Hey, fellow ABBA fans, let's relax a little bit! You're being WAY too hard on this DVD. Remember it's a 25 year old DOCUMENTARY, not a concert, and it was shot by a network that didn't religiously archive the footage because nobody at the time expected people 25 years later to care! There's plenty of full length numbers, and they rip! Having been lucky enough to have seen ABBA at the Music Hall in Boston during this tour (as did most of Aerosmith, the Cars and the J. Giels Band down in the front rows), I'm delighted now to own this DVD because it proves a point I've long tried to make to my sceptical friends. ABBA WERE UNDENIABLY A GREAT, GREAT LIVE ACT.

I've been professionally involved in the concert business for three decades, I've seen everyone pretty much, and though my personal tastes run more towards The Beatles, The Cramps and Garbage, I rank ABBA as one of the best live bands I've EVER seen on a stage. The vocals were spot on, the band rocked and were very tight, the energy level was through the roof. The group, especially Frida and Agnetha, were very lively, generous and vivacious with the audience, and the songs were just great. Frankly, it was an incredible, indescribable rush to see them live, especially if you'd waited five years for it.

For ages ABBA have been a guilty pleasure for those of us supposedly hip rockers, but unless you're a frigid snob you'll have to admit upon viewing this show that ABBA weren't a corny plastic disco machine - they absolutely delivered the goods. A totally legitimate act with nothing to apologize for. What's also great is that ABBA were based not just on unforgettable hook-laden songs and astounding voices, but there was a genuinely warm and mature sexuality exuding from that stage. Agnetha and Frida were women, not little girls. There bodies may not have been perfect (J-LO fans, you'll see a startling similarity between she and Agnetha in a certain way) but their talent and their sensuality knocks Britney's lip synced teasing schoolgirl trip right off the stage. ABBA actually sang every note live, mistakes and all - what a concept.

As to the extras, "Thank You For The Music" is probably my least favorite ABBA song, but on this disc Agnetha is just incredible, she nails it. Frida was the darker, more european side of things, handling more mature themes, and my fave, but if God ever put a more attractive woman on a stage than Agnetha in this film, I've never seen her. As to the sound complaints, if you run the disc through a good amplifier and speaker system there's no problem, if not some of the bottom is admittedly missing. But on the plus side the clarity of the vocals is astonishing, and within the instrumentation lots of little surprises I'd never heard.

Visually it's incredible - you can count eyelashes and pores, and the color is rich and true. So c'mon - lighten up everyone - a very well directed documentary, a very well edited piece of history at a pretty low price. It's a great disc of a truly brilliant band. Let's be happy for a very nice little gift to us all.

I love ABBA. I have all their dvds available. I brought "ABBA In Concert" last Christmas but haven't found the time to review it until this morning. What can I tell you about this 25 year old tape? Well, let me just say that the perfromances are nothing short of excellent. The remastering job is superb, both visually as well as audio. You feel, for the mos part, like you're at the concert. However, there's one porblem: too much documentary, not enough concert. I was hoping we'd get a full concert rather than a few complete performances and a ton of documentary footage. So while I do recommend this dvd, keep in mind it isn't a complete concert dvd.

Most ABBA fans know this was originally filmed for Swedish televison back in 1979. At one time it was available on VHS. Bootleg copies have been traded, sold, etc. for years. Now it's finally available on DVD.

As my review title states, they did a great job with the picture quality, but really screwed up badly with the sound. It's a little less noticeable in mono, but in stereo it is very irritating. It does indeed sound like someone is constantly fooling around with the volume control. The original VHS sound was fine. How they screwed up the sound and released it this way,

And yes, it is not a "complete" concert. You only get about half the songs ABBA performed onstage during this tour. The first 30 minutes of the DVD in mainly a lot of behind-the-scenes type stuff with a few snippets of concert footage. It is not until the get around to their performance at Wembley do you get to the true concert footage, but as stated before, it's only about half the show.

Fans who recommend "ABBA: The Movie" over this, forget that it too also does not show a complete concert either. It also has songs cut off, and even during some of the complete songs, it often cuts away from the stage performance to the idiotic subplot of the dj trying to get and interview with ABBA.

