Super Trouper

Two British number one hits came from this album. The first, Winner takes it all, is a very sad song about the break-up of a relationship. It was inspired by a marriage break-up within Abba, but was not itself autobiographical. As they admit, neither partner came out winners from the divorce. The song hits home hard, perhaps because Agnetha really felt the song. The second number one, Super trouper, is more typical Abba - very upbeat.

My favorite tracks are The piper, The way old friends do and Our last summer. The piper was put on the B-side of Super trouper. I felt that was a mistake - it would have made a great A-side. In fact, they could have used Put on your white sombrero as a B-side - it was dropped from the album and had only rarely been made available before its inclusion here. The way old friends do is a live recording which provided a great finale to the original album. With the bonus tracks, it no longer has that effect, but is still a great song.

Elaine was the original B-side of Winner takes it all but, like Put on your white sombrero, had rarely been available before, although both could be found on a 4-CD boxed set.

I thought Our last summer could have been a great single, but the only other British single to be released from the album was Lay all your love on me backed with On and on and on. They had proved popular on dance floors so were made available on twelve-inch format only.


Brilliant With or Without the Extra Tracks   September 15, 2003
David Cranson (Hereford, UK)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Right up there with the best of them. ABBA always did good albums, most of the tracks could've made good singles - IMHO. This album had a good flow to it from beginning to end, finishing as it does with "The Way Old Friends Do." This means that it is more of a jarring jump to the extra tracks than normal. Still the extras are not too bad either.

On the other hand, would it not have been possible for them to put stuff on which had never been released elsewhere?

Favourites include "On and One . . ."; "Andante, Andante"; "Our Last Summer" & "Winner . . .".

Good solid ABBA album, full of emotion, great songwriting & excellent music.

Recommended.


Super comeback to #1 heights for ABBA   June 24, 2004
MBC (Rijeka, Croatia)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

Somebody once said that ABBA were never an albums act, that their strength was their singles. Of course, that is not even remotely true because ABBA has 9 #1 albums and the GOLD compilation is one of the top 10 albums in the UK (ever) according to its weeks on chart. Anyway, ABBA was as strong as ever at the crack of the 80s although they waited for a #1 single for quite some time back then. That all changed (to everybody's surprise when Super Trouper was released beacuse the first two tracks (you know everything about them) went #1 (the last two in their carreer).
The only weakness in ABBA albums would be the fact that they almost never represent a storyline but merely an album with around 10 songs they chose were musically right. For example, Super Trouper should be a cheerful album, but it actually goes cheerful/sad/very dance/slow/cheerful/nostalgic/nostalgic/cheerful/dance/nostalgic. Not a pattern, anyway. However, this album is worth listening especially when you discover the bonus tracks (I own the first CD issue without them). Put On Your White Sombrero is an excellent showcase of Agnetha's talent and Elaine is ABBA's more mature and sophisticated upbeat attempt.
Other than tracks #1 and #2, Lay All Your Love On Me was also a single, a 12 inch which surprisingly did make top 10 which was quite rare (or so I heard) in the 70s. On and On and On is another favorite dance song with quite interesting lyrics and accompanied with a video (I think it was intended for Japanese market, not quite sure) and a mysterious extra verse than was deleted from the final version.
Andante, Andante is a very slow song sung by Frida and it takes forever to love it. Me and I is silly, but enjoyable, Happy New Year is excellent (they made a video for this one, too and it was released as a single a few years ago) nostalgic song, Our Last Summer is a romantic, nostalgic song with Paris in mind. The Piper is a bouncy, happy song with Scotish instrumental motive (+strange latin lyrics from the girls). The Way Old Friends Do is one of their best live performances which sounded so good to Bjoern and Benny that they decided to put it as a nice finish to the album. Also included on More Gold.
All in all, one of ABBA's finest albums but maybe not as enjoyable as Arrival or the Visitors.


Not quite up to the standard of The Winner Takes It All   August 6, 2007
Cowboy & Angel (Derby, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

The first single from this album, The Winner Takes It All, is considered one of the group's best songs. It returned them to the top of the UK singles charts after an absence of two and a half years and six near-misses. The album itself, coming on the back of Abba's immensely successful 1979 tour, was a massive hit and broke records in advanced orders.

However, the rest of the album just doesn't live up to the promise of the first single. A new maturity was evident, with lyrics becoming more personal, but there are more fillers than classics here. I'm not a fan of the dreadful title track, despite the fact it was their last UK Number 1. Me and I and The Way Old Friends Do are also not up to Abba's high standards. Other than The Winner Takes It All, only Lay All Your Love On Me, and perhaps a couple of others, really stand out.

In fact, the two bonus tracks are better than some of the main album. Elaine was originally just a b-side, while Put On Your White Sumbrero (featuring a classic moment where Frida is on lead vocals and is joined by Agnetha swooping in on the last chorus) was left off the original album in favour of the title track. The story is that the album's title was already there, but there was no title track and they hastily wrote one at the last minute. They should have left Sumbrero on and not bothered, although it's doubtful whether Sumbrero would have been a big hit.

It was clear that Abba were on the journey towards the end. That they managed another album after this - and that that album was better than might have been expected after Super Trouper - is testament to Abba's greatness.