Greatest Hits (ABBA Album)

Despite the claimed high-profile title of the compilation, only half of the tracks became real singles hits in the leading charts. One of the songs, “Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)”, as a single did not come out at all and therefore could not get any “hit” certification. “ Waterloo ”, “ SOS ”, “ Mamma Mia ” and, later, “ Fernando ” made it to the top 10 in Britain and other countries, but only the first song made it to the American top 10; “ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do ” became the top 10 hit in some countries. top 20 hit in the US, but barely hit the top 40 UK charts; " Honey Honey " was only in the top 20 leading charts. It is symbolic that in Australia, where the group reached a significant number of No. 1 positions, the release of Greatest Hits would become meaningless due to the success of the local compilation of The Best Of ABBA , which is why the release followed only many years later. However, the release of the official collection of top hits has been incredibly successful. Even Rolling Stone magazine , one of the most violent critics of ABBA in the United States, put it shortly after the release: “Anyone who, after listening to this recording five times in a row, does not begin to hum half the melodies under his breath is a robot.”

The original cover (by Hans Arnold ) was not used in all countries. The publications had a completely different look, in particular in Great Britain and North America, where the group is depicted sitting on a cool autumn day in the park. Benny and Firda kiss, Björn reads the newspaper, and Agneta looks longingly at the distance.

Both versions of covers are made in the design of “gatefold” ( English gatefold ).

All songs were written with the participation of Andersson and Ulveus, additional authors are marked with + ^[2] .

Party A

1. SOS (+ Anderson ) - 3:22
2. “ He Is Your Brother ” - 3:17
3. “ Ring Ring ” (+ Anderson, Cody, Sedaka ) - 3:03
4. Hasta Mañana (+ Anderson) - 3:09 ^[3]
5. " Nina, Pretty Ballerina " - 2:52
6. Honey, Honey (+ Anderson) - 2:55
7. So Long - 3:06

Party B

1. “ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do ” (+ Anderson) - 3:15
2. “ People Need Love ” - 2:43
3. Bang-A-Boomerang (+ Anderson) - 3:02
4. “ Another Town, Another Train ” - 3:10
5. Mamma Mia (+ Anderson) - 2:54
6. “Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)” - 3:05
7. Waterloo (+ Anderson) - 2:42

The song “ Fernando ” was added to the Greatest Hits when LP was released in some countries in the early months of 1976. In Australia and New Zealand , "Fernando" was released on the Arrival album.

In general, the list of tracks varies markedly from country to country. For example, the same song “Fernando” was added as the first track on the 1976 release for Norway and Denmark , while in Britain and other countries it became the last track. In the USA, as indicated below, Hasta Mañana has been removed and replaced with other compositions.

In 2006, the album was re-released on CD (in honor of the 30th anniversary of the first edition) in a mini-album format. The design and track listing were taken from the 1976 release in Norway and Denmark, where there was a photograph of a bench in a Scandinavian park on the inside of the cover, and the first song was the song “Fernando”.

All songs were written with the participation of Andersson and Ulveus, additional authors are marked with a + .

Party A

1. SOS (+ Anderson) - 3:22
2. “ He Is Your Brother ” - 3:17
3. “ Ring Ring ” (+ Anderson, Cody, Sedaka ) - 3:03
4. “ Another Town, Another Train ” - 3:10
5. Honey, Honey (+ Anderson) - 2:55
6. So Long - 3:06
7. Mamma Mia (+ Anderson) - 2:54

Party B

1. “ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do ” (+ Anderson) - 3:15
2. “ People Need Love ” - 2:43
3. Waterloo (+ Anderson) - 2:42
4. " Nina, Pretty Ballerina " - 2:52
5. Bang-A-Boomerang (+ Anderson) - 3:02
6. “Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)” - 3:05
7. Fernando 4:15

Album - Europe

Album - USA, Canada

• The official website of the group
• Greatest Hits on discogs.com