![Visitors [Original recording remastered]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00093UQGG.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg)
| 1. Give It to Me |
| 2. Live Wire |
| 3. So You Wanna Be |
| 4. Y-2-Me |
| 5. Visitors |
| 6. Here I Am Now |
| 7. Daughter of Neptune |
| 8. What's Done |
Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Digitally Remastered Edition of Automatic Man's Second Full Length Album, a Blend of Funk, Fusion and Classic Rock that was Perfectly Executed on this Uplifting Eight Track Record. The Lineup Includes "Bayete" (Aka Todd Cochrane, Founder of the Group) and Bay Area Guitarist Pat Thrall. This Deep Catalog Title Appears on CD for the First Time on the Lemon Label and Includes all the Original Artwork plus Bonus Sleevenotes!
On the other hand, these 24-bit discs sound slightly muddy and the high end (which includes acoustic guitars and cymbals) are flat or dead sounding thanks to the no-noise solution. My advice, is to save your money and keep your old discs.
This album isn't about disco dancing and teenage crushes, it's about tyranny, watching your children grow up, ending relationships, and war.
If you are an ABBA fan, and you are hesitant to buy this disc because you don't see any charting hits on it, just go ahead and buy it. It's sad that this is the their last album, because I think they could have succeeded with this sould through the decade of the 1980's. They proved that they could change and reinvent themselves.
How many bands have "last albums" that are as great as this one?
After listing to the album for the umteenth time I have concluded that this is ABBA at their very best. The content of the tracks show an artistic maturity not seen in any previous release. This is ABBA at their finest and I would highly recommend this album to anyone, ABBA fan or not.
I have a lot of albums by a lot of artists, but I would accord "The Visitors" almost a mythical quality. I would willingly part with 99% of my music before i would let this one go.
Buy it, you'll like it! Trust me.
In my opinion, this creation should be lovingly produced every year!
I am a grateful singer of his works.
It has become the cornerstone of my families holiday celebrations.
I felt that vocalist/keyboardist Bayete outshined the other musical geniuses in the band on its debut, and then continued to shepherd on with guitarist Pat Thrall (Pat Travers Band, Asia, Hughes/Thrall, Sly & Robbie) for this second effort. It's a continuation of its predecessor, but more synthesizer-driven and danceable ("Give It to Me", "Live Wire"). There were quicker breaks, unexpected bursts of loud guitar and change in tempo ("Here I Am Now"), and the trademark space-rock sound of their classic first album.
Great to find music with great catchy melodies, outstanding musicianship, and little or no gimmicks. Many thanks to Lemon Records for distributing this gem, and be sure to pick up the amazing debut effort from Automatic Man!
The sounds, too, are somewhat different---though not unreservedly for the better. Like the lyrics, the melodies are often more subtle and complex than what ABBA were usually known for (too often described as "hook-filled" and "sing-song"). So here we get more melodic & rhythmic subtlety, but sometimes at the expense of that uncanny, positively joyful musical energy that seemed to inform every typical ABBA smash hit, from Waterloo to Dancing Queen to Super Trouper. One wants to love this album, like a last conversation with an old friend, but there's no denying that "Head Over Heels" or "Soldiers" simply do not make one want to jump up and shout the way their predecessors did. These melodies are by no means UNmelodic, or even less than VERY catchy. It's more fair to say that if their earlier songscapes were painted in bright, primary colors, Bjorn & Benny were now utilizing other, more subtle shadings.
The arrangements, are as always, rich, interesting and distinctive. Frida's and Agnetha's performances, consistent with everything else on the album, are more adult, personal and individual ---a far cry from the early days when it was often said that they sing in such perfect harmony, "you can hardly tell them apart".
The final verdict? Taken on its own terms, The Visitors is quite impressive. It's a more complex listen than their other stuff, both lyrically and melodically, and it highlights the impressive extent of ABBA's evolution over the scarcely ten years that we knew them (and this is not to diminish the wonder of their earlier work). Equally important, for all the talk of more serious moods, Bjorn & Benny STILL had a way with a song, to drastically understate it. It's not like they did an album of minimalist jazz, or a suite of atonal gregorian chants. This is still ABBA music, and practically nobody in the pop world can do it like them: melodies you remember forever, flawless singing, intricate arrangements, accessible, yet meaningful lyrics. A fine, final album from a group whose music was always far more adult and technically accomplished than they're ever likely to be given credit for--even (or especially) with their newly hip "rehabilitated" status. Perhaps the final word on ABBA should be, Just because they wrote songs that were wonderfully catchy doesn't mean they didn't write great music. The Visitors underscores that.
I bought this album new in 1981 and I was surprised how somber and serious it was. I was expecting another fun upbeat Pop album from them, but here were lyrics about the end of marrages, the fear of a Russian invasion during the cold war, children growing too-quickly, and the final disillusionment of childhood/adolescent dreams into adulthood. Not something you'd expect from a group that gave us "Sitting in The Palmtree" "King Kong Song" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" 5-6 years before. ABBA were showing signs of maturing from 1977's "Arrival" LP on, but "The Visitors" is the album where the group had truely grown up.
