The Visitors

Was this album important? Seems out of place for a list with essential listens of different genres and epochs. Personally I would've prefered Voulez-Vous, The Album or the self titled. This one doens't have any hits, and hits are what ABBA stood on. Is it a supposed evolution of their sound? Is it that one of the couples broke up? I don't get it. I've read a little about it, it seems i need tons of context to appreciate it, that'll earn it an additional star.

Beautiful and theatrical. Slipping through my fingers is wonderfully gut-wrenching

A double album of some good quality ABBA, hard to fault it. Nice and refreshing for someone who basically only grew up on ABBA gold and voulez vouz so i havent heard most of this. I wasn’t super hard into the 2nd half of the album (not the deluxe stuff, that was sweet), so it falls just short of a 5. Standouts are The Visitors, Head Over Heels, Soldiers, Cassandra and the Day Before You Came.

Never liked Sweden, this being one reason. 2/5

super mega tolls album. has öppe 3 mol glost und denne no d deluxe version. het paar bangers druffe und praktisch keis woni mer denkt ha hell nah. s einzig negative esch das eine lullaby artige lied wos uf de deluxe version ewie sogar drü get? idk ned so mies vor allem passts ewie ned so zum rest.

Some bangers on here but it has too many skips. 8/10

Well this was much better than I expected! Some bangers on here

ABBA is pretty good. Sad ABBA is a bit odd, but still. The punchline on "Two For the Price of One" got me.

Two ABBA albums in a week! Unlike Arrival, this one doesn't seem to have any of the huge well-known ABBA hits, and seems to have a more serious tone overall. But I really enjoyed the hell out of this. I think I Let The Music Speak was my favorite of the set. An easy one to suggest.

A great album for a tastemaker. Less disco, more pop tonalities and darker down tempo tracks. Slipping through my fingers is the big one for me on this album, and I agree ABBA can do no wrong. But that doesn't absolve them of criticism and critical listening. I feel as if (and maybe it comes later for me on this list) but Voulez vou is the true no skip ABBA album. Perhaps a better choice but I can't disparage too hard, this exercise opened me up to another album.

music is love

I do not like Dark ABBA.

utterly scrumptious, who doesn't love themselves some ABBA!

The last ABBA album before they split for 40 years. Not my favourite and not as good as Voulez Vous, but still an excellent album. (4/5)

Fun melodies wirh good compositions. Some of the last songs could have been cut, though. Favourites: Head Over Heels, One of Us, Slipping Under My Fingers, The Visitors and Under Attack.

Abba can do no wrong

Such a rock critic choice of Abba album to include. 'We'll have no pop hits here thank you'. Still very good mind you.

Not one hit here. I know they made a Broadway show out of their songs but this literally sounded like it was writtten for Broadway. Like all the first party songs and third party songs. But none of it was good. Overly dramatic and corny.

Infectiously fun and upbeat.

Well. It's ABBA. There's no denying that. But this is more grown-up, less bubblegum ABBA, which means it's only slightly less annoying. The cover is beautiful. I'll give it a 3 because I'm feeling generous.

Enoyable album. Classic pop tunes like these are timeless. Not much to say but pretty nice run at the office for a friendly music in the background haha.

i don't do ABBA.

ABBA is definitively the saccharine sugar-cube of platonic pop music. Luckily for them, I (and millions of others) have a sweet tooth. Coming out of that hazy pre-breakup period there's a certain darkness of character that's usually absent from ABBA's disco staples, but it pairs well with their usual world-class production/compositional talent. Make no mistake: ABBA is about as razor-tight as pop production gets in the pre-DAW world. The Visitors lacks that truly iconic ABBA dance-ability that you get out of their hits on, say, Arrivals, but it's a tour de force of pop mastery - a victory lap that proves these Swedes have the ability to sit down and make something truly wonderful you can still listen to while sitting down. Fav tracks: The Visitors, When All Is Said And Done

Not the biggest hits on this one, but the songwriting is definitely here.

I can’t dislike ABBA too much because it gave up Mama Mia and BDG’s monster covers. But this really isn’t their best album. Doesn’t have the disco feel, not that fun, and repetitive.

I think while it lacks star power on the face value of the tracks, it's ABBA's most mature and cohesive album

ABBA is always a lot of fun to listen to.

