The Definitive Collection

如果说你真的想去收集一些老牌乐队的精选集的话，那么毫无疑问这张绝对是你的第一选择。1974年，Benny Anderson、Bjorn Ulvaeus、Agnetha Faltskog、Anni-Frid Synni-Lyngstad以每个团员名字的字首，在瑞典组成了ABBA合唱团，巧合的是，ABBA也是瑞典一家罐头鱼公司的名字，他们很乐意将公司名称，借给这支流行音乐团体当团名。1974年4月6日所举行的Eurovision Song Test歌唱大赛，成为ABBA历史上最难忘的时刻，他们以 Waterloo 赢得了国际评审团大奖。 以天衣无缝、层次有致的完美合音，与极具渲染力的旋律乐章，迅速成为70年代最成功的合唱团，连南非总统曼德拉(Nelson Mandela)都曾宣称，ABBA是他最喜欢的流行合唱团。从成团后短短六年间，他们在英国排行榜上成就了 Mamma Mia 、 Fernando 、 Dancing Queen 、 Knowing Me, Knowing You 、 Super Trouper 等九支冠军单曲，以及连续八张冠军专辑的记录。 1982年，ABBA打败瑞典最大的汽车制造商Volvo，成为瑞典外币收入最多的团体，但是也就在这一年，四个团员觉得在乐坛已没有太大的发展空间，再加上两对夫妇前后离异，于是他们决定解散，为ABBA的传奇画下句点。如今已经过了20个年头，虽然ABBA一点儿也没有重聚的迹象，但是ABBA的音乐还在继续走下去。90年代，许多艺人成功的翻唱了他们的歌曲，也有多部电影/电视影集采用了他们的歌曲，ABBA热潮始终未减。 举凡从72年到82年间，ABBA曾发行的每一张专辑的A面单曲，全都收录在此张“The Definitive Collection”精选辑中，还收录超值DVD，此举可说是头一遭，还有一些歌曲，当年仅在某些国家以单曲型式发行，这一回全部网罗，一次收藏。 这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第180位。 The Definitive Collection is a 2001 greatest hits compilation album of all the singles released by Swedish pop group ABBA. It consisted of two discs: the first featuring the singles from 1972-79 ("People Need Love" – "Does Your Mother Know"), and the second including the singles from 1979-82 ("Voulez-Vous" – "Under Attack"), with the tracks being listed in chronological order. The main exception is the track "Thank You For The Music", which, despite being written and recorded in 1977, was in fact released as a single (primarily in the UK) in 1983 after the band had split up. It appears on disc two, along with two bonus tracks, "Ring Ring" (1974 Remix, UK Single Version), and "Voulez-Vous" (Extended Remix, 1979 US Promo). The Australian version of The Definitive Collection adds a further two bonus tracks: "Rock Me" and "Hasta Mañana". The 1974 remix of Ring Ring is the first appearance on CD of this version mastered from the original master tape, after the UK single master tapes had been returned to Polar Music by the former UK licensees, Epic Records. The track's previous appearance on CD, in a 1999 singles boxed set, was mastered from a vinyl single. "The Definitive Collection" is the only ABBA compilation to include all the UK single releases from 1973 to 1983. The four "unofficial" UK ABBA singles are included, these being the 1974 remix of "Ring Ring", "Angeleyes", "Lay All Your Love On Me" and "Thank You For The Music". An "unofficial single" is one that was not released by ABBA's record label, Polar Music, in any Scandinavian country. The Definitive Collection replaced an old collection of ABBA's singles titled The Singles: The First Ten Years, released in 1982. A DVD also called The Definitive Collection was released in 2002, and features all of ABBA's videos, as well as five bonus videos and a picture gallery. In 2003, the album was ranked number 180 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[1]