Lopez Blogs

For part one of the abba flashback - click here

For my review of Mamma Mia - click here

For my thoughts on which Abba songs could "pop" again - click here

For my thoughts on A*Teens and how they came into their own after the covers - click here

For my thoughts on A*teens and their remixes - click here

I have pondered for ages about how to beat my last opening paragraph for the Abba flashback post, which probably quite rightly, Adem (with an e) said may be the greatest opening to a blog post ever. Thanks for putting me under so much pressure Adem. I am now unable to perform. On my dayz. This is what it must be like to be impotent! Anyway, it's time to look at the second part of Abba's career, which includes three - not one, not two but three - of the greatest albums of all fucking time. No question. And if you do question it, then I may well have to break your kneecaps.



It's always a bit dodgy, innit, when popstars decide to make a film. Look at pretty much everything Madonna has ever done (except her best acting gig ever in Truth or Dare/In Bed with Madonna - not Bedtime with Madonna as Christopher Ciccone called it in his tres disappointing autobiography. Nice fact checking), the Spice Girls movie, Honest with the All Saints and Kylie in The Delinquints (but ace in Moulin Rouge). So Abba the Movie may not have been the most inspired film in the world, but it was rather jolly in a camp sort of way (is there any other sort of way when it comes to Abba?!). And Abba - The Album was sort of the soundtrack to it. It's probably my least favourite Abba album - which is frankly like saying Season four is my least favourite of all the Buffy seasons i.e it's still head and shoulders above most everything else in the world. This is probably the most "treading water" album that Abba produced inbetween Arrival and Voulez Vous. There are still plenty of treats to enjoy within including more pop perfection with Take A Chance, the brooding Eagle and more melancholia with Name of the Game. It's the mini-musical that is the most interesting here - I Wonder is one of Abba's lovely ballads while the angry I'm A Marionette is possibly the angriest song Abba did at this point and was foreboding for their ultimate demise in years to come. And if sometimes perfect final tv episodes come half way through the show's run (Buffy's Normal Again being a prime example), the ultimate ending song for a career - Thank You For The Music - is an instant classic, and rather wonderful in the Doris Day piano version that surfaced some years later.



Voulez Vous, in my opinion, is the greatest Abba album of all time. Seriously, every single track could've been a single and should've been. It was Abba's response to disco fever, yet done in their own inimitable style and just luxuriated in opulence, bitterness, catchiness and pop confectionary (the likes of which wouldn't be topped until Kids From Fame had a fair bash at it with Hi-Fidelity) that sparkles and fizzes with each listen. As Good As New kicks off the album with a rather brilliant orchestral classical intro which adds a touch of class to this intricately crafted song (which actually hit number one in Mexico!) before leading into the title track. A truly discofied number, it was remade years later with some reverence by Erasure and remains the best of their Abba-esque EP. There is more disco extremities done Abba style with Gimme Gimme Gimme and more gentle pop with the lovely Chiquitita, Angel Eyes and Lovelight. If It Wasn't For The Nights is sad Abba lyrics set to a gloriously upbeat tune, and just gloriously upbeat is the aces Lovers (Live A Little Longer). Also standout on the (rerelease) of this album is Summer Night City (which on the Thankyou For The Music boxset has a brooding ballad type intro that then sweeps into this breakneck speed pop song that leaves me breathless everytime) and the emminently superior Kisses of Fire. Don't forget I Have A Dream which somehow seems a bit out of sorts on the album, but is still rather lovely and the rather spiteful King Has Lost His Crown which sets up the sadness for Super Trooper and The Visitors. It's no surprise to me that some of my favourite Abba covers are taken from this album. Just fantastic fantastic fantastic!!



As the 80s rolled around, the best charting years of Abba were behind them, but as the world moved on, Abba continued to be at the top of their game. The real genius of the final two Abba albums was in the ease in which their songs addressed the ups and downs of personal relationships from both a female and male perspective and also managed to address the crumbling relationships within the band. How the girls found the strength to sing some of the most poignant lyrics this side of a Carpenters ballad is beyond me. While Super Trooper continues to swirl with the disco sound that made Voulez Vous so bloody out of this world (such as Lay All Your Love On Me and On & On & On with frankly more bonkers lyrics in the form of "over in the corner, I could see this other guy, he was kinda flirty he was giving me the eye" Magnif!), it's the more profound songs that make this album so elegant and beautiful. The Winner Takes It All is about the break up of a relationship and though claimed not to be autobiographical, Agnetha sings the hell out of this track and the emotion makes this a timeless classic. Even perky songs like Super Trooper show a weariness that is reflected in the wistful yearnings of Our Last Summer and The Way Old Friends Do. Unreleased Put On Your White Sombrero surfaced on remastered versions of the album, but really i can take it or leave it. Everything else however, is certainly Abba gold and further showcases incredibly mature writing and intricate creation.



