The Visitors
by ABBA

There was nothing on this I recognized in regards to their saccharine hits, but I was pleasantly surprised with the style most songs take. The title track being one of the better songs they've made

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From Boltzmann 05/06/2021 05:35 | #269401

I like that it doesn't sound so extremely plastic anymore; it's still cheesy though, but I wouldn't want them to change that. The synths are great too.

Some of these novels that people write in the comments make it sound like they reinvented pop music. Go into this album expecting a pretty fun record, but don't expect too much from it.

From planetneutral 02/25/2018 18:22 | #209613

Surprisingly strong.

One of ABBA's finest works. The vocals are excellent, and so are the harmonies. Yes, this is carefully crafted pop music. But (as per usual for this group) it's high quality pop music.

Soldiers, one of us and slipping through my fingers are my caves.

From Tamthebam 08/21/2015 20:22 | #148220

This album is now being recognised as Abba's 2nd best album after Arrival. This album has improved with time. They really pushed the boundaries here - originally a 9 track album (1-9 above). there has been a lot of talk about the tracks that were left of this album and the best of those, I Am The City is not even a bonus track ! Still deserves 80/100

'Head over Heels' is the best song !

From Listmeister 12/13/2013 14:14 | #97453

I wish they'd done one last album (ABBA-y Road?) The songs left off the original release, which are on the bonus CD, are the best tracks: I Am the City, You Owe Me One, Cassandra, The Day Before You Came. These could have been the core of an amazing album.

Abba's final album, "The Visitors", shows that although group members on a personal enough were growing apart, they were as a group still under interesting development. With "The Visitors" greatly influenced the shape of pop music that would come to typify the 1980s. Although most songs are unmistakeably Abba, the sound on several songs, however, has turned towards a more techno-approach, a trend that was continued in the handful of songs that the group recorded for the never finished ninth album.

Among the singles on the album "One of Us" was by far the biggest commercial success, but also "Head Over Heels" and especially "When All is Said and Done" have gone down in history as some of the group's greatest numbers.

Lyrically, it is also clear that the group has more at heart than what might have been the case on the early albums. A song like "Slipping Through My Fingers" is about how fleeting the time you have with your children may occur, a beautiful and moving song. The theme of the breaking up, is well known with Abba, but hardly described as fine and movingly as on "When All is Said and Done".

"Two for the Price of One" is musically a very exciting track - a shame that it was not sung by one of the girls - could then perhaps have made it as a single.

The bonus tracks come from sessions in 1982, with the B-side "Should I Laugh or Cry" derived from "The Visitors" sessions.

As a fantasy an excellent ninth album could have been put together, showing even stronger techno influence to their music. Six songs recorded in 1982 could have formed the backbone of such an album. If supplemented with non-album B-sides "Abba Under Attack" could have have looked like this:
1. Under Attack / 2. You Owe Me One / 3 Just Like That / 4 Should I Laugh or Cry / 5 Just Like That / 6 I Am the City / 7 Elaine / 8 The Day Before You Came / 9 Put On Your White Sombrero. The album would have a playing of app. 40 minutes.

"Just Like That" is the only song that has not yet been released - unfortunately. Different versions can be heard on Youtube.