Goodbye 2021, bring on 2022!

 We've reached the end of the year again, which means it's usually time for my year in review/recap type posts, but honestly, I hardly remember half the things that went on this year, aside from ABBA's glorious return, of course. xD  

As usual, during today's pandemic filled world, it's been a wacky year.  Plans get canceled, things don't end up happening, etc.  And you can imagine my year certainly started out pretty badly when YouTube took down my channel LITERALLY a couple of days before my YouTube channel's anniversary. :(  But I didn't let that get to me all that much.  Of course it's disappointing, but it's just a YouTube channel, right?  Now, I have a second channel, that I'm being very cautions about uploading on, but it's been fun slowly getting back into that. :)

I've always been a very introverted, somewhat unmotivated person.  I've become the type of person who just wants to spend every waking moment with my bird, Skyler, and never leave the house, like ever, haha, and honestly, this year I didn't get much done in regards to creative things.  I didn't do much digital drawings, I did a couple of physical drawings, mostly just commissions and nothing on my own, and my sewing projects had been very sporadic.  But I am proud of what I achieved, the few things that they were.  

For 2022, I want to get back onto the creative horse, and I already have a few things in mind.  One of which is remaking my Waterloo costumes for my dolls, as you can probably tell from my previous post.  I'm just really excited to do more doll costumes that surely won't be as complicated as the Voyage costumes haha.  And there's something just super thrilling about making the outfits in accurate fabrics. :')

Then, I have some thing planned that I've actually been planning since earlier this year, and worked on a little bit, but simply didn't have the motivation to continue.  I don't want to give away too much, especially since I have this fear of people stealing my ideas and things, but let's just say that my book, The Story of ABBA for Young Readers is now inaccurate seeing as ABBA did in fact get back together, and I have to do something about that.  And, well, once a perfectionist, always a perfectionist, so....  I hope you can see where I'm going with this. xD  My drawings have improved a lot over the years, so I knew this would have to happen eventually.  To clarify, I'm not doing whole new drawings, I'm just converting the older ones to digital, plus adding something for Voyage.  And this gives me the chance to fix up simple things, like proportions or facial expressions I didn't quite like,  And then while I'm at it, I may or may not have a coloring book in mind as well... :)

 No promises as to when these projects are going to see the light of day, but it is something I hope to actively start working on this coming year,  Wish me luck. xD

And with that, I want to wish you all a happy 2022, and let's hope 2022 will be even better!

-Becky/ABBAFan456

Bjorn's pants...

 So I've been doing research for *one* of my next sewing projects (yes I've made these outfits before and yes I'm making them yet again), and as I was looking through pictures of ABBA's Waterloo costumes, I noticed something interesting about that time ABBA performed wearing those costumes once again in 1981.

At first glance, the biggest differences are Agnetha's pants, as she's wearing a stretchy blue pants instead of her satiny blue ones from 1974, Benny's jeans, as he didn't wear jeans with his costume, rather he wore black satin pants like the rest of them, and also Bjorn's boots, as he's wearing his boots from late 1974 to 1975 instead of his Waterloo boots.  The only member to be wearing their complete outfit is Frida.  

But then I noticed Bjorn's pants.  What pants is he wearing in 1981?  See, his 1974 pants have a silver trim in this like spiky shape, whereas his pants in 1981 just have a little silver trim on the bottom.  That's when I realized, he's actually wearing his pants backwards.  xD  See photos below:

 The front of his pants with the spiky design:

And if you look closely, you can see that they dip down as they get to the back, meaning:

This is what the back of his trousers look like: 

So really both Bjorn and Frida have their complete outfits (minus Bjorn's boots of course).  Anyways, this was just a random thought.  At least now I have a reference photo for what the back looks like when I get around to making them *again* for my dolls. xD

ABBA Voyage costumes

 

Yep, I did it,  I made these outfits for my dolls. And it was a nightmare,  More detailed post here: https://amazing-sewing.blogspot.com/2021/12/abba-voyage-costumes.html 

And a video:

Happy 75th birthday, Benny!!