With this album, the pop band attempted to shed their lightweight image. Did they succeed? Kicking off with a dark pop song featuring heavy synthesizer sounds and vocal harmonies in the chorus, the track dances through the speakers. It wasn't exactly a triumph—at least not for me. None of the subsequent tracks—with the exception of the beautiful yet deeply melancholic "One Of Us"—capture that wonderful, breezy feeling found in their earlier songs. By the time of its release, both couples had already separated. The record marked their final joint studio release until *Voyage* appeared completely unexpectedly 40 years later. In terms of sound and lyrics, the album feels very mature. After listening to it, I can say it isn't really a pop album. Instead, it is a blend of anxieties regarding the planet during the Cold War and the breakdown of both couples' marriages. Despite Agnetha’s bright vocals, "Soldiers" sounds menacing—and the lyrics certainly are. We were all afraid back then; the Cold War arms race had reached its peak. At any moment, someone could have pressed the red button, plunging us all into catastrophe. The album was banned in the Soviet Union and, later, in East Germany, where it was forbidden to be played. "I Let the Music Speak" opens the second side of the LP. It is one of the most ambitious and complex pieces Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus ever wrote for ABBA. It deviates radically from the standard pop formula, offering a stylistic mix of epic baroque pop, classical music, and dramatic musical theater. The final track, "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room"—featuring the ticking of a clock and Anni-Frid’s wonderful voice—brings the album to a close. I think I can answer my initial question myself: Yes, it was a success! Hypothetically speaking, had the band not split up, they would have given us plenty more hits—and almost certainly a few outstanding songs along the way. But things turned out differently. A good record for a Tuesday morning.

6 Oct 2026 · 7/10 Yeah this is a great album, lots of variety, some excellent songs. I will be listening again.

This must be what theater kids listened to in the early 80's.

Feels like a band with not much left to say. I'm not a massive fan of the earlier stuff and this isn't as good as that.

Netikėtai labai patiko, malonu klausytis.

1.38

I didn't realize this was ABBA's last album before 2021's last hurrah "Voyager". What broke them up at the height of their powers? Murder? Jealousy? A love quadrangle? Legal bills from the lawsuit brought against them by Norway's BAAB? Or perhaps they had sung what they wanted to sing, and the 80s moved on with their blessing. Whatever the case, this is a good listen, as ABBA always is.

ABBBBBA

This album comes across as a musical. It's just missing the speech parts between the songs. It's ABBA not doing disco, which is refreshing. But it's still ABBA, so it sounds a little like disco. You can take ABBA out of the disco, but you can't take the disco out of ABBA. It's a decent enough album, and the songs are well done and pretty good for what they are, but I would never say "You gotta hear this ABBA album!" But that's just me. My Rating: 3/5

Actually mega gut. Nicht so anstrengend und poppig wie die bekannten ABBA Songs

im not super into abba. there other pop artist from this era id rather listen tbh.

American pop. Optimism

Enjoyed this one

-a strange batch of cupcakes: some are too sweet, some are overbaked, and some are absolutely perfect -ABBA are weird because, although they are usually described as pure pop in its ideal form, they only lightly dabble in American pop forms. You can definitely hear r&b elements throughout this album, but they more often draw from an "art song" tradition that pre-dates the record industry. For better or worse, ABBA are like a supercharged version of lieder or chanson. -respect to ABBA for their ability to find (and harness) some of the strangest keyboard tones

This album is really good for like the first 5ish songs then it becomes completely unremarkable, not bad though

Did not realize Abba had this in them- seems comparable to Fleetwood Mac's Rumors in terms of the context surrounding both albums. This one is a lot more melancholy and artsy than their earlier disco acts.

Like most people in my generation, I'm familiar with the many massive hits of ABBA. But I must admit I never sought more. There is one funny related experience. A friend lent me a customized car to check out. This thing was a tank. It weight 5,000 lbs because it was double-steeled and all the attending systems - brakes and engine - had been customized accordingly. (He had been in a bad accident and his father wanted him safe, hence...) Anyway, I was driving with a friend and we wanted to listen to the deluxe sound system (this was before CD's.) The center console held about a dozen cassette tapes. We opened it up, looked at each other, and laughed our heads off. Every single tape was an ABBA album. After listening to The Visitors, I think I better appreciate what my friend liked about their music. It's lush, well-produced, easy to listen and move to.