Despite the upbeat melodies and sing-along choruses the whole album has a sense of impending doom about it - Perhaps it's the all-digital production with the increased use of drum machines and synthesizer programming that creates the chilly sonic atmosphere. There's a couple of fun songs like "Two For The Price Of One" (which made me gag back then - but I now find charming) but the optimistic "bouncy" energy of ABBA's earlier albums is gone.
But Benny & Bjorn didn't lose their touch for writing memorable songs and crafting big and beautiful productions. The whole album just sucks me in - the track listing isn't as haphazard as earlier ABBA albums, it seems to flow just right.
ABBA started make a album after this called "Opus X" (their 10th album) and recorded a few tracks for it like the great "Just Like That" (a edited version made the "Thank You" box set but us fans want the full version with all the verses) and "In the City" (which made ABBA Gold Volume 2) but personal differences broke up the foursome for good. Had ABBA stayed together, could they have made a album that would have changed jaded rock critics and "serious" music fans minds that thought ABBA was just a "bubblegum" group? ...Well we will never know! But we have this great send off to the best overseas Pop group of the 70's and early 80's.
The title track is sung in a harmonic minor "Eastern" scale that at once reminds me of Led Zeppelin & the Beatles. Don't deprive yourself of this great track. The song "Soldiers" has a rather unconventional, brooding drumbeat in 3/4 which may be recognized as a precursor to the 90s alternative genre. But to me, the standout tune is "I Let the Music Speak", a powerful operatic piece not unlike Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" but with a darker, haunting melody. The last 2 songs "Slipping Through My Fingers" and "Like an Angel Passing" wrap up the album beautifully like the end of an exhausting adventure.
It becomes tragically apparent to me that ABBA was on the verge of a great musical evolution had they continued in this vein. Unfortunately this would be their last, and you'll be hard pressed to find another 80s album as progressive as this. "The Visitors" is to the 80s what "Sgt. Pepper" was to the 60s--a fleeting glimpse of something deeper than the norm.
It is said that this album was something of a departure for the group. That this was not the ABBA people had come to know and love. No "Waterloo". Not a trace of a "Dancing Queen". However, it should be pointed out that this album is not exactly "ABBA does Death Metal".
The opener and title track is perhaps the closest they came to emulating the New Wave/Synth Pop explosion of the time. Parts of it are reminiscent of "Summer Night City" (minus the disco) and "Eagle" (without the majesty) but it manages to create an interesting and unsettling sonic landscape all of its own which suggests an encounter of the third kind may very well be waiting behind the locked door (and they must surely score points for creating a pop song about Russian dissidents).
Next up is "Head Over Heals" which treats us to its fairground synths, jaunty chorus and tale of `goodtime girl gets herself into trouble'. This one is a bit like Agnetha's very own "Money Money Money" and lyrically is possibly a case of Bjrn, a la Fleetwood Mac, cheekily having his ex sing a song about herself that isn't altogether flattering. Possibly.
"When All is Said and Done" is a standout in the style of "The Winner Takes it All", although it is surprisingly upbeat for a break-up song (and sort of Christmassy) with a positively defiant lead vocal from Frida. A song of shaking hands and walking away, head held high. Bittersweet rather than just plain bitter. It would have made a good, upbeat album closer, and had serendipity played its part properly, the perfect send off for the group: "Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun ..."
"Soldiers" is, for me, the forgotten gem on this album. Starting sparsely with a vaguely military drum and some admirably restrained guitar to dirty it up a little, it then segues effortlessly from a moody, understated first verse and Agnetha's plaintive lead vocal into the most sublime, unashamedly anthemic chorus, where Frida and Bjrn join her in some quite beautiful harmonies. As for the enigmatic lyrics: "Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing, the songs that you and I don't sing ..." What's that all about then? About the need to have the courage of your convictions be it in love or war? Answers on a postcard please. It works for me anyway.
Frida takes centre-stage once more for "I Let the Music Speak" aka "The One That Sounds Like It Belongs On The Soundtrack To Les Miserables Or Similar" (round about the point where some peasant woman stands up in her rags and sings heartrendingly about not having enough parsnips to make soup for her son who's just returned from The War). The lyrics though tell a different story. One of night-time hauntings and astral projection (ABBA staples then). This is no "I Wonder (Departure)". Dark, fanciful and slightly macabre on the verses, the choruses return us to more familiar ABBA territory with Frida displaying her quite formidable vocal prowess throughout.
After that we get "One of Us" and what can I say? It's just gorgeous. Greek tragedy laced with Swedish cool. A happy little drumbeat bouncing playfully along behind Agnetha's wrist-slashing and soaring vocals. A kitchen sink tearjerker in the great tradition of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (a-ha!) and "The Winner Takes it All" and quite rightly an all-time favourite.