 Wishing a happy 75th birthday to the one and only Benny Andersson, 1/2 of ABBA's songwriting duo and piano player extraordinaire! Thank you for the music!! ❤️🎉

 

Happy 10th birthday, Benny Anderdoll

 10 years ago today I finished making my homemade Benny doll. :)  

Apologies for how chaotic the background of this photo looks.  My dolls are all currently living in my sewing section in the basement since I've been working on this project that has been totally kicking my butt, but as of yesterday I've finally made positive progress on it! :D  

All my records

 Just wanted to share some pictures of all my ABBA albums together. :')  I love seeing them all next to each other, starting from Ring Ring, released in 1973, all the way to Voyage, released in 2021.

 

 

Collection Update - Voyage, Gracias Por La Musica, + more

 Okay so I meant to post this when my order from the official ABBA voyage store came like a week after Voyage came out on November 5th, but I like never got around to taking pictures until today.  xD

I was just want to start out this post by saying how much I wished I could tell my younger self that ABBA actually did it.  They got together, all four of them, and made a new album.  Like I remember how excited I was when I got to preorder Agnetha's A album in 2013, and I'd never been able to experience something like that ever again.  And I got to do that again you know, hopping onto the ABBA Voyage website the moment Benny said in that livestream "We recorded a new album and you can preorder it now."  Like I did that. I got to experience that, and I am so grateful.

 Anyways, here is my Voyage haul:

So I think I mentioned it before, but I ended up buying three versions of the album, 2 CDs and one vinyl.  I know there were so many fancy shmancy versions of the album available, but I ultimately decided on getting a plain old black vinyl.  I also couldn't tell if the special deluxe box was a vinyl or CD, which is why I got that in addition to the regular CD.  It is a CD btw. ;)  

So the vinyl is really cool.  It's a very simple design, not a lot of details, but I like the images of the avatars on the inside of the case. 

Like they're really helpful for a project that I may or may not be working on right now...  👀

The vinyl also came with this lovely postcard of ABBA during the recording sessions for I'm guessing I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down.  It's nice that they included some form of real life ABBA in the present instead of just the ABBAtars.

And there's also this larger poster that I have stuck to my wall. :D

Next is the Deluxe CD box which comes with a lot of really nice goodies.

There's stickers, art cards, the booklet, and the CD.  I'm honestly not quite sure what I'm going to do with the art cards and stickers.  I for some reason always leave stickers as they are since I'm like scared of sticking them to something and then changing my mind but they're stuck there forever lolololol.  I'm thinking I might stick the art cards and the postcard on my wall as well, but again I have the same problem of sticking them on the walls and possibly damaging them. 

A closer look at the CD.

And there's also this poster as well that is also on my wall now.  (Also please ignore strawberry shortcake and friends on the wallpaper - I did not choose them, they were on the walls since before I was born xD )

Also I saved the labels that were on the shrink wrap since these are historic now!

And last but certainly lost least is the regular old CD.  I decided to leave it in the shrink wrap, unopened.  I'm not doing this for any particular reason, like I'm not planning on reselling anything, I just didn't see the need to open it.  Plus there's a poster on the inside of it as well I believe, but I think it's the same one as the poster in the deluxe box.

And now for my other goodies.  While I was waiting for Voyage to come out, I decided to do some more shopping on discogs since I have an addiction... lol just kidding but I really do like buying things on discogs and decided to add yet another record to my ABBA record collection since I can't get enough of these. xD  For fun, I added Gracias Por La Musica to my collection.

And then I decided to have even more fun and purchased ABBA in Concert and ABBA in Japan, again for no reason in particular. :)

ABBA in Japan also comes with some goodies, but again I don't know what to do with them. xD  They will probably just stay in the DVD box.

And while these are not official ABBA merch, here are two posters I ordered from my RedBubble store. :)  Both are available for sale btw, just the ABBA logo is not there in the I Still Have Faith In You one because I don't think I'm allowed to do that.

