ABBA – The Best Of ABBA

Sound 10/10.
Music 10/10.
Value for money 10/10.
Only complain Visitors not included.
Will be very difficult to find a copy of Visitors which would sound as good.
Best kept secret.

What a super box set this is… sound is incredible (the best of any ABBA vinyl I own), and the whole thing is really well put together. Even includes the longer album versions of certain songs (like Eagle) which I wasn’t expecting here.

As I understand it, this was the last time the master tapes were used for any Abba compilation. It's a superb set and does sound great and comes highly recommended. No need to pay a fortune for it either.

ABBA - The Best Of ABBA
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ABBA are a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1983.
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The Best of ABBA is a compilation greatest hits album by Swedish pop group ABBA, first released in August 1975 in the Netherlands. It was then released in West Germany, and then in Australia and New Zealand in November 1975, before being released in Austria and India in 1976. Despite not being released in Norway, imports led the album to chart. After import copies were being sold in Scandinavia, ABBA's Greatest Hits was rush-released there in November 1975. The album topped the charts in Australia, Austria and New Zealand, and went on to be certified 24× Platinum in New Zealand and 22× Platinum in Australia. The album is tied with Dire Straits' album Brothers in Arms for being the best-selling album in New Zealand.
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A1 Waterloo
A2 Voulez-Vous
A3 Tropical Loveland
A4 S.O.S.
A5 Rock Me
A6 If It Wasn't For The Nights
A7 Hole In Your Soul
B1 Eagle
B2 Money, Money
B3 When I Kissed The Teacher
B4 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
B5 Kisses Of Fire
B6 Dum Dum Diddle
B7 So Long
C1 Summer Night City
C2 Hey, Hey Helen
C3 That's Me
C4 Knowing Me, Knowing You
C5 Nina Pretty Ballerina
C6 Lovers (Live A Little Longer)
C7 Move On
D1 Tiger
D2 Take A Chance On Me
D3 He Is Your Brother
D4 Watch Out
D5 Does Your Mother Know
D6 Bang-A-Boomerang
D7 I'm A Marionette
E1 Arrival
E2 Chiquitita
E3 Why Did It Have To Be Me?
E4 One Man One Woman
E5 Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
E6 Hasta Mañana
E7 The King Has Lost His Crown
F1 Dancing Queen
F2 My Love, My Life
F3 I've Been Waiting For You
F4 Mamma Mia
F5 Suzy-Hang-Around
F6 The Winner Takes It All
F7 I Wonder (Departure)
G1 I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
G2 As Good As New
G3 Another Town, Another Train
G4 Fernando
G5 Angel Eyes
G6 Gonna Sing You My Love Song
G7 Ring, Ring
H1 The Name Of The Game
H2 People Need Love
H3 Man In The Middle
H4 I Have A Dream
H5 My Mama Said
H6 Honey, Honey
H7 Thank You For The Music
I1 Super Trouper
I2 Intermezzo No. 1
I3 Me And I
I4 Rock'N'Roll Band
I5 Elaine
I6 Andante, Andante
I7 Happy New Year
J1 Lay All Your Love On Me
J2 Crazy World
J3 The Piper
J4 The Way Old Friends Do
J5 Lovelight
J6 Our Last Summer
J7 On And On And On
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This album is the personification of what ABBA is. It is the best ABBA compilation ever despite it's long track listing, and with 5 LPs included it does take a while to listen to. Despite this, it has so many amazing songs that I cant even list them because it would make this too long! The only reason this is not a 10/10 is due to the price, ABBA - The best of ABBA can be seen going for as high as £100 in decent condition on sites such as eBay. This really puts a cap on the amount of people who may be willing to spend the money for it. However I do think that it is worth the money if you can afford it and are willing to spend the money.
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Album Score: 9/10

This contains all their best songs in a unique order so enjoyable for any ABBA fan. From the reviews online I was hoping it was a hidden audiophile gem because as a fan and audiophile I have been searching for a higher sound quality of their songs. This box set is a good pressing of what was produced on their recordings but does not offer improvements like modern remixes. It is very good quality considering it is 40 years old. The records are perfectly flat with minimal noise. The recent colored vinyl box set of all their albums is probably remastered with some improvements (may be digital, I don’t know) but the Reader’s Digest is an interesting collection if you are a collector and it is nostalgic.

This is by far the best I’ve ever heard ABBA, the discs are simply amazing

I have a 2nd hand copy off eBay and apart from a small scratch on one of the discs (I’ll grab another set and replace that disc), the sound is genuinely amazing

Note that it doesn’t include anything from The Visitors, must have been compiled just before

Highly recommended

Take it seriously, under the corny envelope you get the Beatles in mono for ABBA fans: Edited in 1982 when masters where fresh and ABBA let other labels borrow them. It has a guarantee of quality by Reader's Digest, dropping the needle let you now that the claims are accurate. It is probably the best old copy available and the reason is because it came up in an audiophile sleeve with antistatic inner cover, hence if barely played the package itself has kept the collection in optimal conditions.
It comprehends 5 albums with songs obviously chosen for space reasons rather chronological order, LPs are very thin but a marble of later analog technology. The collection doesn't only laugh at CD´s, it kills many stereotypes about Vinyl, regardless of being thin with long playing time in excess of 42 minutes; bass is all present, treble and stereo image spot on, noise floor is very low. I do notice that you have to crank it up if you wanna match it to a 45s version but that's it all, details and dynamics are there if you match the volume. I have ripped it and turned into my main digital copy. Only "Kisses of Fire" has a click that I decided to erase in the digital domain. On the other hand"Bang-a-boomerang" gets the less distorted play I ever heard. The only problem with this Collection is the impossibility to find a current recording of that quality, in my humble opinion only the 1/2 speed masters are a match and I dislike 45s, hence I barely play them anymore out of fear, not even my copy of the "Dark Side of the Moon" is taken care in that way. This Collection is audiophile material disguise in "for the granny envelope". Do not pass upon it.

This box-set arrived today and...wow...that’s the best I’ve ever heard ABBA on vinyl. Fantastic deep bass and razor sharp treble. One of the best purchases I’ve made on Discogs so far!

This is an excellent-sounding box set as has been said before. It also contains the majority of Abba's released output. Abba, Arrival, The Album, Voulez-Vous and Super Trouper are here completely. Even some B-sides like Lovelight and Crazy World have been thrown in. The only album tracks missing here are:

- Disillusion (Ring Ring)
- I Am Just a Girl (Ring Ring)
- I Saw It In The Mirror (Ring Ring)
- King Kong Song (Waterloo)
- Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough) (Ring Ring)
- Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother (Ring Ring)
- She's My Kind of Girl (Ring Ring)
- Sitting In the Palmtree (Waterloo)
- What About Livingstone (Waterloo)

Additionally, there are no tracks from The Visitors.

Some random track notes:

- Many tracks have reversed channels as compared to recent CD/iTunes deluxe editions
- "Man In The Middle" doesn't have the vocal effect at 2:26 unlike the album mix.
- "The Way Old Friends Do" begins with applause unlike any currently available digital version of this track - perhaps this version was taken from Super Trouper's album master tape.

Best sounding abba on vinyl
promo copies also are very good