Customer Reviews
Brilliant ABBA album. One of the best - By: Chris Tarbet, 01 Nov 2007 
'Voulez-Vous' is the ABBA album that is full of disco tracks. It is so energetic & thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. These 24-bit remastering CD's are simply amazing indeed. My favourite track from this album is 'Angeleyes.' It has the best beat out of all the songs on 'Voulez-Vous.' I also love 'As Good As New', 'Kisses of Fire', 'Does Your Mother Know', 'If It wasn't For The Nights', 'I Have A Dream' & 'The King Has Lost His Crown.'
I also enjoy the bonus tracks featured on 'Voulez-Vous.' 'Lovelight' was the B-side to 'Chiquitita' when the single was released. 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' is magnificent' & the same goes to 'Summer Night City.' A Fantastic album
Abba do their own version of Disco - By: Cowboy & Angel, 06 Aug 2007 Abba followed the disco trend, butin their own way. Allegedly, more tracks were written, partially recorded & scrapped for Voulez-Vous than any other Abba album. Thankfully, they ended up with 10 classic tracks (yes, even I Have A Dream, though only just).
Originally, the album contained four Top 4 hit singles, more than any other Abba album. There was even a fifth, the title track, which was issued as a double A-side with the UK hit Angeleyes. Does Your Mother Know was the first UK single to feature Bjorn on lead vocals, & contained a somewhat adult subject matter (though not X-rated lyrics). Such is the quality of this album that there are other tracks, such as As Good As New & If It Wasn't For The Nights, that could easily have been released as singles.
The duff track is I Have A Dream, which doesn't really fitin with the rest of the album, is over-long & over-sentimental.
Additional singles released around the album were Summer Night City (originally intended for inclusion but left off) & Gimme Gimme Gimme, a new single released after the album. Both tracks are added as bonuses, & fitin perfectly, as does Lovelight, one of Abba's best b-sides (and I was disappointed when I first heard Robbie Williams' Lovelight as I'd hoped it was a cover version of Abba's, but sadly it wasn't).
All six singles missed the UK No. 1, but none reached lower than No. 5, & Abba weren't done yet. This certainly wasn't the beginning of the end.
This is one of Abba's best three albums (the others being Arrival & The Album) & is a classic.
Voulez-vous? You betcha! - By: Tony Kavanagh, 04 Jul 2007 The ever adaptable ABBA kept their finger on the late 70s pulse by dipping into the sex-soaked disco culture. Without adopting genre wholesale, they got creative with some of its tricks for their own classic pop creations.
"If It Wasn't For The Nights", an absolute delight, is a perfect example of this marriage of dancefloor pizzazz to Abba's trademark piano-driven tunefulness. It is the No.1 single that should have been. The disco feel is more keenly felt on the album's zingy title track, which still sounds fresh almost 30 years on. Meanwhile, the sexy "Lovers" adds a sultry touch of funk to the mix.
Like any Abba album, great tunes are at the core. "Angeleyes" & "Chiquitita" are among Abba's all-time classics. The structure of the latter owes more to, perhaps, classical music than to pop and, like "I Have A Dream," is a little at odds with the overall feel of the album. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the breadth of Andersson's & Ulvaeus' talent. "The King Has Lost His Crown", with it's dreamy intro, Frida's sultry lead vocal & that melting string arrangement, is a hidden gem. Understandly so if you consider that 5 of the album's ten original tracks achieved A-side status: "Chiquitita", "Does Your Mother Know?", "Voulez-Vous", "Angeleyes" & "I Have A Dream".
This remastered version of the album is augmented by the 1978 hit single "Summer Night City", "Lovelight", (a B-side which actually sounds like an A-side) & the 1979 hit "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" - a sample of which breathed life into Madonna's "Hung Up". These bonus tracks were recorded during the album sessions & work well with the set.
Well mastered & crammed sull of hits, this is a definite must-have album.
ABBA Goes Disco - By: B. Evans, 24 Jan 2006 While ABBA's 6th studio album is widely regarded as a piece of disco, it doesn't contain the qualities of the disco music of the time, music such as The Bee Gees & Donna Summer. Instead, it's more of a collection of flowing, catchy tunes that only ABBA could have created, but with a pounding & more exotic sound. Despite being a Number 1 album, it contained no UK number 1 singles, although it did spawn 6 top tens (including the bonus tracks).
