Abba - I Love Abba

This is a compilation album of Abba love songs. But is has surpisingly few hits. You would expect a compilation album released two years after the band stopped recording would have a lot of their hits. This doesn't. This album seems to be a mixture of early recordings before they were hugely popular (1975-1976) and a few of their hits. I'm not sure why I ever would have bought this ablum. I'm not really into love songs. I probably bought it just for the song Fernando. A lot of my ablums were purchased for just one song.

But lets use this as an example to discuss one of my album rating criteria: "Songs I've Heard per Album". The album gets one point for each song I've heard before. This will usually mean radio airplay. This is a purely subjective score based on my faulty memory. I'm sure there are songs that were popular and got a lot of airplay that I just don't remember. These aren't counted in the "Songs I've Heard per Album" criteria. The album only gets credit for songs I hear and remember. You may notice the category is "Songs I've Heard", not "Songs Other People Have Heard." Purely subjective.

This album scores a 5 on the "Songs I've Heard per Album" criteria: Cassandra, The Name of the Game, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, Chiquitita and Fernando.

The Songs I've Heard per Album criteria is just one piece of a complicated ratings formula that I have painstakingly perfected in the last five minutes. We'll discuss other criteria in the future.


Tracks:
1 - Cassandra
2 - The Name of the Game
3 - Should I Laugh or Cry
4 - Our Last Summer
5 - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
6 - Chiquitita
7 - Andante, Andante
8 - I Have a Dream
9 - My Love, My Life
10 - I Wonder (Departure)
11 - One Man, One Woman
12 - Slipping Through My Fingers
13 - Fernando
14 - Eagle

If I Could Pick The Next Single - Should I Laugh or Cry
I was going to pick a song that you should listen to after you listen to the hits. But this album doesn't have much else worth listening to. I picked the best of the worst. Have you ever been walking along and out of the corner of your eye, you notice what you think is a coin laying on the ground? But when you really look, you realize its a bottle cap, or some other piece of trash? Thats what this song is. The song starts out promising. Simple, not supergroupish at all. And the cord progression is not your standard pop song sound. But it doesn't go anywhere from there.

Don't Even Bother Listening To This One - One Man, One Woman
This was tough because there is a lot to choose from on this ablum. This track is just trying too hard. And the lyrics don't ring true from a band where everyone got a divorce.

Cover
The album cover plays a big part my my secret album rating system. Most of my albums were bought to get a specific song, or because I thought the album cover was cool. I think this album was bought for the song, not the cover. This album features cover art that shows a record player with a red vinyl album in the shape of a heart. It is unique in that it has the track listing on the front of the album (in addition to the back).

Rating - 14
Using my extensive criteria, I have devised a complicated formula to rate albums. The rating can go as high as infinity, but will generally fall in the 0-37 range. This album scores a 14, falling in the below average category.

Whats on this blog?

I have a few ablums that I have acquired over the years. When CDs became popular in the 80s and 90s, I played my albums less and less. But I recently received an Ion USB Turntable that allows me to rip mp3s from my albums. As I started playing and ripping the albums, it brought back a lot of memories. So I plan to blog about each ablum in my collection as I play and rip it.

I am your average midwest suburbanite who graduated from high school in 1983, so of course most of the music will be top 40 material from the 80s and 90s. But I also spent a few years on the east coast and acquired a taste for alternative and progressive music (which was slow to reach the midwest), so there is plenty of that as well.

I'll start off alphabetically, but can't gaurantee I'll continue that. I may have to skip around and pick some good albums instead of what shows up in the beginning of the alphabet.

DuDu