''Super Trouper'' is the seventh studio album by the Swedish pop group

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

, released on 3 November 1980. It features the No.1 singles "

The Winner Takes It All "The Winner Takes It All" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the first single from the group's seventh studio album, '' Super Trouper'' (1980), it is a ballad in the key of G-flat major, reflecting on the end of a relatio ...

" and " Super Trouper". The album became the biggest-selling album of 1980 in the UK.

Overview

Led by the international hit "The Winner Takes It All", ''Super Trouper'' was the group's sixth chart-topping album in the UK. It was also the best-selling album in Britain for 1980. ''Super Trouper'' was first released on CD in 1983 by Polar Music International, in the early 1980s by

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

, and in the late 1980s by Atlantic Records for the US. The album 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 as a Deluxe Edition (containing a bonus DVD) in 2011. The previous year's divorce between Björn and Agnetha was explored in "The Winner Takes It All", and the members' lives in Stockholm high society circles coloured the lyrics for "

On and On and On "On and On and On" is a pop song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released as a single in a limited number of countries in 1980 as the second single from their seventh studio album, '' Super Trouper''. Background The track, which ha ...

". Other well-known songs on the album include the hit single title track "Super Trouper", as well as the electro-dance of "

Lay All Your Love on Me "Lay All Your Love on Me" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA in 1980 for their seventh studio album, '' Super Trouper''. The song was released as the sixth and final single from the album in the summer of 1981. At the time, it was the ...

". Probably due to the disco backlash at that time, the album saw ABBA returning to a more straightforward pop sound, as opposed to the preceding (and noticeably more dance-oriented) '' Voulez-Vous'' album. The album closed with "The Way Old Friends Do", which was recorded live a year earlier during their 1979 concert tour. Although not released as a single with this album, the song was later released as a single in 1992 to promote the compilation '' More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits''. The song was later covered by

The Alexander Brothers The Alexander Brothers were an easy-listening folk-music duo from Scotland, who had a long career beginning in the 1950s. Career Thomas Armit "Tom" Alexander (25 June 1934 – 9 January 2020) and John "Jack" Armit Alexander (11 November 1935 ...

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

, Philomena Begley and

Faryl Smith Faryl Smith (born 23 July 1995) is a British soprano whose performance repertoire includes opera, classical and classical crossover. Her diverse concerts draw a wide range of audiences, and she particularly enjoys introducing new audiences to cl ...

. On some European vinyl issues, the cheering and applause at the end of "The Way Old Friends Do" is recorded up to the run-out groove, playing in an endless loop on manual turntables.

Album cover and title

Super Trouper is a

registered trademark The registered trademark symbol, , is a typographic symbol that provides notice that the preceding word or symbol is a trademark or service mark that has been registered with a national trademark office. A trademark is a symbol, word, or wor ...

owned by Strong Entertainment Lighting, for their brand of followspots, i.e., directional spotlights used to follow a performer on stage. Album cover designer, Rune Söderqvist, decided to use the spotlight theme and photograph the group, surrounded by circus performers, at Piccadilly Circus, London. After discovering that there was a law preventing any entertainers or animals appearing in central London, they instead invited the members of two local circuses to Europa Film Studios, Stockholm to take the photograph there. Several of ABBA's friends were also invited to take part and the following also appear on the cover: Görel Hanser (vice-president of

Polar Music Polar Music is a Swedish record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag. Background The first act that Polar Music signed was the Hootenanny Singers featuring Björn Ulvaeus. Polar eventually gained prosperity pr ...

who subsequently married the band's photographer Anders Hanser), Berka Bergkvist (another Polar Music employee),

Tomas Ledin Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin (; born 25 February 1952) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken, Sweden and has sold 3 million records. Career Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when ...

, and Anders Anderson (ABBA's manager's son).Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 432-433. Omnibus Press, 2001 At the same time, Lasse Hallström also filmed scenes that were eventually used in the videos for " Happy New Year", " Felicidad" and "Super Trouper" even though the latter had not even been composed at the time.

Critical reception

The album received favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. William Ruhlmann from ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'' website, gave the album four out of five stars and noted that "''Super Trouper'' found ABBA, always trend-conscious, taking account of the passing of disco and returning to the pop/rock sound typical of their early albums" and that it includes "an unusual amount of what sounded like real unhappiness into their pop music". Douglas Wolk from ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

'' gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that although it shows some "dark side" of the group like "being sick of show business", the Agnetha and Björn divorce, it has a "lot of joy" like the song "Lay All Your Love On Me". Christopher Thelen, from ''The Daily Vault'' gave the album an A- and wrote that "whatever was happening to the band, internally or externally, they were able to take it and put the best creative spin on it. The result was possibly their best album". The German counterpart of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine and ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' both gave four out of five stars, while '' Smash Hits'' magazine and ''

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'' gave the album mixed reviews.

Track listing

All tracks written by

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

and

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals '' Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

except where noted.

Non-album tracks

* "Elaine" A song recorded in 1980 and released as B-side "The Winner Takes It All" single. * "Put On Your White Sombrero" A song based on waltz with a Latin American sound recorded in 1980 with lead vocal by Lyngstad. The track was replaced at a late stage by this album's title track, "Super Trouper". The arrangement of "Put On Your White Sombrero" was later remodelled into a new ABBA song, "Cassandra", which became the B-Side to "

The Day Before You Came "The Day Before You Came" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in October 1982 as the lead single from the compilation album '' The Singles: The First Ten Years''. History Development Following the November 1981 release of ABB ...

". The song remained unreleased until 1994.

Personnel

ABBA *

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

– vocals *

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

– vocals *

– acoustic guitar, vocals *

– synthesizers, keyboards, vocals Additional personnel *

Ola Brunkert Ola Brunkert (15 September 1946 – 16 March 2008) was a Swedish drummer who was one of the main session drummers for the pop group ABBA. Brunkert and bassist Rutger Gunnarsson are the only two side musicians to appear on every ABBA album, not cou ...

– drums (2-9) *Lars Carlsson – horn (3) *

Rutger Gunnarsson Johan Rutger Gunnarsson (12 February 1946 – 30 April 2015) was a Swedish musician, bass guitarist, guitarist, arranger and producer. He was closely associated with the pop group ABBA. Career Gunnarsson grew up in Ledberg parish. His career began ...

– bass (3-9), guitar *Janne Kling – flute (8), saxophone (3) *Per Lindvall – drums (1) *

Janne Schaffer Jan Erik Tage "Janne" Schaffer (born 24 September 1945) is a Swedish songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his work as a session guitarist for ABBA but he has also recorded with artists such as Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Art Farmer and To ...

– guitar *Åke Sundqvist – percussion *Mike Watson – bass (1, 2) *Lasse Wellander – guitar *Kajtek Wojciechowski – saxophone (3) *Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus *Engineer: Michael B. Tretow *Arranger: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus *Design: Rune Söderqvist *Mastering for 1980's USA Atlantic CD version by Zal Schreiber of Atlantic Studios, NYC *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

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

abba4therecord.com – webpage showing ''Voulez-Vous'' releases worldwide
{{Authority control ABBA albums Polar Music albums 1980 albums Albums recorded at Polar Studios Albums produced by Björn Ulvaeus Albums produced by Benny Andersson Atlantic Records albums Epic Records albums