ABBA Arrival The Album - Thoughts From An Artist - Mark B Timmins

'Watching Over' by Mark B Timmins

ABBA Arrival - The Album

Thoughts From An Artist

A young girl who is so dangerously infatuated with her teacher that she kisses him in the middle of a class.

An older woman looking on with joy and nostalgia as she watches a young seventeen year old girl enjoy her euphoric dancing oblivion. She is perhaps remembering when she was that girl?

A young woman who's heart is breaking as she knows that this day will be the last day that she will ever spend with the love of her life.

A young woman who is in love with a violinist and is so sexually frustrated with him not noticing her that she imagines what it would be like to be his instrument.

A woman who is expressing her sadness and regret over the ending of an irrevocable relationship and how it was inevitable.

A woman who is financially in dire straits who dreams of what it would be like to be financially wealthy and what she might have to do to get it by either marrying money or gambling to get it.

A young woman who is looking for a seemingly impossible kind of love and will not trade her independence for anything less than that love.

A young man who is tortured by the fact that he feels like a pawn in his relationship with his girlfriend. She thinks he is better off without her.

The lure, attraction and dangers of the city encapsulated in a prowling, devouring and violent beast.
The sound of Nordic angels departing the earth (and your stereo) after 35 minutes of aural heaven. A piece of music that evokes happiness and sadness in equal measure.

ABBA's Arrival was played and adored by all those young fans at the time (me included) during the mid to late 70s and just the sounds and the melodies were enough to hook you.

But as adults the themes on this album are ever more poignant as you grow older. This is the beauty of this album.

It is not a happy album, it just SOUNDS happy. One look at the serious cover artwork would tell you that this is serious stuff. This is the genius of ABBA.

This is when pop music actually means something. It is not throwaway. It is a series of melancholy stories dressed up in the most beautiful soundscape. The songs of reality clothed in the music of escapism. Arrival is a milestone album in pop music.

Mark Barry Timmins

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ABBA Arrival 40th Anniversary - October 2016

Wow, can you believe it is 40 years since the fantastic album 'Arrival' was released ? And look at the gorgeous display at ABBA The Museum ! Love it !!

And we have been blessed with some fabulous releases to celebrate this momentous occasion - 7" picture discs of the biggest hits from the album, box set of coloured 7" vinyl, and of course the half speed masted 12" double vinyl.

I am still waiting for my items but I will take lots of pictures and add them here once they arrive - very exciting !

Arrival is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records. Recording sessions began in August 1975 and continued until September 1976 at Metronome and Glen studios in Stockholm, Sweden. It became one of ABBA's most successful albums to date, producing three of their biggest hits: "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You". Upon its original 1976 release, "Fernando", released as a single earlier the same year, did not appear on Arrival, but it was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions. Arrival was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album was first released on Compact disc in 1984 and then re-issued in digitally remastered form a total of four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set, and again in 2006 (as a special Deluxe Edition).

The album reached number 1 in many countries:

Australia - selling almost as many copies as 'The Best Of ABBA'
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Sweden
United Kingdom
West Germany

The single 'Fernando' stayed at number 1 in Australia for a huge 14 weeks and is still the biggest selling single of all time here.

 A fabulous TV Commercial for the album from 1976:

The hits:

Fernando - Don Lane Show Australia 1976

Dancing Queen:

Money Money Money:

Knowing Me Knowing You:

Two great little videos showing the vinyl singles playing on a record player from ABBA Official:

Dancing Queen Blue Vinyl 7"

Fernando 7" Picture Disc 

 
If you haven't ordered your 40th Anniversary items yet, check out some of the following links:

Arrival The Singles - Coloured Vinyl Box Set - remember this is a Limited Edition Box Set - it will sell out !

International:

Universal Store

The Sound Of Vinyl

7" Picture Discs & LP:

In Australia:

JB Hi-Fi  -  LP only

Red Eye Records  -  LP & Picture Discs

WOWHD  -  all formats

Don't miss out !

ABBA 'Arrival' 40th Anniversary Releases Confirmed ! Picture Discs Plus More !!

