ABBA - The Visitors [1981 - 8th and final album]

by **Mikerocha** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 12:16 am

My favorite ABBA album... love every single song... way mature compared to their previous albums... and it includes my #2 favorite abba song 'Soldiers', after 'The Day Before You Came'...

what do you guys think? :wink:

by **NothingFails** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 4:54 am

very underrated. It seemed like because ABBA were no longer making happy 3 minute singles that people had turned on them, when I thought they were really evolving past mere pop music and making lasting art. I do think the split in 1982 made sense but their latter material was so good I wish they would've regrouped by 1984-1985.

Not a single bad track between it and Super Trouper IMO.

by **Benny** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:39 pm

Probably their best album IMO, but not a typical Abba album, as the songs are rather melancholic and sad. I like all the tracks except for "Two For The Price Of One". They should have released "When All Is Said And Done" as a single worldwide (it was only released in the US), it's one of their best songs.

by **theberen** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:03 pm

Oh my! I love this album so much! I remember playing the record as a child & blushing when the word 'sex' was mentioned in WAIS&D :lol:

'I Let The Music Speak' is a masterpiece & one of their best works thematically, 'Head Over Heels' should have been a bigger hit - 'The Visitors' could have been remixed & been a club smash... 'Like An Angel...' ought to have been released at Christmas: what a beautiful track.

The only songs I don't listen do very much are 'When All...' & 'Slipping Through My Fingers'. I love the trumpets at the end of 'Two For The Price Of One' & 'Soldiers' is such a cosy track, despite its theme.

Oh & of course 'One Of Us' is an ABBA classic - head & shoulders above most of their more well-remembered songs. I do have one niggle with it - the chorus should use 'they' rather than 'her' etc. seeing as it deals with 'us' rather than 'me'. Always irritated me, that.

by **Merci** » Sat Jun 26, 2010 11:03 pm

Love this album, my favourite ABBA song is One of Us, and I think this is their "coolest" album

I love the Head Over Heels video, it's hilarious!

by **NothingFails** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:09 am

you can tell from the album cover that they were a band on their final legs. Look at the unity and how close they are on all of the other album covers, and here the four of them were in a huge room really spaced out apart.

Although it really is a shame that the divorces had to happen because while I think they were able to withstand Agnetha and Bjorn's split, Benny and Frida's split was truly the last straw and I think severed the group, especially the reason they broke up. Agnetha and Bjorn split on amicable terms and they knew it wasn't working anymore but yet they were still able to record and perform together without animosity, Benny and Frida split because Benny was seeing another woman and I think that affair really destroyed the dynamic of the four of them and lead to the inevitable split. (I have read several books on them, the affair Benny had with his now-wife wasn't common knowledge in 1981 but now known)

by **NothingFails** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:39 am

it's funny looking at the picture from their one and only reunion briefly in 1986 and seeing how old Agnetha and Frida looked there, especially considering how great they both look in recent years.

by **Mikerocha** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:45 pm

Well, those clothes are terrible :lol:

and Frida... I never liked her hair blond :-?

She will always be the brunette one

by **NothingFails** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:53 pm

Mikerocha wrote:Well, those clothes are terrible and Frida... I never liked her hair blond She will always be the brunette one

actually there is a much clearer picture in the From ABBA To Mamma Mia book... Frida wasn't blonde, she was grey here. :lol:

by **Mikerocha** » Sun Jun 27, 2010 6:26 pm

NothingFails wrote:
Mikerocha wrote:Well, those clothes are terrible and Frida... I never liked her hair blond She will always be the brunette one
actually there is a much clearer picture in the From ABBA To Mamma Mia book... Frida wasn't blonde, she was grey here.

Wow that's even hotter :lol:

I just wish they release the last unreleased track of their last recording sessions... we have 5 out of the 6 tracks... if I'm not wrong "just like that" was never released... I love all those other 5 tracks too... "cassandra" is breath taking and "I am the city" would have made a great tittle track if they have released a 9th album... "you owe me one" is the weakest track of all...

by **Blondini** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:08 pm

It's out! With the unreleased demo medley From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel (top 800 iTunes).

Official promo for deluxe

It's (demo track) interesting but not essential. However, i bought the Complete Recordings box set last year and now feel less smug for having it! :lol:

The other albums are out in deluxe versions with DVD extras too.

This album had an amazing write-up by NME a few years ago, i learned about how dark and "alternative" this was - i finally got around to buying the albums last year - in that set. The title track is just a revelation - who knew they had such as that in their catalogue?? Should have been a UK single.

DVD disc features:

1. "Two For The Price Of One (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA)"
2. "Slipping Through My Fingers (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA)"
3. "When All Is Said And Done (Original Promo Clip)"
4. "ABBA In London, November 1982 (The Late Late Breakfast Show, BBC)"
5. "ABBA In Stockholm, November 1982 (Nöjesmaskinen, SVT)"
6. "The Visitors TV commercial I (UK)"
7. "The Visitors TV commercial II (Australia)"
8. "The Singles - The First Ten Years I (UK)"
9. "The Singles - The First Ten Years II (Australia)"
10. "International Sleeve Gallery"

by **NothingFails** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:52 pm

Blondini wrote:This album had an amazing write-up by NME a few years ago, i learned about how dark and "alternative" this was - i finally got around to buying the albums last year - in that set. The title track is just a revelation - who knew they had such as that in their catalogue?? Should have been a UK single.

I heard that when the album came out, many rock stations actually were running "guess who this is, you probably won't" contests with the title track because so many people were wowed and shocked that the group they associated with Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia could do something like that.

by **Blondini** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:01 pm

32 UK mids!

by **Chun** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:13 pm

Great news. Yep, that's their best album.

by **Blondini** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:29 pm

62

Wow! Those Monday sales must have been big!

by **AndiIversen** » Sat May 05, 2012 5:02 am

So many good songs it's hard to choose from...it's their most "mature" album imho.

by **Blondini** » Sat May 05, 2012 3:54 pm

I can't find any copies in my 2 local HMV's. They must have ran out of stock! Might explain the fall from 32-62. It sold beyond expectations. All because of one unreleased medley!

by **Merci** » Sat May 05, 2012 8:37 pm

I'm listening to this now, awesomeballs!

One of us is lonely, one of us is only.. waiting for a call

by **ShayLaB** » Sat May 05, 2012 8:54 pm

For me this is their best album which, depending how you look at it, is either a fitting finale or a terrific shame. The inclusion of the four additional tracks on the CD these days is a real boon as each is splendid. "The Day Before You Came" was the very last song they ever recorded.