ABBA Ring Ring - 2011 EU reissue LP, pressed on 180 gram vinyl
Format: Vinyl Condition: New Year of Release: 2011 Cat. No.: POLS 242 Label: Polar
Not issued in the U.S. until an early-'90s re-release program, Abba's first album points toward the world-dominating pop of their later years. While the title cut has some vroom, others call for fine-tuning.
The New Seekers-style anthem "People Need Love" offers the bizarre insistence that "People need love to make a good living"--at what?--and "Nina Pretty Ballerina" could be a pop song for toddlers. Not a bad thing, but not quite "Dancing Queen." And no, "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother" isn't a Springsteenian saga of felonious misadventure, but a jingling remembrance of playground days.
The 24-bit remastered sound of this edition does suggest the care Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus were already taking with production. Their discs, however, would soon achieve the truly Abba-esque.
Review by Rickey Wright
TRACK LISTING:
A1 Ring, Ring (Bara Du Slog En Signal) A2 Another Town, Another Train A3 Disillusion A4 People Need Love A5 I Saw It In The Mirror A6 Nina, Pretty Ballerina
B1 Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough) B2 Me And Bobby And Bobby´s Brother B3 He Is Your Brother B4 Ring, Ring (English Version) B5 I Am Just A Girl B6 Rock 'N' Roll Band
