ABBA Album: “Forever Gold”

I figure most people have heard most of the tracks on CD 1. Songs like "Dancing Queen", "S.O.S.", "The Winner Takes It All" and "Waterloo" are classics EVERYWHERE. Some of the better tracks on CD 1, however, aren't that well known. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" sounds suspiciously like the eurodance genre of the 90s and still sounds amazingly current. "Does Your Mother Know" is a straight out disco-rocker that features the guys on lead vocals! And "Super Trouper" has some sweet harmonies in the chorus. Disc 2 are where the real unknown gems come into play. The 60s influenced "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "On & On & On" will get you singing and dancing. The more electronic songs like the never-before released (except on "More ABBA Gold") "I Am The City", "Under Attack", and "The Visitors" will fill the dance floor. And some of the ballads, like "I Wonder (Departure)" and "Our Last Summer" are simply beautiful. This is highly recommended for any CD collection.

After hearing Dancing Queen in the movie "Muriel's Wedding" (which I also highly recommend), I decided to risk some of my money and buying ABBA Gold (the first CD in this collection). Ever since, I've been hooked!

There are many misconceptions about this amazing group (which here in the States is only known for Dancing Queen). They are sometimes seen as a one-hit wonder disco group, but a listen to either of the CDs will show that's simply not true.

With tear-jerking songs like "The Winner Takes It All" and the floor-stomping "Voulez-Vous", the songs on this 2-CD set will please all tastes.

Aside from all their major hits, B-sides and lesser-known tracks are also included here. "Our Last Summer" tells the story of an old romance in Paris with lyrical and vocal precision. "Ring Ring", their first hit in Europe is also included here.

It's a real shame that they broke up in the early 80's, but as shown by the highly successful musical "Mamma Mia!", these songs continue to live on. Some of today's music artists get by on either good looks or really elaborate production. But in the end, only the truly great survive, and ABBA is one group who has had enduring success for more than 25 years.

For those of you who have begun discovering the wonderful music of ABBA, then this collection will get you off to a great start.

Both compact discs of Forever Gold contain great songs and although I had difficulty listening to CD 2 at first, all the songs are the best. Now for those of you who only know Dancing Queen, Waterloo and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, this CD is defenitely for you because there is so much more to discover about ABBA. While CD 1(Abba Gold) shows fresh and poppish cherished songs and their biggest hits, CD 2(More Abba Gold) gives us a bit of a more obscure approach. The best songs of Abba Gold are Knowing Me Knowing You, Lay All Your Love On me, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Fernando, Waterloo and The Winner Takes It All. On More Gold Summer Night City is definetely the best one along with Ring Ring and When I Kissed The Teacher. I Am The City, the never-before-released song is a diamond in the ruff, really good!!! The Visitors and Under Attack show the darker side of Abba and are really haunting.

So buy this CD because you can't lose!!!

This is a Great CD from in my opinion the best group ever! I love all of their songs. Listening to them brings back memories of my childhood.

I was amazed at the excellence of some of these songs. I really enjoyed listening to this set. It's great to take a close listen to this group since some of their stuff is amazing. I find that the songs I recognized from USA radio play were a large notch better than the rest of the stuff on the CDs as a general rule. I did not enjoy CD2 near as much but maybe I need to listen several more times.

Somebody amongst the three songwriters is an excellent poet because the lyrics on at least "The Winner Takes It all," "Fernando," and "The Day Before You Came" are great. "The Day Before You Came" (CD2) is 5 minutes and 45 seconds of unique lyrics, and interesting to try and interpret. I guess that one song is worth the price of CD2.

The "radio play" songs feature excellent drums and the bass player is good 'n' funky with great stuff.

My CD has the 4 signatures in gold on the back cover and I notice the signatures are engraved in the paper as if someone had actually signed them rather than just printed. Could that be?