Voulez-Vous

In early 1978, ABBA were at the peak of their success and having just completed promotion for their latest album and theatrical film release, thoughts were turned to the next album, which was planned to be released in time for Christmas. Sessions however proved to be difficult and after starting on 13 March 1978 with the ultimately unreleased track "Dr Claus von Hamlet", a number of compositions were demoed and rejected. Indeed, after six months, only two songs that would end up on the finished album ("The King Has Lost His Crown" and "Lovers (Live a Little Longer)") were completed. During this time the group opened their own recording studio, Polar Studios in Stockholm, which was among the most advanced in the world at the time and would be where ABBA would work from here on. Two songs recorded at this time were "Lovelight" and "Dream World". However, neither song would appear on the Voulez-Vous album ("Lovelight" would be used as the B-side to the single "Chiquitita", while "Dream World" would remain unreleased until 1994; both songs are now featured as bonus tracks on re-issues of the Voulez-Vous album). Other tracks started but subsequently scrapped included "Just a Notion", which was later included on Voyage (2021). By September 1978, ABBA had been absent from the charts for some months, and so a song from the recording sessions, "Summer Night City", was released as a single. Never happy with the finished song, members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus regretted the release and lamented the fact that it peaked lower than previous singles in the charts, not being released at all in the US. They considered the UK to be their most important market, and there it had ended a run of number one hits by stalling at number five – their smallest hit for three years. A full-length version was planned for the upcoming album, but ultimately never used. By this time, tensions were growing within the group due to the low productivity of the period, as member Agnetha Fältskog commented, "I can tell from the look in Björn's eyes when he gets home how the day's work has been. Many times the boys have been working for ten hours without coming up with one single note". Andersson talked to a reporter at the time saying; "The prospects are not good. It’s worse than ever...We have no idea when we’ll be finished". At the end of January, Andersson and Ulvaeus left Sweden and rented an apartment in the Bahamas where they felt they could get some inspiration by listening to American music and experiencing a whole different vibe to the rather conservative Stockholm. Two songs emerged from this time; "Voulez-Vous" and "Kisses of Fire". Excited by the former, they went to Criteria Studios in Miami to record the backing track with the disco band Foxy — the only time they recorded a song outside Sweden. ==Release==

At the end of April the album, titled Voulez-Vous, was finally ready for release and to emphasize the shift towards a disco sound, the album cover shot was taken at Alexandra's nightclub in Stockholm. It featured a remastered and expanded CD version of the album, with six bonus tracks, along with a companion DVD of TV content from 1978 and 1979. Found on this second disc were: the BBC TV special ABBA in Switzerland; the "Chiquitita" performance from the Music for UNICEF Concert and another one from ABBA Snowtime; a performance of "If It Wasn't for the Nights" from the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show (1978); a Björn and Benny interview on the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop; an extended promo of "I Have a Dream"; two Greatest Hits Vol. 2 TV commercials; and the "International Sleeve Gallery". The album was reissued for its 40th anniversary on 14 June 2019, as a multi-format release. It included: a double-LP half-speed master of the original album, pressed on 180 g vinyl, cut at 45 rpm, and mastered at Abbey Road Studios; a colored-vinyl 7" box set of seven singles issued during the Voulez-Vous era; and stand-alone picture discs of each of these singles. ==Critical reception==

The album received favourable reviews from contemporary music critics. The Dutch magazine Hitkrant made it "LP of the Week" and stated: "This time, the Swedish foursome has delivered an album that will be talked about for a long time to come, because it namely is of an unprecedented, enormous class." The Manchester Evening News determined that "Frida vocalises with increased assurance, now making words count much more—in fact the lyrics are slowly coming out of their sometimes naivete". Less positively, Smash Hits' reviewer Red Starr found that ABBA "don't disappoint but they don't exactly inspire either with this clean but clinical collection of European disco-orientated songs. They've still to make an album that conveys the magic and impact of their singles, and this isn't it". ==Commercial performance==

Voulez-Vous topped the charts in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Finland. In the UK, it peaked at number one for a whole month, ==Track listing==

All tracks are written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Notes • The Spanish pressing of the album features the Spanish version of "Chiquitita" on Side one, as its sixth track. Deluxe edition Released on May 31, 2010. "Estoy Soñando" and "¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame!" (the Spanish versions of "I Have a Dream" and "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", respectively), along with the Spanish version of "Chiquitita", were not included on this reissue, but could be found on Gracias Por La Música and as bonus tracks on The Complete Studio Recordings. All tracks are written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. ==Personnel==

Adapted from the album's liner notes. ABBA • Agnetha Fältskog – lead vocals (1, 8, 10), co-lead vocals (2, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals • Anni-Frid Lyngstad – lead vocals (3, 5, 9), co-lead vocals (2, 4, 7, 10), backing vocals • Björn Ulvaeus – guitars (2–5, 7–10), banjo (8), lead vocals (6), backing vocals • Benny Andersson – keyboards (1, 4–10), synthesizers (1–10), backing vocals Additional musicians • Ola Brunkert – drums (1, 3, 4, 6–10) • Rutger Gunnarsson – bass guitar (1, 3, 5, 8–10) • Janne Schaffer – guitars (1–4, 7) • Joe Galdo – drums (2) • Arnold Paseiro – bass guitar (2) • Paul Harris – piano (2) • Ish Ledesma; George Terry – guitars (2) • Halldor Pálsson; Johan Stengård – tenor saxophones (2) • Nils Landgren – trombone (2) • International School of Stockholm Choir – vocals (3) • Kerstin Feist – choir director (3) • Mike Watson – bass guitar (4, 6, 7) • Lasse Wellander – guitars (5, 6, 8–10) • Rolf Alex – drums (5) • Jan Risberg – oboe (5) • Lars O. Carlsson; Kajtek Wojciechowski – tenor saxophones (6) • Malando Gassama – percussion (7, 9) • Thomas Sundkvist – viola (4, 7) Production • Benny Andersson; Björn Ulvaeus – producers, arrangers • Michael B. Tretow – engineer • Rutger Gunnarsson – string arrangements (1, 9) • Anders Eljas – string arrangements (4, 5, 7), horn arrangements (7) • Rune Söderqvist – album design • Ola Lager – photography (at Alexandra Disco, Stockholm) ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts Decade-end charts ==Certifications and sales==