The third album by the Swedish quartet is not only one of my favourites by them, but established their staying power by two Australian #1s, one of which spent eleven weeks at the top, and made them more visible by their putting promotional film clips, nowadays called videos, for four of their songs. It's also more tightly produced than Waterloo, which was a proving ground for superstardom.

First, the song that became ABBA's second #1 UK hit and the eleven-week Aussie hit: "Mamma Mia" with its bursts of guitar, catchy dual harmony vocals by Agnetha and Frida, and synths that have a slightly classical tinge to it. One thing in learning about these guys is that they were a big hit in Australia, small wonder then that this song and other ABBA references were heard in the Adventures of Priscilla movie, Australian, of course.

The worldwide hit and third single, "SOS" featuring a pleading vocal from Agnetha set amid the usual awash guitar and synth, was considered by many to be ABBA's first classic single, but I tend to give that honour to "Waterloo."

The slower-paced "Hey Hey Helen," punctuated by a hard rock guitar and bass, portrays the cost of a woman who's free from the responsibilities of motherhood and getting that second chance, at the cost of leaving behind her husband and children. A song fitting with the rise of feminism in the 70's. And at least alternative group Lush saw fit to cover it on their Gala album.

The mid-paced "Tropical Loveland" is their shot at reggae. Some Stevie Wonder-like keyboards and guitar open the Bjorn-sung "Man in the Middle," about something really living the life of Riley, "drinking champagne in his limo" having lots of servants in his mansion, no conscience, and someone who deals with the Devil.

The galloping rhythm section and scat-like words used in the chorus of "Bang-A-Boomerang" make this another favourite. They wrote the song for a Swedish group who lost out in the Eurovision Song Contest, and thought it was too good to let go to waste. So do I. Like "SOS," and "Mamma Mia," there was a promo clip for this one, and the next song.

With a title like "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do," one wonders if the song's about five people at the wedding altar. It isn't, but it does involve emotional commitment. Soundwise, think of a country song with a sax instead of a steel guitar. They got inspiration from 50's orchestra leader Billy Vaughn's sax-laden music. This was another #1 Australian single. It's B-side, the Bjorn-sung "Rock Me," peaked at #4 and one wonders if his voice was in shreds the way he shrieked the vocals.

The instrumental "Intermezzo No. 1" is a brisk, racing classical-like piece incorporating electric guitar, synths, and orchestral strings. It's well-named, as in classical music, an intermezzo is a short orchestral piece or movement separating major sections of a symphony, or in this case, separating two songs.

"I've Been Waiting For You" is my favourite song here, showing Agnetha putting her all, backed by string-synths and acoustic guitar. The mood's quiet when she sings "And finally it seems my lonely days are through," then she and Frida lay out the title to as close as operatic splendour as they can.

"So Long" is a more jamming rocker, with a protagonist unimpressed by a showoff's fancy car and money, not even flowers. One particular line has three rhyming words, an interesting rhyming device: "Tracy, Daisy, they may be crazy." The band's accompanying lower-register harmonies singing "honey honey" or "money money" is a direct contrast to Agnetha's vocals.

"Crazy World" is my second favourite song, as it's a leisurely ballad sung by Bjorn about a guy who gets a rude surprise when he sees a man closing his girl's front door. However, it's not what it seems, fortunately, but he realizes that yes, it is a crazy world. It was originally the B-side of Arrival's "Money Money Money."

The traditional folk medley done at the end has ABBA's brisk arrangements on "Pick A Bale Of Cotton," something not so PC now, while more relaxing sounds permeate "On Top Of Old Smokey" and an Elton John like rocker on "Midnight Special" which rounds out one of the quartet's best albums.

