View Full Version : Sild's Top 40 Abba songs... ever!
Hmm, got up to #26 before it got lost in the silentwhisper ETHER. So, to recap so far:
40. The Visitors
39. On And On And On
38. Happy New Year
37. Dum Dum Diddle
36. I Have A Dream
35. Rock Me
34. Head Over Heels
33. Nina Pretty Ballerina
32. People Need Love
31. Chiquitita
30. Tiger
29. Honey Honey
28. Ring Ring
27. Bang A Boomerang
26. Lovelight
Sheena
07-02-2004, 05:41 PM
You're just plain WRONG
But DO carry on ANYWAY :D
Ooh, let's be CONTROVERSIAL...
25. The Day Before You Came
I'll say now I've been FAR too harsh with it, but it was the inevitable backlash caused by it being such a fan favourite, unless it's really one of my favourites I turn against it. Anyhow, yes it deserves Top 20, just for being so epic, vivd and different.
Just listen to Left To My Own Devices by PSB to see how the influence has passed down pop - an almost deadpan delivery of a day in the mundane life. Those haunting 'aaaaahs' near the end of Abba's one though really add the final touch so that it permanently lodges in your brain.
Sheena
07-02-2004, 05:46 PM
Originally posted by Sild!
Ooh, let's be CONTROVERSIAL...
25. The Day Before You Came
I'll say now I've been FAR too harsh with it, but it was the inevitable backlash caused by it being such a fan favourite, unless it's really one of my favourites I turn against it. Anyhow, yes it deserves Top 20, just for being so epic, vivd and different.
Just listen to Left To My Own Devices by PSB to see how the influence has passed down pop - an almost deadpan delivery of a day in the mundane life. Those haunting 'aaaaahs' near the end of Abba's one though really add the final touch so that it permanently lodges in your brain.
*departs thread in UTTER disgust*
And I bet you've put some utter DROSS above it
CUNT
Agnetha
07-02-2004, 05:48 PM
FOWL
lolly
07-02-2004, 05:49 PM
Much as I love TDBYC, it's unlikely it will end up in my Top 10, or that close to it.
Originally posted by Sheena
*departs thread in UTTER disgust*
And I bet you've put some utter DROSS above it
CUNT
Your lack of faith is reassuring! :D
Onwards...
24. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
Is this what was meant by 'dross'? Quite probably! ;) Although it was only a minor chart entry here (when to all intents and purposes it looked as if they were one hit wonders), from that ballroom style intro it grabs you. The MAIN reason it's so high though is due to a personal memory, I went on a cruise with school when I was 14, and with my walkman was a battered old cassette of More Abba Gold. One night I was listening and singing along, not realising I was so loud the people next door could hear... :bad: Anyhow they rang me and sang it down the phone to me! Memories... :shy:
Sheena
07-02-2004, 06:08 PM
I always QUITE liked "IDIDID" until "muriel's wedding". That just made me CRINGE there (which is, in fairness, what was supposed to happen) and has made it virtually unlistenable to these ears ever since. Almost the EXACT opposite happened with the quite lovely scene where "Fernando" was used...
So not "dross" but certainly not better than the placing below it...
THAT'S a relief then! :disco:
23. The Way Old Friends Do
The final track on Super Trouper (and live folks!), I've always found this really moving. From that corny opening (sounds so village hall), it's a strong statement of companionship. 'Times of joy and times of sorrow, we will always see it through...', it made me look at my own friendships and remember how fucking lucky I am to know such a great bunch of people, and everything they've done for me, and me for them. THAT'S the power of music everyone...
22. Arrival
Not got a lot to say about this (I haven't heard it in years), and in hindsight it should be lower, but I've always found it rather lovely. Despite having no vocals, it's a great end to the Arrival album and is almost euphoric in the way it builds to a climax.
And JUST missing out on the Top 20 (and the last one for tonight) is...
21. Lay All Your Love On Me
This IS a good song. Its use of quite maudlin lyrics (at times) over a disco beat is novel. But out of the run of big, well-known Abba singles, this is the weakest. There's always been something MISSING, something that stops it stepping up from 'good' to 'even better'. I've always thought it, but have never quite been able to put my finger on it. Still, it's good. But it could have that extra factor 'x' lurking somewhere.
Rhythmbandit
07-02-2004, 06:36 PM
I'll predict your top 3:
Waterloo
Dancing Queen
Mamma Mia
In NO order...
Sheena
07-02-2004, 08:26 PM
LAYLOM not in the Top 20 is ALSO inexcusable...
Well there's 20 GEMS to come... :bad:
lolly
08-02-2004, 11:46 AM
LAYLOM won't be in my Top 20 either.
