ABBA Album: “Complete Studio Recordings”

I think that it's important for all the sellers of this 9-CD + 2-DVD set to clarify about which pressing that they're offering:the European import with PAL format DVD's or the Canadian pressing with NTSC format DVD's.As for the CD's,fan feedback on the official ABBA website has been quite favorable concerning sound quality.As for the DVD's,they're a not quite complete collection of the group's promo videos("When I kissed The Teacher" from "More ABBA Gold" is omitted for unknown reasons).As for the live performances from the "Dick Cavett Meets ABBA" T.V. special,only 5 of them are included,because,supposedly the rest no longer exist in Swedish T.V. archives.Actually,the complete performance was once released on Japanese VHS(By "Shochiku Home Video") as part of a program called "Dancing Queen",so the footage defintely DOES exist.And as for the CD's many fans are still frustrated by not getting a complete release of the widely(but poorly) bootlegged song "Just Like That"(though an excerpt appears as part of "ABBA Undeleted").

Like any other fan, I waited for this set with great anticipation. when the name "masters of audio sweden" appeared in the mastering credits, i felt my enthusiasm was doused cold; they were the same guys that botched up the initial pressings of frida's "something's going on" and Agnetha Faltskog's "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" 2005 remasters. I was hoping for the best, but feared the worst.

A thorough listen to the "Ring Ring","Waterloo" and "ABBA" albums gave me the assurance that I won't find remastering clinkers. Although it seems like they went easy on the noise reduction, I didn't have to go far to find some...

"Arrival" started with a cleaner sounding "When I Kissed the Teacher". On Track 2 - "Dancing Queen", I was expecting it to be free of any glitches since the pre-digital era editing flaws were already corrected on "the definitive collection" and the album's 2001 remasters counterpart. I was wrong. They made another attempt at "correcting" it by making their own edit - which leaves the listener with a feeling that that same part was punched in. Another casualty is "Knowing me, Knowing you". On this collection, the engineers stuck to the analog era version which contained the (very) obvious punch-in that has all disappeared in "the definitive collection" and the 2001 remaster of "arrival". Ironically, entire set was mastered at a studio called "masters of audio".

Another issue I have with this supposedly complete collection is the exclusion of "Gracias Por La Musica", their spanish album. The spanish tracks were instead shared with the rest of the 8 "official" albums as bonus tracks. This album will go down in history has the most "mistreated" in the ABBA canon. It was properly recorded, had it's own album cover and was the first ABBA album to appear worldwide on a single label (septima) and was a hit in the latin american countries - even in far away japan. I hope someday, it will be given its due.

Speaking of complete, where is the U.S. remix of "Lay All Your Love on Me" and the extended version of "The Visitors"? They would have been better alternatives to a "ABBA Undeleted" which is on "Thank You for the Music" and is still available.

We all know the story of ABBA and now,for the first time ever,it's all here. Every note.All the songs they recorded in the studio and commercially released and collected in one box set.

We also know the story of the recordings still in the vaults. There are some of them here, released for the first time on cd. Hooray for Universal! But there are still some tracks that are locked away (one day they may see the light of day). So for all of us die hard fans the waiting continues On and On and On...

Until then,"Do yourself a favour..." and get this box set.I know you've probably bought a lot of it before,I know I have(sigh), thankfully, all tracks appear to have been remastered again and the results are simply breathtaking, the sounds and the packaging are stunning to behold.

9 CD's(all albums include bonus tracks and come in their original l.p. sleeves and mock record style cd's!),two dvds(one with almost all the videos,the other with a doco and a previously unreleased concert!!),two books with a timeline track listing and lyrics to every song in the box!!!

What more could any ABBA fan want.Buy IT!!!!

Admittedly, this is a wonderful box set featuring all of ABBA's albums, promo clips and rare tracks. But it's hardly complete. It's intention is to gather together all of ABBA's officially released material and, as others have pointed out, there are tracks missing. For instance, where is the alternate mix of "Under Attack" (with the preferable cold ending) released on cassette in the mid-80's?

This set will probably only appeal to hard core ABBA fans. After purchasing the remasters, the Definitive Collection, etc. isn't it about time fans were offered gems like the magnificent unreleased 1982 track "Just Like That"?

I'm enjoying the box set which I received a last week. I'm glad that the cost was not too high compared to the original price. If you shop around, you can compare prices of the set.The set is in a great format and not too over done as far as the information booklets are concerned. I was a little disappointed that the full interview and concert with Dick Cavett was not included. I'm happy that the partial concert which has been released on this set. I remember that they did a great version of Summer Night City during that concert. Maybe it will surface soon. There are many versions of tracks that I was not familiar with such as the alternate version of Waterloo and the two versions of Love Light which I had never heard the alternate version. I really wish that they had included Dancing Queen with the additional verse. I'm not sure if it's out there but I would have been great to have an alternate version since Dancing Queen is one of my favorite tracks. The exclusion of the videos "When I Kissed the Teacher" and "Dancing Queen" being sung to the Swedish Royalty on the DVD was odd, so if you want those videos, you would have to purchase the regular DVD with those videos. It's a great set if you are all about their music.