''The Essential Collection'' is a 2012

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

released by Swedish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

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 ...

, collecting all single A-sides as originally planned and conceived by their record company,

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 ...

, in addition to a few songs that were single hits in significant markets, as well as album tracks for which

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

were made. A two- CD set, the first disc spans 1972 to 1978 ("

People Need Love "People Need Love" is the debut single recorded in March 1972 by Swedish pop group ABBA, at the time known as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. The song was on the group's first album, '' Ring Ring'', released in 1973. "People Need Love" firs ...

" to "

Summer Night City "Summer Night City" is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a tribute to their hometown of Stockholm. It is the group's second non-album single, released on 6 September 1978. It was reco ...

"), while the second covers 1979 to 1982 ("

Chiquitita "Chiquitita" ("Little Girl" in Spanish) is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from '' Voulez-Vous'' (1979), the group's sixth album. Agnetha Fältskog performs the lead vocals. Origin ...

" to "

Under Attack "Under Attack" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in December 1982 as the second and final single from the compilation '' The Singles: The First Ten Years''. Background ABBA recorded "Under Attack" between 2 and 4 August 1982 at Pol ...

"). ''The Essential Collection'' effectively supersedes 2001's '' The Definitive Collection'', retaining all but two tracks from the earlier release (eliminating the " Ring Ring" and "

Voulez-Vous ''Voulez-Vous'' (; French for "Do you want (to)?") is the sixth studio album by the Swedish supergroup ABBA. Released on 23 April 1979, the album yielded five hits, all of them big 1979 singles in Britain – " Chiquitita", " Does Your Mother ...

" remixes) and adding four others ("

Bang-A-Boomerang "Bang-A-Boomerang" is a song by ABBA, first released by Svenne & Lotta (both Swedish and English-language versions). The track was first recorded as a demo with English lyrics (but without any recorded vocals) in September 1974 by the ABBA mus ...

", "

That's Me "That's Me", originally "Coachman's Farm", is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA in 1976. It was released as a single in Japan, with " Money, Money, Money" as its B-side in July 1977, as the fourth and final single from the album ''Ar ...

", "

One Man, One Woman "One Man, One Woman" is a song by ABBA, released on their 1977 album '' ABBA: The Album''. It is that album's third track after "Eagle" and "Take a Chance on Me". Composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it has appeared on several compilati ...

" and "

Happy New Year The Christmas season or the festive season, also known as the holiday season or the holidays, is an annual period generally spanning from November or December to early January. Incorporating Christmas Day and New Year's Day, the various celebrat ...

"). The sequencing is chronological, with "

Thank You for the Music "Thank You for the Music" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally featured on the group's fifth studio album, '' The Album'' (1977), and was released as a double-A sided single with "Eagle" in May 1978 in limited territories ...

" moved from the second disc to the first. Unlike its predecessor, ''The Essential Collection'' does not feature regional bonus tracks. ''The Essential Collection'' was also released in

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

format. It features every official ABBA music video plus five Spanish-language clips, two of which ("Conociéndome, conociéndote" and "Gracias por la música") did not appear on ''The Definitive Collection''. It also includes the 2004

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

''The Last Video''. The collection was released as a two-CD set, a DVD, and a three-disc set including the DVD and both CDs. It was awarded a gold disc for 100,000 sales in Germany.

Track listing

All songs 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 ...

unless otherwise noted. Tracks 1–4 were originally released under the name "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid".

Disc one

Disc two

DVD

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essential Collection, The (ABBA album) 2012 greatest hits albums ABBA compilation albums Albums produced by Björn Ulvaeus Albums produced by Benny Andersson