Rank them, 1-3, 1 being the best:
ABBA
Ace of Base
Roxette
Your ranking can be based on whatever musically-based criteria you like (best songwriters, best overall band, best musicians, best rock group, least offensive pop music, most dance-able, etc).
ABBA. Period.
Abba
The Knife
The Cardigans
Out of those three:
ABBA. It’s ABBA. Enough said.
Roxette. Was a big part of my childhood. Slow dancing with cutest girl in school to It Must Have Been Love. Pure nostalgia.
Ace of Base. Eh, they’re okay, I guess.
What I actually think is the best: Kent
It’s a shame they never found success outside of the Nordics. They tried but their English language album was missing something.
Some of my favorite songs:
Palace & Main
Hjärta
747 Their signature song. They usually end their gigs with it
Pärlor
Oprofessionell
ABBA
Well, of the groups I’m familiar with, I’d go:
ABBA
Peter Bjorn and John
The Cardigans
Roxette
I really dislike Ace of Base.
I read something linking Ace of Base to white supremacist groups. I’ll see if I can find it.
Apart from the guy having been in a neo-Nazi band and their racist songs, everything else in that article is a bit of a stretch.
Anyway, as to the OP, ABBA - I’d not heard of either of the others.
Just ABBA.
I actually actively disliked Roxette and Ace of Base which is odd because I usually just ignore stuff I don’t like. Maybe I guess in those days I listened to the radio a lot and was annoyed by their constant presence.
ABBA first off, but I will also give a shout-out to The Sounds, an indie band I wish got more radio time in the US 15 years ago.
The elephant in the room is Max Martin, along with Dr. Luke, Shellback, etc. They built so many hits for and with the top popstars today. **Britney Spears’ **version of Hit Me Baby, One More Time is basically a cover of Max Martin’s demo, hiccups, chirps and all (as reported in a profile of him in the New Yorker; apparently the demo is kept private).
**ABBA
Roxette
Ace of Base**
And The Cardigans are way better than the last two. Actually, Ace of Base are extremely boring.
Max Martin for sure (I’d never heard of him until I read that same New Yorker article), and of course ABBA.
Plus Dungen, for a great, unique 21st century take on that 1967-1974 psychedelic rock groove.
Europe.
It’s the Final Countdown.
ABBA
First Aid Kit
Those are the only Swedish groups I know.
In 1974 a group named Blue Swede made a recording of “Hooked on a Feeling” in which the back-up singers chanted “Ooga chukka, Ooga Ooga Ooga chukka.” Sounded like they were playing choo-choo train.
Truckfighters.
There’s more than one?
Probably bringing up the rear but worthy of a mention was another more-or-less one hit wonder, The Wannadies (“You And Me Song”).