Day 17: ABBA - Super Trouper

Album cover courtesy of Epic

I love ABBA. I think it’s because I’m Nordic, presumably I was jamming out to them in the womb and at that time, decided to never stop. I like to listen to euro-pop and disco in the shower, but I’ve had to place a moratorium on ABBA for safety reasons. I hear DOONT GOOO WASTING YOUR EMOOOTIOOONS and it’s as if a small trampoline manifests underneath me, I’m scared I’ll fall and hit my head. That seems like an undignified way to go, so generally no shower-ABBA for me.

Their 1979 release “Super Trouper” is occasionally ABBA at their peak, but I’d allow myself to listen to some of the songs in the shower. Apparently, they had toned down the disco elements to the album because there was an ongoing disco backlash, so the resulting album is more just regular pop with some Latin-inspired numbers peppered in.

One of the best songs on the album, “The Winner Takes it All”, explores the divorce between band members Björn and Agnetha. First of all, I didn’t even know they were all married and wrote songs about their relationship breakdowns Fleetwood Mac-style. That brings a whole new level to my appreciation of ABBA. How did I not know that?

However, it’s not exactly an album of no skips. The live version of “The Way Old Friends Do” is alright, and “The Piper” is just weird – those people are never beating the Midsommar-allegations. “Andante, Andante” is a bit of a snoozefest. “Elaine” bangs, but is menacing. And the New Year’s song is something you do end up swaying to if you’re in the Nordics on New Year’s, but it’s not something you want to listen to outside of that.

The rest of the songs range from good to great, but that little synth run at the end of “Lay All Your Love On Me” is so goddamn good, I could listen to an hour of just that. It’s a good album, but it’s hard to rank –  it’s got high highs and comparatively low lows. As a result, I think it’s a 7.5/10. That one synth bit is a 10, though.