Happy 76th birthday, Agnetha!

 Today we wish our Queen of Hearts a very, very happy 76th birthday. Happy birthday Agnetha! I hope she has an incredible day celebrating with all her loved ones. 

Många Gånger Än

 So I've been doing some research for a new YouTube video that is kinda a remake of an older video with more accurate information, a lot of which is actually coming from Remko van Drongelen's "Frida Beyond ABBA."  In that book he includes information on recording sessions for songs that Frida contributed backing vocals for, like for example, Harpo's Moviestar or various Ted Gärdestad albums.  And among the list of songs that Frida contributed vocals to are a good number of songs from Agnetha's 1972 När En Vacker Tanke Blir En Sång album.

I've always known that from 1971 onward, the ABBA members sang backing vocals on each others' work frequently.  Like Björn, Benny, and Agnetha all appear on Frida's Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan, Kom Och Sjung en Sång, and Ska Man Skratta Eller Gråta, and Vi Ar Alla Bara Barn I Borjan, but I didn't know that Björn recording backing vocals was actually a lot less frequent than I would have thought. For example, he does not sing on Frida's Min Egen Stad, leaving only Benny and Agnetha, nor does he sing on the majority of tracks from Agnetha's När En Vacker Tanke Blir En Sång, leaving only Frida and Benny.

The tracks that feature both Frida and Beny are Kanske var min kind lite het, Sången föder dig tillbaka, Tågen kan gå igen, and Dröm är dröm och saga saga.  Up until now I had assumed that the prominent male backing vocals on Tågen kan gå igen, were from Björn, but now I know that its, in fact, Benny.

Which leaves me to wonder now, what about the prominent male vocals on the track Många Gånger Än?  There are no prominent female backing vocals other than from Agnetha, and since the track is not listed in in "Frida Beyond ABBA" as having an appearance from Frida, we know she's not on the track.  

Again, I always just assumed it was Björn singing the backing vocals, but considering Björn does not sing on any of the other tracks from her album, I think it is safe to assume that it is actually Benny singing backing vocals on Många Gånger Än, which I honestly find to be so incredibly adorable!  I can't think of any other song from ABBA's discography or any other ABBA-related track that features just Benny and Agnetha, so that kinda makes this a very unique track in that way, and I'm happy to have possibly discovered this new aspect of the song!

Happy 75th birthday, Agnetha!

Wishing a very, very happy 75th birthday to Ms. Agnetha Faltskog, our Queen of Hearts ❤️❤️❤️ I hope she has an incredible day celebrating with all her loved ones.

 

3 years of ABBA Voyage

Three years ago today, ABBA's 9th and final studio album to date, Voyage was released! I still will never get over the fact that my favorite band ever, the group that I have pretty much dedicated the last 14 years to, actually made music again - the one thing they had had pretty vowed not to do during their 40 year hiatus.

When Agnetha and Frida sing together on top of Bjorn's crafty lyrics and Benny's impeccable compositions, the result is just magical. Even after 40 years, they still managed to capture the same essence that was ABBA from the 70s and 80s into 10 new tracks.

 Last night while working on this drawing (which I'm aware is not from any of the Voyage sessions but that's because I've already drawn pretty much all the voyage pictures haha), I listened to the entire Voyage album from start to finish.  It's nothing new for me to listen to the album from track 1 all the way to track 10 because I'm always listening to ABBA's albums in full, but as I was listening, I couldn't get over how unequivocally ABBA it is.  Even with 39 years since their last recording session, the sound of ABBA was there.  And I'm not just talking about their voices and the music.

We have songs that are about the close bond that people can have (I Still Have Faith In You), slow ballads as well as upbeat dance-able tracks (Just A Notion) and then some happy tracks with hint of melancholy (Don't Shut Me Down and When You Danced With Me).  We have songs about family - be it relationship/marital/divorce issues (No Doubt About It and Keep An Eye On Dan) or just family life (Little Things.)  We have songs that seem downright depressing until the final chorus of the song when we're left with a hint of hopefulness that maybe things are going to be alright in the end (I Can Be That Woman.)  And we have songs that are profound and philosophical (Ode To Freedom) and songs that are commenting on issues with today's world (Bumblebee.)  Just to name a few recurring themes.

