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The Visitors (ABBA album)

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The Visitors
Studio album by
ABBA
Released30 November 1981
Recorded16 March – 14 November 1981
StudioPolar, Stockholm
GenrePop
Length37:39
Label
Producer
ABBA chronology
Super Trouper
(1980) 		The Visitors
(1981) 		The Singles: The First Ten Years
(1982)
Singles from The Visitors
  1. "One of Us"
    Released: 7 December 1981
  2. "When All Is Said and Done"
    Released: 23 December 1981
  3. "Head over Heels"
    Released: 19 March 1982
  4. "The Visitors"
    Released: 5 April 1982
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
The Daily VaultB+[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Pitchfork8.6/10[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Smash Hits8/10[8]

The Visitors is the eighth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released on 30 November 1981.

With The Visitors, ABBA took several steps away from the "lighter" pop music they had recorded previously and the album is often regarded as a more complex and mature effort.[9] The opening track, "The Visitors", with its ominous synthesizer sounds and the distinctive lead vocal by Frida, announced a change in musical style. With Benny and Frida going their separate ways, the pain of splitting up was explored yet again in "When All Is Said and Done". The major hit single on the album, "One of Us", also depicted the end of a love story. Elsewhere there were Cold War themes—highly topical at the time—and further songs of isolation and regret.

The Visitors was one of the first records ever to be digitally recorded and mixed, as well as one of the earliest in history to be pressed on the CD format in 1983.[10] The Visitors has been reissued in digitally remastered form four times—first in 1997, then in 2001, again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and most recently in 2012, as part of the "Deluxe Edition" series.

For four decades, The Visitors stood as ABBA's last studio album, until the release of their 2021 album, Voyage.

Recording and release

[edit]

Recording began on what was to become ABBA's eighth studio album on 16 March 1981.[11] By this time, tensions in ABBA had heightened. Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog had divorced in July 1980, while the band's other couple, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, announced their divorce in February 1981, adding strain to the musical partnership. Ulvaeus mentioned in retrospect that the sessions were troubled, noting, "It could be frosty sometimes." Lyngstad also commented that they were beginning to tire of working together.[12]

The members of ABBA and their personnel have memories of the recording sessions for this album being rather difficult. To begin with, their sound engineer Michael Tretow had to become accustomed to using the new 32-track digital recorder that had been purchased for Polar Music Studios. He said, "Digital recording...cut out all the hiss, but it also meant that sounds were sharply cut off below a certain level. The sound simply became too clean, so I had to find ways of compensating for that". The first three tracks for the album had already been recorded using analogue tape and therefore Tretow had to transfer all subsequent tracks from digital to analogue and back again to avoid a difference in quality.[13]

On its release, The Visitors reached the top of the charts in a number of territories but was not as successful as their previous albums.[14]

On December 1, 2023, The Visitors was reissued as a multi-format release for its delayed 40th anniversary celebration.[15][16] It included: a double-LP half-speed mastered version of the album, done by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, pressed on 45rpm 180g black vinyl; a colored vinyl 7" singles box set of "Head Over Heels", "One of Us", "The Day Before You Came", and "Under Attack" (the latter two being from The Singles: The First Ten Years); and individual 7" picture discs of these four singles.[15][17][18]

Deluxe edition

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The Visitors was reissued on April 23, 2012, as a CD an DVD deluxe edition set.[19][20] The first disc consisted of a remastered version of the original album, with seven bonus tracks.[19] Featured among them were: a version of "Should I Laugh or Cry" with a brief count-in, from the original Great Britain and South African 7" release; "I Am the City", recorded in 1982 and released until 1993, on More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits; and, particularly, the 9-minute demo medley "From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel".[20][21][22] This collection of demos, put together by Benny Andersson, showcased the evolution of "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room", offered insights into ABBA's recording process, and was, at the time, the first release of unheard archive material since 1994's Thank You for the Music box set.[19][21]

The second disc included the following television material: the performances of "Two for the Price of One" and "Slipping Through My Fingers" from the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA special; the original promo clip of "When All Is Said and Done"; two promotional appearances by the band, from The Late, Late Breakfast Show (BBC) and Nöjesmaskinen (SVT), titled "ABBA In London, November 1982" and "ABBA In Stockholm, November 1982", respectively; four television commercials: two for The Visitors and two for The Singles: The First Ten Years; and the "International Sleeve Gallery".[19][21] The set also came with a 24-page booklet with an essay on the making of the album.[20]

