1 - "Super Trouper", I would say is the dullest of the songs (without being really anything but bad). It speaks of an artist who is getting tired of the daily spotlight and dreams about an encounter with her lover... tonight. The rhythm is somewhat repetitive, but Agnetha's and Frida's voices come crystalline and powerful in the choruses.

2 - "The winner takes it all" has passed to history as a masterpiece, being played by almost anyone from world orchestras to modern singers and groups. Agnetha sings alone throughout the song, and shows everyone why SHE was the "voice of ABBA". She gives it all, singing with unique candor and pain, lyrics that show her as a loser in the game of love.

3 - "On and on and on" is smartly placed following "The winner...", in order to prevent listeners from bursting into tears after Agnetha's ballad. This is a dancing tune, catchy enough to make one dance all night.

4 - "Andante, andante" is the only song in the album that features a title in Spanish. The song was released in Spanish in Spanish speaking countries. I cannot but purr with delight while listening to its lyrics: "I'm your music, I'm your song, take me time, and time again, and take me slow. Make me see, make me sound. Andante, andante tread lightly on my ground. Andante, andante, oh, please don't let me down." So romantic!

5 - "Me and I" is an interesting study of double personality disorder. Once again, a dancing tune dedicated to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that lives in each of us.

6 - "Happy New Year" wishes everyone the best, with the hope that "may we all have a vision now and then, of a world where every neighboor is a friend." The album was launched for the Christmas season in 1980, and the group dedicated its fans a song with sincere best wishes of happiness. This is another song which was released in Spanish under the title "Felicidad" in Spanish speaking countries.

7 - "Our last summer" brings Frida once more as a lead singer in this romantic tune, describing the city of Paris and a romance that is no longer a reality. The guitar solo by Lasse Wellander is the spotlight of the song.

8 - "The piper" is a metaphorical, enthralling song, where flutes and ritual dances seem to float into our ears. It took some time to me to come to terms with it, but once I did, I couldn't let go. Here is the story of a domineering leader who manipulates the mases as he wishes, and is in time venerated by them. The eternal parody of good and evil.

9 - "Lay all your love on me" gives us Agnetha once more with her wonderful, wailing voice. She is now a frustrated woman consumed by jealousy. The most up-tempo song of the whole album, with everyone's voices picking up masterfully in the chorus.

10 - "The way old friends do" provides a live closure to this fantastic and varied album. Recorded live at the Wembley Arena in London, during the group's tour of 1979. The public goes wild with this hymn, bursting into monumental applause, as they always did at the end of an ABBA concert.

I was given this album as a present for my eleventh birthday. Nowadays, almost 21 years later, it is still one of my personal favorites; considered to be one of the jewels of pop and the best work the group ever produced. It was just as well, since a year later they split up, leaving us with a legacy difficult to match, and with as much worldwide fame as that of the Beatles. The album comprises ten songs, each very different, but all carefully put together to make a unique gift of music.

ABBA had a style all its own, which made them define pop music as we know it and, as the icons they became, their music will stand the test of time just like the Beatles' and Elvis Presley's did.

Once we listen to music like this, we not only know talent exists, but it has been captured in the purest of ways.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Super Trouper   from Amazon.Com!

Created Jul 03, 2006 at 12:30pm • Submit your own review...