is disco music full of contaminations, there's perfect production behind it and listening to this album you get the distinct impression that ABBA had a great understanding of sound recording techniques, there isn't a flaw. After the disco, the rock 'n' roll of "Does Your Mother Know", hypnotic synth bass opening that leads to the explosion of this beautiful ride sung by Bjorn boasting yet another astonishing chorus with Agnetha and Frida's falsetto backing vocals. Followed by "If It Wasn't For The Night", the first notes, that cheerful motif resembles something recent... yes that "I Don't Feel Like Dancin' " by the Scissor Sisters, a bit of plagiarism confirming ABBA's influence. The second ballad, the famous "Chiquitita" sung by Agnetha, closes with the dance invoked by "Lovers" and Frida's warm voice and the delicate beginning with "Kisses Of Fire".

The world of disco sounds has been tackled by other groups, but they didn't have the creativity of these incredible Swedes (see the Queen of "Hot Space") who turned everything they touched into gold and who recorded songs that became everyone’s heritage, fully respecting the definition of POP music.