Pitchfork reviewed this deluxe reissue on May 18, 2012, and gave it an 8.6 rating, saying "even as the band's commercial star faded and its professional relationships quietly unravelled, they were perfectionists. ABBA's music on The Visitors is more pristine and ambitious than it had ever been, its themes darker, its personal politics more tangled".[23] An April 2012 review by The Arts Desk said that "The Visitors is not their best, but it is their most interesting [album], pointing to where Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson would go next".[24]

Album cover

[edit]
The studio of Julius Kronberg at Skansen in Stockholm.

Rune Söderqvist, who had worked with the band on previous designs, was put in charge of the artwork, and came up with an "angel" concept that was based on the album's titled and its closing track "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room".[25][26] The next step was to develop this concept into an idea. As he recalled, "I knew that the painter Julius Kronberg had painted a lot of angels in his time... so I located his studio – at the Skansen park [in Stockholm] – which contained several of his paintings".[25][26] With photographer Lasse Larsson's help, Söderqvist gathered the band in Krongberg's atelier (in a room with paintings of Eros) and photographed them with a giant painting of an angel as the backdrop.[25]

In the album cover, the group members are positioned apart and appear to be waiting solemnly in the shadows. It was the first time the members were depicted as separate individuals rather than a close-knit group, conveying ABBA's general sense of fatigue.[25][26]

Julius Kronberg's Atelje (atelier), where the album cover's photo-shoot took place, is located in Skansen Park, Stockholm.[27]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."The Visitors"5:49
2."Head Over Heels"3:45
3."When All Is Said and Done"3:20
4."Soldiers"4:38
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."I Let the Music Speak"5:20
2."One of Us"3:55
3."Two for the Price of One"3:36
4."Slipping Through My Fingers"3:51
5."Like an Angel Passing Through My Room"3:25
Total length:37:39

Deluxe edition

[edit]

Released on April 12, 2012. The tracks "No hay a quien culpar" and "Se me está escapando" (the Spanish versions of "When All Is Said and Done" and "Slipping Through My Fingers", respectively), featured on the Spanish and Latin American versions of the album, were not included on this reissue. Instead, they could be found on The Complete Studio Recordings and the 2014 deluxe edition of Gracias Por La Música.[28]

All tracks are written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Should I Laugh or Cry" (B-side of "One of Us" and "When All Is Said and Done")4:32
2."I Am the City" (first released on More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits)4:04
3."You Owe Me One" (B-side of "Under Attack")3:30
4."Cassandra" (B-side of "The Day Before You Came")4:52
5."Under Attack" (from The Singles: The First Ten Years)3:47
6."The Day Before You Came" (from The Singles: The First Ten Years)5:49
Extra bonus track
No.TitleLength
1."From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel" (demos; demo medley of "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room")9:07

Personnel

[edit]

ABBA

Additional personnel

  • Ola Brunkert – drums
  • Rutger Gunnarsson – bass, mandolin
  • Janne Kling – flute and clarinet on "I Let the Music Speak"
  • Per Lindvall – drums on "Soldiers" and "The Visitors"
  • Åke Sundqvist – percussion
  • Lasse Wellander – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
  • The Three Boys – mandolins on "One of Us"

Production

  • Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus – producers, arrangers
  • Michael B. Tretow – engineer
  • Rune Söderqvist – album design
  • Lars Larsson – photography
  • Jon Astley, Tim Young, Michael B. Tretow – remastering for the 1997 remasters
  • Jon Astley, Michael B. Tretow – remastering for the 2001 remasters
  • Henrik Jonsson – remastering for the 2005 The Complete Studio Recordings box set

Charts

[edit]