With "Two For the Price of One" the question is always going to be: "Is it as bad as everyone says?". Well, in short, yes. By and large it bears the rare distinction of being an unintentionally funny intentionally funny song. Wait until you hear the "quite exciting" husky voice that answers the mock-telephone (unless there's another layer to this fable which I'm completely missing). The one semi-redeeming feature is the chorus. Some interesting stuff where everyone joins in with some low-key harmonies and thankfully you can no longer tell what they're singing about. Then, just when all the verses are out of the way and you're sure it's safe to tap your foot till the finish, in blunders the Salvation Army and marches the song off to a merciful end.
Luckily, Agnetha is on hand to lead us back to sanity (and wave her child off to school) in the shape of "Slipping Through my Fingers". Saved from mawkishness and total schmaltz by one of those sublime, harmony-heavy choruses and Agnetha's crystal clear voice and heartfelt delivery.
"Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" closes the album proper. It has to be said that, on this album at least, most of the vocal kudos must go to Frida, and she plays a blinder in this last one. Stripped as it is of all sonic clutter - as well as harmonies - when the song begins you'll think, quite astonishingly, that she's singing from the corner of your room. A clock ticks away on the mantelpiece. A music box plays quietly in the background and Frida sings of lying down one last time and welcoming the Angel of Death. Amen.
Of the bonus tracks (all top-notch, especially "Under Attack" which features a good old-fashioned harmonic tussle between Abercrombie & Fitch in the chorus) "The Day Before You Came" is the classic - swirling, rain-drenched synths, a sense of impending doom and tantalisingly (the closing masterstroke) we never find out who - or what - `you' is. Pop Noir par excellence.
All of the trademarks which made the group so popular are still in place throughout - strong vocals, clever song-structures, barmy lyrics and a healthy smattering of Scandinavian navel-gazing and marital strife. All of it delivered with an icily immaculate production sheen - some of which sounds dated though much of it, due to the solid songwriting, simply timeless. In short, anyone with even the most limited musical palate will find something to enjoy in this album.
Digitally Remastered Edition of Automatic Man's Second Full Length Album, a Blend of Funk, Fusion and Classic Rock that was Perfectly Executed on this Uplifting Eight Track Record. The Lineup Includes "Bayete" (Aka Todd Cochrane, Founder of the Group) and Bay Area Guitarist Pat Thrall. This Deep Catalog Title Appears on CD for the First Time on the Lemon Label and Includes all the Original Artwork plus Bonus Sleevenotes!
Visitors,Automatic Man,Lemon Records,Pop,Prog-Rock/Art Rock,Rock,Rock/Pop
Visitors [Original recording remastered]
Average customer rating: 
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The Visitors
ABBA Manufacturer: Polydor / Umgd ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B00005CDNK Release Date: 2001-10-16 |
Tracks:
- The Visitors
- Head Over Heels
- When All Is Said And Done
- Soldiers
- I Let The Music Speak
- One Of Us
- Two For The Price Of One
- Slipping Through My Fingers
- Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
- Should I Laugh Or Cry
- The Day Before You Came
- Cassandra
- Under Attack
Amazon.com
Abba's 1981 swan song is appropriately touched by intimations of loss; The Visitors certainly contains nothing as breezy as "Does Your Mother Know." Far from the listless meanderings of a group on its way out, however, the album is alive with emotion and creativity. The title track fuses a melody reminiscent of the Beatles Indian explorations with a smartly done synthesizer arrangement typical of the disc as a whole. (They could've been the Human League!) Similarly moody cuts like "Soldiers" and "One of Us" help make this that rare thing, an Abba record suited for lonely late nights. This 24-bit remaster boasts four bonus cuts, including the final singles "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack," in addition to improved sound quality. --Rickey WrightAlbum Description
Exclusive import limited edition digipak is remastered, has extensive line notes and lyrics, and includes four bonus songs, 'Should I Laugh Or Cry', 'The Day Before You Came', 'Cassandra' and 'Under Attack'. 13 tracks in all.Album Details
24-bit digital remaster with new liner notes, complete lyrics and bonus tracks: 'Should I Laugh or Cry', 'The Day Before You Came', 'Cassandra' and 'Under Attack'.Customer Reviews:
Abba's Magnum Opus.......2007-06-10
Great album...but poor re-mastering.......2007-04-30
On the other hand, these 24-bit discs sound slightly muddy and the high end (which includes acoustic guitars and cymbals) are flat or dead sounding thanks to the no-noise solution. My advice, is to save your money and keep your old discs.
wonderful.......2007-04-04
ABBA gets creepy, grown up, and very good........2007-01-17
This album isn't about disco dancing and teenage crushes, it's about tyranny, watching your children grow up, ending relationships, and war.
