ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits
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| ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits | ||
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| Greatest hits by ABBA | ||
| Released | September 21, 1992 | |
| Recorded | December 1973- October 1981 |
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| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 76:25 | |
| Label | Polygram | |
| Producer(s) | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| ABBA chronology | ||
| ABBA Live (1986) |
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits (1992) |
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits (1993) |
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Swedish pop quartet ABBA, released in 1992. It appeared at a time when ABBA's original albums had been off the market for a number of years, and was well received by the music buying public. ABBA Gold has been re-released in various 'special' or 'remastered' releases in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, and including a DVD release in 2003.
The album topped the UK album chart on 4 separate occasions - in 1992, and three times in 1999 - six and a half years apart, and was the only album in the UK's Top 100 sellers in every year from 1992 to 2000. It was also in the UK Top 100 Best Sellers of 2004. As a result, it is one of the highest selling and longest charting albums released in the United Kingdom. By the end of 2005, it held the 6th Most Chart Weeks of any UK album position - 352 weeks.
The original 1992 release included edited versions of "Voulez-Vous" and "The Name of the Game." These were replaced by the full original-length versions on the 1999 and subsequent re-releases. The original 1992 version is still the only one available in the United States.
The Australasian release had a modified track list to include three local hits, replacing three other songs. In Spain, the original 1992 release replaced the English versions of "Chiquitita" and "Fernando" with the Spanish language versions.
[edit] Track listing (worldwide excluding Australasia)
All songs by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, unless otherwise noted.
- "Dancing Queen" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:51 Listen
- "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03 Listen
- "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) – 4:06 Listen
- "Mamma Mia" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:33 Listen
- "Lay All Your Love on Me" (1980) – 4:35
- "Super Trouper" (1980) – 4:13 Listen
- "I Have a Dream" (1979) – 4:42
- "The Winner Takes It All" (1980) – 4:54 Listen
- "Money, Money, Money" (1976) – 3:06
- "S.O.S" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:20 Listen
- "Chiquitita" (1979) – 5:26 Listen
- "Fernando" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:14
- "Voulez-Vous" (1979) – 4:21/5:10 Listen
- "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979) – 4:52
- "Does Your Mother Know" (1979) – 3:13
- "One of Us" (1981) – 3:57 Listen
- "The Name of the Game" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:56/4:53 Listen
- "Thank You for the Music" (1983) – 3:49
- "Waterloo" (1974) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:42 Listen
[edit] Track listing (Australasia only)
All songs by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, unless otherwise noted.
- "Dancing Queen" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:49
- "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:01
- "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) – 4:01
- "Mamma Mia" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:32
- "Lay All Your Love on Me" (1980) – 4:32
- "Ring Ring" (1973) (Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:02
- "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:15
- "The Winner Takes It All" (1980) – 4:54
- "Money, Money, Money" (1976) – 3:05
- "S.O.S" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:19
- "Chiquitita" (1979) – 5:26
- "Fernando" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:10
- "Voulez-Vous" (1979) – 4:21/5:10
- "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979) – 4:46
- "Does Your Mother Know" (1979) – 3:14
- "One of Us" (1981) – 3:53
- "The Name of the Game" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:56/4:53
- "Rock Me" (1975) – 3:02
- "Waterloo" (1974) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:42
[edit] 25th Anniversary Signature Series
In 1999, the album was also released both worldwide and in Australasia with the different track listings to commemorate ABBA's 25th Anniversary of winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. It was called the signature series, as both releases came with ABBA autographs embedded into the front plastic casing in gold writing. These releases came with new sleeve notes and were remastered.
[edit] 10th Anniversay Special
A 10th Anniversary Edition was released worldwide in 2002. The ABBA logo was corrected to the official ABBA font, and the back cover was different. It was released in Europe and New Zealand (with the European track list, not the previous Australasian track list). This version was not released in Australia.
[edit] Gold 2 x CD Special Edition
In 2003, ABBA Gold was released in Europe with a bonus second disc. The track listing of the second CD was:
- "Summer Night City"
- "Angeleyes"
- "The Day Before You Came"
- "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"
- "So Long"
- "Honey, Honey"
- "The Visitors"
- "Ring Ring"
- "When I Kissed The Teacher"
- "The Way Old Friends Do"
[edit] 30th Anniversary UK release
A 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2004 with a gold-coloured sleeve cover rather than the normal black sleeve. It was released to celebrate 30 years since ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest. The original release included a DVD with 18 of the 19 songs from the CD (excluding "The Name Of The Game").
[edit] DVD
The DVD released in 2003 included the 19 songs on the CD, plus ABBA - The History, a short documentary, and the 1992 version of the "Dancing Queen" video, with scenes from other clips edited into the original video, which was made to promote the original release of ABBA Gold.
[edit] Personnel
ABBA
- Benny Andersson - synthesizer, keyboards, vocals
- Agnetha Fältskog - vocals
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad - vocals
- Björn Ulvaeus - banjo, guitar, vocals
Additional personnel
- Jon Astley - digital remastering
- Ingemar Bergman - compilation
- Chris Griffin - compilation
- George McManus - compilation
- Jackie Stansfield - compilation
- John Tobler - liner notes, compilation
- Carl Magnus Palm - liner notes (1999, 2002, 2004 reissues)
- Michael B. Tretow - digital remastering
[edit] Production
- Producers: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
- Engineers: Jon Astley and Michael B. Tretow
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Australia | 1 |
| 1992 | Canada | 6 |
| 1992 | Hungary | 10 |
| 1992 | Italy | 2 |
| 1992 | Mexico | 1 |
| 1992 | New Zealand | 3 |
| 1992 | Sweden | 1 (12) |
| 1992 | Switzerland | 1 (9) |
| 1992 | UK | 1 (6) |
| 1992 | Germany | 1 (11) |
| 1992 | The Billboard 200 (USA Album Chart) 63 | (USA Pop Catalogue Chart - Number 7 - 2001) |
| 1992 | Japan | 13, 160 (re-issued in 2002), 210 (re-issued in 2006) |
[edit] Gold/Platinum accreditations
Album
| Country | Certification | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 11x Platinum [1] | 770,000+ |
| Canada | Diamond | 1,000,000+ |
| Germany | 4x Platinum | 2,000,000+ |
| Hungary | Platinum | 50,000+ |
| New Zealand | 14x Platinum | 210,000+ |
| Sweden | 5x Platinum | 300,000+ |
| Switzerland | 9x Platinum | 360,000+ |
| UK | 13x Platinum | 3,900,000+ |
| USA | 6x Platinum | 6,000,000+ |
[edit] Trivia
- Worldwide sales as of 2004 are 26 million.[2]
- ABBA Gold is the 5th biggest selling album of all time in the UK as of November 2006. [3]
- A paperback book was written about ABBA Gold by Elizabeth Vincentelli - ISBN 0826415466 in 2004.
- A similar package ABBA Oro: Grandes Exitos featured 15 ABBA songs sung in Spanish.
- Gold was the biggest seller of all ABBA releases, and is one of the top 40 best-selling albums of all time worldwide.[4]
[edit] Links
- Webpage showing various Gold releases [5]
- Webpage showing ABBA Oro: Grandes Exitos releases [6] (as well as other Spanish releases mixed)
- Webpage showing Gold DVD releases [7] (as well as other ABBA DVD releases)
