The Visitors

The opener and title track is perhaps the closest they came to emulating the New Wave/Synth Pop explosion of the time. Parts of it are reminiscent of "Summer Night City" (minus the disco) and "Eagle" (without the majesty) but it manages to create an interesting and unsettling sonic landscape all of its own which suggests an encounter of the third kind may very well be waiting behind the locked door (and they must surely score points for creating a pop song about Russian dissidents).

Next up is "Head Over Heals" which treats us to its fairground synths, jaunty chorus and tale of 'goodtime girl gets herself into trouble'. This one is a bit like Agnetha's very own "Money Money Money" and lyrically, is possibly a case of Bjoern, a la Fleetwood Mac, cheekily having his ex sing a song about herself that isn't altogether flattering. Or not.

"When All is Said and Done" is a standout in the style of "The Winner Takes it All", although it is surprisingly upbeat for a break-up song (and sort of Christmassy) with a positively defiant lead vocal from Frida. A song of shaking hands and walking away, head held high. Bittersweet rather than just plain bitter. It would have made a good, upbeat album closer, and had serendipity played its part properly, the perfect send off for the group: "Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun ..."

"Soldiers" is, for me, the forgotten gem on this album. Starting sparsely with a vaguely military drum and some admirably restrained guitar to dirty it up a little, it then segues effortlessly from a moody, understated first verse and Agnetha's plaintive lead vocal into the most sublime, unashamedly anthemic chorus, where Frida and Bjoern join her in some quite beautiful harmonies. As for the enigmatic lyrics: "Soldiers write the songs that soldiers sing, the songs that you and I don't sing ..." What's that all about then? About the need to have the courage of your convictions be it in love or war? Answers on a postcard please. It works for me anyway.

Frida takes centre-stage once more for "I Let the Music Speak" aka "The One That Sounds Like It Belongs On The Soundtrack To Les Miserables Or Similar" (round about the point where some peasant woman stands up in her rags and sings heartrendingly about not having enough parsnips to make soup for her son who's just returned from The War). The lyrics though tell a different story. One of night-time hauntings and astral projection (ABBA staples then). This is no "I Wonder (Departure)". Dark, fanciful and slightly macabre on the verses, the choruses return us to more familiar ABBA territory with Frida displaying her quite formidable vocal prowess throughout.

After that we get "One of Us" and what can I say? It's just gorgeous. Greek tragedy laced with Swedish cool. A happy little drumbeat bouncing playfully along behind Agnetha's wrist-slashing and soaring vocals. A kitchen sink tearjerker in the great tradition of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (a-ha!) and "The Winner Takes it All" and quite rightly an all-time favourite.

With "Two For the Price of One" the question is always going to be: "Is it as bad as everyone says?". Well, in short, yes. By and large it bears the rare distinction of being an unintentionally funny intentionally funny song. Wait until you hear the "quite exciting" husky voice that answers the mock-telephone (unless there's another layer to this fable which I'm completely missing). The one semi-redeeming feature is the chorus. Some interesting stuff where everyone joins in with some low-key harmonies and thankfully you can no longer tell what they're singing about. Then, just when all the verses are out of the way and you're sure it's safe to tap your foot till the finish, in blunders the Salvation Army and marches the song off to a merciful end.

Luckily, Agnetha is on hand to lead us back to sanity (and wave her child off to school) in the shape of "Slipping Through my Fingers". Saved from mawkishness and total schmaltz by one of those sublime, harmony-heavy choruses and Agnetha's crystal clear voice and heartfelt delivery.

"Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" closes the album proper. It has to be said that, on this album at least, most of the vocal kudos must go to Frida, and she plays a blinder in this last one. Stripped as it is of all sonic clutter - as well as harmonies - when the song begins you'll think, quite astonishingly, that she's singing from the corner of your room. A clock ticks away on the mantelpiece. A music box plays quietly in the background and Frida sings of lying down one last time and welcoming the Angel of Death. Amen.

Of the bonus tracks (all top-notch, especially Under Attack which features a good old-fashioned harmonic tussle between A & F in the chorus) The Day Before You Came is the classic - swirling, rain-drenched synths, a sense of impending doom and tantalisingly (the closing masterstroke) we never find out who - or what - 'you' is. Pop Noir par excellence.

All of the trademarks which made the group so popular are still in place throughout - strong vocals, clever song-structures, barmy lyrics and a healthy smattering of Scandinavian navel-gazing and marital strife. All of it delivered with an icily immaculate production sheen - some of which sounds dated though much of it, due to the solid songwriting, simply timeless. In short, anyone with even the most limited musical palate will find something to enjoy in this album.


Moody But Good   October 8, 2003
David Cranson (Hereford, UK)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

The end was nigh, and really no-one was too upset when it happened. It was there for all to see, especially in hindsight. That being said, this is no bad album. Depressing in places,the title track itself is dripping the kind of fear & negativity that had never really raised it's head on an ABBA album.

Of the rest, "When All Is Said & Done" is very maudlin, but none the worst for it. "One Of Us" is an open book of relationships breaking up and "Slipping Through My Fingers" is a parent feeling sorry for missing out so much on her child growing up and not needing her so much anymore.

The one real cheery number is "Two For The Price of One", which is very jaunty with an unexpected finale which I won't spoil for any who haven't heard it yet. "Like An Angel . . ." is a fitting end to such a downbeat album.

