Tracks 1. When I Kissed The Teacher 2. Dancing Queen 3. My Love My Life 4. Dum Dum Diddle 5. Knowing Me Knowing You 6. Money Money Money 7. That's Me 8. Why Did It Have To Be Me 9. Tiger 10. Arrival I woke up a couple of days ago and immediately scratched my cornea. I really had no reason for doing this except perhaps my brain wanted to test a new form of alarm clock that did not prove to be successful. In any case, I haven't been able to see very well, which is the perfect chance to catch up on some albums. This one will either have you cheering or searching for a shotgun, depending on your opinion of pop disco. My experience with ABBA had been strictly through movies, like Mamma Mia! and Muriel's Wedding. They are both slightly obnoxious films, but I never faulted ABBA for this. However, after listening to this album, I suddenly want to point fingers. I think we are all familiar with "Dancing Queen" which is fun the first time you listen to it and unbearable the million other times that you will be forced to listen to it. I also knew the song "Money Money Money" which is terrible even if it is your first time hearing it. I was completely ready to write this album off when the song "Why Did It Have To Be Me" came on. It was catchy as hell and actually included some male singers which was refreshing for the album. Of course, after that we were back to the somewhat creepy song "Tiger" that had me looking behind my shoulder. So there are a couple good songs but otherwise the band is always teetering on the brink of obnoxiousness. I am not going to fault them for their lyrics since they are Swedish; I can barely put a sentence together in any other language. Actually, sometimes I have trouble putting a sentence together in English, but that is usually in front of a hot guy. RATING: 3/5 Trailer for Mamma Mia! Pierce Brosnan sings. Run, run as fast as you can.
Tracks 1. Hotel California 2. New Kid In Town 3. Life In The Fast Lane 4. Wasted Time 5. Wasted Time (reprise) 6. Victim Of Love 7. Pretty Maids All In A Row 8. Try And Love Again 9. Last Resort This is another album that is considered complete crap by the intellectual music crowd so, of course, I knew I would like it. Still, I was a bit disappointed with this one, which possibly means I am growing. Or it could mean I am crossing over to dark side, depending on how you look at it. I think everyone has heard the song "Hotel California", but I think the definite stand out track was "Wasted Time". The lyrics are actually quite beautiful; take a look:
"You never thought you'd be alone this far down the line And I know what's been on your mind You're afraid it's all been wasted time
The autumn leaves have got you thinking about the first time that you fell You didn't love the boy too much, no, no, you just loved the boy too well, Farewell So you live from day to day, and you dream about tomorrow, oh. And the hours go by like minutes and the shadows come to stay So you take a little something to make them go away And I could have done so many things, baby If I could only stop my mind from wondrin' what I left behind and from worrying 'bout this wasted time" Of course, "Hotel California" definitely is memorable as it is comment on the life on the West Coast at the time. Of course, the stance that people in the music industry are greedy and fame whores isn't exactly shocking or even daring, but it is still a good song. However, I completely understand the complaints that might arise from this album. While the songs are catchy, by the time the album is over you definitely want it to end. Besides the two songs I mentioned, the rest is just kind of a blur of generic rock music. Still a fun listen though and it is not as shitty as it is made out to be. RATING: 4/5
