Rating: Summary: ABBA IN CONCERT LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM ENGLAND Review: MOST OF THE SHOTS HERE ARE FROM WEMBLEY STADIUM, ALTHOUGH SOME ARE ALSO FROM THEIR TOUR IN THE USA. IT IS AN EXCELLENT ALBUM, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THEY HAD SOME SOUND PROBLEMS AND UNFORTUNATELY DID NOT RE-RECORD THE SECTIONS ON THE FOLLOWING NIGHTS. THERE WAS ALSO AN ABBERATION IN THAT BENNY MIXED THIS DVD, INSTEAD OF THE REGULAR SOUND TECH, AND THAT SHOWS CLEARLY IN THE DIMISHED QUALITY OF THE SOUND, AND THE TOO HIGH LEVELS FOR THE AUDIENCE CLAPPING AND CHEERING. I FIND THAT IF YOU SHUT DOWN THE BASS COMPLETELY, ON THE SONGS "SUMMER NIGHT CITY" AND "DANCING QUEEN" THEN IT ALMOST IS NORMAL ABBA QUALITY. IT IS ALSO UNFORTUNATE THAT THE NORMAL STEREO CHANNEL DOES NOT WORK PROPERLY ON THE RECORDING, AND IT DEFAULTS TO SURROUND SOUND 5.1 WHICH ON STEREO SPEAKERS IS SOMEWHAT MUDDLED. I WISH THEY WOULD RE-RELEASE THIS WITH A PROPER REMIX AND WORKING SOUND TRACKS FOR STEREO.
Rating: Summary: Too much talk, not enough singing Review: The video quality is terrific, especially since the material is 25 years old. Audio has been redone in 5.1 and DTS, and is great.However, most of the songs are abbreviated and many favourites are left out entirely. I found the DVD's title (Abba IN CONCERT) to be misleading. Of course there wouldn't be much demand for yet another Abba documentary, so the producer named it 'In Concert'. Buyer beware.
Rating: Summary: A good taste of ABBA live Review: This is a particularly expensive title, but the quality of the this release is top notch. The picture quality is excellent and so is the sound. There isn't any degradation of the footage, amazing since this is from 1979. This DVD gives anybody an idea of the energy and talent ABBA brought to the table as artists. Bonus features include full versions of 'The Way Old Friends Do' and 'I Have A Dream'(same as the promo version) and a really good version of 'Thank You For The Music'(detailed as missing some footage but you can't really tell, all the lyrics are intact). There are a couple of interviews with the tour promoter and the producer of the film as well. You don't learn much but it provides good commentary on the project. The only criticism I have is that there are no interviews with anybody in the band, but that isn't surprising given their seclusive nature. Still this is a good but for anybody who likes ABBA.
Rating: Summary: Wait for U.S. release May 25th Review: This is an expanded edition of the late 1970's program which featured footage from 1979 UK & U.S.A. concerts,plus newly added bonus footage.With the U.S. release approaching on May 25,2004,There's no point overpaying for the Canadian edition.As of Apr.30,2004,Amazon still isn't listing Universal Music's forthcoming American edition for pre-ordering.WHY????
Rating: Summary: Finally released Review: This was originally a Soundstage TV special. According to many sources what you see is all the footage they shot. Yes the full songs would have been great. But it is still cool to have this out on DVD.
Rating: Summary: ABBA Live - The Review Review: With ABBA fans chomping at the bit for ABBA material on DVD, Universal has chopped and spliced together a new DVD called ABBA Live. it should be called ABBA Lame. If you were hoping to experience a night at an ABBA show, think again. It starts out with Waterloo, which was usually the encore number and then after the first verse it cuts off into a documentary. There are snippets of interviews with all four members and Eagle and Take A Chance on Me play in the background. The show finally starts with the second verse of Voulez-Vous and the edit of Chiquitita and half way through I Have a Dream the documentary starts again. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme is shown in it's entirety and then you get only the first verse and end chorus of Knowing Me, Knowing You. There are strange clips added in of people skating and the lights of the Vegas strip as the full intro version of Summer Night City begins. Dancing Queen, Does Your Mother Know, and Hole In Your Soul round out the DVD. most of the focus is on Agnetha and much of it has been seen in the stills from the On & On & On video. The camera angels are mostly from behind or far shots with hardly any close ups on Frida unless she is singing lead. The girls have almost no interaction with each other and you seem to see the background singers more than Bjorn or Benny. Fernando is missing as is SOS and Mamma Mia. The bonus features are the full versions of The Way Old Friends Do, I Have A Dream, and Thank You For The Music. If this is Universal's attempt at quality ABBA product I'll stick to the fan bootlegs. I can only hope that they do better on remastering ABBA The Movie.
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