The Visitors (album)

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The Visitors
Studio album by ABBA
Released	November 30, 1981
Recorded	March 1981- November 1981
Genre	Pop
Length	37:39
Label	Polar (original release) PolyGram (1992 - 1997) Universal Music (1998 - )
Producer	Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link
ABBA chronology
Super Trouper (1980) The Visitors (1981) The Singles: The First Ten Years (1982)

The Visitors is the eighth and final studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music).

With The Visitors, ABBA took several steps away from the "lighter" pop music they had recorded previously. The album is regarded as a complex and mature effort. ^[1] The opening track, "The Visitors", with its mysterious synthesizer sounds and the distinct lead vocal by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, announced a change in musical style.

The Visitors album was one of the first records to be recorded and mixed digitally, and was the first in history to be issued in the new CD format in 1983. ^[2] The Visitors has been reissued in digitally remastered form three times - first in 1997, then in 2001 and again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set.

Contents 1 Recording and Release 2 The Album Cover 3 Track listing 3.1 CD re-issues, bonus tracks 4 Personnel 5 Production 6 Other Recordings of the Period 7 Charts 8 Notes

[edit] Recording and Release

Following the divorce of Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, recording began on what was to become ABBA's final studio album on 16th March 1981.^[3]

The members of ABBA and their personnel have memories of the recording sessions for this album being rather difficult. To begin with, their sound engineer Michael Tretow had to become accustomed to using the new 32 track digital recorder that had been purchased for Polar Music Studios. He said, 'Digital recording...cut out all the hiss, but it also meant that sounds were sharply cut off below a certain level. The sound simply became too clean, so I had to find ways of compensating for that.' The first three tracks for the album had already been recorded using analogue tape and therefore Tretow had to transfer all subsequent tracks from digital to analogue and back again to avoid a difference in quality.^[4]

Ulvaeus also mentioned in retrospect that the recording sessions were troubled. 'It could be frosty sometimes', he acknowledged in an interview. Lyngstad also commented that they were beginning to tire of working together.^[5]

On its release, The Visitors reached the top of the charts in a number of territories but was not as successful as their previous albums.^[6]

The Visitors was the only album where both promotional videos and songs were recorded in digital formats, unlike other previous albums like Super Trouper which use films.

[edit] The Album Cover

Rune Söderqvist designed the cover and photographed the group in a room containing Julius Kronberg's painting of Eros. The room is the Atelje Studio in Skansen Park, Stockholm. The group are positioned apart and appear to be waiting solemnly in the shadows..^[7].^[8]

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Andersson and Ulvaeus.

Side A

1. "The Visitors" – 5:47
2. "Head Over Heels" – 3:48
3. "When All Is Said and Done" – 3:17
4. "Soldiers" – 4:41

Side B

5. "I Let The Music Speak" – 5:23
6. "One of Us" – 3:57
7. "Two For The Price Of One" – 3:38
8. "Slipping Through My Fingers" – 3:53
9. "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room" – 3:40

[edit] CD re-issues, bonus tracks

The Visitors was remastered and reissued in 1997 and 2001 with four bonus tracks:

10. "Should I Laugh Or Cry" – 4:29
11. "The Day Before You Came" – 5:53
12. "Cassandra" – 4:56 (on 2001 remaster only)
13. "Under Attack" – 3:48
14. "You Owe Me One" – 3:26 (on 1997 remaster only)

The Visitors was remastered and reissued again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set with several bonus tracks:

10. "Should I Laugh Or Cry" – 4:32
11. "No Hay A Quien Culpar" (Andersson, Ulvaeus, Buddy McCluskey, Mary McCluskey) – 3:14
12. "Se Me Está Escapando" (Andersson, Ulvaeus, B. McCluskey, M. McCluskey) – 3:54
13. "The Day Before You Came" – 5:51
14. "Cassandra" – 4:54
15. "Under Attack" – 3:49
16. "You Owe Me One" – 3:26

Tracks 11–12 are from the Spanish and Latin American version of the album The Visitors. Tracks 13–16 are recorded and originally published in 1982.

