''Live at Wembley Arena'' is an album of live recordings by 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 ...

, released by

Polar Music Polar Music is a Swedish record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag. Background The first act that Polar Music signed was the Hootenanny Singers featuring Björn Ulvaeus. Polar eventually gained prosperity pr ...

on 26 September 2014, on 2 CD, 3 LP and digital format. The album, produced by Ludvig Andersson, includes the complete concert at London's

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

(now The OVO Arena,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

) on 10 November 1979, the last of a six-night residency at the famous venue. It features most of ABBA's hit singles and album favourites from their first eight years as a unit, as well as the never-before-released "I'm Still Alive", written by

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 ...

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 ...

Overview

ABBA played to packed crowds at London's Wembley Arena from 5 to 10 November, as part of their North American and European Tour of 1979, also known as ABBA: The Tour. Band members

and

agreed that those concerts were the highlight of the world tour. Music stars such as

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...

and

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was an English singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame in the late 1970s, during the punk rock, punk and new wave music, new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Kilburn ...

were among the audience. Several songs from the Wembley concerts were filmed for the TV special ''ABBA in Concert'', broadcast the following year. The song " The Way Old Friends Do", performed during the encore, resurfaced as the closing track of their 1980 album '' Super Trouper''. Songs from Wembley also appeared on 1986's '' ABBA Live'', but were overdubbed in the studio by producer and sound engineer Michael B. Tretow. The

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

compiled its own one-hour version of the concerts and aired it on Christmas 1979. This circulates as a rare bootleg entitled "ABBA - Live In London". In an interview with the webpage Ice the Site, in December 2013, songwriter and pianist

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 ...

confirmed that a live album would be released "exactly as it was" sometime in 2014, as part of the band's 40th anniversary. Andersson detailed that his son Ludvig went through hours of tapes, choosing the right material. Ludvig selected the November 10th 1979 concert to be released. The decision was approved by all the members of ABBA, including Fältskog and

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 ...

, who listened to it at a studio in Stockholm. On June 9, 2014, ABBA's official Facebook and Instagram accounts confirmed the release. The next day, June 10, the full track list was revealed. The album omits the song "Not Bad At All", performed on tour by backing vocalist and fellow Swedish pop singer

Tomas Ledin Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin (; born 25 February 1952) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken, Sweden and has sold 3 million records. Career Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when ...

Track listing

All tracks written by

and

except where noted. Notes * signifies arranged by

Personnel

ABBA *

– vocals, keyboards *

– vocals *

– acoustic guitars, vocals *

– synthesizers, keyboards, accordion, vocals Additional musicians * Ola Brunkert – drums * Anders Eljas – keyboards * Rutger Gunnarsson – bass * Mats Ronander – guitars *Åke Sundqvist – percussion * Lasse Wellander – guitars *Tomas Ledin – backing vocals *Birgitta Wollgård – backing vocals *Liza Öhman – backing vocals *Producer: Ludvig Andersson *Engineer: Bernard Löhr (mixing), Filip Lindholm (assistant) *Mastering: Björn Engelmann

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

ABBA – Live at Wembley Arena
- news fro
ABBA The official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Live at Wembley Arena (ABBA album) 2014 live albums ABBA live albums Live albums recorded in London