I still can't believe that ABBA released a new album despite listening to it pretty much every day since it came out. xD  Thank you ABBA, for the music, and for everything.  This was a dream come true. :)

Happy 76th birthday, Frida!

Wishing a happy 76th birthday to this dancing queen. Thank you for the music, and thank you so much for this new ABBA album. We love you Frida! ❤️🎉

 

Voyage - my thoughts and review

The moment has arrived.  I have listened to ABBA's new album, and let me just say I love it.  I actually caved in and listened to the album before midnight using a VPN, I'm sorry I couldn't wait anymore, and the first time I listened to the album in full, I didn't quite know how to react, if I liked it or not.  I'm the type of person who is resistant to anything new.  Like I remember when Sabrina Carpenter's 2nd album came out in 2016, and it was a different style to what I was used to, so I didn't like it at all.  And then her next album from 2018 came out and was a completely different style.  However after listening to her music enough times, I got used to it. 

I've always loved every single one of ABBA's songs, like I'm that rare breed that loves all of them, even songs like I Saw It In The Mirror and King Kong Song.  And I was afraid that I wouldn't like any of the new songs.  It had taken me a few listens to really fall in love with I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down, and thank goodness after three listens to the full Voyage album (I'm currently on my 4th listen now :') ), I can say that I love the album.  Of course I have favorite songs off the album, tracks I like even more than others, but I don't dislike any of the tracks.  I can officially say that I love every single ABBA song.

Here are my thoughts on all the songs:

1. I Still Have Faith In You

This song is the perfect into to the album.  I love this song, I love the chorus. I love B&B's backup vocals at the end.  I remember being so emotional hearing this song when it first played during the YouTube livestream.   I still get so emotional hearing it.  This song is the song that brought ABBA back, and I just love it so much.

2. When You Danced With Me

This song is such a fun little upbeat tune.  I heard it's inspired by Irish music, and it definitely gives that vibe.  It also for some reason reminds me a lot of two Ted Gardestad's songs, Regnbågen and Klöversnoa, and also for some reason also of The Piper.  I'm a sucker for happy sounding songs, so I like this one a ton.

3. Little Things

Okay, so I will admit, I was a little surprised when I heard there was gonna be an Xmas song on the album, since ABBA had never done Xmas songs (I mean original xmas songs, like this song).  Now I'm Jewish, so I like never listen to any holiday music.  I can't relate to the song at all, but I will admit that it gives off this very cozy and intimate vibe, and I do like it.  Ive never liked children singing for some reason, (Not talking about I Have A Dream - the kids sound great there) but aside from that, I do like the song.  Its very pretty. :)   (also every time I see the title of this song I think of Little Things by One Direction ahaha)

4. Don't Shut Me Down

I have listened to this song so many times, I can't even write a review for this song haha.  It's definitely one of my favorite ABBA songs ever dare I say.  So upbeat, so fun.  I love.

5. Just A Notion

So after hearing the entire album in full, I will say this song sounds almost a little out of place, however, I will never be angry that they included this song on the album because I freaking love this song, always have, always will.  And like I've said before, hearing ABBA in their prime again is just so comforting, and this song is just amazing. I love it.

6. I Can Be That Woman

This song reminds me very much of Agnetha's My Colouring Book album, and also a bit like Roxette, like from their Charm School era. (I'm thinking of No One Makes It On Her Own.)  It's such a sad song, but hopeful as well, and also Agnethas vocals are beautiful.  The chorus especially.  Frida's backup vocals.  Absolutely beautiful.  It might just be me, but I think there's some pitch correction on this track.  Not a bad thing, btw.  Like I may not like autotune, but I understand why artists use it and it's alright.  I love Tammy the dog, btw. 