If you are an ABBA fan, and you are hesitant to buy this disc because you don't see any charting hits on it, just go ahead and buy it. It's sad that this is the their last album, because I think they could have succeeded with this sould through the decade of the 1980's. They proved that they could change and reinvent themselves.
How many bands have "last albums" that are as great as this one?
In A Class By itself.......2007-01-05
After listing to the album for the umteenth time I have concluded that this is ABBA at their very best. The content of the tracks show an artistic maturity not seen in any previous release. This is ABBA at their finest and I would highly recommend this album to anyone, ABBA fan or not.
I have a lot of albums by a lot of artists, but I would accord "The Visitors" almost a mythical quality. I would willingly part with 99% of my music before i would let this one go.
Buy it, you'll like it! Trust me.
Average customer rating:
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Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors
Gian Carlo Menotti , Thomas Schippers , Rosemary Kuhlmann Chet Allen , and Andrew McKinley, David Aiken Leon Lishner Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Menotti
| Menotti, Gian Carlo
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ASIN: B000003EPE Release Date: 1990-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Amahl! Amahl!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Oh, Mother, You Should Go Out And See!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Stop Bothering Me!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Poor Amahl!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Don't Cry, Mother Dear
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: From Far Away We Come
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Amahl...Yes, Mother?
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Good Evening! Good Evening!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Come In, Come In!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Are You A Real King?
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: This Is My Box
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Amahl, I Told You Not To Be A Nuisance!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Oh, These Beautiful Things
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Have You Seen A Child
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Shepherds! Shepherdesses!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Emily, Emily
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Olives and Quinces
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Shepherds' Dance
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Thank You, Good Friends
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: All That Gold!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Thief! Thief!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Don't You Dare!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Oh, Woman, You Can KeepThe Gold
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Oh, No, Wait
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: I Walk, Mother
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Do You Really Want To Go?
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Shepherds, Arise!
Amazon.com
Back in the days when the forces that controlled television actually cared about art, it was perfectly normal to see original plays and live musical performances right in your living room. In 1950, Menotti was commissioned to write an opera for television, and on Christmas Eve, 1951, Amahl and the Night Visitors was performed by the NBC Television Theater. This recording, under the composer's personal direction, was made a few days later, and it remains the definitive version, even though the sound is very dated and rough in places. This story of a poor shepherd boy's encounter with three kings and the miraculous healing of his crippled leg when he offers his crutch as a gift has captured audiences around the world ever since its premiere. Its charming mix of tuneful melody, dancing rhythms, delightful choruses, humor and poignancy, and an English text makes this work immediately accessible to audiences of all ages and musical tastes. --David VernierCustomer Reviews:
My favorite Christmas music.......2007-05-13
An unsung genius.......2007-04-10
In my opinion, this creation should be lovingly produced every year!
I am a grateful singer of his works.
Amahl and the Night Visitors made our Christmas very precious!.......2007-01-20
Mother, Mother, Mother Come With Me..........2007-01-13
A must have.......2007-01-10
It has become the cornerstone of my families holiday celebrations.
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Amahl and the Night Visitors
Lorna Haywood , James Rainbird , David Syrus , and Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden Manufacturer: Jay Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Menotti
| Menotti, Gian Carlo
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ASIN: B00000C2I7 Release Date: 1998-09-15 |
Tracks:
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Prelude - Opening
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: What Was Keeping You Outside
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Don't Cry Mother Dear
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: From Far Away We Come
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Amahl, Go See Who's Knocking
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: It's Nice Here
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: I Was A Shepherd
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: This Is My Box
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Have You Seen A Child
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Shepherds, Shepherds
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Dance
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Thank You Good Friends
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: All That Food
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: Thief! Thief!
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: I Walk Mother
- Amahl And The Night Visitors: What To Do With Your Crutch?
Customer Reviews:
Amahl and The Night Visitors.......2007-01-10
Amahl.......2006-12-16
Amahl.......2003-01-25
Very disappointing.......2002-10-16
I'm going to try to return it this afternoon.
