Arrival

There are 2 types of people in this world: people who like ABBA and boring people

Arrival, a 1976 album by the Swedish band ABBA is the music of the day for me. And what a great day. I used to be judgmental about ABBA for some reason. I was very dismissive and they seemed like terrible bubblegum international pop for a long time in my brain. I can't believe anyone would listen to this garbage! This has changed. At some point I learned to let go and be willing to let the context and circumstances sweep me away and bring me joy. At some point, ABBA became a lovely band and I'm now filled with joy from listening to them. Just let go and let the music take you.

You show me someone that won't allow themselves to enjoy ABBA and I'll show you a joyless, pretentious ass-hat. Rating: 4/5 Playlist track: Dancing Queen Date listened: 03/08/23

Absolute fucking classic man. Fernando is a whole vibe. Add in Dancing queen, and I mean When i kissed the teacher is kinda weird, but it's good. Plus money, money, money. Solid stuff.

The songwriting and production are so underrated with ABBA. They deserve praise for their masterful and intelligent pop songwriting. It’s a pop masterpiece, with songs that will live forever.

oh oh oh im too excited for this!!! never have i ever clicked the spotify link and hit play this fast!

I cannot fucking believe that every single song on this record has a Wikipedia article. Key Tracks: Dancing Queen, Tiger

Gonna start this off by saying that I dislike ABBA in general. Ever since I heard Dancing Queen the first time years ago, I did NOT like that song. Just ABBA itself I just.. It just does not click with me. We'll see how this goes. // When I Kissed The Teacher - Yep. Sounds like ABBA. Booo. // Dancing Queen - >:( . God damnit I hate this fucking song (Still listened anyways, gotta give it the benefit of the doubt). 3:02~ This song does not end plz god kill me. // My Love, My Life - yawn. // Dum Dum Diddle - these all sound exactly the same. idk if it's the fact that their voices annoy me, or that the melody literally just follows the vocals (which is an awfully boring way to make a song) but this is physically painful for me to listen to. // Knowing Me, Knowing You - I have nothing to say. // Money, Money, Money - oh wow the bass follows exactly with the vocals what a change up from the melody doing it! WOW! SO INNOVATIVE!! // That's Me - Y'know, I think I can see what I hate about this album so much. It's flat. There is no depth sonically. Each song sounds like it's mixed in the exact same way as the other. Not only does it feel uninspired, unimpressive, and honestly, boring, but even given the time period this album came out, there were so many other albums released even during the same year that did have a sonic depth to them, or maybe used more than 5 instruments. I mean, every single Beatles album came out (the most recent being an entire 6 years) before this did, and why are those fun to listen to? More noise. The songs feel like they have a strong sonic substance behind them. That's the simplest way I can put it. I'm a sucker for big sound with lots of moving parts, and this is NOT it. // Why Did It Have To Be Me? - Yeah that's what I'm sayin chief. The only reason I even remotely enjoyed this track is because it sounds like The Wanderer by Dion. // Tiger - You can't go from singing about boo hoo Why Me and then the next song is about being a Tiger. Pick a theme now come the fuck on. Funny enough though, the way this song is built and its chord progression has made it my favorite of the album so far (But I promise that is NOT saying much). // Arrival - 0:02 ~Ok the albums lead track, please be not absolute pond water. 0:44 ~ okayyy a bit of depth, nice. come on little buddy, you can do it! 1:48 ~ mhmm, mhmm, yeah. 3:00 ~ Two things. One: Why is this here? What purpose. Two: Thank you ABBA for a semi-pleasant break from the stand-still traffic monotony that this album has been so far. // Fernando - Ok I actually kind of like this one, but only a little bit. GG // Happy Hawaii - I liked this song until they started singing. 2:06 ~ See, the background vocals, it makes the song better doesn't it. Almost like.. almost like adding more interesting things and D E P T H to the song makes it more enjoyable to listen to. Huh. 3:33 ~ Now thats wtf I'm talking about! More harmonies in the guitars yes yes yes. . Wow this song had so many ups and down! /> Final Thoughts: This album had virtually nothing for me. Tbh maybe I'm just not the target demographic and I get that, but at the same time, I don't know how anyone could be. A flat album, 90% sounds exactly the same. Not fun except for extremely infrequent places where 'Oh look, the did something different this time'. I did stick through it though. In the nature of what this website is trying to do, I did stick with it one single full time through. I owe the album at least that much. I will definitely not be coming back to this album on my own, and if I'm a lucky man, will never hear a single song from it ever again. fuck you dancing queen fuck you.

I love the way Abba have gone from brilliant in the 70s, to cheesy in the 90s, and back up to brilliant now. Every song is perfectly written and flawlessly executed.

