ABBA Ring Ring CD

Additional Tracks

ABBA: Bjorn Ulvaeus (vocals, acoustic guitar); Benny Anderson (vocals, piano, Mellotron); Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (vocals).
Additional personnel: Janne Schaffer (acoustic & electric guitars); Rutger Gunnarson, Mike Watson (electric bass); Ola Brunkert, Roger Palm (drums).
Recorded at Metronome Studio, KMH Studio & Europafilm Studio, Stockholm, Sweden in 1972 & 1973. Includes reissue liner notes by Carl Magnus Palm.
Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Jon Astley.
If it seems as though the familiar ABBA sound isn't present on this album, that's because there was no entity known as ABBA at the time that the earliest sides here were recorded. Growing out of an attempt by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus to record together with their respective companions, Agnetha Faltskog and Frida "Anni-Frid" Lyngstad, the first side cut here, "People Need Love," featured the two men singing just as prominently as the women, and was credited to "Bjorn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid." It was only after its release and the cutting of a further single, "Ring, Ring," that the more familiar sound of the quartet began to coalesce along with the idea of a permanent professional association. Unreleased in the United States until 1995, this album is more of a generic European pop release than an ABBA release; the music has several unusual attributes, including Andersson and Ulvaeus singing lead on several cuts, and also one original song, the moody ballad "Disillusion," co-authored by Agnetha Faltskog. Most of what's here is pleasantly upbeat Europop, with unusually good playing and a lot of spirit, all showing the influence of mainstream American and British pop/rock, including the late-era Beatles and early Elton John, and on the title track, a Phil Spector-proportioned production. Ring Ring was reissued in October of 2001 with extensive notes, state-of-the-art sound, and three bonus tracks: the single B-sides "Merry-Go-Round" and "Santa Rosa" (a smooth piece of California-style rock in the mold of the early Eagles) and the Swedish version of "Ring, Ring" (which charted number one in Sweden to the English version's number two spot). ~ Bruce Eder
Folks familiar with ABBA's singles from their five-year stranglehold on AM radio in the late-'70s may be surprised by this, the Swedish foursome's 1973 debut. Not only is the title track--a runner-up in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest--the only tune that ever shows up on the group's many anthologies, the other 11 songs show only traces of the compositional maturity, lyrical depth and production flourishes that make ABBA's later work so intoxicating.
Instead, RING RING is a sterling example of early-'70s bubblegum, not really that different from the Partridge Family or Andy Kim. Most surprising may be how many of the songs feature the lead vocals of Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson in addition to (and, in some cases, instead of) Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog. Whoever is singing, songs like "She's My Kind of Girl" and "Love Isn't Easy" make RING RING a package of pure, chewy pop confections.