I feel like a lot of people who just know ABBA as the band that provided the music to Mamma Mia or as just the band who has only the tracklist of ABBA Gold, aka uncultured dummies hahahhaha jkjkjkjkjk don't realize that these are all topics that ABBA have covered throughout their prior 8 albums.  I've talked a lot of this in my song analysis series that I will get back to posting when I feel like it, but here are some examples of past ABBA songs that are about the same topics. 

Relationship/Marital/Divorce issues: The Winner Takes It All, Hey Hey Helen

Philosophical: Move On

Social Commentary: What About Livingstone

Family life: Slipping Through My Fingers

Songs that are kinda depressing but then leave us with a hint of hopefulness at the end: One Man, One Woman

Close bond/friendship: The Way Old Friends Do

And these are just the ones that I can name off the top of my head.

Even from the moment I first heard the Voyage album in full, it just felt like an ABBA album.  Everything about it screams ABBA, and I cannot be more grateful to have been there to witness this momentous album, and still to this day listen to this album on the regular. 

Happy 3 years of Voyage, the Album. ❤️

Song Analysis - I'm Still Alive

 As part of ABBA's 1979/80 tour, ABBA would present the audience with a couple new tracks that had been written specifically to be included in the tour.  Those songs were The Way Old Friends Do as part of the encore, and I'm Still Alive.  However, unlike The Way Old Friends Do, I'm Still Alive was written by Agnetha, making it her second ever written contribution to ABBA's discography.  Similar to her first contribution Disillusion in 1973, the music was composed by Agnetha and the lyrics were written by Bjorn.  

After performing Intermezzo No.1, Benny would introduce I'm Still Alive as written by Agnetha "the little blonde girl", and Agnetha would go on to perform the song at the piano along with the rest of ABBA's band and the backing vocalists.  However, seeing as the other ABBA members don't sing the song with her, I've wondered if this song really is an ABBA song or not?  Similar to Tomas Ledin's performance of Not Bad At All during the same tour, is Agnetha just performing one of her own songs during the tour but the song itself is hers and not an actual ABBA song?  I personally classify it as an ABBA song, hence why I'm writing about it today. 

I'm Still Alive is a very classic Agnetha Faltskog song.  A slower ballad with themes of heartbreak and loneliness.  The song is about someone going through a pretty bad breakup, with lots of crying and being alone, and one point even thinking they were dying, yet, despite all of that, they affirm that they're still here, they're still alive, and not only that, they have emerged a stronger person.  Life will go on, even at it's slow pace, and eventually the painful memories will fade away.  In a way, this song is like the total opposite of Disillusion.  In that song, Agnetha sings about how all she is after this painful breakup is disillusioned, and that's all she is, but in I'm Still Alive, she feels like a winner because now she's stronger than ever and will not let the events of her heartbreak keep her down. And now, the next time something like this happens, she'll know how to deal with it and knows that no matter what, she will be okay.

One thing I find to be fascinating is the mention of winner and loser, a theme that would show up one year later in ABBA's The Winner Takes It All, a song that was inspired by but not the actual story of Agnetha and Bjorn's breakup, and then also the title I'm Still Alive, as that line would also show up in the bridge of  Super Trouper (So I’ll be there when you arrive.  The sight of you will prove to me I’m still alive and when you take me in your arms and hold me tight, I know it’s gonna mean so much tonight ) a song that Bjorn wrote inspired by his then-girlfriend Lena while on tour.

Neither Agnetha nor ABBA ever recorded this song officially in the studio, and it wasn't until 2014 that we were blessed with an official release of this song on ABBA's Live At Wembley Arena album.  Up until then, all we had were bootleg audios from various concerts, and some visual bootleg footage as well, but nothing in high quality. And what a treat it was to hear it in pristine, high quality.  Even in the bootleg audios, you can hear that Agnetha delivered a beautiful and emotional performance, capturing the essence of the song in vocals perfectly.  

However, in 1981, Agnetha and her friend Ingela "Pling" Forsman were chosen to submit a song in that year's Melodifestivalen, and they wrote the song Men natten är vår which was performed by Kicki Moberg.  On the B-side of the single, Kicki performed a Swedish version of I'm Still Alive, titled Här Är Mitt Liv.