In my opinion this is ABBA's best album. Sure, they had many hits after this release but the true, at least classic, ABBA sound is all over the place here. What I mean by that is; their later songs (as good as they were) moved in the disco pop direction, while here we get timeless pop rock at its finest. To me this is their "Tapestry" (legendary Carole King album) filled with monster song upon monster song. How can you beat an album featuring hits like "Mamma Mia", "S.O.S.", "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", and "So Long" ?. Add to that gems like the catchy "Bang-A-Boomerang", "Rock Me" (shades of Slade), and the ballad "I've Been Waiting For You". -Not only one of their best ballads, but one of the best pop ballads ever. That's nearly the whole album right there, I might as well mention the rest; the excellent and underrated "Hey, Hey Helen", the seductive "Tropical Loveland", the funny "Man In The Middle", and the superb instrumental "Intermezzo No. 1". -Pop music doesn't get much better than this, folks. A classic album from start to finish, with two interesting bonus tracks. Like I said, they were to write many more great songs, but in pop history this remains their classic album and deserves to be seen as such. At least in my humble opinion.

This album was released when Abba's future was uncertain. They might have been just another one hit wonder. Waterloo had been a worldwide smash hit, but the other singles from that album flopped. Depending on your viewpoint, this album demonstrates Abba's versatility (if you like it) or it is a mixed bag (if you don't). I love it.

The original album (the first eleven tracks) yielded three singles that met with varying degrees of success. I do I do I do I do I do was a big hit in Australia and a number one in New Zealand but a modest hit in Britain. It eventually went top 20 in America. S.O.S. was much more successful in Britain, where it was a top ten hit. It went top 20 in America, where it was the first single taken off the album.

Mamma Mia, on the other hand, was a number one hit in Britain and gave Abba a direction to go in for their next album, which would be Arrival. It wasn't very successful in America, where it was only a minor hit. Abba were never able to achieve consistent success in America, perhaps because they rarely visited. They were kept busy elsewhere.

Of course, those songs can be found on various Abba compilations, so it is the other tracks that are the reason to buy this now. Tropical loveland and I've been waiting for you are lovely ballads. Rock me and Hey hey Helen veer almost into glam-rock territory. Intermezzo No. 1 is an instrumental that sounds like Benny and Bjorn were trying to write a classical piece - I wonder what it would sound like if played by a philharmonic orchestra. Contrast that with the medley of traditional folk songs - one of two bonus tracks listed here. Apparently this medley was recorded for charity. As far as I know, this is the only time that Abba covered anybody else's songs.

So, this is a very varied selection of songs. My version of the CD has a further five bonus tracks, but these can all be found on either the Ring ring or Waterloo albums. This particular album has been re-issued several times on CD, originally with no bonus tracks, then with the five added, then with those five plus Crazy world and the medley, but now with those last two but not the other five. Since anybody who buys this album is likely to buy the two earlier albums anyway, the current track listing with just two bonus tracks makes the most sense.

The eponymous ABBA LP was actually the 3rd by the Swedish quartet after 1973 Ring Ring and 1974 Waterloo. It is true that it shows a group still looking for its own identity. But here, Abba are starting to find their very own sound : SOS (which by the way was recorded and released as a single before Mamma Mia) is widely considered as a milestone in this perspective. Although the classic sound which will be present from 1976 is not fully blown yet on "Abba", the whole album is already giant steps away from the two first albums : the overall quality is there, almost all the tracks ended up being released on singles : out of eleven songs, seven were A-sides in at least one country and thus made it to the charts. Even some of the glam rock attempts, like So Long or Rock Me, have some kind of charm about them, although they're obviously not what Abba did best. If you don't own any of the original albums yet, this might not be your first choice, but it should definitely not be forgotten.

ABBA self-titled album is my favorite of their catalog. I don't like compilations (unless I want to hear what their other albums around like) and I really don't care for the band's disco phase. All the songs on this album are pure cheesy pop. Every song is worth listening to and the music will cheer you up (no wonder why everyone loved ABBA, young or old, punk or straight neck). Great stuff.

Recommended for fans of cheesy pop music.