ABBA

Arrival (Deluxe Edition)

Tracks: 16, total time: 58:58, year: 2006, genre: Pop

Arrival (Deluxe CD+DVD Edition)
Arrival (DigiPak)

The Complete Studio Recordings - Disc 04 of 11 : Arrival
© 2006 Polar MusicInternational AB.
© 2005 Polar Music International AB
© 2001 Polar Music International AB
© 1999 Polydor Records, Inc.

Complete Studio Recordings Box Released November 7, 2005

Originally Released October 11, 1976 (Sweden)
Originally Released January 5, 1977 (USA)
Remastered Edition Released March 16, 1999
DigiPack Edition With Bonus Tracks Released October 16, 2001
DeluxeCD+DVD Edition Released December 12, 2006

24-bit digital remaster with new liner notes, complete lyrics and two bonus tracks: 'Fernando' (US Remix 1974) and 'Happy Hawaii' (Swedish Version).

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: ABBA's fourth album appeared after the group had arrived as major stars shows the quartet at the absolute top of their game. In addition to "Dancing Queen," which is probably their best-known hit (a number one single on both sides of theAtlantic), the record was filled with brilliant material, including the spirited "When I Kissed the Teacher"; the dramatic, achingly beautiful "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (yet a further hit); the pounding "Money, Money, Money" (still another hit off the album);and the playful "That's Me." Arrival was reissued in October of 2001 in a 24-bit digital transfer, in a handsome gatefold packagewith two bonus tracks added on. The upgraded sound puts the pianoon "Dancing Queen" practically in the room with the listener, and the rhythm guitars by Björn Ulvaeus and Lasse Wellander on "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "When I Kissed the Teacher," and "Dum DumDiddle" are up very close. The other big beneficiaries are RutgerGunnarsson's muscular bass playing throughout the album, which never sounded sharper or more effective, and Benny Andersson's keyboards everywhere, which have real presence. Wellander's power chords over the chorus of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" are some of those dramatic musical effects that this group played for maximum effect, which gave their music a raw power that their detractors usually overlooked; in the new edition, it's impossible to ignore.What's more, the sheer impact of the bass drums behind the choruses on "Tiger" will be pretty impressive to any noise freaks. Andall of the voices are in very sharp relief; every iota of richness is now on display. So one can now fully appreciate what Frida Lyngstad was hearing when she found the playback of the backing track on "Dancing Queen" beautiful enough to cry over the first time she heard it. The two bonus cuts are both choice additions: thelost B-side, "Happy Hawaii," is a soaring, rocking dance numberthat got left off the album, and the chronologically related single "Fernando" had been recorded during the making of the LP but not included on it in most of the world. The latter is a profoundly beautiful song that, with its use of flutes and a folk-like melody, is a sort of disco-era follow-up to Simon & Garfunkel's "ElCondor Pasa." -- Bruce Eder


AMG EXPERT REVIEW: ABBA's fourth album of new material appeared after the group had "arrived" asmajor stars. It featured "Dancing Queen, " a tame disco number that went No. 1 in both the US and UK, as well as "Knowing Me, Knowing You (another UK No. 1 that hit the Top 40 in the US) and a third single, "Money Money Money." The 1999 remastered edition (part of Polydor's "The ABBA Remasters" series) in 24-bit digital audio is a significant improvement over earlier CD or LP editions,bringing out not only stunning richness and radiance in the vocals by Faltskog and Lyngstadt, but also Rutger Gunnarsson's especially muscular bass playing throughout the album, and the rich texture of Bjorn Ulvaeus's acoustic guitar on "When I Kissed The Teacher, " Lasse Wellander's acoustic rhythm guitar on "Dum Dum Diddle, " and the rippling electric guitar and keyboard textures of "Knowing Me, Knowing You"--Wellander's power chords over the chorusof the latter song is one of those dramatic musical effects thatthis group played for maximum effect, and gave their music a rawpower that their detractors usually overlooked. Some of this clarity is wasted on disco numbers that now seem to have relativelylittle point, though they are catchy and have relentless beat, but that's what the group was about at this point in their history--and the sheer presence of the bass drums behind the choruses on"Tiger" will be pretty impressive to any noise freaks. -- WilliamRuhlmann/Bruce Eder