OMG !!

The releases for Arrival's 40th Anniversary have been confirmed and they are fabulous !!

A limited edition 7” box set will feature the four singles from the album – the worldwide No.1 smash hit ‘Dancing Queen’, along with ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘Fernando’ – all on coloured vinyl. This box will only be available through ABBA The Museum Shop and D2C shops.

You can pre-order all items at the following sites:

ABBA The Museum

The Sound Of Vinyl

uDiscover Music

‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘Fernando’ will be released separately as a limited-edition picture disc.
Finally, a 2LP, half-speed mastered, 45rpm cut of the original album will be released. This rare and specialised technique transforms difficult to cut high-end frequencies into relatively easy to cut mid-range frequencies. The result is a cut with excellent high frequency response and very solid and stable stereo images. In short, half-speed mastering produced a master of the highest quality that enables the pressing plant to produce a superlative record. The album reissue will include new liner notes including a brand new interview with Michael B Tretow, ABBA’s acclaimed producer and “fifth member”.


All products will be released October 7th 2016.

ABBA 'Arrival' 40th Anniversary Releases Coming Soon !

Well, it appears that 'Arrival' is going to be released on a Limited Edition 12" vinyl to celebrate the 40th Anniversary - release date is October/November at this point.

But wait, there's more ! 4 singles from the album will also be released on 7" vinyl and in their original Polar sleeves.

Singles being released are:

Dancing Queen
Fernando
Knowing Me Knowing You
Money Money Money

The Deluxe Edition of Arrival has also been re-issued in a jewel case.

The LP and singles can be pre-ordered now from WOWHD and Amazon as far as I can tell but will update information here as it comes to hand.

The LP is listed at over $70AUD so let's hope it's going to be something special !

Pre-order the vinyls here:

WOWHD

And don't forget to check out ABBA The Museum for the Anniversary T-shirt and badges !

ABBA The Museum Shop

Singles to be releases:

ABBA - RCA Records Australia Radio Interview 1976

Great radio interview from 1976 with RCA's State Manager, Terry Gray, talking about producing ABBA records. Interview takes place inside the RCA record factory during the production of 'Arrival' and 'Money Money Money'.

Lots of interesting information - and quite a delight knowing they were pressing ABBA albums at the time.

Great piece of history and a nice trip down memory lane :)

Just press Play and enjoy !

Read all about the album 'Arrival' here:

  

Udiscovermusic.com/abbas-winning-touchdown

" only the second album in the nation’s history to sell more than a million copies."

And of course 'The Best Of ABBA' was the first :)

ABBA Live In Australia 27th February 1977 - "They're Here!"

'They're Here !'

How excited were we ??

On 27th February 1977, ABBA arrived in Sydney for their Australian Tour.
They checked into the Sebel Town House Hotel in Elizabeth Bay where they faced the Australian media for a Press conference. Very cringe worthy ......

There had been much outrage in the Australian press that tickets for the concerts would cost $9 or more! When tickets went on sale in October 1976, fans all over the country queued for hours to secure tickets and every single concert was sold out. 
Images are from my personal collection.

 

ABBA 'Arrival' Released Today In 1976

On the 11th of October 1976, ABBA's new album 'Arrival' was released in Sweden.

'Arrival' was the fourth album by ABBA and was originally released by Polar Records.

Upon its original 1976 release, 'Fernando', released as a single earlier the same year, did not appear on 'Arrival', but it was included on the South African, Australian, and New Zealand versions.

'Arrival' reached number 1 in Australia, Holland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and West Germany and charted in many other countries.

The only country to sell more copies of this album than Australia ( 900,000 copies ) was West Germany, with sales just over 1,000,000.

To date, it is ABBA's most successful album, producing mega hits such as 'Dancing Queen', 'Money Money Money' and 'Knowing Me Knowing You'. Not to mention 'Fernando' in the countries where it was included on the album.
In Australia, only 'The Best Of ABBA' sold more copies.

It even managed to reach the top 20 in the US !