Abba's ABBA Gold

by Elisabeth Vincentelli

Overview

Perhaps more than any other Greatest Hits compilation, Abba Gold has come to define a band's career on one disk. More than that, its release in 1992 heralded the critical rehabilitation of a group which had, since its demise a decade earlier, become little more than a memory of trashy costumes and cheesy tunes to many people. Here, Elisabeth Vincentelli charts the circumstances surrounding the birth of Abba Gold, looks at the impact it had on the music world, and tells the stories behind some of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826415462
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/31/2004
Series:	33 1/3 Series , #7
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	4.70(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Elisabeth Vincentelli is music editor of Time Out New York. She has also written for the Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly among many other publications. She grew up in France and has loved Abba since watching them triumph at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.

Editorial Reviews

Music fans love to trumpet their favorite recordings to a sympathetic audience. Continuum has given fans that chance with its quaintly titled "331/3" series, in which the authors wax poetic on the greatness of their favorite LPs from the past 40 years. Though it's unclear how Continuum selected the authors, the musicians and music writers chosen do their subjects proud. Their articulate, well-researched, and passionate cases are a welcome change from the capsule reviews found in most music magazines, which seem intended to show off the reviewers' pithy witticisms rather than to illuminate the merits of the work in question. Interestingly, the authors here take on the qualities one would expect of fans for each artist. For instance, Perry, former guitarist for the Only Ones, gamely tries to explain the technical details of Jimi Hendrix's brilliant playing; Ott, a regular contributor to Pitchforkmedia.com, is serious and dramatic in telling Joy Division's tragic tale; and Vincentelli (music editor, Time Out New York) is a bit defensive in her self-conscious apology of Abba, resorting to tearing down other artists to make her faves look better. While the series is refreshing in its decision to sidestep the usual suspects (e.g., the Beatles' Revolver, the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds), its focus on lesser-known, more cultish albums limits the series' appeal to larger public libraries. Also potentially problematic: the artists' names are not always included in the book titles. Though written for lay readers, "331/3" may get better use, as a whole, in academic libraries.-Lloyd Jansen, Stockton-San Joaquin Cty. P.L., CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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