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The Visitors (ABBA album)

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For other uses, see Visitor (disambiguation).
Untitled

The Visitors is the eighth and final studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on November 30, 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.[1] 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 current cold war themes—highly topical at the time—and further songs of isolation and regret.

The Visitors album was one of the first records to be recorded and mixed digitally, and was the first in history to be manufactured on the new CD format in 1982.[2] The Visitors has been reissued in digitally remastered form three times—first in 1997, then in 2001 and again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set.

The album has emerged as a favourite among many of the group's hardcore fans.

Recording and release

Following the divorce of Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, recording began on what was to become ABBA's final studio album on 16 March 1981.[3] Only one month had passed since their divorce when the group entered the studio.

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.[4]

Ulvaeus also mentioned in retrospect that the recording sessions were troubled. "It could be frosty sometimes," he acknowledged in an interview. Lyngstad also commented that they were beginning to tire of working together.[5]

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.[6]

Reviews

Billboard: "The inevitable culmination of introspection, experience and fantasy into a marriage of music and words that is Abba's first true masterpiece – song after song... Abba and pop music at its endearing best."

Trouser Press: "Its high points must be the sort of thing you hear in heaven..."

New Musical Express: "The Visitors" provokes...thoughts after you drift away with those exquisite harmonies..."

Los Angeles Times: "Biggest departure to date from the bubbly, sprightly pop sound which first brought [them] fame in the mid-70s...While rich, sophisticated music isn't as instantly accessible as Abba's past hits, in the end it's just as rewarding....Abba's thoughtful treatment of mature themes here shows impressive growth..."

Creem: "Abba feel. Abba are socially concerned. In fact, Abba take things so seriously and react to life and love with such overwhelming intensity that Ingmar Bergman would do well to sign them on for a soundtrack."

Melody Maker: "Music like this is a juke box dream, golden sparkle and inspiration that's instantly singable yet lasts a virtual lifetime..."

A negative review came from Rolling Stone magazine's reviewer who sorely missed ABBA's upbeat tunes: "The boys and girls of Abba are in a slump. Synth-drenched, melodramatic balladeering seems to have supplanted almost entirely the perky pop."

Even more intriguing, however, was that the reviews of The Visitors now freely included references to "[The] Beatles' psychedelic harmonies, moods and textures", "George Harrison's beguiling eastern charms", and "Steven Sondheim's dark melodies". It reflected further shifting of critical attitudes towards the essence of ABBA's music.

Album cover

The studio of Julius Kronberg at Skansen in Stockholm.

Rune Söderqvist designed the cover and photographed the group in a room containing Julius Kronberg's painting of Eros. The room is the Atelje Studio in Skansen Park, Stockholm. The group are positioned apart and appear to be waiting solemnly in the shadows.[7][8]

LP track listing

All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Side A
  1. "The Visitors (Crackin' Up)" – 5:49
  2. "Head Over Heels" – 3:45
  3. "When All Is Said and Done" – 3:20
  4. "Soldiers" – 4:38
Side B
  2. "I Let the Music Speak" – 5:20
  3. "One of Us" – 3:55
  4. "Two for the Price of One" – 3:36
  5. "Slipping Through My Fingers" – 3:51
  6. "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room" – 3:25
B-sides
  2. "Should I Laugh or Cry" – 4:30

(P) 1981 Polar Music International AB, Stockholm

CD re-issues, bonus tracks

All songs written and composed by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus.

The Visitors CD version of the 2005 edition of The Complete Studio Recordings box set
  1. "The Visitors (Crackin' Up)" – 5:45
  2. "Head Over Heels" – 3:47
  3. "When All Is Said and Done" – 3:17
  4. "Soldiers" – 4:38
  5. "I Let the Music Speak" – 5:19
  6. "One of Us" – 3:55
  7. "Two For the Price of One" – 3:36
  8. "Slipping Through My Fingers" – 3:53
  9. "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room" – 3:34
Bonus tracks
  2. "Should I Laugh or Cry" – 4:30
  3. "No Hay a Quien Culpar" (Spanish version of "When All Is Said and Done") – 3:12
  4. "Se Me Está Escapando" (Spanish version of "Slipping Through My Fingers") – 3:52
  5. "The Day Before You Came" – 5:50
  6. "Cassandra" – 4:52
  7. "Under Attack" – 3:45
  8. "You Owe Me One" – 3:26

(P) 1981 Polar Music International AB (1–12).
(P) 1982 Polar Music International AB (13–16).