Synths and a new wave direction really suited these purveyors of fine cheese. I especially enjoyed the title track and its alien visitation story. They get into Air Supply territory on a couple of songs but perfect pop songs like "Head Over Heels" or "When All is Said and Done" carry this one.

80s new wave sounds damn good on ABBA. I only knew One of Us and Slipping Through My Fingers, but the whole album just again proves theyre more than ABBA Gold. Also impressed with their lyrical ability considering theyre working in a second language. A really good farewell; it might be cheesy but it's an infectious kind of cheese

Better than some ABBA I've listened to, but all the songs start to run together, and not in the good way.

An all-around great album by ABBA. Here, I can see the group’s progression away from somewhat shallow—though still very good—pop toward more serious music that’s still pop but more interesting than their earlier albums. I believe that the evolution of their personal lives is reflected in this artistic evolution. Perhaps true beauty only reveals itself in the face of collapse. 5/5

It took Kerri 41 seconds to identify the artist today without knowing the album name or anything. Basically the second the lyrics started. “They are a national treasure of an entire country!” - Kerri They also ended up being played later for a 3 year olds birthday party we attended later. I’m not the biggest ABBA fan. This album however was solid.

I enjoyed that more than I thought I would

Hands up if you also got fooled by the telephone ringing sample on this album... Honestly I fuckin love ABBA, I love the synth, the harmonies, the range of feelings they can tap into. Compare this to most modern pop, this is LEAGUES better, so don't come to me and say "wahhh I hate pop, wahhh wahhhh" solely due to it being pop. I think there are valid reasons to dislike ABBA but that is not one of them. You are telling me, ABBA comes on at a wedding, everyone is up and dancing and into the music, and you go take a seat with your beer and cigar waving your hand in the air "nahhh I can't don't like it, ABBA aint for me". Theres just no way, unless you truly are a loser, like be so for real. Leaving room for their other album on this list to toss out my 5 stars, as I know Arrival is filled with bangers and classics. Fave song: Head Over Heals 8.5/10

ABBA came onto my radar when synthpop duo Erasure did an EP of all ABBA covers in the early 90s which I played nonstop for weeks. Since then I've gotten to know many of their songs through the years. That said, this album is completely unknown to me other than the song Under Attack. It was great hearing unknown material from a familiar artist like this. This album doesn't have the pop immediacy of songs like Mamma Mia. But the songs are punchy, hook laden, but have a certain mature feel to them as well. Great album!

This is fantastic. Here is ABBA at, at times, their least catchy but possibly most interesting and mature. I’ve heard plenty of their hits before and largely enjoyed them but I think this record is making me realize I truly adore their sound. They provide everything I could want from a pop group and, on this record specifically, even more weirdness and daring. I’ve been surprised to find how a group at their breaking point can often find their greatest inspiration and cohesion in these most difficult moments. 1 listen Favorite Tracks: Slipping Through My Fingers, Under Attack, Head Over Heels, Title Track, One Of Us, Soldiers, I Let The Music Speak, The Day Before You Came

I like this album so much more than I expected. Am I a late-to-the-party ABBA fan??

Well, I hate to admit it, but this album had some really cool synthpop elements that I genuinely enjoyed. Like them or not, ABBA was definitely forward thinking and innovative with this album, especially considering the time it came out. The production is top notch, glossy, upscale, and meticulously crafted. It still has some of those classic ABBA traits, the sleazy, poppy sing along moments that I could do without, but without those, it wouldn’t really be an ABBA album to begin with.

2.75

4/10 As a massive Eurovision fan, I really should like ABBA,but I have never been able to get into their music. When I started playing this album I was briefly excited - the first track, the titular The Visitors, is dark and almost spooky in a way, adding some much needed interest to their ouevre. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is ragingly mediocre. Half of the songs are treacle-sweet; the other half aim for dark or melancholic but land in dull af territory. This is not a successful album and it has not managed to win me over to liking ABBA, so there are issues all around.

