New ABBA Deluxe Edition on the way

Taken from ABBA The Site:

June 2006
Arrival Deluxe Edition on the way

The classic 1976 album, featuring hits such as Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Knowing You and Money, Money, Money, to be released in an expanded edition with bonus tracks and a companion DVD featuring unique television performances.

October 2006 is the preliminary release date for the upcoming Deluxe Edition of ABBA's classic Arrival album. Originally issued 30 years ago, in October 1976, Arrival is one of ABBA's most successful albums. It topped the album charts in at least 10 nations and was the biggest-selling album of 1977 in several countries.

The upcoming Deluxe Edition, which also celebrates the album's 30th Anniversary, will feature two discs. Disc 1 is the original album, expanded with relevant bonus tracks. Disc 2 will contain classic television archive material, some of which has rarely been seen since originally broadcast. All material on the DVD is previously unreleased on DVD.

The DVD track list is almost finalised, and we can reveal that the excellent 1976 television special ABBA-dabba-dooo!! (aka ABBA From The Beginning) - featuring interviews with the ABBA members and performances of 8 of the 10 songs on the Arrival album - will be the main attraction on the DVD. All songs will be synchronised with the latest stereo masters, except the two live numbers Dum Dum Diddle and Why Did It Have To Be Me, and When I Kissed The Teacher, which featured a unique, early mix that differed from the album version. These three songs will appear as originally broadcast.

The final track list for the DVD of the Arrival Deluxe Edition will be revealed here at ABBA - The Site before the end of June. Watch this space...


Disc 1, CD track list:

1. When I Kissed The Teacher
2. Dancing Queen
3. My Love, My Life
4. Dum Dum Diddle
5. Knowing Me, Knowing You
6. Money, Money, Money
7. That’s Me
8. Why Did It Have To Be Me
9. Tiger
10. Arrival

BONUS TRACKS

11. Fernando
12. Happy Hawaii
13. Fernando (Spanish version)
14. La Reina Del Baile (Spanish version of Dancing Queen)
15. Conociéndome, Conociéndote (Spanish version of Knowing Me, Knowing You)
16. Fernando (Frida’s Swedish solo version)


Disc 2, DVD track list:

1. ABBA-dabba-dooo!!, one-hour television special, first broadcast in 1976

The remaining DVD tracks will be revealed shortly...

 

Already discussed here:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=84098

 

The CD is likely a direct port over from the COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS box set, since the track listing is identical, down to the bonus tracks. I continue to be impressed with the remastering job done on that box set, making these old songs sound so much warmer than they did on the Astley remastered stuff.

Though I bought the box set last December, I hadn't really listened to it all that much, mainly because I tend to prefer ABBA's hit material to the filler tracks on the albums. As a result, when I've been in an ABBA mood, I'd be more likely to grab the GOLD compilation - it sounds a bit better than that Astley ULTIMATE COLLECTION.

Then a week or so ago, I found the new GREATEST HITS compilation in Borders. Knowing I didn't really need it, but curious anyway, I bought it. What I found was that the songs on this disc sounded so much warmer and more natural than the shrill masterings I was used to. That got me to dig out the box set again and do some exploring. The tracks on the box set are the same remasters as on this new GREATEST HITS issue.

Today, I decided to make my own assembly of GREATEST HITS VOL. 2. I looked up the track listing and made up a CD-R of those 14 tracks. It came out astoundingly nice. I highly recommend that box set to any fan of ABBA. Though I haven't heard the original Atlantic-issued versions of these two GREATEST HITS CDs, I can't imagine them sounding any better than these current remasterings.

As for the new ARRIVAL disc, I'll probably pick it up for the unique video offerings, assuming it is not a PAL disc. The DVDs in my box set were not PAL, and I bought it in Germany!

Harry

 

Wouldn't it be a dream to have disc 1 in SACD? Of course now if I wanted that from both discs I'd just be greedy. As it is, though, no sale.