Listening to albums 1: Ring Ring by ABBA

Well the experiment has to start somewhere and the letter A is as good a place as any. The first band in my Itunes library is ABBA. Many of my friends will be alarmed to hear this as I am something of a metalhead. However, as I have grown older and my senses of appreciation have developed I certainly understand better what made their music better than just about everybody else. It is also clear to see why ABBA became one of the few Eurovision winners to achieve very much success.

Ring Ring was the album before they became known as ABBA and the one before their Eurovision success. The first track is the title track. Unfortunately for the album goes downhill from hereon in. Ring Ring is a good track and you can see why it became a hit. Apart from Benny & Bjorn the track is co written by Neil Sedaka and on listening to it you can see where his style of writing comes through. However, the tracks from that moment on were bland and there was nothing that would lead you to the conclusion that this group would become one of the biggest on the planet and who would launch a thousand tribute acts.

The final track Rock N Roll Band is alright but no more than that. So having been disappointed by this album I returned to ABBA Gold which is their greatest hits album. My recommendation would be to stick to the Greatest Hits as you will not be disappointed by it. Ring Ring is a fairly weak album and for me I would not recommend it.

Track recommendation: Ring Ring