Amazon.com essential recording
At theheight of their success, ABBA were second only to Volvo as Sweden's biggest export earners. Arrival (1977) sees the quartet just finding their stride, after a year of relative obscurity which followed the success of "Waterloo," their 1973 Eurovision Song Contest winner. Like their '70s peers ELO, ABBA knew the value of tunes, tunes, tunes. Arrival's hits include the glistening, full-on sheen of "Knowing Me, Knowing You," the irrepressible, piano-led disco stomp of "Dancing Queen," and the almost Cabaret-esque sarcasm of "Money, Money, Money"--all three cowritten by manager and mentor Stig Anderson. The album ends, meanwhile, on an almost Celtic theme with the soaring, wordless title track. Arrival is superconfident and superpolished, and was an unstoppably chartbound record of its moment. --Everett True

Amazon.com Editorial Review
In its original vinyl form, the first side of this 1976 albumwas a smorgasbord of everything this undervalued but subsequentlydeified Swedish pop quartet had to offer. "When I Kissed the Teacher" shows off the intricate vocal arrangements and massive productions they brought to bear on absolute fluff, lending it dignity and a certain magnificence. "Dancing Queen" transcends its period disco trappings with the same undercurrent of sadness behind the painted smiles that informs another disco classic, Chic's "Good Times." "My Love My Life" is the "mature" ABBA, basically an MOR ballad that sidesteps excessive slushiness thanks to heartfeltvocals and a rational sensibility replacing the melodrama of theaverage MOR ballad. Then it's right back to bubblegum with "Dum Dum Diddle," a piece of pseudo-classical nonsense salvaged by a brilliant tune. And the side closes with possibly their greatest song, "Knowing Me, Knowing You," whose majestic vocal tapestry andcolossal production renders a breakup the stuff of epochal tragedy.

Bookended by the overly clever, gimmicky Euro-cabaret of "Money Money Money" (ABBA's "Material Girl") and the prophetic butthrowaway Celtic schlock of the title instrumental, the second side unfortunately can't come close to matching its predecessor. But Arrival's first five tracks are a rival for anything else in their glorious catalog. --Ken Barnes


Amazon.com Product Description (Deluxe CD+DVD Edition)
2006 digitally remastered deluxetwo disc (CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) reissue of the Swedish Pop quartet's fourth album, originally released in 1976. The CD featuresthe original album plus five bonus tracks: 'Fernando', 'Happy Hawaii', 'Fernando' (Spanish), 'La Reina Del Baile' 'Conociendome, Conociendote' and 'Fernando' (Frida's Swedish solo version). The DVD features nine tracks including television performances, TV commercials, 'behind the scenes' footage and so much more. The albumitself remains their finest full-length release and includes thehits 'Dancing Queen'. 'Money Money Money' and 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'. Universal.


CD Now Review
Scorned by hipsters, though loved by millions, Abba was a worldwide phenomenon from the mid-1970s through the early '80s. This aptly titled release markedthe Swedish group's arrival at the top of the U.S. singles charts with the infectious, musical equivalent to the leisure suit, "Dancing Queen," as much a hallmark of the disco era as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

The rest of the album is really a microcosm of the band's career. Songs like "Money Money Money" and"Tiger" ("And if I meet you/What if I eat you/I am the tiger") are emblematic of the unabashed pop that brought the band early success, while the haunting "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and the lesser-known "That's Me" hint at the moodier tunes and lush arrangements that marked Abba's later works.

Buy this re-mastered CD, get yourself a white jumpsuit from an online auction house, and you've arrived. -- Evan Davies
Copyright © 1994-1999 CDNOW, Inc. All rights reserved.