Here we have a concept disco album by the Swedish band Abba. We follow a tale of a promiscuous high school girl who gets kicked out of school for sexually assaulting her math teacher. She becomes a stripper and is fairly popular with the guys, she tries to have a romantic relationship, but just ends up getting her heart broken, realizing that no one wants a stripper girlfriend. Devastated she quits dancing, but now she is struggling with her bills, alone and broke she spirals into a pit of depression. One night as she's being followed home by a stalker in a tiger outfit (probably a furry), she realizes she's had enough, so she packs her bags and moves to Hawaii, where she meets a man named Fernando, and they live happily ever after. Musically this album is annoying as hell, the repetitive saccharine melodies are particularly painful. The lyrics are stupid. The story is stupid. I hate everything about this. This needs to remain in 70's Sweden. You know those people who use phrases like "someone's got a case of the Mondays"? They're the only ones who listen to this. And only in the presence of others. Because they want to torture you. Abba is shitty torture music. Stay away unless you have masochistic tendencies.

12th April 2022 Listened in the morning getting ready to go to brunch on Huntington Beach, wander around the pier then head to Guy and Jana’s for drinks and games in the evening. ABBA bring me such unbridled joy and they should never be mocked or disrespected for giving that to people in such ASM unapologetic way.

Dancing Queen is one of my favorite songs, so I enjoyed that one. Found Dum Dum Diddle peppy and Tiger sort of catchy. Otherwise, enjoyed listening but not enough to buy the album.

Saw ABBA and just laughed to myself. Then I listened to the album. This is good quality fun stuff. Much better sounding than I remember as a kid. I'm serious. How can you not like Dancing Queen, Fernando and Knowing me, Knowing you? I would guarantee if you put this on in the background of a get together, you would catch people grooving along.... Also enjoyed Money, Money, Money and Why did it have to be me. Not sure you could put out a song like I kissed the teacher these days. And what's wrong with Carrie, that you wouldn't want to marry? Good fun album. I enjoyed listening. I'll give a solid 3. Maybe would have gone a little higher, but can't score ABBA above Steve Earle. 3 for me

Always just ignored Abba. But this forced to me to listen to them properly, and it was very enjoyable. "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Money, Money, Money" and "Fernando" were the standout songs on the album.

Made me want to dance

Who doesn't like ABBA?

Unpopular opinion : everybody is peer pressured or family pressured, and pretends to like ABBA. And since show up in your life so often, that you connect ABBA to fun-ish moments, until the brainwashing is complete.

This is going to be tough. Historically, I haven't liked ABBA at all. Let's see what happens... When I Kissed the Teacher - Didn't like it. Dancing Queen - Obviously I've heard it before. I was ok with it this time. Dum Dum Diddle - I hate this... Literally "hate." Knowing Me, Knowing You - I don't hate this. There's something decent happening here. Money, Money, Money - The minor key helps. It's not a good rock song, but I feel like it could be part of a European opera. Don't hate it. That's Me - nah Why Did it Have to be Me? - Nothing particularly in either direction here. Tiger - oof no Arrival - No vocals definitely helps Fernando - Not terrible. I'd rather to hear someone else play it with a talented Spanish acoustic guitarist. Happy Hawaii - I'd rather hear this in a Hawaiian style recorded by Don Ho. Or anyone else. Fuck, AC/DC would have made a better version of this. I feel like this album (and all of Abba) is part of the Eurotrash origin story. I forced myself to listen to the whole thing. I won't be listening to it again. Goddamnit, I hate Abba.

Dum Dum Diddle.... need I say more..... Ah well. It has several number one all time super hits that are hard to ignore. Even when you don't like the 70th dance music style of Abba you have to admit that Benny and Björn have been geniuses over a long time. Name any party that doesn't get better when they play Dancing Queen? It's as classy as IKEA.

it's abba. nuff said. excellent uplifting beats, some big hitting classics on here, mixed in with a good dose of melacholy-ish but not too much to bring the overall mood down. a party album - will come back to it again and again!

Wonderful! Improves with age

Such perfect 70s pop - the rhythms, harmonies, and just plain and simple fun.

Love the singles, “Arrival” and at least half of “Happy Hawaii”. Had I the time, I’d talk to Simon’s excellent comment re inverse snobbery and ABBA, which made me felt looked at. To be clear, I think they are a good few tiers above Ace of Bass, but I hear the europop awkwardness outside the singles. I think they built their own world.