7. Keep An Eye On Dan

THIS SONG IS ALSO SUPER DEPRESSING BUT SO GOOD AT THE SAME TIME.  ABBA's specialty - uptempo tunes with depressing lyrical content. (Like Knowing Me, Knowing You.)  Also that chorus is so catchy.  Like of all the songs, this chorus has been stuck repeating in my head.  And the synths after the chorus.  This song is just amazing.  Some instruments in the song remind me very much of As Good As New despite this song being completely different.  I also really like the boys' backup vocals.  I kind of wish they were in the other songs.  Like to me, the ABBA magic needs the boys' adding harmonies, and the lack of the boys' in the Spanish album is quite noticeable.  The little nod to SOS at the end is so cute too.  Very sweet.  Overall such a good song.

8. Bumblebee

This song is pretty slow, but I really like it, and the meaning as well.  There are parts of Frida's vocals in the chorus that remind me so much of Andante, Andante, not quite sure why, but that's what comes to mind.  And also the instruments remind me a lot of Bjorn and Benny's Träskofolket from 1971, and also the drums remind me of Fernando.  

9. No Doubt About It

I think this might be my favorite song on the whole album.  When I hear this song, I hear Shine era Frida and I love it.  Frida just sounds incredible on this album.  So powerful.  I LOVE.  Such a fun song, super upbeat.  I can't even put into words how ABBA this song is for me.  Not saying the other songs aren't ABBA, just this song makes me thing of ABBA in the Super Trouper era with Elaine.  (Also I used to bite my nails a lot so hahaha I relate)

10. Ode To Freedom 

This song is such a beautiful ending to the album.  It almost doesn't match up with the other songs, but also ABBA's albums have never been overly cohesive, so no complaints from me.  It reminds me a lot of Benny's work after ABBA, like Klinga Mina Klocker, like something he and Bjorn would write for BAO.  Very very pretty though.  Also kinda gives me  Arrival song vibes, also The Piper.  Very haunting. 

(Guess what, I've looped the album again hahahah)

Overall, I love this album.  To me, this album is proof that ABBA can sing in legitimately any style and they will always pull it off.  I like variety of styles in each song, and I like that there's a nice even handed amount of songs for the ladies.  Like Agnetha and Frida each kind of have a slow and a fast song.  (Slow: Bumblebee/I Can Be That Woman - Fast: No Doubt About It/Don't Shut Me Down)  And then the rest of the songs are mostly sang by the both of them together.  I love Bjorn and Benny's backup vocals as heard on I Still Have Faith In You and Keep An Eye On Dan.  I really wish they were heard more in all the other songs, but it's okay.  I'm just happy we have new ABBA songs in 2021.  A new album!  It doesn't sound real! :O  

Now I know when people think of ABBA, the first thing that comes to mind is Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, "bubblegum" pop as you will, and this album definitely isn't that.  There's a more mature sound to this album, a followup to The Visitors almost.  ABBA have never really stuck to the same style, like every single album is different, sounds different.  Say for example, when you compare Ring Ring to Voulez-Vous, they're very, very different.  Yet there's always that familliar ABBA sound, and ABBA have still managed to keep that same sound despite how many years it's been and how much their style has changed for this album. 

Okay, so I kind of wish there were more songs where the ladies sang together, or if there was a song where one sings one verse, and the other sings the other, kind of like The Way Old Friends Do, or more songs with harmonies like there are in the verses of Chiquita and Fernando.  But I really have no complaints about this album.  I just love it so much.  And I am just so excited to get my physical copies of the album, on record and CD.  I'm especially excited to hear it on the record player.  

Anyways, my hands are dying from all this typing. (I'm in the midst of doing Nanowrimo, and all that typing plus this review is giving my fingers quite the workout >.< ), but I think I will enjoy listening to this album on repeat for the next while, and I figure I need to now make updates to some of my older compilations, like songs that include seasons (Summer in Bumblebee), songs that include names (Tammy the dog and Dan) and also places (Kilkenny in When You Danced With Me.)

