History Music / Abba

!! List of albums:
[[index]]
* 1973 - ''Music/RingRing''
* 1974 - ''Music/{{Waterloo|Album}}''
* 1975 - ''Music/{{ABBA|Album}}''
* 1976 - ''Music/{{Arrival|Album}}''
* 1978 - ''Music/ABBATheAlbum''
* 1979 - ''Music/VoulezVous''
* 1980 - ''Music/SuperTrouper''
* 1981 - ''Music/TheVisitors''
* 2021 - ''Music/{{Voyage|2021}}''

!!Other created and related spin-off works

* ''Music/RingRing'' (1973)
* ''Music/{{Waterloo|Album}}'' (1974)
* ''Music/{{ABBA|Album}}'' (1975)
* ''Music/{{Arrival|Album}}'' (1976)
* ''Music/ABBATheAlbum'' (1978)
* ''Music/VoulezVous'' (1979)
* ''Music/SuperTrouper'' (1980)
* ''Music/TheVisitors'' (1981)
* ''Music/{{Voyage|2021}}'' (2021)

* UnkemptBeauty: Frida, compared to Agnetha who looks plain and dowdy without makeup, though some fans consider Agnetha to be this.

** In "The Day Before You Came", Agnetha sings both ''doubt'' and later ''undoubtedly'' with a clearly pronounced ''b''. In ''doubt'' and related words, the ''b'' is mute. Also, "It's funny, but I had no sense of living without aim" is actually meant to say that she didn't realise how boring her life was at the time, but can be interpreted as saying that her lover has made her feel she has no reason to live. Given how much the song plays with ambiguity, this one may be deliberate.
** "Just Like That" features the phrase 'pre-destinated course' when it should be 'pre-destined' or 'pre-determined'. It's probable the line would have changed had the song been officially released.

** "The Day Before You Came" and its video sound and look very sinister, but the lyrics themselves (supposedly) describe a woman's mundane life before she met her lover, and implies that she now leads a more interesting life. That said, the song offers no description of what happens AFTER she meets him; anything could have happened afterwards really. We don't even have much clue of who 'you' is actually addressing... [[note]]There is a theory that she is actually meeting death and just reflecting her life, which would perfectly explain the sadness of the song, but another theory is that Agnetha is singing about Björn and/or the band, [[RealitySubtext both of which she's about to lose.]][[/note]]

* BareYourMidriff: Agentha and Frida's few outfits does this a quite.

** [[invoked]]"The Day Before You Came" says nothing about what happens when the "You" arrives. The gloomy music and dispassionate delivery may suggest that whoever or whatever the "you" is, its arrival didn't make the narrator's life any better. Inquiries to Benny and Björn on the subject merely elicit a ShrugOfGod.

ABBA never officially broke up-- and despite the two divorces, all four members remained friends-- but by 1983 they had essentially dissolved. The former members would go on to have mixed careers and, despite occasional joint public appearances, refrained from getting back together despite a reported offer in 2000 of $1,000,000,000 (yes, you read that right, that's a ''billion dollars'') to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. ...Until [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/abba-sing-together-for-first-time-in-more-than-30-years/ June 2016]], when Frida and Agnetha reunited to perform one song ("The Way Old Friends Do") at a party to celebrate Benny and Björn's fifty years of friendship. In 2018, the band stunned fans with the announcement that [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years they reunited]] for the recording of two new songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which were released in 2021; in the meantime, the two songs expanded to five, and then to a whole new album, titled ''Voyage'', to be released in November of 2021.

* ''Voyage'' (upcoming; set for 2021)

* BrilliantButLazy: ABBA never liked touring because it took time away from writing new songs, which is why they relied more on music videos and TV appearances.

* NiceHat: Frida in the "Money Money Money" video. Agnetha in "Waterloo".

* GaussianGirl: Agnetha and Frida during the "Take a Chance on Me" video.

* NiceHat: Frida in the "Money Money Money" video.

** ''Voulez Vous'' has "Does Your Mother Know"

** {{Inverted|Trope}}, oddly enough, when Agnetha dresses in red tones and Frida in blue in the "Take A Chance On Me" video.

The compilation album ''ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits'', first released in 1992, has (as of August 2008) reached the number one slot in the UK album charts five times, and another compilation album, ''The Definitive Collection'' was was listed at #179 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s [[UsefulNotes/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]] - a sign, if any were needed, of ABBA's enduring popularity.

ABBA is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] pop quartet of TheSeventies and early [[TheEighties '80s]] composed of Music/AgnethaFaltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.

