A+

 Today, Agnetha's new album of reworked tracks from A, originally released 10 years ago in 2013, released!  This project has been met with a lot of feedback from fans, both negative and positive, and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts as well.  I should mention, as an obsessed ABBA fan, I tend to immediately love anything the ABBA members do or release (with the exception of Mamma Mia! the Movie/Musical, hehehehehehhe), but I listened to this album with as much of an open mind as possible.

I think the hardest part for me was trying to forget about the original versions of the tracks when listening to A+.  I love A with my whole heart, as I've mentioned in my previous post, the album is very special to me and I love that album so much.  So trying to forget about the music style of those tracks while listening to A+ is an extremely difficult feat.  On my first listen, I found myself leaning more towards disliking some of the creative decisions in some of the tracks, mainly I Should Have Followed You Home (A+) and When You Really Loved Someone (A+), however after listening to the album a few more times, specifically with headphones on, it becomes a whole new experience.  

The album sounds very digital to me, if that makes sense.  Like the instruments all sound computerized and synthesized, which in my opinion, makes it sound a little flat.  However, I've found that in general, this album is very laid back and chill when compared to A, and when listening with headphones, I've learned to appreciate the more modern chopped vocal style and auto-tuned vocals.  On the topic of auto-tune, I understand that it was added on to a lot of the vocals as a style choice, not necessarily because they're trying to perfect her vocals, and perhaps they went a little heavy on the auto-tune, specifically on Perfume In The Breeze (A+), but it's not the worst.  The sped up tempo of the vocals on I Was A Flower (A+) is quite noticeable to me, but I actually really enjoy this version. 

For me, the real highlight on the album is Back On Your Radio (A+). From my understanding, it was the first track they reworked, and they did a FANTASTIC job.  Also Janne Schaffer's added guitar to Past Forever (A+) is AMAZING.  I enjoy the added saxophone on Bubble (A+) and whistling on I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed (A+).  And of course, I absolutely LOVE Where Do We Go From Here.  I've listened to that song almost every day since it came out, and Agnetha's harmonies and voice are so beautiful on that track.  I also like that on a lot of the tracks, Agnetha's vocals are very prominent and clear, very front and center. 

All in all, the album feels modern and very digital, and I think it's good.  It took some getting used to, and trying to ignore the A versions that I know and love from my mind while listening was tricky, but ultimately, I like this album.  Thank you Agnetha and Jorgen for this new album, and I can't wait for my CD and T-shirt to arrive from the webstore. :')