July 15, 2021 All the light is topaz. Someone came to look at the house next door and I stopped it so they wouldn't hear me playing ABBA with the window open at 9:30am. Sorry ABBA for doing you like that. Cheesy, but I love it. There are a few classics on here. Also, somewhat surprisingly learning I'm kind of into ABBA's album cover aesthetic?

There's a weird inverse snobbery around ABBA - if you don't think they are unbridled geniuses then you must hate pop music and be a really boring human, a joyless cipher. I find them a bit basic and awkward in the classic Europop fashion - fun and tuneful but no different fundamentally from Ace of Base or Eiffel 65. This album cover was everywhere when I was a kid, and the mysteries contained therein were revealed today as: a bit basic and awkward, if fun and tuneful. Didn't hold my attention long despite fond memories of "Dancing Queen" signaling lights-up horror at The Dome in Tufnell Park, and amusing thoughts of Zapata and Villa chilling over a margarita to "Fernando". Aha..

I would like this band if they didn’t sound anything like the way they do. 2/5

Undeniably catchy pop. Not my thing, but I can see it has to deserve 5 stars. Not sure 'when I kissed the teacher' could be played in public these days...great tune though. 4 massive international hits, but a purely singles band. Who has ever heard an album track of theirs (unless they actually bought the album, obviously)? 'Dum dum diddle' - really? Practising for the next Eurovision Song Contest, obviously. 'Tiger' could easily have been a single, too.

Its ABBA, only losers don't like ABBA

Despised them back then and still cannot listen to them…they were the Monkees of the 70’s..terribly irritating…so much better music in that era

I respect them and remembered some of the songs from when I was a kid. But so far this has been the most difficult to wade through in its entirety.

Utter. Garbage. Disco is the worst thing to ever happen to music. So much hate.

We had this one on 8-track when I was a kid. I don't know precisely who in my family "owned" it --- it seemed to just belong to all of us, which was unusual. My mom (now 82) didn't ever listen to a lot of popular music but she can still name Dancing Queen from the opening glissando. I loved listening to this today. ABBA sounds distinctly superb and these are some top-notch pop songs.

This is one of my favorite ABBA albums, so I was excited to see it here! The album has a little of everything that ABBA is great at: dance, rock, ballad, folk music, boogie boogie. All the songs are great, and I'm glad the bonus track version includes Fernando! Perfect Swedish vocals, lovely arrangements, excellent production.

Bangers on bangers

Banger after banger

Yay, ABBA! This is their 4th collection of catchy tunes and memorable melodies. Among others, we find classics as Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Money, Money Money, Arrival and Fernando. Of course, not all tracks are equally good, but there hardly is any filler material here. Onle My Love, My Life and Dum Dum Diddle do nothing for me, but everything considered, this is a great album. 4.5/5

Fantastic album by ABBA!! Don't think there was one song that I disliked. Their harmonies are distinct and so beautifully done. From catchy party tunes like Dancing Queen and Money, Money Money. To the more captivating verses of My Love, My Life and Why Did It Have To Be Me. Overall stunning! Probably my fav album they've produced.

If it’s good enough for Alan Partridge, it’s good enough for me.

First off, there's no denying Dancing Queen is an all time banger. Just a great pop song through and through. The rest of the album is quite solid. A well constructed, well crafted pop album. Not every song hits but most of them do. Deserves to be on this list.

It's ABBA. If you want to get down with some well-crafted pop songs, this is your jam.

4.5 ESTE ALBÚM ES MI VIDA, LO MEJOR DE MI VIDA. ME SÉ TODAS LAS CACNIONES Y DE CORAZÓN. CÓMO LO AMO. ABBA VINO A SALVARME DE TODO LO MALO. Aunque debo admitir que había alguna canciones que no conocía. Creo que esas tendría que escucharlas de nuevo. Excepto "That's me".

Pop. Varios megahits. No me apasiona tanto como a ti :-P Un 4.

Fun disco album that tells us how Abba dominated pop in the 70s. With catchy lyrics and melody, each track stands on its own. "Dancing Queen" is one of the best disco tracks of all time. I just wanted to point out how stupid "Dum Dum Diddle" is and how I feel they were trying to make a point the lyrics don't have to make sense. "Why Did It Have To Be?" was a nice surprise, incorporating jazz, blues, and rockabilly yet still making it catchy pop. The closing title track almost feels like the end of mass. The 1997 bonus track "Fernando" is another favorite of mine, capturing a unique perspective of the Mexican Dirty War. Overall not my favorite Abba album, but with solid production and creativity, it certainly tops the pop scene of the era.

When I was a kid I set a challenge to myself to see what would happen if I ate 1 piece of every kind of halloween candy in my bag. It was fun at first... then I felt sick. ABBA is like that. I like them in small doses, but a whole album makes me want to barf by the time I get to the end.