The Visitors continues to see Abba in a more sombre mode as they create what is to be their final album. They can barely look at each other in an album cover shot that speaks volumes about the relationships in the band. At this point I still think that the title track should have been the lead off single. I mean, a song about Russian dissidents? How avant garde is that? The song is full of paranoia, cleverly created through the production of the vocal and instruments, and listen to it late at night in the dark and it's rather terrifying. One of Us was the lead off single proper and is just gorgeous. Someone I know once described it as Greek tragedy meets Swedish cool and that's quite an apt way of framing the song. Head Over Heels is a cheeky little number where Benny possibly makes his ex sing a song about herself that is not altogether flattering. It's the always take the high road song of When All Is Said And Done that has a rather defiant lead vocal and is bittersweet rather than bitter where the coda for the act is "thanks for all the generous music thanks for all the fun". Slipping Through My Fingers is beautiful creation about capturing memories that have gone by as life moves on and things change. Things have moved on for Abba and sadly there was to be very little more from them...



A greatest hits album featured two songs that were still classics rather than just bunging any old trash on there a la the Spice Girls. Under Attack represents the majesty of downbeat lyrics set to upbeat poppiness, while the epic - EPIC - Day Before You Came sees diary like entries recount the monotony of waiting for that one you love to come back into your life. Top line? "There's not I think a single episode of Dallas that I didn't see"... Unreleased tracks like I Am The City and Just Like That are fun perky tracks that possibly could've formed Opus Ten, while amazing pop songs and ballads from Benny and Bjorn surfaced in Chess; most notably the oft covered One Night In Bangkok and gorgeously harmonised I Know Him So Well. Abba were over. Their legacy still lives on.

(With apologies to XO) My top ten plus one Abba songs (in no particular order)

• The Winner Takes It All
• Under Attack
• The Day Before You Came
• Kisses of Fire
• Dancing Queen
• Waterloo
• Summer Night City
• One of Us
• Slipping Through My Fingers
• Lovers (Live A Little Longer)
• Voulez Vous

My top ten Abba covers plus one

• Erasure - Voulez Vous (note how the video is v similar to Keane's Is It Any Wonder)
• A*Teens - One Night In Bangkok
• Steps - I Know Him So Well
• Westlife - I Have A Dream
• Will Young - Name of the Game
• Madonna - Hung Up
• H&Claire - Another You Another Me
• Sixpence None The Richer - Dancing Queen
• Erasure - Take A Chance
• Kylie - Dancing Queen
• Beverley Craven - Winner Takes It All

01 - People Need Love
02 - Another Town, Another Train
03 - He Is Your Brother
04 - Love Isn\'t Easy
05 - Ring Ring
06 - Waterloo
07 - Hasta Maniana
08 - Honey Honey
09 - Dance
10 - So Long
11 - I\'ve Been Waiting For You
12 - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
13 - SOS
14 - Mamma Mia
15 - Fernando
16 - Dancing Queen
17 - That\'s Me
18 - When I Kissed The Teacher
19 - Money, Money, Money
20 - Knowing Me Knowing You
21 - My Love, My Life

More Abba sometime this week :)

Who would have thought that the FizzyPop 25 Acts of Amazingness would kick off with ol' Alanis at number 21? Much like I often do with the Barenaked Ladies (who battled valiantly for this spot but lost out), I forget sometimes how much I like Alanis and her infuriating pretentious lyrics that are often wrapped in tres pretty melodies. And her latest opus (reviewed further down) demonstrates that she is at her best when putting out her odd numbered studio albums, which are all quite delightful in comparison to the bloated offering of number two and disappointing number four. Read on my pretties and all will be revealed.

