music.wikisort.org - Composition

Waterloo is the second studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, and the first released internationally. It was originally released on 4 March 1974 in Sweden through Polar Music. The album's title track won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and became a global hit, launching the group's career.[3]

Waterloo
Studio album by ABBA
Released	4 March 1974 (1974-03-04)
Recorded	24 September 1973 – 20 February 1974
Studio	Metronome Studios, Stockholm
Genre	Europop rock
Length	38:10 (original release) 44:47 (reissue 2001)
Language	English and Swedish
Label	Polar Epic (UK) Atlantic (US original release)
Producer	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA chronology
Ring Ring (1973) Waterloo (1974) ABBA (1975)
Singles from Waterloo
"Waterloo" Released: 4 March 1974 "Honey, Honey" Released: April 1974 "Hasta Mañana" Released: April 1974

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[2]

Overview

Recording sessions for Waterloo began on 24 September 1973 with the track "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)". This song was unusual in that it is the only ABBA track not to feature member Benny Andersson on keyboards, but instead featured American pianist John Rabbit Bundrick who was in Sweden at the time.[4] Bundrick, however, was not credited on the album. Three weeks later the next two songs ("Suzy-Hang-Around" and "My Mama Said") went into the studio. A recording sheet from the day credits the artist as "ABBA", the first time the name was ever used in writing, the group until now being called "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid", although their manager Stig Andersson had informally been calling them ABBA with the media for some time. The former of these songs marks the only time Benny Andersson sang lead on a track. Two more tracks were recorded on 17 October; "What About Livingstone" and "Honey Honey" – the latter being the second single released from the album in most countries. "King Kong Song" was recorded on 14 November, a song which members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus today single out as one of their weakest tracks.[4] This was also the date in which it was announced that ABBA were to appear at the Swedish selection for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. From that point, recording sessions speeded up and the rest of the tracks were recorded. Two songs were up for consideration for their Eurovision entry; "Waterloo" and "Hasta Mañana". The group preferred the former but felt the latter was a more safe bet. Ultimately they chose "Waterloo" as it was more the direction they wished to take the group. "Waterloo" and "Watch Out" were recorded on the same day – the songs that made up the lead single and its B-side.[4]

"Waterloo" swept to victory at the Swedish heats and the group represented Sweden in Brighton for the Eurovision Song Contest 1974. ABBA won the contest and "Waterloo" became not only a massive hit in Europe but all over the world (peaking at No.6 in the US for example).[3] In Sweden, the album had already been released and topped the Swedish album charts for 12 weeks, becoming one of the biggest-selling Swedish albums ever to that point. In the UK the album made No.28,[3] the first time a foreign Eurovision act had charted an album and it performed well in the rest of Europe.[4]

Reviews of the album were positive with Phonograph Record's Greg Shaw stating that it "might just turn out to be one of the classic début LPs of the '70s". Rolling Stone also gave the album a favourable review.[4] In a 3-star review, AllMusic said that it was "a beautiful album".

Waterloo was first released on CD in Sweden in 1988 alongside Ring Ring and the self titled album. It is the only CD version of the album to follow the original Scandinavian LP's running order.[5] Polydor first released Waterloo, along with Ring Ring, throughout Europe in 1990, with the discs being pressed in West Germany. These discs follow the running order of the Waterloo LP that was released in The Netherlands, swapping Watch Out and What About Livingstone? in the tracklist.[6][7] In 1995, Polydor reissued their pressings of all of ABBA's albums in the United States.[8] The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form several times: in 1997 as part of "The ABBA Remasters" series,[9] then in 2001 with an updated cover artwork and some bonus tracks,[10] again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set, and most recently in 2014 as a 40th anniversary "Deluxe Edition" reissue.[11] This version of the album entered the UK album charts.[12]

The cover features the sub-title "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida" although some editions replaced 'Agnetha' with 'Anna' – by which Agnetha Fältskog was known in some countries.[13]

Track listing

Notes

• The international LP edition omits the Swedish version of Waterloo and moved the English version to the start of side one.
• The American LP edition utilises the international tracklisting but added the US remix of "Ring Ring" to the end of side two.
• The UK LP edition utilises the international tracklisting but added the original English version of "Ring Ring" to the end of side two.
• The 1990 edition issued by Polydor swapped the tracks "Watch Out" and "What About Livingstone?"
• The 2001 edition swaps the respective versions of the title track so that the CD begins with the English version.

Personnel

• Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
• Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals
• Benny Andersson – piano, keyboards, Moog synthesizer, mellotron, clavinet, vocals

Additional musicians

• Ola Brunkert – drums
• Malando Gassama – congas and güiro on "Sitting in the Palmtree", tambourine on "Hasta manana"
• Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
• Janne Schaffer – electric guitars
• Per Sahlberg – percussion and bass on "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)"[14]
• John "Rabbit" Bundrick – keyboards on "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)" (not credited on the album sleeve)
• Christer Eklund – tenor saxophone on "Waterloo"[14]
• Sven-Olof Walldoff – string arrangement on "Honey, Honey"[14]

Production

• Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus – producers
• Michael B. Tretow – engineer
• Ola Lager – photography
• Ron Spaulding – original album design
• Jon Astley; Tim Young; Michael B. Tretow – remastering for the 1997 Remasters
• Jon Astley; Michael B. Tretow – remastered for the 2001 Remasters
• Henrik Jonsson – remastering for The Complete Studio Recordings box set

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[29]	2× Platinum	100,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[30]	Silver	25,000[31]
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[32]	Gold	25,035[32]
Germany (BVMI)[33]	Platinum	500,000^
Sweden (GLF)[34]	Diamond	349,938[29]
United Kingdom (BPI)[35]	Silver	60,000^
Summaries
Europe	—	3,000,000[36]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

External links

• Waterloo at Discogs (list of releases)

На других языках

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[de] Waterloo (Album)

Waterloo ist das zweite Album der schwedischen Popgruppe ABBA. Der ursprüngliche Bandname „Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida“ wurde auf Cover und Label in Klammern gesetzt.[1] Das Album wurde am 4. März 1974 in Schweden erstmals veröffentlicht und stand dort zwölf Wochen an der Spitze der Verkaufscharts. Bis Ende 1974 verkaufte es sich dort 250.000 Mal, womit es zu diesem Zeitpunkt das meistverkaufte Album Schwedens war.[2] Mit dem namensgebenden Titellied Waterloo gewann die Gruppe am 6. April 1974 in Brighton den Eurovision Song Contest.

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- [en] Waterloo (album)

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[es] Waterloo (álbum)

Waterloo es el nombre del segundo disco de estudio del grupo sueco ABBA. Fue lanzado el 4 de marzo de 1974, siendo el primer álbum en tener el nombre oficial del grupo. También se convirtió en su primer disco lanzado a nivel internacional. La canción que le da el nombre al álbum, fue la triunfadora en el Festival de la Canción de Eurovisión 1974.

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[ru] Waterloo (альбом)

Waterloo — второй студийный альбом шведской поп-группы ABBA, выпущенный в 1974 году.

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