  • Songs 1–12 digitally recorded and mixed March 16–November 24, 1981 at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Songs 13–16 digitally recorded and mixed May 3–August 26, 1982 at Polar Music Studios, *Stockholm, Sweden scheduled for 9th studio album, which was finally completed, and these songs were released as singles October 18, 1982 "The Day Before You Came"/"Cassandra" and February 21, 1983 "Under Attack"/"You Owe Me One".
  • Songs 11–12 are from the Spanish and Latin American version of the album.

The songs "No Hay a Quien Culpar" and "Se Me Está Escapando" translation into Spanish Buddy McCluskey and Mary McCluskey.

The Visitors album was also released and remastered in 1997 with a bonus "Should I Laugh or Cry", "The Day Before You Came", "Cassandra" and "Under Attack". 2001, a new mastering with bonuses "Should I Laugh or Cry", "The Day Before You Came", "Under Attack" and "You Owe Me One".

The Visitors was reissued once again in 2008 as part of the The Albums box set but without any bonus tracks.

Singles

  1. "One of Us"/"Should I Laugh or Cry" (December 1981)
  2. "When All is Said and Done"/"Soldiers" (December 1981)
  3. "Head Over Heels"/"The Visitors" (February 1982)
  4. "The Visitors" (single edit)/"Head Over Heels" (March 1982)

Personnel

ABBA

Additional personnel

Production

  • Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
  • Arrangers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
  • Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
  • Design: Rune Söderqvist
  • Remastered for the 1997 Remasters by Jon Astley and Tim Young with Michael B. Tretow
  • Remastered for the 2001 Remasters by Jon Astley with Michael B. Tretow
  • Remastered for the 2005 Complete Studio Recordings Box Set by Henrik Jonsson

Other recordings of the period

During the recording of The Visitors, ABBA were also involved in making additional recordings. In March, the group once again dug up a melody that had been tried out in the studios on several occasions during previous years but never used. Eventually, it became the song "Anthem" in the musical Chess, but on this occasion was called "Nationalsång". In April the group spent two days recording tracks for the Dick Cavett TV special. In May, the group tried out (and subsequently abandoned) two more songs for the album: "I Am a Musician" (which later became "I Am the Seeker") from the musical Abbacadabra, and also "Givin' a Little Bit More'" (which eventually saw the light of the day on the box set Thank You for the Music).[9]

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1981 Australian Albums Chart 22
Austrian Albums Chart 3
Belgian Albums Chart 1
Dutch Albums Chart 1
Finnish Albums Chart 3
French Albums Chart 12
Italian Albums Chart 35
Japanese Albums Chart 12
Mexican Albums Chart 38
New Zealand Albums Chart 19
Norwegian Albums Chart 1
South African Albums Chart 3
Spanish Albums Chart 6
Swedish Albums Chart 1
Swiss Albums Chart 1
UK Albums Chart 1
West German Albums Chart 1
Zimbabwe 1
Canada 18
U.S. Billboard 200 29

Singles (Australian Singles Chart)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "One of Us" Australian Singles Chart 48
"When All Is Said and Done" 81

Singles (New Zealand Singles Chart)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "One of Us" New Zealand Singles Chart 43

Singles (Norwegian Singles Chart)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "One of Us" Norwegian Singles Chart 6

Singles (Swedish Singles Chart)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "One of Us" Swedish Singles Chart 2

Singles (UK Singles Chart)

Year Single Chart Position
1981 "One of Us" UK Singles Chart 3
1982 "Head Over Heels" 25

Singles Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1982 "When All Is Said and Done" Adult Contemporary 10
Billboard Hot 100 27
"The Visitors"/"When All Is Said and Done" Club Play Singles 8
"The Visitors" Billboard Hot 100 63
1983 "One of Us" Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles 107
Adult Contemporary 33
Preceded by
Chart Hits '81 by Various Artists
 UK Albums Chart number one album
19 December 1981 – 8 January 1982 		Succeeded by

Notes

  1. ^ allmusic ((( The Visitors > Overview )))
  2. ^ [http://www.newscenter.philips.com/main/standard/about/news/press/20070816_25th_anniversary_CD.wpd
  3. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 106. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
  4. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 109. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
  5. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 444. Omnibus Press, 2001
  6. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 446. Omnibus Press, 2001
  7. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 445. Omnibus Press, 2001
  8. ^ 1981 ABBA-THE VISITORS
  9. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", pages 106-109. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
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