The best recording of Amahl.......2002-10-13
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The Visitors
The Visitors Manufacturer: Eschatone Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B000MQC8V6 Release Date: 2007-02-13 |
Tracks:
- Clean And Civilized
- My Unknown Love
- TV Blues
- Leave Her Alone
- Stop What You're Doin'
- Dance Into Your Heart
- Never Get Enough
- I Don't Belong
- Happy Again
- I Walked With A Zombie
- Don't Wait For Me
- Runnin' From You
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Visitors
Automatic Man Manufacturer: Lemon Records UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
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ASIN: B00093UQGG Release Date: 2005-05-23 |
Tracks:
- Give It to Me
- Live Wire
- So You Wanna Be
- Y-2-Me
- Visitors
- Here I Am Now
- Daughter of Neptune
- What's Done
Album Details
Digitally Remastered Edition of Automatic Man's Second Full Length Album, a Blend of Funk, Fusion and Classic Rock that was Perfectly Executed on this Uplifting Eight Track Record. The Lineup Includes "Bayete" (Aka Todd Cochrane, Founder of the Group) and Bay Area Guitarist Pat Thrall. This Deep Catalog Title Appears on CD for the First Time on the Lemon Label and Includes all the Original Artwork plus Bonus Sleevenotes!Customer Reviews:
Automatic Man Severely Neglected.......2006-07-15
Impressive Sophomore Effort!!.......2005-09-06
I felt that vocalist/keyboardist Bayete outshined the other musical geniuses in the band on its debut, and then continued to shepherd on with guitarist Pat Thrall (Pat Travers Band, Asia, Hughes/Thrall, Sly & Robbie) for this second effort. It's a continuation of its predecessor, but more synthesizer-driven and danceable ("Give It to Me", "Live Wire"). There were quicker breaks, unexpected bursts of loud guitar and change in tempo ("Here I Am Now"), and the trademark space-rock sound of their classic first album.
Great to find music with great catchy melodies, outstanding musicianship, and little or no gimmicks. Many thanks to Lemon Records for distributing this gem, and be sure to pick up the amazing debut effort from Automatic Man!
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Logan's Run (Original Television Soundtrack)
Manufacturer: Film Score Monthly ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Movie Scores
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ASIN: B0006SSQ5M Release Date: 2005-01-11 |
Tracks:
- Main Title
- Suite, Pt. 1
- Suite, Pt. 2
- Suite, Pt. 3
- Bumpers
- Collectors
- Capture
- Innocent
- Man Out of Time
- Half Life
- Fear Factor
- Futurepast
- Night Visitors
- End Title
Customer Reviews:
Byew! Byew! Byew!.......2005-01-14
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The Visitors
ABBA Manufacturer: Polygram Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Sweden
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ASIN: B000005IKX Release Date: 1995-08-22 |
Tracks:
- The VIsitors
- Head Over Heals
- When All Is Said And Done
- Soldiers
- Let The Music Speak
- One Of Us
- Two For The Price Of One
- Slipping Through My Fingers
- Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
Customer Reviews:
The Visitorrs: a bit less sugar-sweet, still undeniably ABBA.......2005-01-12
The sounds, too, are somewhat different---though not unreservedly for the better. Like the lyrics, the melodies are often more subtle and complex than what ABBA were usually known for (too often described as "hook-filled" and "sing-song"). So here we get more melodic & rhythmic subtlety, but sometimes at the expense of that uncanny, positively joyful musical energy that seemed to inform every typical ABBA smash hit, from Waterloo to Dancing Queen to Super Trouper. One wants to love this album, like a last conversation with an old friend, but there's no denying that "Head Over Heels" or "Soldiers" simply do not make one want to jump up and shout the way their predecessors did. These melodies are by no means UNmelodic, or even less than VERY catchy. It's more fair to say that if their earlier songscapes were painted in bright, primary colors, Bjorn & Benny were now utilizing other, more subtle shadings.
The arrangements, are as always, rich, interesting and distinctive. Frida's and Agnetha's performances, consistent with everything else on the album, are more adult, personal and individual ---a far cry from the early days when it was often said that they sing in such perfect harmony, "you can hardly tell them apart".
The final verdict? Taken on its own terms, The Visitors is quite impressive. It's a more complex listen than their other stuff, both lyrically and melodically, and it highlights the impressive extent of ABBA's evolution over the scarcely ten years that we knew them (and this is not to diminish the wonder of their earlier work). Equally important, for all the talk of more serious moods, Bjorn & Benny STILL had a way with a song, to drastically understate it. It's not like they did an album of minimalist jazz, or a suite of atonal gregorian chants. This is still ABBA music, and practically nobody in the pop world can do it like them: melodies you remember forever, flawless singing, intricate arrangements, accessible, yet meaningful lyrics. A fine, final album from a group whose music was always far more adult and technically accomplished than they're ever likely to be given credit for--even (or especially) with their newly hip "rehabilitated" status. Perhaps the final word on ABBA should be, Just because they wrote songs that were wonderfully catchy doesn't mean they didn't write great music. The Visitors underscores that.
ABBA's Pet Sounds?.......2003-02-01
I bought this album new in 1981 and I was surprised how somber and serious it was. I was expecting another fun upbeat Pop album from them, but here were lyrics about the end of marrages, the fear of a Russian invasion during the cold war, children growing too-quickly, and the final disillusionment of childhood/adolescent dreams into adulthood. Not something you'd expect from a group that gave us "Sitting in The Palmtree" "King Kong Song" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" 5-6 years before. ABBA were showing signs of maturing from 1977's "Arrival" LP on, but "The Visitors" is the album where the group had truely grown up.
Despite the upbeat melodies and sing-along choruses the whole album has a sense of impending doom about it - Perhaps it's the all-digital production with the increased use of drum machines and synthesizer programming that creates the chilly sonic atmosphere. There's a couple of fun songs like "Two For The Price Of One" (which made me gag back then - but I now find charming) but the optimistic "bouncy" energy of ABBA's earlier albums is gone.