I'm just so happy.  I've devoted half my life to this band, and I'm so grateful for everything ABBA has given me.  Thank you so much ABBA, for the music and for the generous love and all the fun.  This has absolutely been the best treat, and it has been so special.  Thank you for letting me experience what it feels like waiting for an ABBA album to come out.  Even though no one likes waiting for things, I enjoyed anticipating this album.  Thank you ABBA for this last, beautiful album.  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  

I hereby give this album a 10/10, 5 stars out of 5, 100%, A+.

Tonight at midnight....

ABBA's 9th album Voyage is released to the entire world at midnight, local time.  For some people in different time zones, midnight has already happened and they've been able to listen to the entire album already.  I however still have about 12 hours to go until then...  The anticipation is quite nerve wracking, but I know it will all be worth the wait.  The lyrics have already been released on Genius, so I've been able to read through those at least.  From what I can tell, this album deals with some pretty heavy stuff, but there's nothing wrong with that. :)

Part of me wonders if I for some reason won't like any of the new songs, but seeing as I fell in love with I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down fairly quickly (I've always loved Just A Notion since the Undeleted days haha), I'm hopeful that I will love the remaining 7 songs as well.

I still can't believe that ABBA have a new album.  The four of them got back together in the studio and made a new album.  It's absolutely crazy, that after nearly 40 years they decided it was time to reunite.  

 

In other news, a 20 second trailer was released for the ABBA Voyage concert, and the show looks amazing as I anticipated, but I was mostly interested in the closeup shots of their outfits.  Again I do not have super detailed shots of all of their outfits, but I have some more information at least for when I do eventually make these outfits for my dolls. :D

We can see now that Benny's ensemble for the green/blue and red outfits is a suit jacket over a v-necked shirt, and both have these lovely designs all over them.  There's even this pretty design on the back of his jacket as well.  Also for some reason the designs on these outfits remind me a lot of Frida and Agnetha's dresses in the When All Is Said And Done music video...

We can also see that Agnetha's outfit is pretty much matching to Frida's with the same collar and such, and also that the design on Bjorn's jacket is a sparkly red.

I am just so excited about all of this, and I cannot wait to hear the album and maybe share my thoughts on all the songs later tonight...?

Happy 10th birthday, Bjorn Uldollus

 10 years ago today, I put in the finishing stitches on my Bjorn doll.  Happy 10th birthday, Bjorn Uldollus. :'D

And tonight is very special, it's a night for me and you...

 Just A Notion has officially been released, worldwide at midnight, local time.  I really like it, but also I happen to be amongst the minority who legitimately loves every single ABBA song.  However this song I especially love as it was always one of my favorites on the Undeleted medley (Givin' A Little Bit More is my top favorite from the medley *hint hint* ABBA plz release it xD ) 

I think ABBA have done a fabulous job redoing the backing track.  In all honestly, I think I prefer the instruments from the undeleted medley a little more, however I still really, really like this more modern one.  I think Benny's really given a chance to shine with his piano parts, and also I love that all four members are singing in the verses as it makes me super happy whenever they all sing together for some reason. :)  In the chorus, I kinda wish Agnetha and Frida's vocals were kept at the same volume as they were in Undeleted, as this one makes it super hard to hear Frida, but you can still hear her so it's alright.

Also I know it has been said that this song features entirely old vocals from 1978, however I have a sneaking suspicion the last lines in the song (I, I think it's more than a notion/In a moment, that dream is about to come true) might be a modern recording.  If that's true, then I really like how similar Agnetha and Frida can sound to their younger selves, despite some age coming through.  

Anyways, all in all, I love Just A Notion, and I am so happy to finally get to hear ABBA's version in full, and I am really looking forward to hearing the remaining 7 songs in just two weeks time!

Avatar Costume Analysis

Two posts in one day, can you believe it..? xD  

As you all know, I devote a lot of my time to recreating ABBA's costumes in miniature for my doll costumes.  I like to sew and remake things as accurately as possible, and that means that I of course want to remake the ABBA-tars costumes for my dolls because they are new ABBA costumes and I want my ABBA dolls to have all of the costumes haha.  Now I do have my issues with the ABBA-tar costumes, because in my humble opinion, they look kinda like the type of knockoff costumes a tribute band would wear, as sort of ABBA-inspired costumes.  See this, this, and this , just to put a few examples.  However, I respect the costumes chosen for the ABBA-tars, and I have a desire to remake them for my dolls.