The Swedish lyrics are: 

Man tappar tron ibland, om vad man vill och kan
När alla vägar delar sej och ingen leder fram
Men det finns ändå drömmar kvar att kämpa för
En del ska försvinna, men mycket finns att finna

Och här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Du vet att det är svårt, att altid vara stark
Att kunna gå sin egen väg och stå på säker mark
När alla ljusa rum som fanns i glädjens hus
Det mörka och slutna och tillhör det förflutna

Men här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Ja här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Här...

which translates into English:

You sometimes lose faith in what you want and can do
When all roads divide and no one leads
But there are still dreams left to fight for
Some will disappear, but there is much to be found

And here at my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

You know it's hard to always be strong
To be able to go your own way and stand on safe ground
When all the bright rooms that were in the house of joy
The dark and closed and belongs to the past

But here at my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

Yes here is my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

Here...

So that's a brief little look and history into I'm Still Alive.  Kicki Moberg performed the song really well and honestly extremely similar to Agnetha's live performance, and definitely gives us a good feel for what I'm Still Alive could have sounded like if it had ever been recorded in the studio.  And of course, Agnetha performed the song beautifully as well.   

For funsies, I once I decided to take the live vocals of Agnetha sinigng I'm Still Alive and put them over the studio backing track of Har At Mitt Liv and I think it turned out decent lol.

11 years ago today

 It was 11 years ago today that Agnetha's 2013 album A was released worldwide.  I've mentioned this before, but this album is so dear to me.  I remember the hype of it all, the first single releases, hearing her voice in an all new recording.  I had only discovered ABBA in 2010, so this was my first new ABBA-related release to be a part of.  

To this day, this album still remains one of my top favorite.  I listened to it so much then and I still do now.  I once saw someone describe Agnetha's album as boring, and while I disagree that it's boring, I would say it is "delightfully boring."  Like, most of the tracks are slow and sweet and could be sung by anyone, yet Agnetha's voice just adds that extra something to make it so special.  

She did so much effort and promotion for this album, even performing live, publicly on stage for Children In Need at the end of the year.  And I feel so special to have been there to (virtually) witness it all.  

As always, I do like all the songs on this album, but my top favorites will always be The One Who Loves You Now, Back On Your Radio, and I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed, the latter being an original Agnetha composition, and it's always a treat when she writes music and shares it with us.  

And of course, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of A, last year she released a "remixed" version of the album, A+.  I like that album a lot too, and so many of the tracks that I initially wasn't too crazy about have become among my top favorites.  Specifically "When You Loved Someone (A+)" has grown on me a ton.

So happy birthday, A.  Thanks for being such a special album. :')

20 years ago today...

 It was 20 years ago today, in 2004, that Agnetha released her fourth English language solo album, My Colouring Book.  The album comprises of 13 covers of some of Agnetha's favorite songs from her childhood and throughout the early 70s, songs that she loves and remind her of happier times, exactly how some of us feel when we listen to her songs and ABBA's songs.  

I've always loved this album.  I mean I love all of her work, but this album is quite special.  It was the first time Agnetha had released a new album since her 1987 album, I Stand Alone.  Her voice is exceptionally strong on this album despite it being 17 years since she released anything, and her sings all of the songs with such passion and emotion.  Although I'm not the biggest fan of cover songs, I personally always believe that the original versions are best, I've never had a problem with covers that are respectful of the original work, not changing too much but also adding a very minuscule touch of originality.  Throughout Agnetha's entire career, she has covered a lot of artists but always did it in the best way, and the same goes for this album.  

Coincidentally, not realizing this album was coming up on it's 20th anniversary, I listened to this album in full a couple of days ago while drawing, and it's still such a good song.  I like all the tracks, well except for Past, Present, Future as that track is just so weird to me (this is my personal feelings on the song itself, not on Agnetha's presentation of the song!), but my top favorite would have to be I Can't Reach Your Heart, Sometimes When I'm Dreaming, and Love Me With All Your Heart.  But again, all the tracks are good.

 One of my favorite thing about Agnetha is that she makes music on her own terms.  She doesn't give into public pressure to release more music, she does project was just one entirely made up of her own passion for artists and songs she loves, and she did it completely out of her own volition.  She kept promotion of it to a minimum, as that seems to be one of her least favorite parts of making music, yet it went on to be quite successful.  And to this day, I think, it still is a really good, successful album.  