But Benny & Bjorn didn't lose their touch for writing memorable songs and crafting big and beautiful productions. The whole album just sucks me in - the track listing isn't as haphazard as earlier ABBA albums, it seems to flow just right.
ABBA started make a album after this called "Opus X" (their 10th album) and recorded a few tracks for it like the great "Just Like That" (a edited version made the "Thank You" box set but us fans want the full version with all the verses) and "In the City" (which made ABBA Gold Volume 2) but personal differences broke up the foursome for good. Had ABBA stayed together, could they have made a album that would have changed jaded rock critics and "serious" music fans minds that thought ABBA was just a "bubblegum" group? ...Well we will never know! But we have this great send off to the best overseas Pop group of the 70's and early 80's.
When all is said and done, it's a great album.......2002-01-02
Let the music speak.......2001-10-05
Probably a big part of the strength of the album had to do with the lives of the members of the band during the recording. With guitarist/composer Bjorn Ulvaeus and singer Agnetha Faltskog already divorced since 1979, the band had to suffer the divorce of the second marriage, between keyboardist/composer Benny Andersson and singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The result of these hard situations are the most sincere lyrics ever written by this band.
From beginning to end, the album is astonishing. "The Visitors" is the first (and the best in my humble opinion) track, and features an amazing Frida lead vocal, and altered all-band vocals for the bridge and chorus. The theme of the album goes through all these marriage complications, and it's mostly Frida the one who gets to sing the most intense lyrics this time. "When All Is Said And Done" (re-recorded in Spanish as "No Hay A Quien Culpar", this version is available on the "Oro: Grandes Éxitos" compilation) is a strong "goodbye" song, ironically with Benny playing an amazing piano part. We see Frida on her best vocal way also with "I Let The Music Speak", a track that explores the not always well apreciated theatrical vein of the band. The beautiful, haunting closing track (and a good farewell track for the band) is "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room", the one and only Abba track that does not feature a single vocal harmony, not even in the background. The song is sweet and tender, it sounds like Frida is sending her children to sleep.
While Bjorn pays his personal tribute to The Beatles with the Pepper-ish "Two For The Price Of One", Agnetha gets the chance to sing on "Head Over Heels", a great poppy track; the haunting "One Of Us" (the only song from this album that made it to the "Gold" compilation"), in which she shows yet again her talents as a vocalist; "Soldiers", which is an ambient surrealistic track resemblent to the anthem "Eagle", released on 1978; and "Slipping Through My Fingers", the sweetest song of the bunch, talking about how hard is for parents to handle the growing of their children. This song was also re-recorded in Spanish as "Se Me Está Escapando"
The B-side to the "One Of Us" single was "Should I Laugh Or Cry", another breaking-up song, strongly sung by Frida. The next Abba singles were "The Day Before You Came", probably the Abba song with the greatest lyrics ever and "Under Attack", ironically a much lighter love song. Those along with their respective B-sides "Cassandra" and the silly "You Owe Me One" can all be found in different issues of this album, and in different compilations. Those are for giving the costumer a complete view of the moment Abba was experiencing while recording "The Visitors". Their strongest record was surrounded by the sense of having grown up, the sensation of maturity and the need to do more innovative stuff in the fields of music. Benny and Bjorn took their chance and let the music speak for them. They were totally splitting up, but they let the world know about it. Surely they didn't think that was true, but it was anyway. It's sad that after a masterpiece like this a band like Abba broke up. It would have been great to know their achievements in the fields of the complex 80's music scene, but one must think that everything has a planned end, and there's nothing left to do when that happens.
Don't expect this to be the regular Abba CD. It is much more innovative and "experimental", if you want... But it is an Abba record anyway. You recognize them not only because of the vocalists, but also because they're "letting the music speak" by them. And that's what they always did.
The GREATEST pop album in ALL OF HISTORY!!!!!.......2001-09-07
What makes this such a superb cut? Begin with the overall sound. Abba were charging forward from the oldies sound of 70s pop into the characteristic sounds of the 1980s--synthpop, new wave, dance-club music. Had they remained for another album, who knows what? They would probably still be heard today on AC radio, a genre that still plays 80s music liberally. This is one of the earliest albums to make complete use of CLEAN SOUNDING electronic drum tracks and synthetically manipulated voices (listen to songs like WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE and TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE to hear this mastery). The sound on this album approaches the likes of Duran Duran or early Madonna (especially on the title track). It's actually cool and fun to dance to.
Second, the emotions are wonderfully set here which range from haunting Halloween-esque fear ('The Visitors') to Swedish folk music ('Head Over Heels') to divorce sorrow ('When All Is Said and Done' and 'One Of Us') to parenthood ('Slipping Through My Fingers') to memories of the past ('Like An Angel Passing Through My Room'). This last song sounds especially like a good-bye song with its quietude and midnight-hour atmosphere. It's Abba's denouement after nearly ten years of fame and glory.
