Thank You for the Music [Box]

• Artist: ABBA
• Rating:
• Release Date: April 18, 1995
• Type: Lyrics are included with the album, Compilation (best of), Box set
• Genre: Rock

Review

Released in Europe in October 1994 and in the U.S. six months later, Thank You for the Music is the ABBA box set retrospective, tracing their ten years of record-making, 1972-1982, including 52 previously released tracks on the first three discs, plus a fourth disc of rarities. Listening to all the singles, plus scattered album tracks and B-sides, provides a clear picture of the group's development. Early on, there is considerable stylistic experimentation, as these pop dabblers ape everything from Phil Spector's Wall of Sound rock to big-band swing. But after "Dancing Queen," they find their niche in disco, and the second disc is loaded with hit songs anchored to the familiar bass-heavy walking beat and swooping synths-meant-to-sound-like-strings that defined that most '70s genres. On the third disc, covering their last years, ABBA returns to the more propulsive pop/rock of early classics like "SOS" and "Mamma Mia," revving up the tempo in acknowledgment of the arrival of new wave. Wracked by romantic discord, they also achieve somewhat more meaningful lyrics before calling it a day. In the album's liner notes, the bandmembers register mild protest at the inclusion of unreleased material on the fourth disc -- what they finished and liked, they released, they note. Fair warning. Most prominent in a collection of alternate takes, miscellaneous B-sides, foreign-language recordings, and TV soundtracks is the 23-and-a-half-minute "ABBA Undeleted," a medley of 15 song fragments and Swedish studio chatter that suggests ABBA had a few more hits in them if they had found the time to finish them off. Nevertheless, this remains fan-only material. [This album is not to be confused with the 1983 compilation of the same title released by Epic Records in the U.K.] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

Tracks

CD 1

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
People Need Love	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(2:46)
Another Town, Another Train	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:13)
He Is Your Brother	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:19)
Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(2:55)
Ring Ring	Neil Sedaka, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson, Phil Cody	ABBA	(3:02)
Waterloo	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(2:44)
Hasta Mañana	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:09)
Honey, Honey	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(2:56)
Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:12)
So Long	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:05)
I've Been Waiting for You	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:38)
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:17)
S.O.S.	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:21)
Mamma Mia	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:32)
Fernando	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(4:11)
Dancing Queen	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:50)
That's Me	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:16)
When I Kissed the Teacher	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:03)
Money, Money, Money	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:08)
Crazy World	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:49)
My Love, My Life	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:53)

CD 2

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Knowing Me, Knowing You	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(4:02)
Happy Hawaii	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(4:24)
The Name of the Game	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:58)
I Wonder (Departure) [Live]	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(4:30)
Eagle	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(5:49)
Take a Chance on Me	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:03)
Thank You for the Music	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:49)
Summer Night City	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:14)
Chiquitita	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(5:26)
Lovelight	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:20)
Does Your Mother Know	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:15)
Voulez-Vous	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:21)
Angeleyes	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:18)
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:48)
I Have a Dream	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:44)

CD 3

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
The Winner Takes It All	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:54)
Elaine	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:46)
Super Trouper	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:13)
Lay All Your Love on Me	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:33)
On and on and On	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:39)
Our Last Summer	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:18)
The Way Old Friends Do	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(2:53)
The Visitors	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(5:48)
One of Us	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:57)
Should I Laugh or Cry	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:27)
Head Over Heels	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:46)
When All Is Said and Done	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:16)
Like an Angel Passing Through My Room	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:36)
The Day Before You Came	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(5:49)
Cassandra	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:50)
Under Attack	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:44)

CD 4

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Put on Your White Sombrero	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:27)
Dream World		ABBA	(3:36)
Thank You for the Music	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(4:03)
Hej Gamle Man		ABBA	(3:21)
Merry-Go-Round	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(3:20)
Santa Rosa	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:01)
She's My Kind of Girl	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(2:44)
Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smokey/Midnight Special	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Traditional	ABBA	(4:21)
You Owe Me One	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(3:25)
Slipping Through My Fingers/Me and I	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus	ABBA	(8:37)
ABBA Undeleted		ABBA	(23:30)
Waterloo [French/Swedish]	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(2:40)
Ring Ring [Swedish/Spanish/German]	Neil Sedaka, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson, Phil Cody	ABBA	(4:22)
Honey, Honey [Swedish]	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson	ABBA	(2:57)

Credits

ABBA (Main Performer), Janne Schaffer (Guitar), Rolf Alex (Drums), Benny Andersson (Piano), Benny Andersson (Keyboards), Ola Brunkert (Drums), Malando Gassama (Percussion), Rutger Gunnarsson (Bass), Roger Palm (Drums), Raphael Ravenscroft (Saxophone), Finn Sjoberg (Guitar), Michael B. Tretow (Remixing), Björn Ulvaeus (Guitar), Mike Watson (Bass), Lasse Wellander (Guitar), John Tobler (Liner Notes), Michael Areklew (Guitar), Bengt H. Malmqvist (Photography), Fred Bronson (Liner Notes), Torbjorn Calvero (Photography), Andy Greetham (Art Direction), Jackie Stansfield (Production Coordination), Dorian Wathen (Production Coordination), Stig Anderson (Liner Notes), Denis McNamara (Liner Notes), James Cant (Photography), Anders Hanser (Photography), Ola Lager (Photography), Carl Magnus Palm (Discography), Anders Elijas (Keyboards), Chris Griffin (Liner Notes), Chris Griffin (Compilation Producer), Mårten Levin (Photography), Anders Glennmark (Guitar)