I've mention in the past how Agnetha's A album from 2013 was the first solo project from either of the ladies of ABBA that I was actively there for.  I didn't know of ABBA yet at all when this album came back - I was only three years old, so I couldn't have been aware of it, but it's nice to know that I was around at the time of this album's release. :)

50 years of ABBA - celebrating ABBA's Eurovision Win

 It was exactly 50 years ago today, that ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.  They had done something so unique for the time, performing a more rocky song than had ever been performed before, crafting an intricate image that helped them to stand out.  They pushed the boundaries and ultimately created a new standard for all future Eurovision Song Contests. 

Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Frida did an absolutely outstanding performance, with an amazing song, and an incredible appearance, and they couldn't have done it if not for their close bond and determination to win.

Their win was well deserved, and today we celebrate with them on this absolutely iconic and incredible day.  Happy 50th anniversary, ABBA.  Hip hip hurrah!

Happy 74th birthday, Agnetha!

 Today our very own Queen of Hearts, our dear Agnetha Faltskog, turns 74!  Happy happy birthday, Agnetha!

I hope she has an absolutely fantastic day, celebrating with all of her friends, family, and loved ones.  And as always, thank you for the music. <3

Song Analysis - Disillusion

 Disillusion is one of only two songs in ABBA's entire song catalog to have music written by Agnetha.  Having been a popular solo artist throughout Scandinavia, Agnetha had already written several songs that went on to become chart topping successes.  She was quite the songwriter, composing both original music and text by herself or often writing new lyrics to existing tunes, or even collaborating with other writers.  She proved herself to be quite a good songwriter, often writing songs that had to do with sadness and despair, breakups and heartache.  So it was no surprise that Bjorn and Benny would ask her to contribute something for Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha, and Frida's debut album.

Disillusion was originally written in Swedish for Agnetha's next solo album, Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus, though that album wouldn't be completed until two years later.  With Bjorn writing the lyrics, Disillusion is an Agnetha Faltskog classic, about someone who's still getting over a breakup.  "Wishing, hoping, chasing shadows. Did I see your face somewhere in the crowd? Thinking, wondering, what you’re doing, I can’t stop myself from crying out loud.They say my wound will heal and only leave a scar but then, they never shared our love."  The end of this relationship has clearly left the main character in deep despair, as they're still coming to terms with the end of the relationship.  

The song features just Agnetha on lead vocals, one of the few ABBA songs to just feature one of the As.  Agnetha carries the song perfectly, with the pain of the song's meaning quite visible in her voice.  Agnetha has always been an amazing storyteller in her songs, always perfectly conveying the emotions portrayed in the lyrics into her voice.  Honestly, this song is, dare I say, one of ABBA's saddest songs.  There's no resolution, nothing to look forward to.  Just disillusion.  

With Swedish lyrics by Agnetha's friend Bosse Carlgren, the song was released on Agnetha's next solo album, now with the title  Mina ögon.  The Swedish version also tells the story of a relationship coming to an end, with the first verse being (roughly translated via Google Translate) "My eyes, blue with joy, who got to see you smile with happiness, my friend.  My eyes, gray with anger as you kissed blue and soft again," only for the next verse to be "My eyes, as I ask, when I wonder if I dreamed you existed.  My eyes, which I torment every time I see your picture somewhere."  And then the chorus is "Do you remember my eyes where you saw how strong you were And how I burned, how the fire burned? My eyes fill with frozen fire like tears, My eyes fill with frozen fire that resembles tears." 

Both versions of the song are absolutely heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful.  

Also, if you'd like to take a closer look at some of Agnetha's compositions, I have a compilation on YouTube.

Agnetha Day

 It was 10 years ago today that I received Agnetha's autograph, signed on a postcard of her newest album, in the mail.  My younger self was absolutely ecstatic, not believing my eyes that I was holding her autograph in my hands!  Hands down one of the best days of my life.

 

So how fitting is it that my copy of her newest album, A+, arrived in the mail today.  The album took  a bit of a while to ship, leaving me to wonder if I ever was going to get it haha, but thank goodness it arrived today, and on all days to arrive, it was just super fitting. :')

I also got a T-shirt.  I do love me some merch. :'D

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. :')

Where do we go from here?

