ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits
2556881
225434703
2008-07-13T17:59:47Z
59.167.252.142
The international version had long versions for Voulez-Vous and The name of the game... Australian were the short versions. updated to reflect correctness
{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
Name = ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits |
Type = Greatest hits |
Artist = [[ABBA]] |
Cover = Abbagold.jpg |
Released = [[August 9]], [[1992]] |
Recorded = December 1973-<br>October 1981 |
Genre = [[Pop music|Pop]] |
Length = 76:25 |
Label = [[PolyGram]] (1992-1997) [[Universal Music]] (1998 - )|
Producer = [[Benny Andersson]] & [[Björn Ulvaeus]] |
Reviews =
* [[Allmusic]] {{rating-5|5}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:9fnsa9ygy23g~T1 link] |
Last album = ''[[ABBA Live]]'' <br /> (1986) |
This album = '''''ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits''''' <br /> (1992) |
Next album = ''[[More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits]]''<br /> (1993) |}}
'''''ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits''''' is a compilation album of recordings by [[Sweden|Swedish]] pop group [[ABBA]], released by [[PolyGram]] in 1992, the first compilation to be issued after the company had acquired [[Polar Music]] and thus the rights to the ABBA back catalogue. In 1998, [[PolyGram]] was in turn merged into what is now the [[Universal Music Group]].
''ABBA Gold'' appeared at a time when ABBA's original albums had been off the market for a number of years, and was well received by the music-buying public. ''ABBA Gold'' has been re-released in various 'special' or 'remastered' releases in 1999, 2002, a 2003 CD/DVD release, and in 2004. A similar package titled ''[[ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos]]'' featured ten ABBA songs sung in [[Spanish language|Spanish]].
''ABBA Gold'' is the biggest seller of all ABBA releases, and is one of the Top 40 [[List of best-selling albums worldwide|best-selling albums of all time worldwide]], and according to Mediatraffic (United World Chart) it is ranked at #39 of the Albums All Time Chart.<ref>[http://www.mediatraffic.de/alltime-album-chart.htm UWC - Alltime Album Chart List]</ref> Worldwide sales as of 2006 are 26 million.<ref>[http://www.abba-world.net/facts/abba.htm ABBA<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ''ABBA Gold'' is the 4th biggest selling album of all time in the UK as of the end of April 2008. By April 30th 2008 it had sold 4,097,417 UK copies. (UK Sales up-date from The Official UK Charts Company) . <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6151050.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Queen head all-time sales chart<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==History==
The original 1992 release included edited versions of "[[Voulez-Vous (song)|Voulez-Vous]]" and "[[The Name of the Game]]." These were replaced by the full original-length versions on the 1999 and subsequent re-releases. The original 1992 version is still the only one available in the [[United States]], however. The Australasian release had a modified track list to include three local hits, replacing three other songs. In [[Spain]], the original 1992 release replaced the English versions of "[[Chiquitita]]" and "[[Fernando (song)|Fernando]]" with the Spanish language versions.
In [[1999 in music|1999]], the album was also released both worldwide and in Australasia with the different track listings to commemorate ABBA's 25th Anniversary of winning the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] with "[[Waterloo (song)|Waterloo]]". This new version was called the 'signature series', as it came with autographs from the band members embedded into the front plastic casing in gold writing. This new version also contained new sleeve notes.
A 10th Anniversary Edition was released worldwide in 2002. The ABBA logo was changed to the official ABBA font and the back cover was redesigned. It was released in [[Europe]] and [[New Zealand]] (with the European track list, and not the previous Australasian track list). This version was not released in [[Australia]].
The [[DVD]] released in 2003 included the 19 songs on the CD, plus the short documentary, ''ABBA - The History'', as well as the 1992 version of the "[[Dancing Queen]]" video. This includes scenes from other clips edited into the original video, which was made to promote the original release of ''ABBA Gold''.
A 30th Anniversary Edition was released in 2004 with a gold-coloured sleeve cover rather than the normal black sleeve. The original release included a DVD with 18 of the 19 songs from the CD, excluding "The Name Of The Game".
The album topped the UK album chart on four separate occasions, six-and-a-half years apart - first in 1992, and then three times in 1999 - and was the only album in the UK's Top 100 sellers in every year from 1992 to 2000. It was also in the UK Top 100 best sellers of 2004. As a result, ''ABBA Gold'' is one of the highest selling and longest charting albums released in the United Kingdom. By week
ending 19th July 2008, it held the sixth 'Most Chart Weeks' of any UK album position - 362 weeks - in the Top 75, & 705 weeks in the
UK Top 200.