Tough one, on the one hand you got some monster hits and production genius, on the other there are some really dumb songs on here. And a few questionable choruses. Think I prefer their breaking up album more

You ever eat something really sweet and decadent and you know it's going to make you want to puke but you just keep hammering down fork fulls into your fat face? This is the audio version.

3 stars only for dancing queen

3/1001. You probably had to be there, yet I wasn’t there. Weird album to critique, some songs (Dancing Queen) are absolutely iconic as they’re larger than music, but I can’t get the deeper cuts to stay with me. The vocalist is infectious but it gets to the point of becoming grating at times. I’m sure I would have loved this in the 70s. Right now it’s not plainly bad, but it’s not interesting to me either. I’ll go 4/10.

I'm sorry but Abba does nothing for me as a whole. Thier music is so comically Eurovision down the line to me... Best song on the album for me was "Knowing Me Knowing You" the only other songs I actually liked were the bonus tracks (in fact I liked both of them better than "KMKY") (5.7) ★★½

Dancing queen and Fernando are good, the rest sounds too much like show tunes.

Non merci

ABBA schmabba

Garbage One star because I can’t give it zero!

Unhörbar

Mama mia! it’s ABBA!! banger record!

"Oh man ABBA, what a great pick! Love some very innocent and catchy songs" Me when I heard the first track: "SHE DID WHAT?" Okay, jokes aside, this album is fantastic. Everything here sounds incredibly. The voices, the melodies, the production... everything is top notch. Just the performances along make this a great experience. It also is incredibly catchy and memorable. In addition, ABBA is a band that has being present in almost my entire life. My parents use to listen to them a lot when I was a kid, and I even participated in an interpretation of the musical 'Mamma Mia' when I was in highschool, so it brings me good memories. I was thinking of giving it 4 stars, but after reading my own review, I convinced myself to give it 5.

Love the positive vibes

Class. Banger after banger

Amazing album filled with hits

oh to be 17 and the dancing queen once again

I think it must be likely that ABBA must be every music lovers guilty pleasure. I know that they are mine. Few groups must have the power to unite gangster rappers with classical aficionados or punks with Prog Rockers like ABBA do. Some might refute this but can’t deny they have whistled just a few bars of Dancing Queen or at least joined in the fun dancing to Mamma Mia at a wedding. I love this album for what it is. Straight forward pop music with enduring melodies with the power to make you feel happy. Who can ask for more? 5/5 21/10/25

Who does ABBA!

Shaky opening kissing a teacher, but you know what, maybe there was something in the air that night. Hell yeah! Love ABBA!

quality & also packed with hits love abba - 9.1/10

A very strong showing from ABBA. Possibly their best album – mostly in virtue of having both Knowing Me Knowing You and Fernando, separated by some very strong non-single tracks. A big element is nostalgia: those two singles I just mentioned take me back to my childhood, singing in the car with my parents. And they also benefit from not being horrendously, massively overplayed. But more than anything, ABBA just feels... powerful here. Confident. Poppy. Experimental – at least, compared to their other work. They haven't quite undergone the disco transformation (that would be in their next record), so their sound is still pretty timeless. I love the textures they create with their voices and the jangly, quick-witted piano lines. Plus, the melodies/hooks are fantastic here. This is one of the rare albums where I would say the singles (specifically Dancing Queen and Money Money Money) legitimately suffer from being overplayed. My Love My Life, That's Me, Why Did It Have To Be Me?, and Tiger are really solid tracks that outperform those two any day of the week. Tiger in particular has some excellent vocal layering and chord progressions, and My Love My Life is one of the group's prettiest ballads – again with some stunning harmonies. The title track is an exciting, grandiose way to end the album, and a darn good instrumental in its own right. Why Did It Have To Be Me? is one of the classic (partial) male-vocal ABBA tracks, and its catchy melody puts it on par with the similarly strong Does Your Mother Know, released two albums later. Happy Hawaii, while possibly the weakest of the non-singles, is a fun callback to Why Did It Have To Be Me's melody. Many consider this the band's greatest record, and I can see why. Everything is joyous, uplifting, and darn good. 5/5 Key tracks: Knowing Me Knowing You, Why Did It Have To Be Me?, Tiger, Fernando

Wonderful piece of music. Five stars.

Classic!

Perfecto, como Abba

Well, only a 5 will do here.

it’s ABBA! classic. are ABBA even capable of making anything less than a 5 star album? i think not.

Great obviously

I mean it's abba. THE Abba. That said, it's wild how little the album actually comes together. I don't know if the banger single after single is a product of time, or intentionality, but it's fascinating to see.