I love listening to a good ABBA album once a year, I don't really need any more than that but it's a welcome little surprise

#143 Average track rating: 3.2 | FT: The Visitors | LFT: Two for the Price of One First thoughts: the title track is absolutely phenomenal. I am completely obsessed with the way they embraced a strange, ominous approach to it's production. It's claustrophobic and paranoid and Frida's vocal performance, especially in the chorus, are wonderful. The context of it being a protest of soviet involvement is really cool. There are a lot of other stand out tracks; "Slipping Through My Fingers" is devastating in the love that pours from it, with a beautiful arrangement that helps carry the story home. "Head Over Heels" is a great follow-up to "The Visitors", but I couldn't help but miss the intensity these first two tracks gave once "When All is Said and Done" began. It's hard to deny the very clear production quality from ABBA, but the creativity of the first half is let down by the latter half's mediocre arrangements and lyricism that bored me at times. Would have loved for them to continue the album with the same experimentation shown from "The Visitors" and have only some ballads spotted in, rather than the inverse. Still a great album though! ಄ Albums remaining: 946 ಄ Albums I agree with being on the list: 63 [+1 The Visitors] ಄ Albums I would consider for my list: 29 [+1 The Visitors] ಄ Albums I would not include on my list: 114

I hated this particular sound as a kid. I still hate it. If I want to hear ABBA, I want the bubblegum pop cheese, not this attempt at a more refined and mature sound that poorly replicates Kate Bush.

So even the 8th and last ABBA album is on this list? Does that mean I have to listen to 8 ABBA albums? So this is their divorce and breakup album, their “Rumours” just not as good. I kind of liked the Synth track The Visitor, the rest I found hard to stomach. Reminded me a lot of a Madonna album. Also t sounds like ABBA in goth. Sorry not my thing at all.

Melancholische Versatzstücke innerhalb vertrautem ABBA-Sound. Head over Heels und The Day before you came sind seit Längerem schon Bestandteil meiner Playlists.

Swedish Rumors

I think this ABBA album is pretty hit and miss for me. Although I do think their sound is more complex and mature it also suffers sometimes for being less catchy. That being said, it also has some of the best ABBA songs on it.

First time when I listen to a full Abba album and not just hits from where I can hear them, and it was a delight. Actually it is what I most expect from this site, wholesome albums, from known bands that are presented in an alternative light (or more underground that prove to be lost gems). And from what I read here it was created at a critical point for the band, and it reflected in their creation, it kind of granted it more gravity which you can feel, you can’t just dismiss it as mainstream pop. Favourites: Head over Heels, One of Us, I Let The Music Speak, Slipping Through My Fingers

Surprisingly fresh and almost more innovative than I expected?

Love abba

very feel good unless it’s making you want to die

Pretty good, although I prefer the poppy disco ABBA compared to this Public Nordic TV type rock. Also ABBA can't end a song for the life of them. Hannah mentioned that almost all their songs end in fade-outs, and I can't unlisten it.

Too bad Alex Caesar isn't in this group bc he would have a field day reviewing this album. I think this is one of Abba's stronger contributions, although I recognize it's not as upbeat and characteristically poppy as their earlier stuff. I think that-- the fact that it differentiates itself-- makes it unique in their body of work. I love "Head Over Heels," although damn it hits kinda hard when it plays into "When All is Said and Done." Also, I'd probably put this album art in the top 10 we've gotten since we started doing this. I love the composition and the colors. It kinda reminds me of the 10th anniversary rerelease of M83's "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"

Slipping Through My Fingers is such an incredible song. Overshadows the rest of the album just a bit, but it’s not bad.

I hate ABBA so deeply.

A clean break, preceded by a steady circumstance of drifting apart. You can see it in everything this album is: as is the obvious point of comparison, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is famous for also being an album defined by the cracks in the band’s foundation, but so much of that album only showed why Fleetwood Mac could last forever if it wanted to: we’ve all seen the photo of them all in bed together. We’ve all seen the cover of Rumours. They’re tied, intertwined with each other, too much so to ever have a comfortable break. ABBA? Look at them. They’re all uncomfortable on the cover, standing apart, paranoid. The warm lighting of the cover is almost tragically out of place what with how cold and stiff their body language is, and that energy is what comes through in this album more than anything else. Take the opener and title track: uncertain, distorted, synthy, fearful, cold, and frankly almost Avant-Garde in a sense, bursting into a fiery apex, with one of the best-placed uses of the 5 minor chord I’ve heard. Generally the throughline here is a sense of finality: “there’s no hurry anymore when all is said and done.” Distance. Divorce. Ultimately while nothing sounds resigned or half-hearted, even the most suspenseful songs feel like a final composition from a dying organism. Sadly the songs themselves kind of fall off in the second half, but it’s still a crazy album experience. 7.8/10 DOES IT BELONG ON THE LIST: YES REASON: Fascinating look into the last gasp of one of the bigger bands ever