==Track listings==
===Worldwide excluding Australasia===
All songs by [[Björn Ulvaeus]] and [[Benny Andersson]], unless otherwise noted.
#"[[Dancing Queen]]" (1976) ([[Stig Anderson|Anderson]], Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:51
#"[[Knowing Me, Knowing You]]" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:03
#"[[Take a Chance on Me]]" (1978) – 4:06
#"[[Mamma Mia (song)|Mamma Mia]]" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:33
#"[[Lay All Your Love on Me]]" (1980) – 4:35
#"[[Super Trouper (song)|Super Trouper]]" (1980) – 4:13
#"[[I Have a Dream (song)|I Have a Dream]]" (1979) – 4:42
#"[[The Winner Takes It All]]" (1980) – 4:54
#"[[Money, Money, Money]]" (1976) – 3:06
#"[[SOS (ABBA song)|S.O.S]]" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:20
#"[[Chiquitita]]" (1979) – 5:26
#"[[Fernando (song)|Fernando]]" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:14
#"[[Voulez-Vous (song)|Voulez-Vous]]" (1979) – 5:10
#"[[Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)]]" (1979) – 4:52
#"[[Does Your Mother Know]]" (1979) – 3:13
#"[[One of Us (ABBA song)|One of Us]]" (1981) – 3:57
#"[[The Name of the Game]]" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:53
#"[[Thank You for the Music]]" (1977/1983) – 3:49
#"[[Waterloo (song)|Waterloo]]" (1974) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:42
===Australasia version===
All songs by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, unless otherwise noted.
#"Dancing Queen" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:49
#"Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:01
#"Take a Chance on Me" (1978) – 4:01
#"Mamma Mia" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:32
#"Lay All Your Love on Me" (1980) – 4:32
#"Ring Ring" (1973) (Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:02
#"I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:15
#"The Winner Takes It All" (1980) – 4:54
#"Money, Money, Money" (1976) – 3:05
#"S.O.S" (1975) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:19
#"Chiquitita" (1979) – 5:26
#"Fernando" (1976) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 4:10
#"Voulez-Vous" (1979) – 4:21
#"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" (1979) – 4:46
#"Does Your Mother Know" (1979) – 3:14
#"One of Us" (1981) – 3:53
#"The Name of the Game" (1977) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 3:56
#"Rock Me" (1975) – 3:02
#"Waterloo" (1974) (Anderson, Andersson, Ulvaeus) – 2:42
===Special edition bonus CD===
In 2003, ''ABBA Gold'' was released in Europe with a bonus second disc.
# "[[Summer Night City]]"
# "[[Angeleyes]]"
# "[[The Day Before You Came]]"
# "[[I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do]]"
# "[[So Long (song)|So Long]]"
# "[[Honey, Honey]]"
# "[[The Visitors (song)|The Visitors]]"
# "[[Ring Ring (song)|Ring Ring]]"
# "When I Kissed The Teacher"
# "The Way Old Friends Do"
==Personnel==
'''ABBA'''
*[[Benny Andersson]] - [[synthesizer]], [[keyboard instrument|keyboards]], [[vocals]]
*[[Agnetha Fältskog]] - vocals
*[[Anni-Frid Lyngstad]] - vocals
*[[Björn Ulvaeus]] - [[banjo]], [[guitar]], vocals
;Additional personnel
*Jon Astley - digital remastering
*Ingemar Bergman - compilation
*Chris Griffin - compilation
*George McManus - compilation
*Jackie Stansfield - compilation
*John Tobler - liner notes, compilation
*Carl Magnus Palm - liner notes (1999, 2002, 2004 reissues)
*Michael B. Tretow - digital remastering
;Production
*Producers: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
*Engineers: Jon Astley and Michael B. Tretow
==Chart positions==
'''Album'''
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width="550px" class=wikitable
!align="left"|Year
!align="left"|Chart
!align="left"|Position
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Australia
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Austria
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Canada
|align="left"|6
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Finland
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Hungary
|align="left"|10
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Italy
|align="left"|2
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Mexico
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Netherlands
|align="left"|2
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|New Zealand
|align="left"|3
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Norway
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Sweden
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Switzerland
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|UK
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Germany
|align="left"|1
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|The Billboard 200 (USA Album Chart)
|align="left"|63, (USA Pop Catalogue Chart - Number 7 - 2001)
|-
|align="left"|1992
|align="left"|Japan