Finally, these singers have perfect voices on this album and the recording is wonderful. No more tinny studios that sound like the Sixties. Everything here is pretty much just as crisp in audio as today's pop music records. Many songs recorded for a few years after in America didn't have this same clarity.
While The Beatles can be accepted by most as the most overall innovative artists in the history of the music industry, when it comes to pure melody and family-friendly pop, Abba can't be beat. No group before or since has made me so likely to shed tears in joy or sorrow.
I would definitely recommend THE VISITORS, the final dying gasp by one of the greatest pop groups of all time-ABBA!
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Sounds of Portland
Manufacturer: Portland Oregon Visitors Association ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000HAZO72 |
Product Description
From 1998. Portland Oregon Visiters Association (POVA) & KXL radio 95.5 presents The Sounds of Portland 1. Quarterflash - Sad But True 2. Brenda Dickey - Borrowed Hope 3. Curtis Salgado & Terry Robb - Bitter Tears 4. Craig Carothers & Tim Ellis - Next Time Around 5. Maureen Andrews - Beatnik Boys 6. Mel Kubik - Slow Freight Train 7. Pink Martini - Sympathique 8. Cal Scott - Adrift on the Sun and Moon 9. Meria Solinger - I Will Be There For You 10. McKinley - Dorothy 11. Tom Grant - Blue Orchids 12. Arlie Neskahi & Leroy Critcher - Two Rivers 13. John Doan - Farewell 14. John Nilsen - Rain Pool
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Super Trouper/The Visitors
ABBA Manufacturer: Universal ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Sweden
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ASIN: B000MV92UG Release Date: 2007-04-02 |
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The Visitors
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ASIN: B00005KKC8 Release Date: 2001-06-25 |
Tracks:
- The Visitors
- Head Over Heels
- When All Is Said And Done
- Soldiers
- I Let The Music Speak
- One Of Us
- Two For The Price Of One
- Slipping Through My Fingers
- Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
- Should I Laugh Or Cry
- The Day Before You Came
- Cassandra
- Under Attack
Album Details
24bit Digital Remaster with New Liner Notes, Complete Lyrics and Bonus Tracks: 'should I Laugh Or Cry', 'the Day Before You Came', 'cassandra' and 'under Attack'.Customer Reviews:
A Dark Brooding Masterpiece.......2006-07-31
5 stars from a non-ABBA fan.......2006-02-15
The title track is sung in a harmonic minor "Eastern" scale that at once reminds me of Led Zeppelin & the Beatles. Don't deprive yourself of this great track. The song "Soldiers" has a rather unconventional, brooding drumbeat in 3/4 which may be recognized as a precursor to the 90s alternative genre. But to me, the standout tune is "I Let the Music Speak", a powerful operatic piece not unlike Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" but with a darker, haunting melody. The last 2 songs "Slipping Through My Fingers" and "Like an Angel Passing" wrap up the album beautifully like the end of an exhausting adventure.
It becomes tragically apparent to me that ABBA was on the verge of a great musical evolution had they continued in this vein. Unfortunately this would be their last, and you'll be hard pressed to find another 80s album as progressive as this. "The Visitors" is to the 80s what "Sgt. Pepper" was to the 60s--a fleeting glimpse of something deeper than the norm.
Digital greatness.......2005-08-09
Pop Noir.......2004-06-10
It is said that this album was something of a departure for the group. That this was not the ABBA people had come to know and love. No "Waterloo". Not a trace of a "Dancing Queen". However, it should be pointed out that this album is not exactly "ABBA does Death Metal".
The opener and title track is perhaps the closest they came to emulating the New Wave/Synth Pop explosion of the time. Parts of it are reminiscent of "Summer Night City" (minus the disco) and "Eagle" (without the majesty) but it manages to create an interesting and unsettling sonic landscape all of its own which suggests an encounter of the third kind may very well be waiting behind the locked door (and they must surely score points for creating a pop song about Russian dissidents).
Next up is "Head Over Heals" which treats us to its fairground synths, jaunty chorus and tale of `goodtime girl gets herself into trouble'. This one is a bit like Agnetha's very own "Money Money Money" and lyrically is possibly a case of Bjrn, a la Fleetwood Mac, cheekily having his ex sing a song about herself that isn't altogether flattering. Possibly.
"When All is Said and Done" is a standout in the style of "The Winner Takes it All", although it is surprisingly upbeat for a break-up song (and sort of Christmassy) with a positively defiant lead vocal from Frida. A song of shaking hands and walking away, head held high. Bittersweet rather than just plain bitter. It would have made a good, upbeat album closer, and had serendipity played its part properly, the perfect send off for the group: "Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun ..."