Pas l'un des albums les plus connus, mais quand même plein de supers titres, avec quelques accents prog à l'occasion, une grande variété de styles, vraiment une preuve que les années 60 étaient là décennie bénie de la musique

Abba ça s'écoute toujoirs bien, mais c'est vrai que par rapport aux bangers bien connus, cet album manque un peu de paillettes.

A somewhat different version of the ABBA sound, but still a good album, altogether. 4.5 bumped down to 4.

I’m at a 10. I mean, that’s just how you fucking do it, man. You wanna know how to make a good album? Listen to that. We’ve been slightly plagued lately by songs that cannot string together a strong beginning/middle/end structure, reliant on too many choruses & verses that don’t paint robust enough pictures, usually saved by a good energy in the instrumentation or vocals. There's been enough albums lately that have had a lingering air around that for me, and it’s just so fucking refreshing to hear an album that actually feels like it has fully complete tracks. Obviously, I should’ve expected nothing less from ABBA, but the extent of my ABBA knowledge has always been on the “pop bliss” side of things; high energy, semi-Disco tracks that are super easy to listen to without even needing to pay much attention. This album flips that on its head, and it makes me wonder just how much ABBA could’ve evolved if they hadn’t broken up shortly after this album. These feel more matured & introspective, probably driven by the strife of the Cold War in 1981 & all of the band members going through divorces. I don’t think that necessarily makes this ABBA’s equivalent of “Rumours”, but sadder places can easily take you to sadder & darker songs. This doesn’t get overly dark, but the brighter tones of “Arrival” are definitely more subdued. It’s still got great instrumentation, but this feels more like baroque yacht rock at times than it does pure pop, and that shift allows for a lot more vocal diversity from track to track. Frida & Agnetha put in some fantastic performances across the board here, especially on “Head Over Heels”, “I Let the Music Speak” & “Slipping Through My Fingers”. Lyrically, it’s just fantastic. There’s only one track that’s slightly hard to parse in “Soldiers”, but I think it’s saying we have to always report the true cycle of war, lest we let anyone else manipulate a soldier’s story & send more people to sing their fruitless songs. The rest are as straightforward as you can get, covering everything from the fear of secret police, to go-getting trendsetters, the ends of relationships, the power of music, a very goofy threesome, the fear of time slipping away & the consuming loneliness of the night. They all paint their pictures in totality, and the instrumentation behind them elevates them further. “The Visitors” might be the most abstract here, but it’s a perfect opener to set the overall tone of the album. As a whole, I just really enjoyed it. I said “Arrival” sounded 5 years ahead of schedule for 1976, and with this being 5 years later, I’m pleased to report ABBA still felt a few years ahead of schedule here, at least in terms of predicting the bigger & more bombastic soundscapes the ‘80s would try & adopt. Hell, I thought “Soldiers” had a bit of a proto-Depeche Mode vibe at first, so maybe they’re still 5 years ahead of schedule. I truly can’t find any flaws. It really is that good of an album, and a blueprint for exactly how to make one. In my mind, it’s a 10.

Not the best ABBA But still really good

I especially enjoyed the three song run between "One Of Us" and "Slipping Through My Fingers". Lyrically and musically the band have evolved by this point and it's fascinating to see. On the other hand, "Two For The Price of One" is still a lovely bit of cheesy pop music. There's a nice bit of instrumental europop/schalger at the end of it that recalls their earlier days. Bonus tracks "Should I Laugh Or Cry" and "Under Attack" are really good too.

Great album! Catchy and creative and well-curated. A high 4 stars - could see it being 5 stars after revisiting. Man, ABBA rules.

Ovo bi kao trebao biti manje popast pop? Nema mi puno razlike osim što ove pjesme nisam čula prije. Još uvijek ne podnosim.

Majestic pop , tinged with melancholy

I think I like Waterloo better.

