it is genuinely a little bit astounding to me just how much “classic” ABBA there is. I’ve been meaning to listen through all of ABBA’s stuff for ages now; in my head, from what I know, I’ve always really liked them. They’ve got some great hits, they’re mega famous and historically hugely significant. They’re an essential part of pop culture, historically and I think even presently. I knew I already knew some of their songs, I figured I knew a decent number even if only because they were the ones everyone knew.
And boy, that couldn’t have been more true. Don’t get me wrong, none of this is a surprise. I knew ABBA was huge and had tons of hits, but listening through everything really drove it home, in a big way. Every album (except maybe Ring Ring, the only one that’s pre-Eurovision) has at least 2-4 songs that I listened to and went, “Oh, this is like, a classic classic. Of course I know this one, everybody knows this one.” ABBA released a new studio album every year (except 1978) between 1973 and 1981, so that’s literally dozens of songs that gave me such a strong reaction of recognition. Not just recognition of the song existing, but recognition of its significance and popularity. Being confronted with these classics, one after another, enumerated and real, made album after album and year after year, gave me a deep appreciation for the band.
For all that, I didn’t love the deep cuts. Well, no, that’s not really true, is it. Because of that, I didn’t love the deep cuts. Almost always, I’m a deep cut kind of guy. For any given artist, I usually like the songs that most people like, and it’s not uncommon for the radio hit to be one of the songs I liked the best, or at least the easiest. But, it’s rare for the radio hit to be my favorite song from an artist, and there’s usually at least one or two songs that nobody ever really talks about that I love, that are maybe even my most favorite. For ABBA, it’s– I can’t say there weren’t songs I didn’t recognize, because there were plenty. But, it really truly did feel like all the songs that were worth attention and love and recognition had already received their attention and love and recognition, on a global scale. There was never a moment where I listened to a song and went, “Wow, how is it possible that this amazing ABBA song went under the radar?”. Part of that could be said to be due to the fact that ABBA was huge and thus under enough scrutiny to have nothing go under the radar, but that’s not the whole story. I’m more inclined to believe that the many ABBA songs that are well known and beloved are just that iconic, that they almost couldn’t have not become well known and beloved.
And the other songs, the ones that aren’t iconic, that aren’t all time classics, well… eh. I dunno, man. They were good, they were fine? Maybe with more time and deliberate ABBA listening I’ll like them more, but I still don’t think any of them have anything close to what the other songs have; if they did, they wouldn’t be “the other songs”. Usually I don’t think that line of reasoning holds much water, but here I think it mostly checks out. Voulez-Vous did the best on that front, it’s the album where I most liked the songs I didn’t already know. And I did like Voulez-Vous, and I did like those songs, but not like… that much, y’know? It’s pretty good, it’s aight. Honestly, I’d give most of ABBA’s albums, as albums, something around a 7/10. They’ve all got those clusters of classics, but outside of that they’re just pretty good. Generally pleasant to listen to, but not much more than that.
So yeah. Not a hot take by any means, my understanding is that ABBA has always known as a singles band, that’s kinda a piece of common knowledge about them. Which, really, is my whole point, right? I have no hot take here, I have exactly the opposite of a hot take. Because ABBA is that iconic, that public, such that the general consensus on them really is the right one. I agree with it, at least. I’m sure there are people who don’t. But as far as I’m concerned, ABBA is the band that, more than any other band or artist I’ve experienced, matches up to their reputation exactly. I enjoyed listening to them. I love the songs I love. I like being able to feel like I’m more connected to them when they come up, because they do come up. Solid A.
Also, sidenote, with this my number of ranked artists is higher than the number on my to-do list. That happened once before, around 100 artists ago, and I didn’t think it’d ever happen again. We’ll see how long it lasts; last time I immediately went and grabbed like 30 names to add to my to-do list, I took it as a sign. This time I’ll leave it. I think keeping my to-do list greater than my to-done list is interesting as a design decision, because it emphasizes my commitment to this being an ongoing project, a record of a process more than something to get done. I’m not sure it makes sense as an organic marker of that process. Like, I have no innate pressing need to go and find names to add to my to-do list. Are the names out there? Do they exist? Are they important to me, and to my friends and family, and to the history of pop music in general? Yes, yes, yes and yes and yes. But it took me 4.5 years to listen to 250 artists, that’s a long time. Time is precious, I don’t need to artificially generate names to take up my time. If an artist is pressing, they will come up on their own, they will present and assert themselves into my life, and I’ll make sure to listen to them then. Anyway, that’s all, just a passing thought.
ABBA complete, now listening to: Sam Dew
tunafruitsandwitch 