"Soldiers" is, for me, the forgotten gem on this album. Starting sparsely with a vaguely military drum and some admirably restrained guitar to dirty it up a little, it then segues effortlessly from a moody, understated first verse and Agnetha's plaintive lead vocal into the most sublime, unashamedly anthemic chorus, where Frida and Bjrn join her in some quite beautiful harmonies. As for the enigmatic lyrics: "Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing, the songs that you and I don't sing ..." What's that all about then? About the need to have the courage of your convictions be it in love or war? Answers on a postcard please. It works for me anyway.
Frida takes centre-stage once more for "I Let the Music Speak" aka "The One That Sounds Like It Belongs On The Soundtrack To Les Miserables Or Similar" (round about the point where some peasant woman stands up in her rags and sings heartrendingly about not having enough parsnips to make soup for her son who's just returned from The War). The lyrics though tell a different story. One of night-time hauntings and astral projection (ABBA staples then). This is no "I Wonder (Departure)". Dark, fanciful and slightly macabre on the verses, the choruses return us to more familiar ABBA territory with Frida displaying her quite formidable vocal prowess throughout.
After that we get "One of Us" and what can I say? It's just gorgeous. Greek tragedy laced with Swedish cool. A happy little drumbeat bouncing playfully along behind Agnetha's wrist-slashing and soaring vocals. A kitchen sink tearjerker in the great tradition of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (a-ha!) and "The Winner Takes it All" and quite rightly an all-time favourite.
With "Two For the Price of One" the question is always going to be: "Is it as bad as everyone says?". Well, in short, yes. By and large it bears the rare distinction of being an unintentionally funny intentionally funny song. Wait until you hear the "quite exciting" husky voice that answers the mock-telephone (unless there's another layer to this fable which I'm completely missing). The one semi-redeeming feature is the chorus. Some interesting stuff where everyone joins in with some low-key harmonies and thankfully you can no longer tell what they're singing about. Then, just when all the verses are out of the way and you're sure it's safe to tap your foot till the finish, in blunders the Salvation Army and marches the song off to a merciful end.
Luckily, Agnetha is on hand to lead us back to sanity (and wave her child off to school) in the shape of "Slipping Through my Fingers". Saved from mawkishness and total schmaltz by one of those sublime, harmony-heavy choruses and Agnetha's crystal clear voice and heartfelt delivery.
"Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" closes the album proper. It has to be said that, on this album at least, most of the vocal kudos must go to Frida, and she plays a blinder in this last one. Stripped as it is of all sonic clutter - as well as harmonies - when the song begins you'll think, quite astonishingly, that she's singing from the corner of your room. A clock ticks away on the mantelpiece. A music box plays quietly in the background and Frida sings of lying down one last time and welcoming the Angel of Death. Amen.
Of the bonus tracks (all top-notch, especially "Under Attack" which features a good old-fashioned harmonic tussle between Abercrombie & Fitch in the chorus) "The Day Before You Came" is the classic - swirling, rain-drenched synths, a sense of impending doom and tantalisingly (the closing masterstroke) we never find out who - or what - `you' is. Pop Noir par excellence.
All of the trademarks which made the group so popular are still in place throughout - strong vocals, clever song-structures, barmy lyrics and a healthy smattering of Scandinavian navel-gazing and marital strife. All of it delivered with an icily immaculate production sheen - some of which sounds dated though much of it, due to the solid songwriting, simply timeless. In short, anyone with even the most limited musical palate will find something to enjoy in this album.
ABBA's Haunting Autumnal Beauty.......2004-03-01
The interesting thing with the Abba catalogue is that you can hear their progression from one outting to the next. The Visitors is no exception--- it is infact, the most mature and progressive product they had ever done.
From the gloomy and lonely cover photo (gone are the bombastic outfits) which portrays them as four individual middle aged people looking off into a future without each other (indeed, by this point, the two couples were officially divorced)to the mood of the record's sombre notes, this is not your father's ABBA. The quality of the production, arrangements and performances helps this record, in my opinion, become a model for perfect pop productions. Arguably, a couple of the tracks crossed a line and moved past a traditional pop format (namely I Let the Music Speak and Like an Angel...) but with rich melodies and unparalleled vocal performances, they remain captivating.
This is a record where every member is in top form. Benny's melodies combined with his studio wiserdry, Bjorn's masterful English lyrics (showing a progression beyond anything he had ever written) and Agnetha's cool yet convincing story teller vocals shine beyond many of their earlier performances. But the true star here is Frida who brings a level of emotion and sophistication to her performances that we had never seen before. She manages to find her way through many different production and musical styles and stays believable and true through every note she sings. Listen to her on the bonus track "Should I Laugh or Cry"--- this is a woman who is frustrated and sad--- even if I never hear a lyric, the sound of her rich vibrato tells the whole story.
You don't have to be an ABBA fan to get the meaning of this record--- if you like perfect pop, listen to this... you won't be disappointed.
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