As the eighth and final ABBA album to be released, The Visitors <\/i>was proof positive that ABBA had truly come of age.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Still, no matter how mature and polished their music had become, the Swedish supergroup just couldn\u2019t sustain its success in the 80s and were forced to break up in 1982.\u00a0 Sad as this announcement may have been, The Visitors <\/i>showed how much of a metamorphosis their sound had gone through in the eight years since their debut single, \u201cRing Ring.\u201d <\/p>\n
The three best tracks that The Visitors <\/i>has to offer help to explain just how much ABBA appealed to people of all ages, nationalities and persuasions. The magical opening title song (otherwise known as \u201cCrackin\u2019 Up\u201d) has become something of a dance cult classic that is still played in many gay clubs to this day. <\/p>\n
Yet ABBA\u2019s appropriately titled last Top 40 hit, \u201cWhen All Is Said And Done\u201d is undoubtedly the one that should be regarded as their swan song. With its dramatic tone, I have even chosen it to be the theme song for my Cape Crossing <\/i>political <\/i>soap opera project. Benny and Bjorn, the men of ABBA, get their turn at the microphone on \u201cTwo For The Price Of One,\u201d another one of my personal favorites that brings back some wonderful memories of my childhood. <\/p>\n
Other standout tracks here are \u201cHead Over Heels\u201d and \u201cOne Of Us.\u201d The former gives the album a healthy dose of \u201celegant swagger,\u201d while the latter is a harmless power ballad that did better in the UK than America.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The mid-point of The Visitors <\/i>is where the pace seems to drag a bit. The grand epic feel of \u201cSoldiers\u201d and the mini-operetta \u201cI Let The Music Speak\u201d are so heavy in their classical tone that they weigh down the entire project. Those who are looking for substantial ABBA material would likely enjoy these tracks a whole lot more than a passing fan would. They are perfect showcases for the ladies\u2019 impressive voices, however, which is what ABBA deserves to be remembered for the most. <\/p>\n
Agnetha (the blond one) bids the listener adieu on the emotional ballad, \u201cSlipping Through My Fingers,\u201d while her singing partner Frida says her goodbyes with the haunting closer, \u201cLike An Angel Passing Through My Room,\u201d a song that sends chills up my spine every single time I hear it.\u00a0 The sound of the clock ticking down only adds to this lullaby\u2019s stark and grim feel.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Little did anyone know that once the seconds ran out, ABBA would\u00a0be gone forever — just like that. Later re-releases would feature additional bonus tracks, helping The Visitors <\/i>to end on a less somber note and make a great album even better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":28899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5870],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-40400","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-abba","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40400"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}