ABBA : LIVE AT WEMBLEY ARENA

 

Disc One (52:26)

  1. Gammal Fäbodpsalm
  2. Voulez-Vous
  3. If It Wasn't For The Nights
  4. As Good As New
  5. Knowing Me, Knowing You
  6. Rock Me
  7. Chiquitita
  8. Money, Money, Money
  9. I Have A Dream
  10. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
  11. SOS
  12. Fernando

Disc Two (57:42)

  1. The Name Of The Game
  2. Eagle
  3. Thank You For The Music
  4. Why Did It Have To Be Me
  5. Intermezzo No. 1
  6. I'm Still Alive
  7. Summer Night City
  8. Take A Chance On Me
  9. Does Your Mother Know
  10. Hole In Your Soul
  11. The Way Old Friends Do
  12. Dancing Queen
  13. Waterloo

Label : Polar Music

Venue : Wembley Arena, London, UK

Recording Date : November 10, 1979

Release Date : September 29, 2014

Review (AllMusic) : Recorded during ABBA's hugely successful world tour of 1979-1980, Live at Wembley Arena features the Swedish pop group performing in concert at London's Wembley Arena in November, 1979. Coming on the heels of the group's sixth studio album, 1979's Voulez-Vous, the tour was a sensation as the notoriously studio-bound four-piece had never before embarked on such an extensive live tour. Culled from ABBA's four-night stand at the storied London venue, Live at Wembley Arena features 25 of the group's songs including such well-known cuts as "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Waterloo," and "Dancing Queen." Also showcased are such less-appreciated numbers as "If It Wasn't for the Nights," "Why Did It Have to Be Me," and "Summer Night City." Also included is the previously unreleased song, "I'm Still Alive." While ABBA were primarily known for crafting their infectious, pristinely produced pop in the studio, they were also a superb live outfit who could reproduce their multi-voiced harmonies on-stage with enthusiastic precision. Add to that the attention to detail with which the group's backing ensemble re-created their complex, layered arrangements and you have a supremely listenable, anthology-like concert experience. Which isn't to say that ABBA played robotic by-the-numbers versions of their songs. On the contrary, these are rollicking, exuberant performances that reveal a band not only indebted to their fans, but clearly just as passionate about performing their songs as they are about recording them.

Review (Wikipedia) : Live at Wembley Arena is an album of live recordings by Swedish pop group ABBA, released by Polar Music on September 29, 2014, on 2 CD, 3 LP and digital format. The album, produced by Ludvig Andersson, includes the complete concert at London's Wembley Arena (now The SSE Arena, Wembley) on November 10, 1979, the last of a six-night residency at the famous venue. It features most of ABBA's hit singles and album favorites from their first eight years as a unit, as well as the never-before-released "I'm Still Alive", written by Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus. ABBA played to packed crowds at London's Wembley Arena from November 5 until the 10th, as part of their North American and European Tour of 1979, also known as ABBA: The Tour. The largest night had an attendance of 179,353. Members of the group, including Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, agreed that those concerts were the highlight of the entire tour. Music stars like The Clash's Joe Strummer and Ian Dury were among the audience. Several songs from the Wembley concerts were filmed for the TV special ABBA in Concert, which was broadcast the following year. The song "The Way Old Friends Do", performed during the encore, was later included as the closing track of their 1980 album, Super Trouper. Songs from Wembley also appeared on 1986's ABBA Live, but were overdubbed in the studio by producer and sound engineer Michael B. Tretow. The BBC compiled its own one-hour version of the concerts and aired it on Christmas 1979. It circulates as an unofficial bootleg entitled "ABBA - Live In London". In an interview with the webpage Ice The Site, in December 2013, ABBA songwriter and pianist Benny Andersson confirmed that a live album would be released "exactly as it was" sometime in 2014, as part of the band's 40th anniversary. Andersson detailed that his son Ludvig went through hours of tapes, choosing the right material. It was Ludvig who decided that the November 10th 1979 concert was the one to be released. The decision was approved by all the members of ABBA, including vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who listened through it at the studio in Stockholm. On June 9, 2014, ABBA's official Facebook and Instagram accounts confirmed the release and the next day, on June 10, the full track list was revealed. The album omits the song "Not Bad At All", performed on tour by backing vocalist and fellow Swedish pop singer Tomas Ledin.