Sunday 28 December 2008

Hitkrant, April 1979: Voulez-Vous album review / Does Your Mother Know single review

Raving reviews of the Voulez-Vous album and the Does Your Mother Know single from Dutch magazine Hitkrant.
ABBA ‘Voulez-Vous’ Polar/Polydor
Who could have ever imagined: ABBA go disco! It’s already been more than a year ago since ABBA astonished friend, but especially foe with their album ‘The Album’. This time, the Swedish foursome has delivered an album that will be talked about for a long time to come, because it namely is of an unprecedented, enormous class.
The group is totally ignoring the existing image and sounds like never before. Maybe Björn and Benny’s visit to the Bahamas has had something to do with it, but in any case, the ten tracks (among them ‘Chiquitita’) are sounding so fresh, so convincing, that this is showing an ABBA that only very few people would have expected.
No, disco is not a stranger to ABBA any longer. Listen to the new single ‘Does Your Mother Know’, but also to ‘If It Wasn’t For The Nights’ and ‘As Good As New’ and you’ll see what I mean!
Apart from the usual ABBA-musicians, the Swedish top guitarist Janne Schaffer is now playing along as well. And on ‘Voulez-Vous’, former Clapton-guitarist George Terry can be heard, among others.
Care to have a dance with ABBA? Voulez-Vous?
Out in the shops on the first of May.

ABBA ‘Does Your Mother Know’ Polar/Polydor
And there it is, the long-anticipated follow-up to ‘Chiquitita’! How ABBA pulls it off time and time again to release a first class single on the market, is a mystery to me, but ‘Does Your Mother Know’ is yet another one of those. ABBA new style? Yes, indeed: the foursome is obviously flirting with disco, but the clear ABBA-sound is unmistakable!
The beginning of the record sets the tone immediately: a thumping guitar/drums intro and sure enough, a lead vocal by Björn, something we don’t get to hear very often. But then the familiar voices of both ladies come in and it’s clear for us to hear: top-drawer pop music. ABBA have once again surpassed themselves.

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