Back in 2013, I was entering my third year of being an obsessed ABBA fan. I had experienced a lot of shame and negativity from people who were disappointed at me for my obsession, but I had never let it stop me. I was probably in my ABBA peak at that time, drawing ABBA constantly, making animations to their songs, LEARNING TO MAKE THEIR CLOTHES FOR MY ABBA DOLLS, like, I was obsessed! (Still am, of course haha).

I had never once thought that any of the ABBA members would release new music in my lifetime. Okay, Frida released a song now and then, Benny was active with his band, and Agnetha had released a whole album in 2004, but I was 3 then lol and by the time I had discovered ABBA, things were fairly quiet.

So when A was announced, a whole new album from Agnetha Fältskog, I was HYPED! i was so excited the moment the album was announced, and then when it came out, I listened to it so much, often on repeat. All the promotion for the album, interviews and even a performance at BBC's Children in Need! I was so happy.

A holds a special place in my heart, and now with the album celebrating 10 years with a new, reimagined version, whatever that means, I am feeling that same thrill that 12-year-old me had. I'm just so excited.

I like the new song a lot. It's very upbeat and happy sounding, it feels very modern. Agnetha's voice is amazing. Regardless of how I feel about auto-tuning in songs, I fully accept that it's a tool that every artist uses nowadays to aim for the most perfect and crisp vocal out there. So if there is auto-tune on this track, I do not care. The fact that she's releasing new music makes me happy and I feel honored to have been able to experience new music from ABBA and Agnetha these last couple of years. :')

(Also I meant to post something about when this song was first announced last week and my thoughts, but I have been SUFFERING from getting my wisdom teeth removed and had just vomitted a ton when I first saw the announcement.... Yeah... it's been tough.  I seem to be on the tail end of things though, so hopefully no more of this PAIN soon enough. :) )

Happy ABBA day!

 49 years ago today, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with their epic performance of Waterloo, skyrocketing them into worldwide fame and success, and the rest of course is history! :D

Happy 73rd birthday, Agnetha!

 Wishing our Queen of Hearts, Miss. Agnetha Faltskog, the happiest 73rd birthday!  I hope she has an absolutely incredible day celebrating with her family and friends.  We love you Agnetha!

Happy 72nd birthday, Agnetha!

 Wishing a happy, happy birthday to this queen of hearts!  Thank you so much for joining up with Bjorn, Benny, and Frida again and gracing us with your beautiful voice once more. <3  We love you Agnetha!

Yet another collection update

Guess who's gone a little record-shopping happy. :3  

When I was a kid and just getting into this whole ABBA craze/obsession/whatever you want to call it, I always dreamed about getting hard copies of all of ABBA's work, be it pre-ABBA, during-ABBA or post-ABBA.  I just wanted it all.  Now, while I don't necessarily have everything everything, like I haven't bothered trying to find the Hep Stars or the Hootenanny Singers' work (yet that is hahahahahah), or Frida's pre-ABBA singles, I've gotten pretty close and I think I've found a good point to stop at.  For now that is.  You never know when that record bug's gonna bite again and I'll have to start spending more of my money on more vinyls....

Recently I finished my Agnetha and Frida solo album collection (excluding Agnetha's albums she did with her children that is.)  It's just absolutely surreal having their entire music in my possession, and in Agnetha's case, from when she was 17 years old all the way to her latest solo album when she was 63.  

Alright, so the goal was initially to get just the studio albums, but as I as hunting for records, I found Agnetha's 1979 compilation album celebrating 10 years of Agnetha being sold from the same seller as one of the other albums, so I snagged it to.  It's an absolutely lovely album, featuring a lot of her hit songs as well as a new one written especially for this album, När Du Tar Mig I Din Famn (which she also recorded as the Queen of Hearts later.)

The album also came with this really nice poster that i wasn't expecting, so I stuck that onto my wall.  Had to make a bit of room for it though as I'm pretty much out of wall space. 