ABBA is a stand out band both theatrically and musically. VERY few bands through history had that perfect blend and kept their ego's in check. They are beloved in Sweden, but Sweden is also a VERY music oriented country so that IS saying something. Pop of this variety is not my go to genre. Yet there is no reason this band is not absolutely canon in it.

Overstays its welcome a lil but overall pretty great electro pop art album, great ballads

It's Abba. It's fine but I'd never listen to it voluntarily. Fleetwood Mac did the break-up album about 100x better with Rumours.

Their last album before their breakup and the melancholic/gloomy atmosphere really hangs over the overall sound of the album. Even the album cover is so vastly different from their previous releases, each member obscured by the dim lighting. Music wise you can hear the maturity and how they have evolved as artists. One of their most beautiful albums, haunting and gloomy yet somehow at the same time warm and welcoming like the gold lighting present in the cover. Easy on the ears like any other ABBA release but certainly much more laid back. Favorites (pretty much the entire album but some stands out more): The Visitors, Head Over Heels, Slipping Through My Fingers, Soldiers, One of Us, Two for the Price of One, Should I Laugh or Cry, You Owe Me One

Some were bangers. Some others left me a bit indiferent. But ABBA is always good

I'm not super familiar with ABBA generally, and kind of expected to be like, neutral or "this is fine" about this (which would be three stars), but I enjoyed it more than I expected! So it gets four.

Really lively. Lots of variety to each song here, some of it sounding more operatic or musical-ish and some of it sounding straight-up pop. Not all bangers but no misses at all.

Not my favorite ABBA offering by a longshot but there was plenty to love

Somewhere in the transition from the ‘70s to the ‘80s, ABBA got boring.

Beautiful melancholy - their best

it's abba and head over heels is goattttted

The Visitors is like an album of mediocre show tunes. It’s unfortunate that ABBA was dissolving and nearly over at the time this was recorded. They put out a truly missable record. (1.8*s) When All Is Said And Done, that’s the end of ABBA.

ABBA has come a long way from the disco pop albums with The Visitors. Much better work here. The production has improved greatly as well as the subject matter and song construction. I'd say the whole thing was very listenable with the exception of "Like an Angel Passing Through my Room." Not saying I am now an ABBA fan but I'll give this one a surprising 2.6 star rating and may revisit the visitors.

The previous ABBA entry was the epitome of disco cheesiness. I didn't realize the ABBA went a bit of a different direction later in their career. It was a welcome change as this trip into a synth-pop orchestral genre was a lot more palatable than the prior album. The Visitors has a lot more edge and some actual artistic personality which works a lot more in its favor. It has some flashes of cheesiness but they work pretty well between some of the darker parts of the album. I didn't expect to enjoy this ABBA album going in and was pleasantly surprised how good of an album it actually was. They haven't made an ABBA fan out of me as of yet, but I'll give them a tip of the cap for this one as a very unexpected enjoyable listen. Wondering if I'm crazy or the rest of the groups sentiments align on this one. 2.97 stars

This isn’t the one. They’re tired. They’re cranky. They’re drained. It shows. And while the songs are strong the previous album catches it. Fleetwood Mac without the raging drug problems. Not a must listen - but the band does deserve a couple or so album here.

Australians fuckin' love ABBA. ABBA, at their best, are much like Australians; big, dumb, mostly harmless and a lot of fun. It's a recipe for a damn good time. But this more mature, sophisticated, moody, and refined ABBA is not what anyone really wants. Where's the fun? Where are the good times? The crazy outfits? The big catchy hooks and choruses? The ridiculous lyrics? Even the big single is somewhat melancholic. The _joy_ of ABBA is missing in action. While clearly a band at the height of its powers in terms of its craft, nobody is enjoying the process, including the band and this Australian listener. The break-up of the band was inevitable. 2.5 stars, rounding down.

ABBA – The Visitors (1981) On Day 248, I listened to my very first ABBA record and came away deeply impressed with their sound. It was lavish, incredibly rich pop music that still carried clear remnants of the legendary "Wall of Sound" style they built their name on prior to this release. The production complemented the vocal performances impeccably a complete 10/10 on the production front alone. Overall, an exceptional, highly mature record that completely delivered. An undisputed 5/5.