Arrival (ABBA Album)
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''Arrival'' is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records. 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". The track "
Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...
", which had been recently released as a single in March 1976, was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions of the album. ''Arrival'' was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. In 2024, the album was selected for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...
by the
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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Background and production

By the time ABBA began working on their fourth album in August 1975, they had achieved a modest level of success around the world. It was with ''Arrival'' however, that they would achieve global superstardom. Recording sessions began in August 1975 and continued until September 1976 at
Metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...
and Glen studios in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, Sweden. The first song to enter the studio was a track called "Boogaloo" on 4 August. Taking inspiration from the current disco sound (and in particular
George McCrae George Warren McCrae Jr. (born October 19, 1944) is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit " Rock Your Baby". Biography and career McCrae was the second of nine children, born in West Palm Beach, Florida. He ...
's " Rock Your Baby"), the backing track was laid down. The group knew that they had something big on their hands, as member
Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and a former member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 Agnetha Fältskog (album), self-titled debut alb ...
remarked: "We knew immediately it was going to be massive". With re-written lyrics, the song became known as " Dancing Queen", and would go on to be ABBA's biggest ever hit. Work on the song continued intermittently until December 1975 due to the group's increasing commitments in the latter half of the year. This was a result of the sudden surge of popularity that they found in the United Kingdom and Australia. During this time they also recorded a song (in Swedish), "
Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...
", for member
Anni-Frid Lyngstad Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles ''Principality of Reuss-Gera, Princess Re ...
's solo album, ''
Frida ensam ''Frida ensam'' () is the second studio album by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was first released by Polar Music in 1975 while Lyngstad was a member of the pop group ABBA and produced by her then-fiancé and fellow ABBA member, Benny Ander ...
''. In March 1976, "Fernando" was re-written with English lyrics and released as an ABBA single, becoming the group's biggest hit to date - hitting No.1 in many countries, including a 14-week stay at No.1 in Australia. It was featured as a brand new track on their ''
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
'' album which became the UK's biggest-selling album of the year. (In the Australian release of ''Arrival'', "Fernando" was included between " Why Did It Have to Be Me" and "
Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
"). The next song they began working on, in late March, was " Knowing Me, Knowing You", which became another major hit worldwide. Member
Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...
has said that it is "one of our five best recordings". By the end of April two other songs had been laid down: " That's Me" and " Why Did It Have to Be Me". The latter track was reworked into "Happy Hawaii" before being reverted to its original title, with new lyrics and vocals by
Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...
("Happy Hawaii" would later be released as a B-side). Similarly, " Money, Money, Money" was worked into "Gypsy Girl" and then reverted to its original title. The song was released as a single and became a major hit some months after the album's release. In June 1976, a TV special dedicated to the group (entitled ''ABBA-dabba-dooo!!'') was filmed. Around the same time, what was to become the album's opening track, " When I Kissed the Teacher", was recorded. By late July "
Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
" and " Dum Dum Diddle" were recorded, considered by biographer
Carl Magnus Palm Carl Magnus Palm (born 1965) is a Swedish author and historian, writing in Swedish and English, best known for his work on the Swedish pop group ABBA. ABBA Carl Magnus Palm’s first book on ABBA was ''ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions ...
as the "complete antithesis" of each other,. Both Lyngstad and Ulvaeus have expressed dissatisfaction with "Dum Dum Diddle". In Ulvaeus own words, "I'd been working all night trying to come up with a decent lyric. And I thought, 'Well, I'd better take in something to prove that I've been working.' I showed them this song, thinking they'd say, 'Oh, no! We can't do that!'". " My Love My Life" was recorded next. Originally a more upbeat song titled "Monsieur Monsieur", it became a lush ballad with backing harmonies inspired by
10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...
's hit "
I'm Not in Love "I'm Not in Love" is a song by British group 10cc, written by band members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman. It is known for its innovative and distinctive backing track, composed mostly of the band's multitrack recording, multitracked vocals. ...
". The final track to be recorded was an instrumental piece entitled "Ode to Dalecarlia". Mostly featuring Andersson on keyboards, the track was renamed to " Arrival" – a word that had already been decided as the title of their new album. By September 1976, work on the album was finished.


Release

''Arrival'' was released in October 1976. The album was first released on
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
(CD) 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). On 7 October 2016, the album was reissued for its 40th anniversary as a multi format release that included: a 45 RPM half-speed mastered double vinyl edition of the album, done by
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
on 12" black 180g vinyl; a seven-inch box set of the singles "Dancing Queen", "Knowing Me, Knowing You", "Fernando" and "Money, Money, Money", pressed on colored vinyl; and 7"
picture discs The overwhelming majority of records manufactured have been of certain sizes (7, 10, or 12 inches), playback speeds (33, 45, or 78 RPM), and appearance (round black discs). However, since the commercial adoption of the gramophone record (cal ...
of each of these four singles. The liner notes on the double LP release featured new liner notes by Swedish journalist Jan Gradvall, who also conducted a new interview with Michael B. Tretow.


