# ABBA- should I seek out any "Deep Cuts"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238 "2007-11-05T01:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/1 "2007-11-05T01:40:56Z")
In one Thread I started, with which I was very pleased with the responses, we discussed bands as “Get the Greatest Hits Only”, “Get One Particular Album”, “Get the Boxed Set”, or “Get the Whole Catalog”. [Original Thread Here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256790) As far as ABBA is concerned, I don’t even like every song on the Greatest Hits CD (the compilation I’ll be referencing is the 19 track ABBA _Gold_). In fact, I _dislike_ almost half of the songs. Normally, if I were to dislike _half the songs on a freakin’ Best Of compilation_ I would have absolutely no interest whatsoever in seeking out any more of the artist’s catalog. Really: I dislike half of the songs on the “Best Of”? If half the songs on your “Best Of” are crap, what chance is there I’d like the songs that didn’t make the cut??? In the case of ABBA, however, the songs that I _do_ like, I like _so much_ that I can’t help think to myself “Damn, this band has just _got to_ have other great songs!!!” Yes, a thought in conflict with my dislike of the rest of the songs I’ve been exposed to- still, I can’t shake the feeling that such great songs can’t have been put out by a group that had nothing else to offer. So, Doper ABBA fans, am I missing out on anything great? Or should I follow my general rule- if a band can’t please me throughout a “Best Of” album, ignore the rest of their work? **Songs on ABBA _Gold_ that I not only like, but LOVE LOVE LOVE:** Dancing Queen Knowing Me, Knowing You Take A Chance On Me Mamma Mia Super Trouper S.O.S. Chiquitita Fernando Does Your Mother Know One Of Us Waterloo Now, if the above songs had been released as an 11track “Best Of”, I may have hazardly run out in search of the entire catalog. Luckily, I was cautioned in that it was actually a 19track compilation including the following crap: **Songs on ABBA _Gold_ that I actually DISLIKE:** Lay All Your Love On Me I Have A Dream Winner Takes It All Money, Money, Money Voulez Vous Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) Name Of The Game Thank You For The Music If it helps you to better peg my ABBA likes and dislikes, I’ll mention that I also loke only about half the music from the musical _Chess_. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/2 "2007-11-05T01:52:03Z")
Their best album was their last, their contractual obligation album: _The Visitors_. It’s the only Abba album I’ve bothered to hang onto. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/3 "2007-11-05T01:54:33Z")
Well, I think “Arrival” is up there with the best pop albums ever made, by anybody. Side 1 especially, including the unfairly maligned “Dum Dum Diddle”, which is pure Benny Andersson hurdy-gurdy brilliance. The title track is wonderful too. Basically anything that Benny Andersson had a hand in, he’s a genius. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/4 "2007-11-05T07:02:06Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Their best album was their last, their contractual obligation album: _The Visitors_. It’s the only Abba album I’ve bothered to hang onto. [/QUOTE] Huh? ABBA was on Polar Records, a Swedish company owned and founded på Stig Andersson, who was also business manager for the group. He also wrote quite a few lyrics. ABBA split up due to a number of reasons. The divorce between Benny and Frida being cited as the major factor, but Björn and Benny was taking more and more time to work on the musical Chess. There were songs being written for yet another ABBA album, that never happened. \*\*Usram \*\* - Benny had a hand in everything the group put out. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/5 "2007-11-05T11:35:30Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] \*\*Usram \*\* - Benny had a hand in everything the group put out. [/QUOTE] Precisely 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/6 "2007-11-05T11:38:01Z")
Once song I like that wasn’t mentioned is _Eagle_. But yeah, best pop band ever. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/7 "2007-11-05T11:46:33Z")
Anyway, good Abba songs that are not in the OP’s “like” list (with which I mostly concur, although I’m disappointed that “Name of the Game” and “Winner Takes it All” are in “Dislike”), in alphabetical order: Arrival Happy New Year (terribly cheesy, but the tune is a belter) My Love My Life Ring Ring The Day Before You Came Under Attack When I Kissed the Teacher ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/8 "2007-11-05T12:13:41Z")
**bienville** , Here’s a few of my suggestions. I included similar songs on “Gold” so you know what they sound like. How about “Ring, Ring”? It’s in the same upbeat, fully orchestrated sound as “Waterloo.” “The Day Before You Came” is a ballad that reminds me of “Chiquitita.” “Honey, Honey” is a dance track reminiscent of “Mamma Mia.” You may run across non-English versions of some of their songs. It’s odd hearing the familiar music with different words. I’d probably not make a special trip to get them, though. Wait a minute, I should have said “you probably;” I actually made a special trip to Sweden for an ABBA CD, only to find they made most of their records in English. What a bummer. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/9 "2007-11-05T13:10:36Z")
[QUOTE=Caractacus Pott] **bienville** , “The Day Before You Came” is a ballad that reminds me of “Chiquitita.” [/QUOTE] I clicked on the topic to mention this - just gorgeous. Beautifully melancholic song about the singer realising the essential mundanity of their existence through the fresh perspective granted by the arrival of the new person referred to in the song title. For me, its ABBA’s best song. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/10 "2007-11-05T13:41:36Z")
To me, that one sounds more like one of their later songs for musicals than an Abba song. Great lyric to accompany the haunting tune, though - a very clever inversion of a break-up song, which is what it sounds like but which it is not. I think by that stage it was mostly Bjorn doing the lyrics and Benny doing the music, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/11 "2007-11-05T14:02:46Z")
If you want to hear ABBA in Swedish, find the ABBA pa svenska CD, which I think has been deleted. It features Swedish versions of some of their songs, plus some of the pre-ABBA songs by the members (all four ABBA members were well known in Sweden before they got together). There’s a four CD boxed set for all the fanatics. There’s also a Swedish (and German, Dutch & Spanish) cast recording of Mamma Mia. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abba-should-i-seek-out-any-deep-cuts/425238/12 "2007-11-05T16:59:20Z")
Thanks for the recommendations- particularly from those of you who have framed your recommendations within the context of my above stated likes and dislikes!