The Best of ABBA | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | August 1975 | |||
Recorded | 1972–1975 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 36:16 | |||
Label | Polydor (Austria, Germany, India, Netherlands and Norway) RCA owned by Sony Music Entertainment Australia (Australia and New Zealand) | |||
Producer | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | |||
ABBA chronology | ||||
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The Best of ABBA is a compilation greatest hits album by Swedish pop group ABBA, first released in August 1975 in the Netherlands. It was then released in West Germany, and then in Australia and New Zealand in November 1975, before being released in Austria and India in 1976. [1] [2] Despite not being released in Norway, imports led the album to chart. After import copies were being sold in Scandinavia, ABBA's Greatest Hits was rush-released there in November 1975. The album topped the charts in Australia, Austria and New Zealand, and went on to be certified 24× Platinum in New Zealand and 22× Platinum in Australia. The album is tied with Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms for being the best-selling album in New Zealand. [3]
In Australia it spent 16 weeks at number one, and in New Zealand it topped the charts for 18 weeks. The Best of ABBA was one of the biggest selling vinyl albums in Australian history, selling over a million copies. At one stage RCA Records couldn’t keep up with the demand for the albums in the country's shops, and copies had to be pressed under licence by a rival record company. In both countries, this album charted better than all the other ABBA releases, and it also became the first ever album to be certified gold in Australia before it was even released.
The Best of ABBA was re-released in 1988 on vinyl and CD, but was only available for a short time.
All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.
Personnel
Agnetha Falkstög: Lead Vocals (8, 9, 11) Co Lead Vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12), Backing Vocals
Anni-Frid Lyngstad: Co Lead Vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12), Backing Vocals
Björn Ulvaeus: Guitar, Lead Vocals (5), Backing Vocals
Benny Andersson: Piano, Synthesizers, Backing Vocals
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [20] | 22× Platinum | 1,210,000 [21] |
Germany (BVMI) [22] | Platinum | 500,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [23] | Gold | 10,000* |
India | — | 50,000 [24] |
Netherlands | — | 500,000 [25] |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [3] | 24× Platinum | 360,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
ABBA are a Swedish pop supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names arranged as a palindrome. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the best-selling music acts in the history of popular music.
Waterloo is the second studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, and the first released internationally. It was originally released on 4 March 1974 in Sweden through Polar Music. The album's title track won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and became a global hit, launching the group's career.
Super Trouper is the seventh studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 3 November 1980. It features the No.1 singles "The Winner Takes It All" and "Super Trouper". The album became the biggest-selling album of 1980 in the UK.
"Dancing Queen" is a Europop and disco song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Arrival (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus also produced the song. "Dancing Queen" was released as a single in Sweden on 16 August 1976, followed by a UK release and the rest of Europe a few days later. It was a worldwide hit. It became ABBA's only number one hit in the United States, and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, West Germany and the Soviet Union. "Dancing Queen" also reached the top five in many other countries.
ABBA is the third studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released on 21 April 1975 through Polar Music and featured the hits "SOS", "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "Mamma Mia".
Ring Ring is the debut studio album by the Swedish group ABBA, initially credited as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida. It was released in Scandinavia on 26 March 1973, and later in a limited number of other territories, including West Germany, Australia, South Africa and Mexico, through Polar Music. It was a chart-topping album in Belgium, and a big success in the Netherlands, Norway and South Africa.
Arrival is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records. It became one of ABBA's most successful albums to date, producing three of their biggest hits: "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You". The track "Fernando", which had been recently released as a single in March 1976, was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions of the album. Arrival was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
ABBA: The Album is the fifth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in Scandinavia on 12 December 1977 through Polar Music, but due to the massive pre-orders the UK pressing plants were not able to press sufficient copies before Christmas 1977 and so it was not released in the UK until January 1978. The album was released in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie, with several of the songs featured in the film. Altogether the album contains nine songs.
Voulez-Vous is the sixth studio album by the Swedish supergroup ABBA. Released on 23 April 1979, the album yielded five hits, all of them big 1979 singles in Britain – "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know", "I Have a Dream" and the double A-side "Voulez-Vous"/"Angeleyes". The title track showed the group embracing disco music, which at the time was at its peak. The album topped the charts in a number of countries and ranked among Britain's five best-selling albums of the year.
The Visitors is the eighth studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 30 November 1981.
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on 29 October 1979 to coincide with their tour of North America and Europe. It was ABBA's second chart-topping album of the year, the first being Voulez-Vous, and contained the brand new single "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! ", recorded in August 1979.
The Singles: The First Ten Years is a double compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in November 1982.
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits is a compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released in 1993, it was the follow-up to the highly successful Gold: Greatest Hits, released the previous year, and went on to sell 3 million copies.
"Money, Money, Money" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing lead vocals. It was released on 1 November 1976, as the second single from their fourth album, Arrival (1976). The B-side, "Crazy World", was recorded in 1974 during the sessions for the album ABBA. The song is sung from the viewpoint of a woman who, despite hard work, can barely keep her finances in surplus, and therefore desires a well-off man.
"I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was the third single to be released from their third studio album, ABBA (1975). The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and their manager Stig Anderson, and was released in April 1975 with "Rock Me" as the B-side.
The Definitive Collection is a 2001 compilation album of all the singles released by Swedish pop group ABBA. It consisted of two discs: the first featuring the singles from 1972 to 1979, and the second including the singles from 1979 to 1982, with the tracks being listed in chronological order. The main exception is the track "Thank You for the Music", which, despite being written and recorded in 1977, was in fact released as a single in 1983 after the band had split up. It appears on disc two, along with two bonus tracks, "Ring Ring", and "Voulez-Vous". The Australian version of The Definitive Collection adds a further two bonus tracks: "Rock Me" and "Hasta Mañana". The 1974 remix of "Ring Ring" is the first appearance on CD of this version mastered from the original master tape, after the UK single master tapes had been returned to Polar Music by the former UK licensees, Epic Records. The track's previous appearance on CD, in a 1999 singles boxed set, was mastered from a vinyl single.
ABBA 18 Hits was released by Polar Music International on 8 September 2005, and is a compilation of hits by ABBA.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Scandinavia on 17 November 1975 and in other parts of the world in 1976, notably the UK on 10 April, and on 18 September in the US and Canada. The 1976 version of the album included the band's most recent single "Fernando".
Live at Wembley Arena is an album of live recordings by Swedish pop group ABBA, released by Polar Music on 26 September 2014, on 2 CD, 3 LP and digital format.
Voyage is the ninth and final studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, released 5 November 2021. With ten songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it is the group's first album of new material in forty years. The album was supported by the dual single release of "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", released alongside the album announcement on 2 September 2021. "Just a Notion" was issued as the third single on 22 October 2021, followed by the fourth single "Little Things" on 3 December. A digital concert residency in support of the album, ABBA Voyage, opened in London on 27 May 2022.
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