Deluxe edition

In 2006, ''Arrival'' was reissued as a deluxe edition CD/DVD set to celebrate the album's 30th anniversary. The first disc consisted of the original album, expanded with five bonus tracks. The DVD, along with the "International Sleeve Gallery" (comprising single and album sleeves from around the world), featured extra content from the ''Arrival'' era, including: the one-hour long 1976 ''ABBA-dabba-dooo!!'' special, made by producer Leonard Eek and reporter Per Falkman for SVT, in which the band perform twelve songs and where footage of Björn and Benny working in their Viggsö cottage is featured; a performance of "Dancing Queen" from a West German '' Musikladen'' special titled "The Best of ABBA"; an April 1976 performance of "Fernando" on ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
''; a feature of ABBA's promotional visit to London, titled "ABBA in London" from '' Young Nation'' (Novemember 1976); footage of the "Dancing Queen" recording session from ''Mr. Trendsetter'', a 1975 Swedish documentary; a December news report from SVT's ''Rapport'' on ABBA's 1976 success; a cartoon version of "Happy Hawaii" by Fremantle Media; and two ''Arrival'' television commercials. The set also contained a 28-page booklet with an essay on the making of the album. This was the first release from the ABBA Deluxe Edition album series.


Album cover

The album cover shots were taken of the group posing in and out of a
Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first heli ...
helicopter at the Barkarby Airport, northwest of Stockholm. The now-renowned "mirrored-B" copyrighted ABBA logo, an
ambigram An ambigram is a calligraphic composition of glyphs (letters, numbers, symbols or other shapes) that can yield different meanings depending on the orientation of observation. Most ambigrams are visual palindromes that rely on some kind of symmetry ...
designed by Rune Söderqvist in 1976, was also premiered on this album cover.


Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', music critic
Ken Tucker Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and nonfiction book author. Early life and education Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...
panned ''Arrival'' as "
Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...
mesmerizing in its modality" and wrote, "By reducing their already vapid lyrics to utter irrelevance, lead singers Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog are liberated to natter on in their shrill voices without regard to emotion or expression."
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
of ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' gave the album a "C", indicating "a record of clear professionalism or barely discernible inspiration, but not both." In a review upon the album's 2001 reissue by
Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
,
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editor Bruce Eder found the material "brilliant" and complimented the reissue's "upgraded sound," as well as "those dramatic musical effects that this group played for maximum effect, which gave their music a raw power that their detractors usually overlooked; in the new edition, it's impossible to ignore." In ''
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
'' (2004), music journalist Arion Berger recommended its Universal reissue to consumers. The album became a major seller all over the world, becoming the top-selling album of 1977 in both the UK and West Germany for example. It had three of ABBA's biggest hits; "Dancing Queen," "Money Money Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and in some territories a fourth with the inclusion of "Fernando" (which in most markets had featured on their earlier ''Greatest Hits'' album). "That's Me" was released as a single in Japan only. ''Arrival'' was included in Robert Dimery's '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' and re-entered the UK album charts at #94 for the week of August 3, 2018, for the first time since 1979.


Track listing

The information has been adapted from the official ABBA website. All tracks are written by
Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...
and
Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...
, except where noted. Notes * "
Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...
" was included in the track listing for the Australian and New Zealand releases of the original album. It was placed between "Why Did It Have to Be Me?" and "Tiger", adding more than 4 minutes of playtime to Side two.


Deluxe edition

Released for the album's 30th anniversary. The information has been adapted from the official ABBA website. All tracks are written by
Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...
,
Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...
, and Stig Anderson, except where noted.


Personnel

Adapted from the original album's liner notes. ABBA *
Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and a former member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 Agnetha Fältskog (album), self-titled debut alb ...
– lead vocals (1, 3), co-lead vocals (2, 4, 7–9), backing vocals *
Anni-Frid Lyngstad Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles ''Principality of Reuss-Gera, Princess Re ...
– lead vocals (5, 6), co-lead vocals (2, 4, 7–9), backing vocals *
Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...
– acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead vocals (8), backing vocals *
Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...
– synthesizers, marimbas, chimes, accordions, pianos, backing vocals Additional musicians * Rutger Gunnarsson – bass guitar * Ola Brunkert – drums * Roger Palm – drums (2) *
Malando Gassama Malando Gassama (born Malang Omar Gassam; 7 February 1946 – 25 January 1999) was a Gambian percussionist who spent most of his music career in Sweden. He recorded and performed with many notable Swedish and international artists such as AB ...
– percussion * Janne Schaffer – electric guitar (3, 7, 8) * Anders Glenmark – electric guitar (6) * Lasse Wellander – electric guitar (5, 9), acoustic guitar (4) * Lasse Carlsson – saxophone (8) Production * Benny Andersson; Björn Ulvaeus – producers, arrangers * Michael B. Tretow
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
* Rutger Gunnarsson – string arrangements (3) * Anders Dahl – string arrangements (10) * Sven-Olof Walldoff – violin arrangements (2) * Rune Söderqvist – cover layout and idea * Ola Lager – cover layout and idea, photography


Chart positions


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications and sales


See also

* List of best-selling albums in Australia * List of best-selling albums in the Netherlands


References


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120415064152/http://www.abba4therecord.com/ ABBA discography (Arrival releases worldwide) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arrival (Abba Album) 1976 albums ABBA albums Albums produced by Björn Ulvaeus Albums produced by Benny Andersson Atlantic Records albums Epic Records albums Polar Music albums United States National Recording Registry albums