JAGGED LITTLE PILL (1995/2005)

My two favourite albums of 1995 could not have been more opposite and represented the polarising romantic conflict I was having within. Think With Your Heart (Debbie Gibson) was full of odes to true love, long lasting romances and soul mates. Jagged Little Pill was the perfect antithesis - a marrying of bitter grungy venom with razor sharp lyrics. Detractors said it was far too depressing and full of shock tactic only words, but it sold like hot cakes (mmmm, hot cakes) to millions of Lillith Fair loving ladies. And me. I first heard You Oughta Know while I was in Utah of all places in July 1995 and instantly loved it. It was the perfect break up song, dripping with malevolence, spurned hurt and venom. Plus it proved that Alanis could give the greatest "fuck" in pop history - practically spat out and cleverly guaranteeing her some publicity (FYI - Ani DiFranco gives the second greatest "fuck" so soft and gentle in Untouchable Face as if to say "i'm done. You can't hurt be anymore". Strangely lovely!) The album is jam packed with tracks that could easily have been singles - and at times it seems like most were. Hand In My Pocket is an ode to the great past time of masturbation set to a lazy guitar led melody; You Learn has a great poppy chorus and details what can be taken from life as you grow (though for years I erroneously thought she was recommending Chinese food when she sang "I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone" or "I recommend bin ting thai mon ching to anyone" as i heard it! Yikes!) and All I Really Want is guitar thrashy goodness that further bridged the grunge-pop divide. Now let's talk Ironic. None of the examples in the song (a great melody btw) are actually ironic. Irony is the wizard of oz (Dorothy wants to go home, only to find out she could go home all the time; the scarecrow seeks a brain only to discover he is actually intelligent); irony is romeo killing himself when he finds the poisoned Juliet, only for Juliet to kill herself on waking to find the dead Romeo; irony is actually avoiding flying and then taking a bus to avoid your fear of planes crashing only to have the plane crash into the bus - thus confirming those fears! It bugs me a little bit, so I have chosen to believe that Alanis was actually being ironic by using examples that didn't signify irony in the slightest. Or something. Anyway, so amazing was this album that 10 years later it was released in acoustic format and sounded equally as lovely. And actually made me realise that the album wasn't as angry as I first thought - more of a declaration of empowerment a full year before those spices hit...
Singles (actual and suggested): You Oughta Know; Hand In My Pocket; You Learn; Ironic; All I Really Want; Head over Feet

SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE (1998):

Blimey! While Alanis was gathering her inner Mother India for the release of this album, she plugged the gap with the beautiful Uninvited from the dreadful movie City of Angels. Built around a haunting piano melody, it was elegant both in design and execution. It probably was the template for Evanescence as well, so it did have a down side too. Still, I adored the tune and soaring vocal (and subsequent dance remake 10 years later) which meant that the bloated pretentiously titled second album was even more of a let down (particularly in light of her new album which revisits the eastern sounds and influences this album was bathed in)... Frankly the album could have had about 7 tracks cut from it and it would have been a much more comprehensive set. With it's themes of reconciliation, Thank U made a decent if not outstanding first single and at least had an identifiable chorus - something that some of the meandering tracks did not (that's called the Dave Matthews factor). Joining You was just a hideous mess of a track - depressing and fuzzy and an odd choice for a single. Pure in contrast was possibly Alanis' first dance-pop effort and was a true delight to listen to. In between the plodding instrumentals and experimental failures, self indulgence and too too intimate diary peeks (the Jewel factor) were a couple more winning songs that could easily have been singles and perhaps redeemed Ms Morrisette in the eyes of her diminishing fanbase. UR is a mid tempo pop jam that almost forsakes the chorus in favour of a slow building burn and throwsback to Jagged... with use of harmonica. And Alanis reached the Dawson's Creek masses with her most accessible song here, the gorgeous ballad That I Would Be Good - swathed in melancholy and delicious melody, Alanis' voice is in fine form and shows that a little acoustic restraint can benefit everyone. If i sound over critical of this album, it's because it felt such a let down after Jagged... though some people claim it was actually artistic growth and development. Yes, well, if all art was valid, my doodles of darren's willy would be hanging in the louvre...:P
Singles (actual and suggested): Thank U; Joining U; UR; That I Would Be Good; So Pure

UNDER RUG SWEPT (2002):

