Elva kvinnor i ett hus

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Elva kvinnor i ett hus
Elva kvinnor i ett hus cover
Studio album by Agnetha Fältskog
Released December 1, 1975
Recorded 1973 - 1975
Genre Pop
Length 34:26
Label Cupol
Producer(s) Agnetha Fältskog
Agnetha Fältskog chronology
Agnetha Fältskog's Bästa
(1971)
Elva kvinnor i ett hus
(1975)
Tio år med Agnetha
(1979)


Contents

[edit] General information

Elva kvinnor i ett hus (Eleven women in one house), released on December 1, 1975, was the last solo-album in the Swedish language by Swedish pop singer Agnetha Fältskog. The idea for this album went back to 1973 but then Agnetha's pregnancy and later the success with ABBA led to a release in late 1975.

Agnetha wrote all songs herself with lyrics by Bosse Carlgren. The only exception was the Swedish version of the ABBA song S.O.S. which was written by Benny Andersson,Stig Anderson and Agnetha's husband Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha's record company Cupol forced her to include a Swedish version of an ABBA song to increase album sales.

[edit] Recording process

The original album design was very different to what was eventually released. Agnetha and Bosse wanted to call the album "Tolv kvinnor i ett hus" (Twelve Women In A House) and each song on the album would describe a different character. The package would have included a gatefold sleeve with a drawing by Bosse and several photos of Agnetha, but due to the success of ABBA Agnetha had less time to write and record her own songs. No one knew if this album would ever be finished so the record company cut the budget which meant it was impossible to release it with a gatefold sleeve and accompanying artwork. In the end there were only ten songs written by Agnetha, together with S.O.S., a song that didn't fit into the album concept of having a song for each woman. Many listeners didn't understand for example why Agnetha was thanking god on one track for the coffee she had. The idea that Agnetha was not singing about her own thoughts but about those of different women was not explained on the cover and as a result many people who bought the album were irritated.

Agnetha performing Dom har glömt live on Sommarnöjet.
Agnetha performing Dom har glömt live on Sommarnöjet.

Among fans "Elva kvinnor i ett hus" is seen as one of her best albums, even today 30 years after its release. The song melodies of the songs are far more complex than on Agnetha's earlier compositions and the lyrics are small stories in themselves. Agnetha's vocal performance is also far superior than on earlier recordings, perhaps due to the voice training she began when ABBA began to make a name for themselves. Production values were noticeably higher than on previous albums.

[edit] Promotion and chart success

Agnetha did not do any promotion for this record due to the success of ABBA, the one exception being a live performance of Dom har glömt and "Tack för en underbar, vanlig dag" on Sommarnöjet TV show.

The album entered the Swedish charts three times, reaching #11 at its peak.

[edit] Track listing

  1. SOS - 3:24
  2. En egen trädgård - 2:35
  3. Tack för en underbar, vanlig dag - 2:39
  4. Gulleplutt - 2:56
  5. Är du som han? - 2:50
  6. Och han väntar på mig - 3:03
  7. Doktorn! - 2:51
  8. Mina ögon - 3:04
  9. Dom har glömt - 3:49
  10. Var det med dej? - 3:39
  11. Visa i åttonde månaden - 3:57
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