Europop

The long-awaited album of the classics of European disco. In the best traditions of the 80s.

'The Other Side’, is a 4 CD collection of b sides, 12” mixes, rare tracks and cover versions – with one CD being devoted to covers including Kate’s versions of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ and ‘Candle In The Wind’, and George and Ira Gershwin’s ‘The Man I Love’. Rare tracks such as ‘Brazil’, from the film soundtrack, ‘Lyra’ from the film ‘The Golden Compass’, ‘Be Kind to My Mistakes’ from Nic Roeg’s film ‘Castaway’ and ‘Humming’, an early demo never released before, are also featured in the special set.

Commercially, Super Trouper, ABBA's seventh album, was another worldwide blockbuster. "The Winner Takes It All," its lead-off single, released several months in advance of the album in most territories, was a smash; for example, it was the group's 14th consecutive Top Five hit in the U.K. and their eighth number one there. The title track was also a British chart-topper (their last), as was the album, their sixth. "Lay All Your Love on Me" made the U.K. Top Ten, and "On and on and On" was released as a single in some countries, hitting the Top Ten in Australia. (Typically, American success was more modest, though the album went gold, and "The Winner Takes It All" was a number one adult contemporary and Top Ten pop hit.) Musically, Super Trouper found ABBA, always trend-conscious, taking account of the passing of disco and returning to the pop/rock sound typical of their early albums…

Widely considered the Swedish foursome's first classic album - and historically important as the first to use the now-famous mirror-B logo - 1976's Arrival contains three huge hit singles, the dramatic "Money Money Money," the downcast "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and quite possibly the band's finest four minutes, the absolutely perfect pop classic "Dancing Queen," a combination of Spector-ian grandeur, McCartney-esque melody, and the indescribable vocals of Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The rest of ABBA's fourth album is strikingly consistent and accomplished, from the sly, bouncy "When I Kissed the Teacher" to the atmospheric title track, making room in between for the three excellent singles and five other substantial pop tunes. Although three LPs and a greatest-hits compilation preceded it, Arrival is aptly titled, as this album announces the band's move beyond bubblegum.