Half.com Details
Producer: Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Björn Ulvaeus

Album Notes
ABBA: Bjorn Ulvaeus (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Benny Andersson (vocals, accordion, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, marimba, chimes); Anni Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog (vocals).

Additional personnel: Janne Schaffer, Lasse Wellander, Anders Glenmark (electricguitar); Lasse Carlsson (saxophone); Rutger Gunnarson (bass); OlaBrunkert, Roger Palm (drums); Malando Gassama (percussion).

Recorded at Glen and Stocksund Studios, Stockholm, Sweden in 1976.
Includes reissue liner notes by Carl Magnus Palm.
Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Jon Astley.
Includes bonusDVD/NTSC and six bonus tracks.

Widely considered the Swedish foursome's first classic album--and historically important as thefirst to use the now-famous mirror-B logo--1976's ARRIVAL contains three huge hit singles, the dramatic "Money Money Money," the downcast "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and quite possibly the band's finest four minutes, the absolutely perfect pop classic "Dancing Queen," a combination of Spectorian grandeur, McCartneyesque melody and the indescribable vocals of Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-FridLyngstad. The rest of ABBA's fourth album is strikingly consistent and accomplished, opening with the sly, bouncy "When I Kissed the Teacher" and closing with the atmospheric title track, makingroom in between for the three excellent singles and five other substantial pop tunes. Although three LPs and a greatest-hits compilation preceded it, ARRIVAL is aptly titled, as this album announces the band's move beyond bubblegum.

Industry Reviews
4 stars out of 5 - ...Represents their apex...
Q (09/01/2001)

4 stars out of 5 -- [T]his was the album that confirmed ABBA as superstars...[It] captures all the glory and innocence of ABBA's wonderyears.


-- RELATED INFO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from RobertChristgau.com

Consumer Guide Reviews:
Arrival [Atlantic, 1977]

Since this is already the best-selling group in theuniverse, I finally have an answer when people ask me to name theNext Big Thing. What I wonder is how we can head them off at theairport. Plan A: Offer Bjorn and Benny the leads in Beatlemania(how could they resist the honor?) and replace them with John Phillips and Denny Doherty. Plan B: Appoint Bjorn head of the U.N. and Benny his pilot (or vice versa) and replace them with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Plan C: Overexpose them in singing commercials. Plan D: Institute democratic socialism in their native land, so that their money lust will meet with the scorn of their fellow citizens. C


-- RELATED INFO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from RollingStone.com

As I write, "Dancing Queen," the single from this album, is shing-a-linging its way up the charts, and Abba seems on the verge of completing the conquest of their last great frontier: America. At last, the Homogenizers will rule the land of the Heterogeneous. England, Europe and Australia havebeen collectively nuts for Abba for about five years. In this country, though the Swedish foursome has had a steady run of successful singles since "Waterloo" in 1974, they haven't provoked the clamor of a phenomenon. Arrival could do just that, since it's thesmoothest, purest and, in this sense, most radical Abba album yet.

Even more than their three previous American releases, Arrival is Muzak mesmerizing in its modality. By reducing their already vapid lyrics to utter irrelevance, lead singers Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog are liberated to matter on in their shrill voices without regard to emotion or expression, and the language barrier is broken. Songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjöln Ulvaeus are indeed apt students of the American white pop hook, but their expansion of the hook to envelop the entire song into a single narcotic hug--as on Arrival's "Dancing Queen," "Dum Dum Diddle" and "Money, Money, Money"--is perhaps the most infuriating thing about this cheery group.

