Rating: 
Summary: The best ABBA biography we'll ever get
Review: A comprehensive overview of the careers of all 5 of the main protagonists in the ABBA story. The author covers the pre and post ABBA phases thoroughly, as well as their time together as ABBA. For a fan such as I am, the stories were fascinating and this book will have a permanent place on my bookshelf. However, as another reviewer has stated, Palm has a tendency to be very dry and I'm not sure this book would appeal as much to someone looking for a good music biography as it will to an ABBA fan. The dryness is most apparent in Palm's discussion of ABBA's music. Damning with faint praise comes very strongly to mind, particularly in his discussion of Super Trouper. There didn't seem to me any sense that this was a fan of the music (which for all its faults you couldn't say about the 'Name of the Game' by Oldham et al.)
His post-ABBA opinions are even more downbeat, particularly in regard to Chess. He complains about the number of styles used - but anyone familiar with the way Lloyd-Webber and Rice worked would know that that was how they put musicals together, and that was the template that Benny and Bjorn worked from.
Nevertheless this is a superbly researched book which contains probably as much as anyone needs to know about ABBA's formative years
Rating:
Summary: True Swedish Melancholy
Review: After reading this, one understands the high suicide rate in Sweden, especially in the 70s! Though that might sound like a joke, the peronality of Swedish pop culture and the serious, non-emotional vibe that prevailed in the Swedish 70s is obvious here. The amount of public ridicule this group endured in their own country and abroad while simultaneously battling through emotional issues internally, produced the most hilarious irony in pop music...the mega-happy ABBA sound. It would seem as if none of the 4 members of ABBA were particularly joyful people. In fact in some cases, they seem quite egotistical and morose. I appreciate this book because people that have always seen them as shadowy nordic figures that make mechanical yet irresistable pop product, will now see their human side...if they REALLY care to.
Rating:
Summary: authoritative bio
Review: An authoritive, thorough bio from ABBA guru , C.M.Palm.
Palm covers the entire careers of the four members of ABBA.
Palm discusses all the major issues of their careers, and sheds light on some unfamiliar territory such as story of Frida's father, and B&B's rift with Stig. Palm is a dry, but highly factual writer.
I did find myself disagreeing with some of Palm's assesments of ABBA music. Palm tends to give only fair to bad reviews of much of ABBA's group & solo work.
Rating:
Summary: authoritative bio
Review: An authoritive, thorough bio from ABBA guru , C.M.Palm.
Palm covers the entire careers of the four members of ABBA.
Palm discusses all the major issues of their careers, and sheds light on some unfamiliar territory such as story of Frida's father, and B&B's rift with Stig. Palm is a dry, but highly factual writer. I did find myself disagreeing with some of Palm's assesments of ABBA music. Palm tends to give only fair to bad reviews of much of ABBA's group & solo work.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable Reading
Review: As a newer fan of ABBA I love this book. It helped me understand things that I have heard about this wonderful group. I enjoyed finding out stories that I didn't know about the Abba group.-- L. Betz
Rating:
Summary: An excellent choice for true ABBA fans
Review: As soon as I learned that a complete ABBA biography was about to be published, I became very excited. A few months after its realease I ordered it and although it was very expensive when converted to the brazilian currency, it was worth it. This is an amazing, detailed book about the greatest band that ever existed and I'm pretty sure all true fans are going to keep it as one of the most precious treasures in the world. It is true that sometimes it lacks objectivity in discussing economical issues faced by Polar Music, but that certainly doesn't make the book any less valuable.