So far, we know of at least two outfits that the ABBAtars wear on stage - the glittery ones and the red/green ones.

Unfortunately there aren't many close up photos of these costumes available yet, so I don't have much reference, but here's what I can tell based on the little footage we have of them:

Agnetha's glittery costume looks to be a two-piece outfit - a slightly flared t-shirt paired with an asymmetrical skirt.  The (digital) fabric looks like a sequiny fabric, like this one on amazon.  Her outfit is an aqua blue color, and she wears black boots with a bit of a slouch to them.  On the below photo, the boots look to be a solid black, but in the ISHFIY music video, they look like they could have some sparkle to them, like Frida's boots.

Benny's wearing a sparkly grey top, though it is unclear if it is long sleeved or short sleeved.  He's also wearing a matching long, thin scarf of the same material.  Interesting choice to have the scarf and shirt of the same material, but that's ok.  From the little I can see in the music video, his pants could be black, though I don't know if they're plain material or sparkly as well.

Frida's outfit is a sparkly silver, I'm assuming the same material as Benny's outfit.  Her outfit is also two pieces, though the t-shirt isn't flared like Agnetha's, but the skirt is the same.  She wears a belt, whereas Agnetha doesn't, and her boots are a sparkly silver and the same style as Agnetha's.  I do like how their costumes are similar yet different. :)

Bjorn wears a sparkly t-shirt that for some reason to me loos like it could be a sparkly gold, but it is extremely hard to tell from the lighting in the video.  His pants could be black as well, but again, not sure.

Next we have the red/green outfits.  There aren't many clear photos of these at all, but the cover for the new Just a Notion single seems to give us very, very little, but a little more details of the ladies' outfits.

 Agnetha wears a greenish/blueish ensemble.  It looks like it could be one piece, but also could be two separate pieces.  The top looks a little bit like a loosefit sweater almost, with wide sleeves that gather in at the cuffs.  The pants are flared and remind me very much of her white jumpsuit from 1974/75.  There appears to be a floral pattern of sorts going across the top and down the pants, reminding me of the blue satin suits. And it looks like she's wearing heels of the same color.  Very matchy-matchy.

Frida's outfit is very similar to Agnetha's, but in red, though from the photos below, it looks like the sleeves could be more flared, and shaped kinda like a semi-circle if that makes any sense. xD  There is an actual name for that type of sleeve, but it is not coming to me right now.  

Based on the cover photo for the Just A Notion single, it looks like the front of Frida's outfit has a very long, slit collar (I'm sure there's a more proper term for this, but I do not know it xD), reminding me of Agnetha's outfit on the cover of Voulez-Vous, or Frida's silver "snakeskin" jumpsuit from 1974, just not as plunging. 

Bjorn's wearing a white suit jacket and red pants that also have some sort of design on the bottom of the pant legs.

And Benny's outfit is only seen from the side, but the silhouette of the outfit reminds me of his blue outfit from the 1979 tour, just short sleeved.  He seems to be wearing a matching top and trousers, in the same color, and there looks to be some sparkle.

Based on this snapshot, Bjorn's jacket has like this dark design going up the front, maybe with some sparkle, and he wears a white button down shirt with it.

To me, Bjorn's outfit looks very 1980s, whereas the girls' outfits are very early/mid-70s, but I have no further details on Benny's outfit so I don't really have an opinion on that.  

I'm hoping there will be more detailed photos of their outfits, but for now I hope this analysis is useful to anyone else interested in all the details of their costumes.  Here's hoping we get more high quality photos of their outfits because this girl really wants to sew. xD

Also should I try to make the motion-capture suits for my dolls as well as the futuristic outfits or is that overkill..?