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Certifications and sales for The Visitors
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[56] Gold 35,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[57] Gold 10,000‡
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[58] Platinum 66,439[58]
Germany (BVMI)[60] Platinum 750,000[59]
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[61] Gold 10,000*
Japan — 128,000[38]
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[62] Gold 50,000^
Sweden (GLF)[63] Platinum 290,000[63]
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] Platinum 300,000^
Summaries
Worldwide — 5,000,000[65]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Abba | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  2. ^ "The Visitors". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  3. ^ Douglas Wolk. "Blender review". Blender. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  4. ^ Smith, Michael R. (2019). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : The Visitors". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  5. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-84609-856-7.
  6. ^ Pitchfork review
  7. ^ Berger, Arion (2004). "ABBA". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  8. ^ Ellen, Mark (7–20 January 1982). "Albums". Smash Hits: 16.
  9. ^ allmusic ((( The Visitors > Overview )))
  10. ^ Rambarran, Shara (2021). Virtual Music Sound, Music, and Image in the Digital Era. New York: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional. ISBN 978-1-5013-3362-0. OCLC 1236265553.
  11. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 106. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
  12. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 444. Omnibus Press, 2001
  13. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 109. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
  14. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 446. Omnibus Press, 2001
  15. ^ a b Sinclair, Paul (22 October 2023). "ABBA / The Visitors 40th anniversary reissue – SuperDeluxeEdition". Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  16. ^ "The Visitors (7" Box Set)". Polar Music. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  17. ^ Sexton, Paul (18 October 2023). "ABBA's 'The Visitors' And Period Singles To Be Released In Deluxe Suite". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  18. ^ "The Visitors (45RPM 2LP)". Polar Music. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d "The Visitors Deluxe Edition Released In April!". ABBA. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  20. ^ a b c Sinclair, Paul (25 January 2012). "ABBA / The Visitors Deluxe Edition / Coming in April – SuperDeluxeEdition". Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  21. ^ a b c "The Visitors Deluxe Edition". ABBA. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  22. ^ "ABBA / The Visitors CD+DVD Remastered Deluxe Edition – SuperDeluxeEdition". 25 April 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  23. ^ Ewing, Tom. "ABBA: The Visitors [Deluxe Edition]". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  24. ^ "Reissue CDs Weekly: Carole King, Abba, Sheena Easton". theartsdesk.com. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
  25. ^ a b c d "In Focus: The Making of The Visitors". ABBA. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  26. ^ a b c Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows", page 445. Omnibus Press, 2001
  27. ^ "Julius Kronberg Studio - Studio Museums - Artist's Studio Museum Network". Artist's Studio Museum Network. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  28. ^ Sinclair, Paul (26 September 2014). "ABBA / Gracias Por La Musica deluxe edition / CD+DVD – SuperDeluxeEdition". Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). Cashbox. 6 February 1982. p. 24. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  30. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  31. ^ "Austriancharts.at – ABBA – The Visitors" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  32. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 2. 16 January 1982. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  33. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0447". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  34. ^ a b "Dutchcharts.nl – ABBA – The Visitors" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  35. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "ABBA". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 8. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  36. ^ a b "Offiziellecharts.de – ABBA – The Visitors" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  37. ^ Racca, Guido (2019). M&D Borsa Album 1964–2019 (in Italian). ISBN 9781094705002.
  38. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  39. ^ "Charts.nz – ABBA – The Visitors". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  40. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – ABBA – The Visitors". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  41. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 16. 24 April 1982. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  42. ^ "Hits of the World". Billboard. Vol. 94, no. 18. 8 May 1982. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  43. ^ a b c "Swedishcharts.com – ABBA – The Visitors". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  44. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  45. ^ "ABBA Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  46. ^ "Ultratop.be – ABBA – The Visitors" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  47. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – ABBA – The Visitors". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  48. ^ "Swisscharts.com – ABBA – The Visitors". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  49. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  50. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  51. ^ a b "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  52. ^ "Top 100 Albums '82". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  53. ^ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1982" (in German). Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  54. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  55. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  56. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  57. ^ "Danish album certifications – ABBA – The Visitors". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  58. ^ a b "ABBA" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  59. ^ "Deutsche Grammofon" (PDF). Billboard. 15 May 1983. p. G-9. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 7 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
  60. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (ABBA; 'The Visitors')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  61. ^ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1983". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  62. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  63. ^ a b "Lot 1471978 – ABBA "The Visitors" Platinum Record Award – Auctionet". Auctionet.com. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021. Archived on 10 January 2021 at Wayback Machine.
  64. ^ "British album certifications – ABBA – The Visitors". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  65. ^ Palm, Carl Magnus (2017). ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions (2nd Revised and Expanded ed.). United Kingdom: CPI Group. p. 400. ISBN 978-91-639-2656-3.
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