Since they are so cheery and determinedly inoffensive, however, one cannot really hate them. The strongest emotion a dissenter can muster is resentment that these charming twerps will attract enough attention to help obscure the achievements of adventurous artists. (Posted: Apr 7, 1977) -- KEN TUCKER


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (Deluxe CD+DVD Edition)
Abba Arrival Deluxe Edition is an excellent set for fans!, April13, 2009
By Doc Shred

The Polar deluxe edition of Abba's 1976 breakthrough album Arrival is a real treat for fans. The booklet has extensive notes on both the CD and DVD. The DVD is more than 90 minutes, the highlight being an old tv special called AbbaDabba Doo. The recording session is also very interesting. Arrival was Abba's biggest album in the US at the time, and includes classics When I Kissed The Teacher, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me Knowing You, Money Money Money, Tiger, the awesome instrumental titletrack, and bonus track Fernando. If you need a copy of Arrival, Ihighly recommend the deleuxe edition. One of the top-three Abbaalbums and required for any fan of the band.


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW (Deluxe CD+DVD Edition)
MUCH better than you'd guess, December 25, 2008
By Surferofromantica "S.O.R." (Singapore)

A strange thing I noticed in Singapore is that there are many"greatest hits" bands here. Certainly, all of the one hit wonders of the 80s are represented there - Spandau Ballet, A Flock of Seagulls, Alphaville - but so are mega-groups like the Beatles orthe Eagles and the Police and whatever. Try to find their albumsif you dare, but if you want a greatest hits package you have half a dozen to pick from. ABBA is the same thing, so that's why I was quite happy to finally get a true ABBA release, not just in its regular version, but in a deluxe version with unreleased songsand a bonus DVD.

Ever since seeing Bjorn Again recently, my interest in ABBA has picked up somewhat, and I wondered what it would be like to hear ABBA songs that aren't among the 20-30 songsregularly regurgitated in greatest hits packages, or the Mama Miasong track, or even on the Bjorn Again set list. And yes, it waseerie hearing songs that sound like "Dancing Queen" and "VoulezVous," but have titles like "When I Kissed the Teacher" (my son gets a kick out of those lyrics), "My Love, My Life," and "Dum DumDiddle." Bonus songs like Spanish versions of "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and "Fernando are good fun, so is the Swedish version of "Fernando" from Frida's solo album. Apparentlythe lyrics are not about a partisan but just a regular old love song (but I just have to take the liner notes' word for it since I'll probably never learn Swedish).

The accompanying DVD is fantastic, with all sorts of yummy bits in it, like the ultra-crappy animated version of "Happy Hawaii," which is a slowed-down version of "Why Did It Have To Be Me." There's a scary version of Fernando and Dancing Queen, then some good scenes in the stdio during the recording of "Dancing QUeen. The highlight of the DVD is "ABBA-Dabba-Dooo!!!" TV special from Swedish TV (subtitled as there's very little English) that talks about ABBA's difficulty in getting appreciation from local fans. Apparently the haughty, intellectual Swedes found their biggest cultural export to be pap, at least in those days.


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
ABBA firmlyhit their stride, July 28, 2000
By T. Kavanagh "tony" (Ireland)

In Europe, ABBA's post-Eurovision slump was finally conquered during mid-'75 and early-'76 by a hat-trick of hits: 'SOS', 'Mamma Mia' and 'Fernando'. Their first Greatest Hits collection emphasised this development by becoming the biggest selling UK album of 1976. Later that year, the group released the flagship single from their third studio album. 'Dancing Queen' became an instant classic and is still filling dance-floors 23 years later (bafflingly, it was also ABBA's only US#1...). Like its parent album, it is an example of perfect pop: heavy on the feel-good factor; spectacular vocals (listen to it on headphones for ultimate effect)and brimful of energy.

'Arrival' followed towards the end ofthe year. It not only delivered on the promise of 'Dancing Queen'but it wiped the floor with the band's previous albums. U2's Bono recently described ABBA's music as having "a pure joy" and 'Arrival' encapsulates this like no other ABBA album, even if it doesinclude the heartbreak classic 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'. The irresistibly bouncy opener, 'When I Kissed The Teacher', plants a smile on your face and tracks like 'Money, Money, Money', the blues-lite 'Why Did It Have To Be Me?' and the effervescent 'That's Me' keep it there. Even the lyrically daft 'Dum Dum Diddle' has its own charm. It's surprising that only three singles were released from this album. The lush tear-jerker 'My Love, My Life' and the glam 'Tiger' would surely have been powerful chart contenders at the time.