 Next we have Agnetha's När En Vacker Tanke Blir En Sång, originally released in 1972.  I think all the records I bought are reissues, but I cannot tell you what year the resissue was. xD

Som Jag Ar, released in 1970,

Then Agnetha Faltskog Vol.2 from 1969,

And last but not least, Agnetha Faltskog from 1968. 

I'll tell you something I find to be rather odd yet funny about my version of Agnetha's first album.  As you can see on the back of the album, side 1 starts with Jag Var Sa Kar, and side 2 starts with Tack Sverige...

Yet oddly enough, on the record, side 1 starts with Tack Sverige,

and side 2 starts with Jag Var Sa Kar.

I don't know if this was a common error or I have a unique one, but it's interesting, that's for sure.

Next we have all of Frida's albums, the newest in my collection being her self-titled album from 1970 and produced by none other than Benny. :')

All the records play absolutely beautifully, I really enjoyed listening to them on the record player, there's this special feeling listening to them in the format they initially came out on, and I am sooo happy to have added them to my collection.  :')

ABBA-Tar Drawing

I haven't done a new drawing in a while, but I had to do a drawing of the new ABBA-tars. :D 

Record Collection Update - Post ABBA Edition

In December, 2020, I finished my ABBA record collection, and I didn't plan on buying anymore records, but then about a month ago I randomly decided to just window shop on Discogs and ultimately ended up buying a ton of things. As an ABBA fan, I've always wanted to have not just have a complete ABBA collection, but have a complete collection of the ABBA member's solo works.  

Usually my buying experiences have been pretty easy, but this time was a little bit confusing.  (No complaints against any sellers though!)  Thankfully everything in the end worked out, and all my records arrived safely and soundly.  :)  One of them I even bought from Sweden, and it took the longest to arrive, but that was to be expected.  

Anyways, I am really excited to finally have all of the ladies of ABBA's post-ABBA solo work in my collection.

To start, here is my Frida collection.

Here is Frida's first post-ABBA record, Something's Going On from 1982.  I know a lot of people don't like having stickers stuck on the front of their records, and while I don't quite like having a sticker blocking the lovely cover, I don't mind it all that much.  This record also has one of those "For Promotional Use" things printed on the front, and I only have one other record that has that.  I was told that those tend to mean that your record is rare, so I'm pretty happy. 

Next up we have Frida's 1984 album, Shine.  While the rest of my records are original releases, this is actually the 2017 rerelease of the album.  Since my dad and I upgraded our record player, almost all my records play incredibly, but this one was especially clear.  I also bough this one new, so that's pretty cool.

This is Frida's 1996 album, Djupa Antedag.  As far as I know, this wasn't released on vinyl, or at least not originally, which is why I have it as a CD.  I find it to be quite fascinating how the CD has all this installation information for Windows 95 I think it was.  I really like this album, even though it's entirely in Swedish and can't understand it perfectly.  But that's never stopped me.  I always listen to music in Swedish. :)

And here is my Agnetha post-ABBA collection.  Until now, I only had Agnetha's 2013 album, and now I have the rest of her solo albums.

Agnetha's first post-ABBA solo album, Wrap Your Arms Around Me, from 1983.  This one also has a lot of stickers on the front, but they're not obscuring anything. :)

Next is Eye's of a Woman from 1985.  For some reason no one was really selling this album in the US on Discogs, so I had to order it from Sweden.  

Then we have 1987's I Stand Alone.  I really like this album actually, and of Agnetha's solo albums, I think this one might be my favorite. :)

And last but certainly not least, we have Agnetha's 2004 comeback album, My Coloring Book.  I think this album was also released on record, but I chose to get it as a CD.  

So that's all I have for now.  I definitely hope to get the ABBA member's pre-ABBA solo work someday, but they aren't easily available in the US, but someday!  Until then, I really enjoyed completing my Agnetha and Frida post-ABBA solo collection, and I will definitely continue to enjoy listening to all of them. :)

Happy 71st birthday, Agnetha!

 Today Agnetha turns 71!  Happy birthday Agnetha! :D  I hope she has an incredible day celebrating with her family and loved ones. :)  In honor of her birthday, I did this drawing of her in 1978.

And yes, I do have a speedpaint video that I uploaded to my secondary YouTube channel for everyone to enjoy. :)  I uploaded a bunch of my old speedpaints there as well, so feel free to check that out if you'd like.