* [[https://youtu.be/dDI7x1nwTUw "Eagle"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/1HnOFwqpLRQ "The Day Before You Came"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/iUrzicaiRLU "Knowing Me, Knowing You"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/ETxmCCsMoD0 "Money, Money, Money"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/tW3HN_pvbE4 "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/tUh4u-lYEhM "When All Is Said and Done"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/WkL7Fkigfn8 "Does Your Mother Know"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/sw_fuu9jIOc "One Man, One Woman"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/3Uo0JAUWijM "Happy New Year"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/PyxBYbfu6k8 "On and On and On"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/pL2_PZwKDPg "Head Over Heels"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/wWQ7wrPyUe0 "Tiger"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/_d5dPYHi17k "Summer Night City"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/rAYB46Z_osM "Under Attack"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/IIKAe8Wi0S0 "One of Us"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/_CsJCa2TlXU "Bang-A-Boomerang"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/mP_dk429rbc "That's Me"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/BshxCIjNEjY "Super Trouper"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/0dcbw4IEY5w "Thank You For the Music"]]
* [[https://youtu.be/SXpzPWwEFOI "When I Kissed the Teacher"]]

* StepfordSmiler: Agnetha, type A. She never liked touring and had to battle a lot of phobias (including a fear of flying that wasn't helped by a near-disaster during their only U.S. tour when their plane made an emergency, resulting in a crash).

* DualMeaningChorus: Their 2021 comeback single, "Don't Shut Me Down", has lyrics that can be taken as a SillyLoveSong, or as an open letter to their fans who have been waiting for decades to hear them sing again (e.g.: "You asked me not to leave, well here I am again."). Some of the lyrics can also refer to their planned "Voyage" virtual tour where they plan to use digital avatars ("And now you see another me, I've been reloaded.")

* DualMeaningChorus: Their 2021 comeback single, "Don't Shut Me Down", has lyrics that can be taken as a SillyLoveSong, or as an open letter to their fans who have been waiting for decades to hear them sing again (e.g.: "You asked me not to leave, well here I am again. And I love you still and so I won't pretend."). Some of the lyrics can also refer to their planned "Voyage" virtual tour where they plan to use digital avatars ("And now you see another me, I've been reloaded.")

* DoubleMeaningChorus: Their 2021 comeback single, "Don't Shut Me Down", has lyrics that can be taken as a SillyLoveSong, or as an open letter to their fans who have been waiting for decades to hear them sing again (e.g.: "You asked me not to leave, well here I am again. And I love you still and so I won't pretend."). Some of the lyrics can also refer to their planned "Voyage" virtual tour where they plan to use digital avatars ("And now you see another me, I've been reloaded.")

ABBA never officially broke up-- and despite the two divorces, all four members remained friends-- but by 1983 they had essentially dissolved. The former members would go on to have mixed careers and, despite occasional joint public appearances, refrained from getting back together despite a reported offer in 2000 of $1,000,000,000 (yes, you read that right, that's a ''billion dollars'') to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. ...Until [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/abba-sing-together-for-first-time-in-more-than-30-years/ June 2016]], when Frida and Agnetha reunited to perform one song ("The Way Old Friends Do") at a party to celebrate Benny and Björn's fifty years of friendship. In 2018, the band stunned fans with the announcement that [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years they reunited]] for the recording of two new songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which were released in 2021; in the meantime, the two songs expanded to five, and then to a whole new album, titled "Voyage", to be released in November of 2021.

ABBA never officially broke up-- and despite the two divorces, all four members remained friends-- but by 1983 they had essentially dissolved. The former members would go on to have mixed careers and, despite occasional joint public appearances, refrained from getting back together despite a reported offer in 2000 of $1,000,000,000 (yes, you read that right, that's a ''billion dollars'') to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. ...Until [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/abba-sing-together-for-first-time-in-more-than-30-years/ June 2016]], when Frida and Agnetha reunited to perform one song ("The Way Old Friends Do") at a party to celebrate Benny and Björn's fifty years of friendship. In 2018, the band stunned fans with the announcement that [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years they reunited]] for the recording of two new songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which were released in 2021; in the meantime, the two songs expanded to five, and then to a whole new album, titled "Voyage", to be released in September of 2021.

* CassandraTruth: "Cassandra"

* ClipShow: The video for "Lay All Your Love On Me".

* ConceptAlbum: Most of The Album's second side is devoted to a three-part suite "The Girl With The Golden Hair". There are three other progressive tracks on the LP, these being "Eagle", "The Name Of The Game" and "Hole In Your Soul", which suggests that the Björn & Benny were listening to a lot of prog at the time.