That said, the bonus material does jar a little - esp for those of us who have lived with this album for years. Two of the tracks (Day before You Came & Under Attack) were singles after this album was released, and have appeared on at least 2 other compilations. "Cassandra" is another track which turns up now and again on various compilations with "Should I Laugh or Cry" being the one track which doesn't appear in many other albums.

Is there not any more unreleased stuff ut there to populate albums with these days?

So 5 stars for the original album and for the fact that the extras are good, if not exaclty hard to get elsewhere.


Tantalizing album   April 2, 2007
Philippe Ziglioli (Monza, Italy)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

Don't let those foolish rumours mislead you: ABBA were doing better and better with the years and, though less successful than its predecessor "Super Trouper", this album is by far their most perfect achievement. The mood is indeed melancholy but not bleak, as I've read in some reviews. It's just that their real potential was beginning to show, and this drove some customers away, people who thought ABBA was only a hit-factory. More than twenty years have elapsed since the release of "The Visitors", and yet I can't take my ears off it; please, don't focus on single songs, it's the whole album that's unbelievable. This is the ultimate pop/folk CD of all times (yes, I said folk, Scandinavian folk actually). No other has ever reached such heights, either ABBA or any artist in the music business.


Saving the best till last!   November 12, 2002
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I've been replacing all my long-forgotten Abba vinyl albums recently with the newly-issued cd's. They've all been superbly remastered and cleaned up, and the bonus tracks have really been the icing on the cake.
However, I had never heard this album. I never owned it back in the 80's because of the indifferent reviews at the time, so I left it until now, when I had bought all the others on cd before buying it - after all, the collection needed completing.
I am so pleased with it, and I rate it as the best album they produced!
The tracks have a subtlety and maturity that grow in depth with every hearing, and would easily make anyone cringe at the current state of the music charts.
This is Abba at their very best, vocally, musically and melodically. And the 3 bonus tracks are superb! If you're in two minds about wether or not to buy this, like I was, I suggest you just jump in and get it.

The only downside to these Abba re-releases is the abysmally cheap packaging they come in. A cardboard cd sleeve instead of a plastic box means they soon start looking worn, no matter how much care you take of them. But that's only a minor point!


A Dark Brooding Masterpiece   July 31, 2006
kcb (Scotland)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

This album is as dark as anything by Leonard Cohen. There is nothing to prepare you for what you are about to hear. Sure, there was a hint of this on 'Super Trouper' ('Happy New Year', 'Our Last Summer'), but the melodrama has been dropped for something far more introspective and mature. These songs are autobiographical and you suddenly realise that with the exception of 'The Winner Takes It All', they had not expressed themselves in this way before.

The opening song, 'The Visitors' is so powerful, from the menacing intro into the forbidding claustrophobic vocals from Frida to the slabs of dominating synths at the end of the chorus. It is a sinister foretelling which perfectly conjures fearful pictures of the Soviet Union in '81. It took a while for me to realise that this is the only ABBA song ever written which does not rhyme at all. The ominous lyrics depicting thwarted hope ("These walls have witnessed all the anguish of humiliation and seen the hope of freedom glow in shining faces. And now they've come to take me. Come to break me. And yet it isn't unexpected"). This is not a song you'd care to listen to in the dark.

'When All Is Said And Done', as has been described, is a song about Frida and Benny's divorce but it also demonstrates a still vulnerable Frida lifting her head and moving on...yet despite the forcefulness of the delivery, you can sense it masquerades real doubt. One of the most fascinating songs is also one of the most overlooked: 'Head Over Heels'. Not faring too well as a single, it is apparent this is supposed to be a bouncy, happy Abba song, but it fails in its remit. Agnetha gives it her best shot but doesn't quite pull it off. Their hearts are just not in it. Instead what you hear is melancholy all the way through. Like somebody who is grieving trying to laugh. Somehow, this makes it a far more interesting proposition.

'I Let The Music Speak' is otherworldly ("I'm hearing images, I'm seeing songs no poet has ever painted"). It's true that it feels as though it belongs in 'Les Miserables' but it is such a beautiful song that showcases Frida's voice perfectly. The original closer, 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room', is sublime: a ticking clock and Frida lamenting her lost loves. This is inspired. The original recording ended with that ticking clock and then silence...you are left transfixed. Would they be back? That this was the last song of the last studio album is fitting: the perfect, yet unpredictable, finale.

Of the additional tracks, 'The Day Before You Came' and 'Should I Laugh Or Cry' are the best. TDBYC is probably their finest recording. Agnetha is actually role-playing in this song: she is the bored, lonely woman.....and deliberately sings like one. There is absolutely no hint of what comes after this typically dull day and, as such, she knows only by habit the sequence of the day's events. Frida's aria in between the verses is both haunting and heart-breaking.

'Should I Laugh Or Cry' features a restrained vocal performance by Frida with an interesting lyric where she is exasperated by everything that her partner says and does, her patience paper-thin (a far cry from 'Honey, Honey'!). This is not to overlook the beautiful 'Cassandra', yet another stand-out performance by Frida.

There is a subtle warning, i guess, of the music contained inside by the beautifully contemplative album cover. Each of them pre-occupied with their own thoughts. The first time the four of them are not together and not looking at you. They started off as 'Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid' before fusing their names into ABBA. With this album, these four personalities burst out of the straitjacket of that acronym. With hindsight, it is evident listening to this, that they would not be back.

A perfect swansong.