Album Description
Exclusive import limited edition digipak version is remastered, has extensive liner notes and lyrics, and includes three bonus songs, ‘Summer Night City’, ‘Lovelight’ and ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man after Midnight)’. … More >>
Voulez-Vous
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with John (from N.Y.), these 24-bit re-masters of the Abba catalogue were a big letdown. In a side by side comparison, the original discs sounded much better than these. The originals were brighter and plenty full; just like the original album sounded.
On the other hand, these 24-bit discs sound slightly muddy and the high end (which includes acoustic guitars and cymbals) are flat or dead sounding thanks to the no-noise solution. My advice, is to save your money and keep your old discs.
Rating: 1 / 5
ABBA always had a flare for the melodramatic. The vast bulk of their output is either embarrasingly soppy or just plain dull. “Voulez-Vous”, however, is a surpring exception. While it does feature some bad moments (‘Chiquitita’, ‘Does Your Mother Know’ – Bjorn should never sing! – ‘I Have a Dream’, ‘Summer Night City’ and ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight]) the remaining eight tracks are slick, stylish commercial disco at it’s very best.
Anni-Frid is the vocal star of these remaining songs: she’s downright sexy on both ‘The King Has Lost His Crown’ and ‘Lovers (Live a Little Longer)’ – the warmth of her vocals well suited to the sultry nature of the music. Agnetha delivers with Nordic coolness on the closing number ‘Kisses of Fire’ and burns up on ‘As Good As New’. Both girls come together in blissful harmony on ‘If it Wasn’t for the Nights’, ‘Angeleyes’ and the title cut, never overdoing it (well, a little on ‘Angeleyes’) like they do on most of their other collaborations.
Of the bonus selections, only ‘Lovelight’ fits into the context of the record. ‘Summer Night City’ lacks the style and polish of the other songs, while ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ is too polished, sounding almost mechanical. Not surprisingly the former was released months before “Voulez-Vous” was released, while the latter was recorded afterwards.
Eight out of thirteen isn’t bad, particularly for this non-ABBA fan. If you’re wanting to get into ABBA’s music, it’s not a good place to start – a hits package, namely “ABBA Gold” is a great place for beginners. But if you want something sharp, funky yet not too funky, disco yet not too disco, get “Voulez-Vous”, program out the duds, and you’ve got yourself the perfect pick-me-up or great background music for doing the dishes to!
Rating: 4 / 5
This album would be perfect, were it not for the two drippy ballads. No matter how I try, I cannot listen to ‘I Have a Dream’ or ‘Chiquidita’ (or however you spell it!). But everything else is dynamic and gleaming.
Agnetha and Anni-Frid sing their hearts out, displaying the fullest extent of their combined talents. Benny and Bjorn’s songwriting and arranging make you want to sing and dance along. My husband thinks that there is something really wrong with me that I love ABBA and the Velvet Underground equally (amongst other ‘cooler’ acts). But he doesn’t know what he’s missing!
This album – bar the two drippy ballads – is pure Pop Pleasure. ABBA at the top of their game.
Rating: 4 / 5
The 24-bit remastering of the ABBA CD’s is a HUGE letdown. The older CD’s (the one’s that came out originally) have a much brighter sound, but plenty full. They remind me of the original album sound. But the new discs sound too muddy or dark and the high end (which includes things like acoustic guitars and cymbals) are rather flat or dead sounding. Like my fellow reviewer from San Diego said, “save your money”. Keep your old discs. They simply sound better in a side by side comparison. The box set sound quality is better than these 24-bit remastered discs.
Rating: 1 / 5
A lot of ABBA fans dislike “Voulez-Vous” because the group went “disco” for this LP, but they didnt go full bore into that music like the Bee Gees did. They just encorporated it into thier sound, just like they did with europop, bubblegum, folk and classic 60′s American/British pop.
Compared to most disco albums of the era, this CD doesnt sound as dated. And unlike “ABBA – The Album” there arent as many ballads and silly showtunes to slow the pace down. The songwriting is full of hooks, smart lyrics and the rich production still sounds great after 20+ years.
ABBA was a huge influence on synth-dance-pop of the 80′s and this CD shows the reason why. I just wish the awesome “Summer Night City” had been issued as a single in the USA back in 1979 – why wasnt it? It would have been a monster hit here.
Rating: 5 / 5