While waiting four bloody years for a third album proper, Alanis did one of those "oh so trendy in the 90s" MTV Unplugged albums - always a good way of raking in some extra cash, I suppose. And she nearly lost me at this point. Still disillusioned by Supposed... I wondered whether I was done with Alanis. Certainly it was too early for an unplugged album (that goes for you as well Mariah and Lauryn Hill) and the new songs on it certainly weren't anything to write home about. Luckily good stuff was coming, and strangely enough it came God-given in the form of a soundtrack. Still was taken from the movie Dogma and as far as I can tell was a song written from the point of view of God who seems pretty pissed off with the world for continuing their sinful ways! It's possibly the best religious song since, erm, anything Amy Grant did back in the House of Love era and a definite winner... And then came the third album and Hands Clean proved she could still write a brilliant pop song with a catchy hook and those annoyingly irritating lyrics that you kind of learn to love in an eye rolling kind of way. Alanis showed she could still be angry and vent her frustrations, but she didn't have to do at a million miles an hour. Her maturity showed a more philosophical approach and that's what makes this album so great. Radio virtually ignored the album and that was certainly to their detriment because I can count a decent six singles from this set. Aside from the lead off single, there were the scratchy beats of 21 Things I Want in a Lover (make your own list people! So much fun!) paired with the rockier Precious Illusions that could have penetrated snobby alt. radio. Moments of reflection and enlightenment shine through in the melodic and pretty Unsexy - a song full of regret for how mere words and criticism can damage confidence and self respect as much as any other type of abuse. Utopia would turn out to be an unofficial response to the 9/11 tragedy with her definition of a perfect world set to multi layered voices which definitely showcase how lovely Alanis' vocal can sometimes be. And once again, perfect for the now-moved-on-to-The-OC generation was the restrained ballad That Particular Time with a stunning low key piano performance and heart breaking chorus. At 11 tracks it is a much more focused affair than Supposed and fairs far better in my memory for it.
Singles (actual and suggested): Hands Clean; 21 Things; Precious Illusions; That Particular Time; So Unsexy; Utopia

SO CALLED CHAOS (2004):

Alanis is in love! And it shines through on this album like the sun breaking through the clouds. And despite me protesting that the even numbered albums aren't particularly amazing, this is far better than Supposed, but lacks the magic of Jagged and Rug. Perhaps her power was in her hair, which she chopped off and looked worse than the current image of Katie Holmes-Cruise-Controlled. Everything was a weak choice for a first single and was easily overlooked by radio and fans. I seem to remember that Eight Easy Steps was touted as the lead off single at one stage and that would have been a much better choice. Great chorus, punchy little rocker and a winning vocal. Out is Through is also a great song, though slowed down a little and perhaps her most hopeful lyrics to date (bar Utopia). And just as Sophie B Hawkins stood out with ballads like As I Lay Me Down and Lose Your Way soundtracked a million teen dramas, so Alanis continued her trend by providing the lovely but marginally dull These Excuses that could easily have narrated a montage on Everwood or Gilmore Girls. It was nice to see Alanis in love - she was just more interesting when she was as fucked up as the rest of the world. Head on over to her greatest hits collection and you get a great piece of ear candy in the form of her delirious take on Seal's Crazy. More like that and this chaos would have been much more tolerable...
Singles (actual and suggested): Everything, Out is Through, Eight Easy Steps, These Excuses, Crazy

FLAVOURS OF ENTANGLEMENT (2008):

Even though I may seem a bit critical of Alanis in this flashback, the fact that i keep returning to her songs from all eras over and over again - and look forward to new material earns her that place in the FizzyPop 25. Her new album is a complete winner - and totally XO approved too! There was a line on popjustice that made me laugh - "they sent us (and presumably every other blog on the planet) some promo material". I received so many promo things for the single Underneath, it was unreal - and then saw them proliferate the blogosphere with nowt but a few lines of prose under them. Deep! I wanted to have something a bit more to say - Underneath is a fine track, but it's VERY Alanis and i was hoping for more. Luckily the album totally delivers (except the very clunky Citizen Of The Planet which is just too hodge podge of styles to truly come into it's own). It takes the themes and musical influences from Supposed and under the watchful eye of Guy Sigsworth are transformed into a cohesive and lovely piece of work. Take Giggling Again For No Reason. It's a deliciously airy nugget of pop, reminiscent of So Pure with a gorgeous chorus that floats along with Alanis' most innocent vocal to date and perhaps something that would have worked perfectly for a Kylie track. Her openness about her breakup with Ryan Reynolds (no relation!) is evident in tracks like In Praise of The Vulnerable Man where she is laying her heart on the line. The simple and elegant Not As We stands out for it's pretty piano melody and restrained performance, while the epic Torch uses sweeping orchestral instrumentation to convey her devastation at losing her love and is musically gorgeous while lyrically heartbreaking. It's a very singular themed album, but one so expansive in musical themes that each listen (and there's been a few) brings new delights and rewards. Oh and check out PopMuse's view of the tracklisting and aces bonus song...
Singles (actual and suggested): Underneath; Giggling Again; Not As We; Torch

Tomorrow! thoughts on some of the latest new singles....