ABBA

Super Trouper

ABBA ROCKS in a sophisticated, Europop kind of way!!

Review Score:

(10/10)
One of ABBA's best loved orginal albums, SUPER TROUPER entered the UK album charts at #1 and spawned three major hit singles.

There's not much I can say about this album that ABBA fans don't already know. All the songs offered are exquisite supertunes sung masterfully by Agnetha and Frida and the melodies are intoxicating- not one bad song in the bunch. Bjorn's lyrics have matured and some of these songs are lyrically quite poetic and beautiful. The lovely Frida impresses with "Our Last Summer", "Andante Andante" and the title track and Agnetha shows the world that she is more than just eyecandy. Her vocals are superb on "Happy New Year", "Lay All Your Love on Me" and of course, "The Winner Takes It All." Their voices are strong, unique and dramatic and the vocal harmonies are perfect. Just listen to the chorus of "Super Trouper", "Our Last Summer", and "The Piper" and you will see what I mean. Other album highlight are the much cherished "The Way Old Friend's Do" which was recorded live at Wembley, the lovely latin-esque "Put on your White Sombrero" and the very interesting "Elaine".

SUPER TROUPER (the album) was an international best seller. As mentioned previously, the album debuted at number 1 in the UK, it also became ABBA's sixth consecutive Top Ten album in Canada where it peaked at #4 and it reached the US Top 20. The biggest single to emerge from the album was "The Winner Takes It All" which became the group's 8th #1 in the UK. In North America, the single reached the top ten in Canada and the US. The single also became ABBA's second US #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts ("Fernando" was their first). Another UK #1 was "Super Trouper" which was a minor US hit (#45) but it should be noted that that single along with "On and On and On" (US #90) became ABBA's 17th and 18th single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 in 7 years.

What amazes me about many of ABBA's albums is how they managed to create so many great songs. I guess there is a reason why the group is still popular 23 years after their break-up and why they continue to sell several million records every year- their total record tally for 1999 was 350 million sold, it must be far more than that now. This album is a testament to their talents as recording artists. In my opinion, they are the greatest pop group that ever existed. Frida and Agnetha's voice will never be duplicated and these songs can never be topped. As far as pop music is concerned, this is perfection and it will never get better than this.

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