First up, "As Good As New" starts with a classical intro followed by the more typical disco sound. The structure of the song is excellent & Agnetha & Frida's vocals are, as ever, amazing. Definitely one of the missed single opportunities. 5/5
Voulez-vous, while being among my least favourite tracks, does feature a pounding disco beat, perhaps making this the most "danceable" song on the album. 3/5
Oh dear. I Have A Dream doesn't exactly sound right with disco. The lyrics are sweet, maybe a little too sweet, & the children's choir doesn't help much. I know it was a big single release at Christmas '79, but I just don't like it. 2/5
Angeleyes is my favourite on the entire album & among my favourite ABBA songs. The long processions of "Ahhhhas Ahh Ahh Ahas" throughout, plus the "flowing" sound of the song, add on some soaring vocals & you've got a great song. 5/5
The King Has Lost His Crown ended up as the B-side to Gimme Gimme Gimme. It's not the best, but it's not terrible either. Frida sings it well & it's one of the more sedate of the album's disco tracks. 3/5
Does Your Mother Know is full of energy. It reminds me more of a 50s rock'n'roll tune than a disco song. Yes, the lyrics are about flirting, just like Take A Chance On Me, but they work the opposite way - a young girl flirting with a man, which is why Bjorn takes the lead, the first & last time he sings lead vocals on a single release. 4/5
This one is almost certainly a missed single. If It Wasn't For The Nights has more soaring vocals & a very catchy tune. 5/5
Chiquitita is much more bearable than I Have A Dream,in my opinion at least. Just like I Have A Dream, this ballad doesn't really sound right on the album, but it grew on me over time. Benny's piano sounds good on this one. 4/5
Lovers (Live A Little Longer) slips a little for me. I don't know whether it's the slightly flat sounding tune or the lyrics (about some physician discovering that love makes you live longer), but it doesn't work for me. 3/5
Oh boy, how Kisses Of Fire ended up as a B-side is incredible. Agnetha kicks it off with a sexy intro (Lay your head on my chest, so you hear, every beat of my heart), sungin a quiet & soothing tone. Soon, that quiet intro disappears to be replaced with a pounding chorus with both girls singingin unison. 5/5
The first of the bonus tracks, Summer Night City, is one amazing song. From the first note, it thumps along with some very sexy vocals & lyrics. You can imagine a hot summer nightin a club when youlisten to this one. Benny & Bjorn were reluctant to release it as a single. Admittedly, it does keep building up to a non-existant chorus, but it's still one of their strongest songs. 5/5
Lovelight is another good one. It's a typical ABBA song with a catchy tune. 4/5
Finally, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, a trademark ABBA tune, is not one of my absolute favourites. I find it a bit limp, with the slightly campy & cheesy chorus, but the longing lyircs & disco beat brighten it up. 4/5
So there you have it, another great ABBA album. I gave it 5 stars, because even though there are some letdowns, the best tracks are absolute ABBA classics. This album probably holds the most lost single opportunities & it holds the record for best album tracks. Voulez-vous isn't among my three favourite albums (The Visitors, The Album & Super Trouper), but the fact that I still gave it 5 stars is a testimony to ABBA's everlasting music.
Another Timeless Album - By: John Heaton, 16 Nov 2005 This album is consistently brilliant & is a further example of a near flawless piece of work. From Arrival (1976) right through to The Visitors (1981), Abba produced wonderful albums not just great singles but timeles album tracks which,in their own way, were just as endearing. And it would be foolish to label this album as The Disco Album on account of the admittedly below par title track & the accompanying single ’Summer Night Night City’. Although the latter is a much more successful attempt at this oevre. After all this album contans that great ballad & hit single ’Chiquititta’ which is up there with their very best. And much more besides. The opener ’As Good As New’ is a gorgeous mixture of classic strings, a strong disco beat & those wondeful Agnetha/Frida vocals which need no introduction. Then there is Bjorn’s finest momentin the raucous ’Does Your Mother Know’ which remains an all time party favourite to this day, 28 years later. The minor single ’Angel Eyes’ should have been massive. Here is this band at their magical best. ’If It Wasn’t For The Nights’ is a superb album track. Nothing new here. Great album tracks are a trademark of all their last five albums, & they were not exactly non existent before then. This whole album sounds like a Piece Of Workin the way that no compilation album can. ’I Have A Dream’ is slushy for sure but fitsin well here surrounded by more upbeat numbers. It is a great melody. Period. But they save the best track for last, the magestic ’Kisses Of Fire’ which sounded then & sounds even more now like The Great Single That Never Was.
The cover shows the band looking impeccable. On top of the world would not be heavy exaggeration. Sadly the two divorces were to follow shortly afterwards but as songwriters & performers this is something like their peak. Even NME or was it Melody Maker gave this one Five Stars.
Greatest Hits albums have their place of course. But my advice would be to buy this album, because it shows us the consistency that band continually showed themselves capable of from 1976 onwards. More than a Singles Band. Just one listen to ’Kisses Of Fire’ will demonstrate that.