There was a priest at my school who was such a fan of ABBA that whenever he did assemblies he’d have Fernando playing on the panpipes as we walked in. He was a great teacher and it made me happy to think of him again.

W końcu

Cures dépression from going to office. Dancing queen, Fernando, Money money,money knowing me knowing you are bangers

I think we could solve a lot of the worlds problems if we just listened to more abba

ABBA is all about pure joy and this is one of the most joyful albums

Stunned by how the track Arrival ties everything together.

a classic record...

10/10, no notes.

talvez uma das maiores VIBES da história da música pop po, a quantidade de pedrada nesse aqui é loucura (peguei a versão alternativa pra escutar mais brabas ainda) quem não gosta de abba bom sujeito não é tá

não gosta de abba = má pessoa, pode vir sair na mão comigo. dito isso, elvis costello e rolling stones tem um milhão de albuns, mas abba só dois? vai tomar no cu eu gosto DEMAIS de when i kissed the teacher. como pode uma música dessas ser feliz desse jeito. esse album tem VÁRIAS pedradas, mas ainda não eh meu preferido deles não, sou um rapaz mais voulez-vou. mas ainda assim eh lindo demais, amo muito abba foda-se

Always a delightful afternoon with ABBA

I love ABBA

Just classic. Can't beat ABBA. A great listen all the way through.

great album, had me singing along at silly oclock in the morning before Id finished morning coffee. The BB of the group are quite ingenious with their production.

This is brilliant. ABBA is so much more than cheesy 70s pop. Something about the music makes me feel something I can't even put into words. It's almost evocative of something I never experienced. I can't explain it. Dancing Queen is possibly one of my favourite songs ever, and I'm a rock and metal kind of girl. Knowing Me Knowing You and Money Money Money are also really banging songs. I did get a laugh at Why Did it Have to be Me, because it sounds like The Wombles could have sung that one... not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. They truly deserve their place in music history. What a wonderful album.

ABBA are just quality. They are pinnacle pop song songwriters. Theres a reason if you play any of their multiple hits the room starts to sing along. Sure it's sticky and bright sounding, but with that actual Scandinavian darkness in the lyrics. If you hear all the songs on here and feel hate? Well the world is made up of all sorts I guess. 5 Star

Well, it's ABBA. Perfect '70s disco/pop music. One surprise for me is that Mike Oldfield covered Arrival on QE2. I knew his version like forever, but never suspected it to be an ABBA cover.

Absolute timeless classic. This is pop done right.

What can someone say about this group and this album which influenced so many,that everybody knows its songs and danced to death to it...Top quality pop.Their songs are still considered hard and complex to play or cover but their genius lies that are so easy to listen and connect to,so i will try to name a few of this album beyond the obvious: My love,my life has those dreamy,angelic harmonies although it talks about breaking up,like a friendly pat in your shoulder that everything is gonna be alright. Dum dum diddle has some Mamma Mia vibes in the refrain. Knowing me,knowing you was the third single out of this album but it's my favourite sorry.That nostalgia in the couples is unbeatable! That's me is my least favourite but boy how creative to have a badjo in it! Why it have to be me?Forget about the synths and the disco vibes,you get an American bar anthem all the way. Tiger has strong drumming making it epic! Arrival has a very familiar melody playing it like a bagpipe or perhaps it's really one in it.Epic. Fernando is a bonus track that starts as a gentle march.You can hear and feel the Andes influence in the orcherstation.Like a sweet lullaby with a disco twist..This song was a bonus in two countries,i remember one of them was Australia. Happy Hawaii(also a bonus track) starts off with ocean waves and it's a praise for Honolulu.Good stuff.

Gotta love Abba

the greatest to ever do it. bangers all the way through not a single miss

We already know. 6/5. 11/10. PERFECTION.

Great album! Enjoyed the songs growing up and still like them! First time I've listened to the entire album though!

AHAAAAA

This is pretty great pop music. Very singable, endlessly catchy and upbeat and just overall a joy. Dancing Queen is obviously the most well known song here, but I liked Knowing Me, Knowing You, Money, Money, Money, and of course Fernando, which is also a banger. Pretty good album, wanted to give it a 4, but I listened to this album back to back and it never really grew old, so 5 it is.

Прекрасный альбом, прекрасные песни, что ещё сказать! 9 из 10.

Love

Has to be given a 5, because it’s FUCKING ABBA. OFC people might find it bored or something they’ve heard before but it’s FUCKING ABBA. They have so many hits, ps I had my first kiss to mama Mia in the cinema. Making out underneath a jacket listen to something so seductive