SOS! Will Abba's new music live up to their legacy?

The stars have recorded their first new material in 35 years. Is there any chance it'll be any good?

It's hard to imagine now but, once upon a time, people hated Abba.

Those spangly satin jumpsuits, their Eurovision origins, the wedding disco ubiquity of Dancing Queen - they all conspired to consign Abba to the cheesy-smelling scrapheap of pop.

The band were frequently misunderstood as kitsch because they wrote soft, optimistic pop songs. And, to be fair, some of their lyrics were pretty banal. (Nina, Pretty Ballerina, a weak tea version of Dancing Queen, is particularly awful.)

But a critical reappraisal began in the 1990s, with the release of the bewilderingly-successful Abba Gold compilation (30 million units and counting) and the emergence of tribute acts like Bjorn Again.

Some people embraced Abba ironically. But those people were wrong.

Abba are one of the most straightforwardly brilliant pop bands of all time.

from BBC News - Home https://ift.tt/2r4jjwi