Listened to the Sound Opinions podcast about the Swedish popsters. The main crux of the show discusses the group's incredibly polarizing nature.

 

Detractors say they're over-the-top campy and too slick with the outfits and such, as well as the shimmering — and shallow — production. Pure cheese, with a disco bent and annoying accents and unpronounceable names. How did these schlocksters sell so damned many records, metalheads wondered aloud? Nobody this popular could possibly be any good. Who the hell sings songs about a Napoleonic battle or silly epics like "Winner Takes It All?" C'mon, man.

 

Supporters, on the other hand, often embrace these very traits. They love the glamorous image and don't care what the haters say, because the songs are so damned catchy. I don't care who you are, you're probably secretly singing along or got a little extra groove in your step when you're in the department store or restaurant and "Dancing Queen" or "SOS" comes on. You may have even loved the behind-the-scenes drama the same way you loved Fleetwood Mac's lovers' squabbles. Even if you weren't a drama queen, you knew that their pain made fantastic music, with an impossibly, wonderfully epic quality.

 

Bottom line: You either love 'em or hate 'em. Where do you stand?

Listened to the Sound Opinions podcast about the Swedish popsters. The main crux of the show discusses the group's incredibly polarizing nature.

 

Detractors say they're over-the-top campy and too slick with the outfits and such, as well as the shimmering — and shallow — production. Pure cheese, with a disco bent and annoying accents and unpronounceable names. How did these schlocksters sell so damned many records, metalheads wondered aloud? Nobody this popular could possibly be any good. Who the hell sings songs about a Napoleonic battle or silly epics like "Winner Takes It All?" C'mon, man.

 

Supporters, on the other hand, often embrace these very traits. They love the glamorous image and don't care what the haters say, because the songs are so damned catchy. I don't care who you are, you're probably secretly singing along or got a little extra groove in your step when you're in the department store or restaurant and "Dancing Queen" or "SOS" comes on. You may have even loved the behind-the-scenes drama the same way you loved Fleetwood Mac's lovers' squabbles. Even if you weren't a drama queen, you knew that their pain made fantastic music, with an impossibly, wonderfully epic quality.

 

Bottom line: You either love 'em or hate 'em. Where do you stand?

 

Take A Chance on Me....one of my all time favorite songs. LOVE ABBA!

Love them. Not ashamed to admit it.

Grew up in the 70s. Love them.

Reminds me of an MTV interview Kurt Loder had with Bruce Springsteen back in the 80's...

 

Loder:"Do you have any guilty pleasures, such as ABBA?

Springsteen:"I'm not sure they are a guilty pleasure. They just make great pop records".

I like them - Mama Mia

Uhhhh...dont hate em...but i aint playing their old 8 tracks either. If i HAD to pick i couldnt pick like.

Ya gotta love ABBA.

 

Big fan. Dancing Queen was one of my first "favorite" songs. It has endured and is still one of my favs.

I've heard Dancing Queen way too many times because it was one of the sororities songs at NKU.

When I was on a date in high school in the 70's, I couldn't go wrong if I had ABBA playing in the background. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Love 'em.

ABBA?? Really?? Pop Schlock garbage. That being said, I have no idea how they got into my music library, and are on several playlists I have. I also did not create the ABBA channel you may or may not see on my Pandora App.

Meh. Not really into it.

Love 'em.

Love em!