Rating:
Summary: The standard by which all future ABBA books must be judged
Review: BRIGHT LIGHTS DARK SHADOWS is absolutely compelling; although the chapters are largely self-contained, the hooks leading into the next chapter (and the opening paragraphs of each chapter) are irresistible. I often found myself beginning to read a new chapter when I swore I would stop at the end of the preceding one. Part I is gripping from the start of Chapter 1. I was impressed for several reasons. First, the personal and industry backgrounds on the four members and Stig are usually glossed over in other books. Here, the sketchy details are fully filled in, and it's
fascinating reading. Second, Carl Magnus Palm puts everything in its cultural and historical context with information about the regions where each member grew up, the origin of the various Swedish charts etc. He expresses an authentic feel for the times and for his country
and its people. Third, the narrative flows beautifully. Although it's largely chronological, it feels fresh - the first four chapters don't just go through each member one by one, the book has been better planned. It seems perfectly natural that we don't arrive at the childhood of the youngest member, Agnetha, until we've learnt about Stig's background and followed the others into their teenage years. There isn't as much public information available about each member's childhood, which must have made it difficult to piece a lot of these facts together. The book really begins to hit its stride with the early chapters of Part II. In Chapter 12, Palm
begins to weave the various stories together. There's such a lot that isn't known about ABBA's formative years, there's a real joy of discovery in these chapters. Palm's tone is also more assured at this point - he slips in some reasoned criticism of each member's early recordings - and he injects some satirical, but affectionate, humour into the reportage. I loved the style on pages 177 and 178, for example, when Agnetha recounts her "baking accidents" and the bemused tone when Frida decides to throw it all in and "become a clothes designer". An impressive feature of the book is its succinctness. That may sound funny, since BRIGHT LIGHTS DARK SHADOWS is over 500 pages, but it's a fair assessment. The Habari Safari movie takes up about a page; the progg movement is concisely charted and explained in a few pages. He sums up the sound and limitations of Gemini in one pithy phrase - "studio product, shoulder-pad music sorely lacking in soul" - and is equally spot-on with Agnetha and Frida's 80s solo efforts. Although I didn't accept his criticism of Djupa Andetag, it is a rational critique, and I admittedly suffer the disadvantage of not being able to understand the album's lyrics in their natural language. Part III - The Time is Right - covers Waterloo through to 1982. The material is generally more familiar here; for instance, I could usually be sure of what incidents would be included in each chapter (other fans, as opposed to the general public for whom this book is also written, may be as acquainted with this part of the ABBA story to feel the same). Fortunately, although a large part of this slab of the book is taken up with recounting events, Palm is not writing a mere overview of the ABBA years. He's writing a biography, and the significance of events on ABBA as people is analysed; he keeps
sight of the biographer's purpose in representing the big picture. Occasionally, this is of necessity a little strained - the psychoanalysis of Frida (p. 508) didn't entirely convince me, for example. After reading BRIGHT LIGHTS DARK SHADOWS, I've learnt as much as I think I'll ever know about the people that make up ABBA. Ultimately, it's eye-opening and - towards the end - dispiriting reading. But you get a real sense of the demands and pressures that they were going through - the chapter on 1978, supposedly a quiet year for ABBA, makes this plain. As the business side of Polar consumed Stig, and the marriages collapsed, I think it's clear that the ABBA "magic" was a relatively short-lived
alchemy of personality, managerial drive, talent and determination in a specific historical and cultural setting. But it wasn't a fluke - it wouldn't have lasted as long, over as many unambiguously great albums, if it was. You'll understand a lot more about ABBA, and I think you may even better appreciate the music, after reading BRIGHT LIGHTS DARK SHADOWS. It's the first real biography of ABBA but, more than that, it's the definitive biography. And it's the standard against which all future attempts at retelling the ABBA story will be judged.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Bright Lights, Dark Shadows is fantastic! Carl Magnus Palm presents a balanced, unbiased look at the personalities behind 70s supergroup ABBA. From personal and professional successes to tragedies, Bright Lights, Dark Shadows details little-known facts and surprising histories about the band members, their rise to fame and even a candid look at what really happened after the band broke up. Carl Magnus Palm, billed as the world's foremost ABBA historian, lives up to the title in his brilliant portrayal of the group. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Abba treated with the respect they deserve!!!
Review: Carl Palm takes a subject some make take lightly, and reveals them as the complex creation that they are. Although the author has a high reguard for his subject, he is never fawning or heavy handed, which results in a very objective, yet personal text. Not only informative as a study of Abba itself, but as a study of the pop music business. Without ever exploiting their private lives, we are taken into the world of four unique creative individuals, their working habits, motivations, and songwriting genius. It is a pleasure to read a book that treats great pop music with the depth and understanding it deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Sure is thorough...
Review: Exhaustively researched, this weighty tome is for the certifiable ABBAmaniac only. Casual fans looking for a frothy snapshot of the sunny Swedes would be well-advised to keep looking. Ultimately, gloomier than a Jonkoping February.
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