Ring Ring [Import Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: ABBA
Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
Producer: Benny Andersson; Björn Ulvaeus
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: 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. 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.

Not many pop groups end up on postage stamps, as Abba has in its native Sweden; but then again, few groups become their homeland's most identifiable export. The group's stratospheric success was built on a foundation of buoyant, exquisitely arranged and produced pop music. Although they called it a day in the early 1980s, Abba lives on in the form of popular tribute bands and albums, a Broadway musical, and consistent record sales of their voluminous catalog.

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