Top 20 time! :disco:
20. When I Kissed The Teacher
Ah, this could have been a single. Yet another track from Arrival, the jangly guitar opens up a great pop song. The harmonies, especially towards the end, the 'I wanna hug hug HUG him's', the way everything stops when they go 'One of these days', it's all class stuff.
19. Our Last Summer
'And your name is Harry...' well if we ignore that and the couple of lines proceeding it, this is a lovely, heartfelt track, wistful and nostalgic, warm and comforting. The build up before 'You're still the man of my dreams' and the way it goes into the final big chorus is just gorgeous.
Flames
08-02-2004, 12:36 PM
Nina Pretty Ballerina in the top 40? *chortles*
Toyah
08-02-2004, 12:39 PM
Dum Dum Diddle for #1!
Originally posted by Toyah
Dum Dum Diddle for #1!
As it's been and gone at #37... :bad:
Originally posted by Incognito
Nina Pretty Ballerina in the top 40? *chortles*
It's all SUBJECTIVE :evil:
Sheena
08-02-2004, 12:49 PM
My WORD its going from bad to WORSE
Hmmm... :bad:
18. Angeleyes
Another one that in hindsight should be lower, but, well, there's always next time. ;) With the same lovely light and breathy vocal style of Honey Honey, it reminds me of doing this at kareoke on Christmas Day MANY years ago...
17. Super Trouper
THIS is the one that surprised me most. For a long while this was one of my very favourites, but over the past couple of years it's started slipping down. Maybe now's the time for a reappraisal. It's still good though, taking them into the 80's in style. It hasn't really aged to me either, although I'm sure many others would disagree.
Last one for now...
16. Eagle
The highest placing for an album track, it's Abba going prog. Big, epic, powerful, anthemic... what's it all about? I reckon it COULD be about drugs and the effects of them, thinking you can fly. It's a very stately song, and once again the harmonies and vocals are faultless.
Just 15 left, and we continue with...
15. One Of Us
For a while when I was younger, this was my most played track on Gold, there was just something about the way it went from laidback verse to underrated chorus that was instantly appealing. It's lost a little of that effect now, but the final 'never let them all' and the stuttering introduction make it more than worthy of a high placing.
14. S.O.S.
To Sheena's chagrin, this nearly didn't make it in (due to my obsession with remembering the album tracks I completely forgot about this and LAYLOM, which were suitably reinstated at the expense of a couple of lesser songs), but the chorus has reminded me that it's one of their best - those 'when you're gone, how can I even try to go on' bits have a potent urgency about them, and the shift to a more spartan, minimalist verse with those dramatic vocals is marvellous.
Last one for now...
13. Does Your Mother Know
The finest vocal hour for the user-used and neglected Benny & Bjorn vocal duo, as this is Abba at their most fun, with sharpness and wit about them. The thudding opening and the nagging chorus is great, and the lyrics at their most catchy. Take it easy INDEED. :disco:
Agnetha
09-02-2004, 06:38 PM
Originally posted by Sild!
14. S.O.S.
To Sheena's chagrin, this nearly didn't make it in (due to my obsession with remembering the album tracks I completely forgot about this and LAYLOM, which were suitably reinstated at the expense of a couple of lesser songs), but the chorus has reminded me that it's one of their best - those 'when you're gone, how can I even try to go on' bits have a potent urgency about them, and the shift to a more spartan, minimalist verse with those dramatic vocals is marvellous.
What are you moaning about then? :bad:
Apocalypt_flyer
09-02-2004, 06:43 PM
Originally posted by Sild!
What are you moaning about then? :bad:
too LOW without a doubt :angry:
BACK to the top for Sheena...
Sheena
09-02-2004, 08:19 PM
This is ALL wrong. ANYONE missing "SOS" from the top ten should be SHOT
It did BETTER than TDBYC, so be THANKFUL.
Sheena
09-02-2004, 08:20 PM
Originally posted by Sild!
Just 15 left, and we continue with...
15. One Of Us
For a while when I was younger, this was my most played track on Gold, there was just something about the way it went from laidback verse to underrated chorus that was instantly appealing. It's lost a little of that effect now, but the final 'never let them all' and the stuttering introduction make it more than worthy of a high placing.
Do you mean "never left at all" ?
PROBABLY yes... it's been a WHILE. :shy:
ONWARDS
12. Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)
Normally this would've been a SHOE-IN for the Top 10, but hearing it butchered everytime dodgy BBC2 sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme came on had that negative effect on it. As a piece of saucy yet innocent big-chorused disco though it has FEW peers.
And JUST missing the Top 10 is...
11. Fernando
Top 10 for most of the time I was planning this, it just slips out at the end. As far as intros go though, this is the most LOVELY of the lot, the way the music so gently builds up, creating the atmosphere before the singing comes in is GORGEOUS. The chorus, whilst not quite as strong as what happened at the start, is still emotional and moving.
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