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 Disappointed Aug 26, 2009
This vendor listed the condition of this used CD as very good. It came in a broken case and 4 tracks are so damaged that they ere unplayable and had to be skipped. I'll not order from them again
 Not an ABBA fan May 13, 2009
First off, I have to say I'm not really an ABBA fan. I grew up in the 80's listening to Madonna and her contemporaries. But hearing this recording, my God, even I can appreciate their music!
I mean, wow! Listening to Siobhan McCarthy is a treat! She has a voice of an angel. Her rendition of The Winner Takes It All was absolutely brilliant! Nothing beats the original production of this musical.
So, thank you for the music! :o)
Original cast covers of Abba songs Mar 30, 2009
Despite their huge worldwide popularity, I haven't come across as many covers of Abba songs as I might have expected. This may be in part because Abba's own brilliance was such that it is very hard for anybody else to do justice to their music. Quite apart from the quality of the voices, the music is far more intricate than is generally understood.
This particular project has the advantage that the songwriters collaborated with the musical director, even going back to the original multi-track tapes to provide detailed notes about the original recordings. In providing these notes, Benny and Bjorn were reminded of many details that they'd long forgotten. So the music here was recorded with full knowledge of all the nuances of the original recordings, although they aren't exact covers. Many of the songs had their lyrics tweaked to make them better fit the story being told in the musical. Some of the songs are performed by men, but all the singers here are British or Irish, so they inevitably sing them slightly differently from the original Scandinavian singers.
The song selection was dictated by the needs of the musical, so some classic songs are missing while some lesser songs are included, though most of the selected songs are classics. As playwright Catherine Johnson explained in the book about the musical, the hits were hits because they told the best stories, so most easily lent themselves to inclusion in a musical, but she also pointed out that some of them (particularly Fernando) just didn`t fit this particular story. There are no new songs here, though Catherine considered including Just like that, a song that Abba never officially released. Apparently, there was a scene in which the song could have been used, but she says that it didn't move the story forward so it was dropped.
I suspect that this album will have greatest appeal to those who have seen the musical and fully understand the need for the lyrical adjustments made to the songs, but as an Abba fan who hasn't seen the musical but who appreciates well-recorded cover versions, I enjoyed it anyway. Those who are averse to cover versions and who haven't seen the musical may be best to avoid this.
ABBA-stastic!! Mar 26, 2009
One of my favorite shows of all time and definately made me into an ABBA fan.
The original cast recording is excellent. Mar 04, 2009
I bought the original cast album just to see how the contemporary producers have handled the music. I was quite pleased that the album includes the spoken parts with the music.
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