ABBA was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Swedish]] pop quartet of TheSeventies and early [[TheEighties '80s]] composed of Music/AgnethaFaltskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad.

ABBA never officially broke up-- and despite the two divorces, all four members remained friends-- but by 1983 they had essentially dissolved. The former members would go on to have mixed careers and, despite occasional public appearances together, have never reformed despite a reported offer in 2000 of $1,000,000,000 (yes, you read that right, that's a ''billion dollars'') to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. It wasn't until [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/abba-sing-together-for-first-time-in-more-than-30-years/ June 2016]] that Frida and Agnetha reunited to perform one song ("The Way Old Friends Do") at a party to celebrate Benny and Björn's fifty years of friendship. In 2018, the band stunned fans with the announcement that [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years they reunited]] for the recording of two new songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which are planned to be released in 2021; in the meantime, the two songs expanded to five.

This was not, however, the end of ABBA in popular culture. Their music remained popular, selling steadily, and formed the background for the 1994 Australian CultClassic ''Film/MurielsWedding'' - ABBA has always been especially huge in the LandDownUnder. More directly, Benny and Björn collaborated three times in the realm of musical theater. First with lyricist Creator/TimRice on ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', and later in the creation of ''Theatre/MammaMia'', a stage musical [[JukeboxMusical based around ABBA songs]]. The musical, opening first in 1999 in London and in New York in 2001 has proved enormously popular with global audiences. In 2008 [[Film/MammaMia a movie version]] was released staring Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/PierceBrosnan and Creator/AmandaSeyfried (who, at 22, was born well after the group dissolved). That film was such a smash hit that it made $100+ million ''before'' it opened in North America, and later spawned an original theatrical sequel, ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'', which released in 2018. Their third stage musical is called ''[[Literature/TheEmigrants Kristina from Duvemåla]]'' (or just ''Kristina'' for short) and is based on the literary epic by Vilhelm Moberg about a group of people who emigrate from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century. The musical was a massive success in Sweden and remains one of the most popular musicals of all time there. It's been translated into English but has not been performed other than in concert. Many fans of the original Swedish version are highly critical of the English translation, citing a huge decrease in the quality of the lyrics, which might have played a role in the show not being brought properly to an English-speaking stage.

ABBA never officially broke up - and despite the two divorces, all four members remained friends - but by 1983 they had essentially dissolved. The former members would go on to have mixed careers and, despite occasional public appearances together, have never reformed despite a reported offer in 2000 of $1,000,000,000 (yes, you read that right, that's a ''billion dollars'') to do a reunion tour consisting of 100 concerts. It wasn't until [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/abba-sing-together-for-first-time-in-more-than-30-years/ June 2016]] that Frida and Agnetha reunited to perform one song ("The Way Old Friends Do") at a party to celebrate Benny and Björn's fifty years of friendship. In 2018, the band stunned fans with the announcement that [[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/27/abba-announce-first-new-songs-for-35-years they reunited]] for the recording of two new songs, "I Still Have Faith In You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", which are planned to be released in 2021; in the meantime, the two songs expanded to five.

This was not, however, the end of ABBA in popular culture. Their music remained popular, selling steadily, and formed the background for the 1994 Australian CultClassic ''Film/MurielsWedding'' - ABBA has always been especially huge in the LandDownUnder. More directly, Benny and Björn collaborated three times in the realm of musical theater. First with lyricist Creator/TimRice on ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', and later in the creation of ''Theatre/MammaMia'', a stage musical [[JukeboxMusical based around ABBA songs]]. The musical, opening first in 1999 in London and in New York in 2001 has proved enormously popular with global audiences. In 2008 a movie version was released staring Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/PierceBrosnan and Creator/AmandaSeyfried (who, at 22, was born well after the group dissolved). That film was such a smash hit that it made $100+ million ''before'' it opened in North America, and later spawned an original theatrical sequel, ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'', which released in 2018. Their third stage musical is called ''[[Literature/TheEmigrants Kristina from Duvemåla]]'' (or just ''Kristina'' for short) and is based on the literary epic by Vilhelm Moberg about a group of people who emigrate from Sweden to America in the mid-19th century. The musical was a massive success in Sweden and remains one of the most popular musicals of all time there. It's been translated into English but has not been performed other than in concert. Many fans of the original Swedish version are highly critical of the English translation, citing a huge decrease in the quality of the lyrics, which might have played a role in the show not being brought properly to an English-speaking stage.