|align="left"|13, 160 (re-issued in 2002), 210 (re-issued in 2006)
|-
|}
==Sales certifications==
'''Album'''
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 width="550px" class=wikitable
!align="left"|Country
!align="left"|Certification
!align="left"|Amount
|-
|align="left"|Argentina
|align="left"|6× Platinum<ref>[http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=1&PerDesde_AA=2000&PerHasta_MM=12&PerHasta_AA=2007&interprete=ABBA&album=GOLD&LanDesde_MM=0&LanDesde_AA=0&LanHasta_MM=0&LanHasta_AA=0&Galardon=P&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP CAPIF Cerifications for ABBA Gold]</ref>
|align="left"|240,000+<ref name = ifpi>[http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/Certification%20Awards%20Full%20List%20-%20OCTOBER%2007.pdf IFPI Table of Worldwide Certification levels]</ref>
|-
|align="left"|Australia
|align="left"|11× Platinum<ref>[http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-accreditations-albums-1999.htm ARIA Creditation] as of 1999</ref>
|align="left"|770,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Austria
|align="left"|3× Platinum
|align="left"|90,000+
|-
|align="left"|Canada
|align="left"|Diamond<ref>[http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php?page=3&wclause=WHERE+artist_name+like+%27%25abba%25%27+ORDER+BY+cert_date%2C+cert_award+&rcnt=45&csearch=20&nextprev=1 CRIA Searchable Datase - Results for ABBA]</ref>
|align="left"|1,000,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Finland
|align="left"|4× Platinum
|align="left"|120,000+
|-
|align="left"|France
|align="left"|Diamond
|align="left"|1,000,000+
|-
|align="left"|Germany
|align="left"|4× Platinum<ref>[http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank.html IFPI German Certification Searchable Database]</ref>
|align="left"|2,000,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Hungary
|align="left"|Platinum<ref>[http://www.mahasz.hu/m/?menu=arany_es_platinalemezek&menu2=adatbazis&ev=2000 Mahasz - Hungary Certifications 2000]</ref>
|align="left"|6,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Korea
|align="left"|unavailable
|align="left"|256,000+<ref>[http://www.miak.or.kr/stat/pop_200006.htm Korean Sales of ABBA Gold]</ref>
|-
|align="left"|Mexico
|align="left"|Platinum
|align="left"|100,000+<ref>[http://www.amprofon.com.mx/certificaciones.php?artista=abba&titulo=&disquera=&certificacion=todas&anio=todos&categoria=todas&Submitted=Buscar&item=menuCert&contenido=buscar IFPI Mexico (AMPROFON) Certification Searchable Database]</ref>
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand
|align="left"|15× Platinum<ref>The Complete New Zealand Music Charts 1966-2006: Dean Scapolo: ISBN 978-1877443-00-8</ref>
|align="left"|225,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Poland
|align="left"|Platinum<ref>[http://www.zpav.pl/plyty.asp?page=platynowe&lang=pl IFPI Polish Platinum Awards]</ref>
|align="left"|20,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Sweden
|align="left"|5× Platinum<ref>[http://www.ifpi.se/goldplatinum.aspx IFPI Sweden GULD & PLATINA Certifications - År1999]</ref>
|align="left"|500,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|Switzerland
|align="left"|9× Platinum<ref>[http://swisscharts.com/awards.asp?year=2000 Swiss Certifications 2000]</ref>
|align="left"|500,000+<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|align="left"|UK
|align="left"|13× Platinum<ref>[http://www.bpi.co.uk/ BPI (Statistics - Certification Awards)]</ref>
|align="left"|3,900,000+<ref name = ifpi/> (4.1 Million actual Sales - by April 30th 2008)
|-
|align="left"|USA
|align="left"|6× Platinum<ref>[http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH RIAA Certification Searchable Database]</ref>
|align="left"|6,000,000++<ref name = ifpi/>
|-
|}
==Further reading==
* ''ABBA Gold'' by Elizabeth Vincentelli - (ISBN 0826415466) in 2004.
==References==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags and the tag below -->
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* abba4therecord / Webpage showing ABBA Gold Releases worldwide [http://www.abba4therecord.com/abbagold.php]
{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = ''[[Glittering Prize 81/92]]'' by [[Simple Minds]]
| title = Australian [[ARIA Charts|ARIA Albums Chart]] [[Number-one albums of 1992 (Australia)|number-one album]]
| years = [[December 13]] [[1992]] - [[January 9]] [[1993]]
| after = ''Still the 12th Man'' by [[The 12th Man]]
}}
{{end}}
{{ABBA}}
[[Category:ABBA albums]]
[[Category:1992 albums]]
[[Category:Greatest hits albums]]
[[da:ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits]]
[[de:Gold (Album)]]
[[es:ABBA Gold]]
[[fr:ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits]]
[[it:ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits]]
[[pl:ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits]]
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[[sv:ABBA Gold – Greatest Hits]]