What is so frustrating is that is that we know complete concerts of ABBA were filmed for both of these, but the extra footage is problem long gone or lost in a vast vault somewhere. I doubt if we will ever see a complete ABBA concert on DVD.

I'm just happy that what little there is of ABBA in concert is available on this DVD and ABBA - The Movie (which hopefully will be released on DVD soon). They are both enjoyable despite their flaws and are "must-haves" for any true ABBA fan.

I consider myself one of ABBA's biggest fans, since 1975. Australia put ABBA on the map when in that year (1975), our TV rock show "Countdown" gave considerable exposure to the video clips "SOS" and "MamaMia", before any other country had noticed them. The latter went on to be a huge No. 1 hit and ABBAmania took over Australia. This is a significant point, because in 1977 they toured Australia and Swedish film-makers followed to capture the concert and turn it into a movie titled "ABBA: The Movie". The film featured stunning concert performances of early ABBA material and their then new album "Arrival". In between this concert footage was a storyline about an Australian journalist desperate to secure an interview with the four super Swedes, which sees him following them all around Australia until he gets his wish. This movie, in my opinion, is the best way to capture the concert atomosphere of ABBA. The problem is, this movie is still unavailable on DVD. I am not even sure if it was released to the American public, but it was a No. 1 box office smash in Australia and Europe in 1978.

Now, on to this new DVD release : ABBA in Concert. I read many negative reviews of this DVD, but as a true ABBA fan, wanted to make up my own mind, so purchased the DVD. This DVD is basically a documentary from 1979 featuring ABBA's tour of America and UK. Much of it has been seen before on American TV (apparently). The American concert footage is brief and consists more of backstage stuff and sightseeing trips. The UK footage is better because you get more concert footage even, although some songs are noticeably edited (eg. Chiquitita). This is because the documentary was originally made for TV and had time limitations. The total amount of songs listed is 12. To me, the best part of this DVD is the inclusion of "The Way Old Friends Do", previously unseen in Europe, Australia and America. This is part of the bonus material on the DVD, and is worth the high price tag of the DVD alone. Other bonus features include interviews with the documentary producer ... but this did not appeal to me. There is also edited footage of "Thank YOu for the Music" which is interesting because much of the concert footage for this track remains missing, so the DVD producers have done some splicing etc to give a complete finish to the song. It has been well done in my opinion, and you cannot tell that footage is missing.

Overall, the DVD overall is disappointing in my opinion. It left me wanting more, and it is too expensive for what you get. I urge American fans to purchase the VHS of "ABBA: The Movie" (until it's released on DVD). It's the best way to see incredible concert footage of this band. Plus you will experience the impact that ABBA had on Australia back in 1977 when it was filmed. As ABBA once said about their tour of Australia "we had never experienced some frenzy, such excitement".

This is a particularly expensive title, but the quality of the this release is top notch. The picture quality is excellent and so is the sound. There isn't any degradation of the footage, amazing since this is from 1979. This DVD gives anybody an idea of the energy and talent ABBA brought to the table as artists. Bonus features include full versions of 'The Way Old Friends Do' and 'I Have A Dream'(same as the promo version) and a really good version of 'Thank You For The Music'(detailed as missing some footage but you can't really tell, all the lyrics are intact). There are a couple of interviews with the tour promoter and the producer of the film as well. You don't learn much but it provides good commentary on the project, and the band as well.

The only criticism I have is that there are no interviews with anybody in the band, but that isn't surprising given their seclusive nature. Still this is a good buy for anybody who likes ABBA.

As stated in the above review, it should be noted that this is NOT a complete concert and some songs are heavily edited. Somewhat disappointing considering ABBA's live set consisted of 25 songs during this tour. This was originally a television special over in Sweden in the first place and reminds me of an early version of 'Depeche Mode 101' in as far as following the band around in the early segments, interviewing a few fans and edited songs. The cd is really the only way to get a more full set of ABBA live tracks, but given this is the only footage commercially available of ABBA live it's great for what it is.