The Album

The Album
Studio album by ABBA
Released	December 12, 1977 (1977-12-12)
Recorded	May 1977- November 1977
Genre	Pop
Length	44:00
Label	Polar (original release) PolyGram (1992 - 1997) Universal Music (1998 - )
Producer	Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Professional reviews
Allmusic link NME (7/10) link Rolling Stone (Favorable) link
ABBA chronology
Arrival (1976) The Album (1977) Voulez-Vous (1979)
Alternate cover
UK edition

The Album is the fifth album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music). It was released in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie.

The album contained the singles "Take a Chance on Me", "The Name of the Game", and what is called ABBA's "goodbye" song "Thank You for the Music", despite the fact the song was released five years before the band officially broke up. It also features the song "Hole In Your Soul", which was performed as the last song at many ABBA concerts, including their final 1979 tour, and two other songs, "One Man, One Woman" and "I'm A Marionette".

The Album was first released on CD in 1984. The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form by PolyGram/Universal Music four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and again in 2007 as a two disc 'Deluxe Edition'.

Cover artwork

Polar's official cover featured an entirely white background, and is the basis for current CD versions. However, Epic Records' original UK release of the LP featured a blue background on the front cover, fading to white at the bottom. It also featured a gatefold sleeve. The back cover was altered, incorporating a similar photo of ABBA to that used elsewhere in the world for the inner sleeve, and referencing tracks included in ABBA: The Movie. The inner gatefold was designed to look like an air mail envelope, similar to the style later used for Gracias Por La Música and even had a photo of ABBA incorporated into a stamp in the corner.

This was the first and only time that Epic radically broke away from the standard Polar Music design for an ABBA album. The UK design for The Album has only been re-issued on CD format once, as part of a limited edition boxed set released by the Japanese arm of Universal Music in 2004.

Track listing

Side A:

1. "Eagle" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 5:47
2. "Take a Chance on Me" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03
3. "One Man, One Woman" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:31
4. "The Name of the Game" (Andersson, Stig Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:51 (3:55 on first pressing of 1997 CD)

Side B:

1. "Move On" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:41
2. "Hole in Your Soul" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:39
3. "Thank You for the Music" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:49
4. "I Wonder (Departure)" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus) – 4:32
5. "I'm a Marionette" (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03

CD re-issues, bonus tracks

The Album was remastered and reissued in 1997 with no bonus tracks.

The Album was remastered and reissued in 2001 with one bonus track:

10. "Thank You for the Music" (Doris Day version) (Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03

The Album was remastered and reissued again in 2005 as part of the The Complete Studio Recordings box set with following bonus tracks:

10. "Al Andar" (Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Buddy McCluskey, Mary McCluskey) – 4:43
    • Spanish version of "Move On".
11. "Gracias Por La Música" (Andersson, Ulvaeus, B. McCluskey, M. McCluskey) – 3:49
    • Spanish version of "Thank You for the Music".

Tracks 10–11, vocals recorded January 1980. These two songs are from the album Gracias Por La Música (Septima SRLM 1, June 23, 1980).

The Album was reissued again in 2007 (October 15) as a 30th Anniversary of the original release, called the 'Deluxe Edition'. This features the same track listing as the 2005 release along with four additional tracks;

10. "Eagle" (Single edit) - 4:25
11. "Take a Chance on Me" (Live version; alternate mix) - 4:25
    • Originally released as B-side of 1979 single "I Have a Dream"
12. "Thank You for the Music" (Doris Day version) - 4:03
13. "Al Andar" – 4:43
14. "I Wonder (Departure)" (Live version) - 4:27
    • Originally released as B-side of 1977 single "The Name of the Game"
15. "Gracias Por La Música" – 3:49

The 'Deluxe Edition' reissue also came along with a bonus DVD with the following clips:

1. "Eagle"/"Thank You for the Music" (Star Parade, ZDF)
2. "Take a Chance on Me" (Am Laufenden Band, Radio Bremen)
3. "The Name of the Game" (ABBA Special, TBS)
4. "Thank You for the Music" (Mike Yarwood’s Christmas Show, BBC)
5. "Take a Chance on Me" (Star Parade, ZDF)
6. "ABBA on tour in 1977" (Rapport, SVT)
7. "Recording ABBA – The Album" (Gomorron Sverige, SVT)
8. "ABBA in London, February 1978" (Blue Peter, BBC)
9. "ABBA in America, May 1978" (Rapport, SVT)
10. "ABBA – The Album Television Commercial I" (UK)
11. "ABBA – The Album Television Commercial II" (AUSTRALIA)
12. "International Sleeve Gallery"

The Album was reissued once again in 2008 as part of the The Albums box set but without any bonus tracks.

Singles

1. "The Name of the Game"/"I Wonder" (live) (October 1977)
2. "Take a Chance on Me"/"I'm a Marionette" (January 1978)
3. "One Man, One Woman"/"Eagle" (Edited version) (1978) (Taiwan only)
4. "Eagle" (single edit)/"Thank You for the Music" (May 1978)
5. "Thank You for the Music" / "Eagle" (Edited Version) (1978 (Chile))
6. "Move On"/"Mamma Mia" (1978) (Chile)

Personnel

ABBA

• Benny Andersson – keyboards, vocals
• Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
• Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals

Additional personnel

• Ola Brunkert – drums
• Lars Carlsson – flute, saxophone
• Malando Gassama – percussion
• Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
• Roger Palm – drums
• Janne Schaffer – guitar
• Lasse Wellander – guitar

Production

• Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
• Arranger: Rutger Gunnarsson
• Design: Rune Söderqvist
• Photography: Barry Levine
• Illustrations: Björn Andersson, Rune Söderqvist
• Remastered for the 1997 Remasters by Jon Astley and Tim Young with Michael B. Tretow
• Remastered for the 2001 Remasters by Jon Astley with Michael B. Tretow
• Remastered for the 2005 Complete Studio Recordings Box Set by Henrik Jonsson

Charts

Album

Singles - UK

Singles - Norway

Singles - USA and Canada

References

1. ^ "swedishcharts.com". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=ABBA&titel=The+Album&cat=a. Retrieved 7 July 2009. 
2. ^ "swedishcharts.com". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=ABBA&titel=The+Album&cat=a. Retrieved 7 July 2009. 
3. ^ "swedishcharts.com". http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=ABBA&titel=The+Album&cat=a. Retrieved 7 July 2009.