This is an album where all of the pieces fell intoplace. The production and arrangements were assured and pristine. The contrasts between the women's voices were beautifully exploited. The cover, depicting the group sitting in a helicopter (white jump-suits present and correct), became one of ABBA's most famous images. For a '70s album, there is a refreshing lack of pretentiousness here.

Although ABBA have produced other terrific albums and a staggering number of classic tunes, 'Arrival' is probably the album where the spark and the magic are most evident. Itis, essentially, the sound of ABBA firmly hitting their stride.This is an essential purchase and, with 'Fernando' thrown in as abonus track, few could argue that the budget price is not worththe risk.

(P.S. - a note to PolyGram. Although the remasteringof this album has been handled better than the others in the series, half of the original artwork is missing (including the lyrics) and the on-disc label is a crime against graphic design. Haveyou no shame? )


AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW
THE BEST OF THEIR ALBUMS..., February 25, 2001
By A Customer

This one is aflawed masterpiece. Unfortunately, Bjorn's simplistic lyrics andsong concepts always dragged the quality down a notch (hence 4 stars instead of 5.) Also, this album has one rather boring instrumental ("Arrival"), which should have been used as a "B" side to one of the singles. But if you want to buy an ABBA album, this isthe one to spring for. It has their only #1 US single, "Dancing Queen", about as catchy a song as can be written, with practicallyangelic harmonies. Few can resist it. "That's Me" is almost as buoyant and catchy. Probably their finest moment (at least singerFrida's and lyricist Bjorn's) was "Knowing Me, Knowing You", a song that got me interested in them in the first place. The lyricshere are truly touching ("In these old familiar rooms/Children would play/Now there's only emptiness/Nothing to say.") Other songs, like "When I Kissed the Teacher" and "Dum Dum Diddle" have dumdum lyrics, but are superior songs, sonically. "My Love, My Life", has a great vocal by Agnetha, but is annoyingly overproduced (they were trying to imitate "I'm not in Love" by 10cc.) Hopefully,one day someone will use her vocal over a more sparse production. Some reviewers have criticized "Tiger", but I think it's a mini-gem, a precursor to "Love Is Like Oxygen" by Sweet. "Money, Money, Money" has a darker sound, a "cabaret" feel to it, and with excellent vocals by both singers, is one of their standouts. "Why Did It Have to Be Me" is okay, until you hear the box set's firstversion of the song, called "Happy Hawaii", which is much more upbeat, Beach-boy like, and joyous. It seems like Bjorn (the lyricist) overpowered Benny (who did the first, better arrangement). Still, if you're interested in the group, this is the first non-compilation album to buy.

1.	3:03	When I Kissed The Teacher
2.	3:53	Dancing Queen
3.	3:54	My Love, My Life
4.	2:56	Dum Dum Diddle
5.	4:03	Knowing Me, Knowing You
6.	3:08	Money, Money, Money
7.	3:17	That's Me
8.	3:23	Why Did It Have To Be Me
9.	2:57	Tiger
10.	3:07	Arrival
11.	4:15	Fernando
		Bonus Track
12.	4:25	Happy Hawaii
		Bonus Track
13.	4:18	Fernando (Spanish Version)
		Bonus Track
14.	4:04	La Reina Del Baile (Spanish Version Of Dancing Queen)
		Bonus Track
15.	4:04	Conociéndome, Conociéndote (Spanish Version Of Knowing Me, Knowing You)
		Bonus Track
16.	4:11	Fernando (Frida's Swedish Solo Version)
		Bonus Track

Category: rock - Discid: da0dd010

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