[edit] Personnel

ABBA

• Benny Andersson – synthesizer, keyboards, vocals
• Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
• Björn Ulvaeus – acoustic guitar, guitar, vocals

Additional personnel'

• Ola Brunkert – drums
• Rutger Gunnarsson – bass, percussion
• Janne Kling – wind
• Per Lindvall – drums
• Åke Sundqvist – percussion
• Three Boys – bass, mandolin, keyboards
• Lasse Wellander – acoustic guitar, electric guitar

[edit] Production

• Producers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Arrangers: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Engineer: Michael B. Tretow
• Design: Rune Söderqvist

[edit] Other Recordings of the Period

During the recording of The Visitors, ABBA were also involved in making additional recordings. In March, the group once again dug up a melody that had been tried out in the studios on several occasions during previous years but never used. Eventually, it became the song Anthem in the musical "Chess" but on this occasion was called Nationalsang. In April the group spent two days recording tracks for the Dick Cavett TV special. In May, the group tried out (and subsequently abandoned) two more songs for the album - I Am A Musician (which later became "I Am The Seeker" from the musical Abbacadabra, and also "Givin' a Little Bit More'" (which eventually saw the light of the day on the box set "Thank You For The Music").^[9]

[edit] Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1981	Australia Album Chart	22
1981	Austria Album Chart	3
1981	Belgium Album Chart	1
1981	Dutch Album Chart	1 (6)
1981	Finland Album Chart	3
1981	France Album Chart	12
1981	Italy Album Chart	35
1981	Japan Album Chart	12
1981	Mexico Album Chart	38
1981	New Zealand Album Chart	19
1981	Norway Album Chart	1 (5)
1981	South Africa Album Chart	3
1981	Spain Album Chart	6
1981	Sweden Album Chart	1 (9)
1981	Switzerland Album Chart	1
1981	UK Album Chart	1 (3)
1982	U.S. Billboard 200	29
1981	West Germany Album Chart	1 (5)
1981	Zimbabwe Album Chart	1 (1)

Singles - Australia Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"One Of Us"	Australia Singles Chart	48
1981	"When All Is Said And Done"	Australia Singles Chart	81

Singles - Mexico Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"When All Is Said And Done"	Mexico Singles Chart	29
1981	"Head Over Heels"	Mexico Singles Chart	45

Singles - New Zealand Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"One Of Us"	New Zealand Singles Chart	43

Singles - Norway Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"One Of Us"	Norway's Singles Chart	6
1981	"The day before you came"	Norway's Singles Chart	5

Singles - Sweden Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"One Of Us"	Sweden Singles Chart	2

Singles - UK Singles Chart

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1981	"One Of Us"	UK Singles Chart	3
1982	"Head Over Heels"	UK Singles Chart	25

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1982	"When All Is Said and Done"	Adult Contemporary	10
1982	"When All Is Said And Done"	The Billboard Hot 100	27
1982	"The Visitors/When All Is Said And Done"	Club Play Singles	8
1982	"The Visitors"	The Billboard Hot 100	63
1983	"One Of Us"	Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles	107
1983	"One Of Us"	Adult Contemporary	33

Preceded by Greatest Hits by Queen

UK Albums Chart number one album December 20, 1981 - January 29, 1982

Succeeded by Love Songs by Barbra Striesand

[edit] Notes

1. ^ allmusic ((( The Visitors > Overview )))
2. ^ 20070813_25th_anniversary_CD
3. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 106. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
4. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 109. Century 22 Ltd, 1994
5. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 444. Omnibus Press, 2001
6. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 446. Omnibus Press, 2001
7. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark shadows", page 445. Omnibus Press, 2001
8. ^ 1981 ABBA-THE VISITORS
9. ^ Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", pages 106-109. Century 22 Ltd, 1994

v • d • e ABBA Agnetha Fältskog • Björn Ulvaeus • Benny Andersson • Anni-Frid Lyngstad Studio albums Ring Ring • Waterloo • ABBA • Arrival • The Album • Voulez-Vous • Super Trouper • The Visitors Compilations Greatest Hits • Greatest Hits Vol. 2 • Gracias Por La Música • The Singles: The First Ten Years • ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits • More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits • ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos • Thank You for the Music • The Definitive Collection • The Complete Studio Recordings • Number Ones Hit singles "People Need Love" • "He Is Your Brother" • "Ring Ring" • "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" • "Waterloo" • "Honey, Honey" • "So Long" • "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" • "SOS" • "Mamma Mia" • "Fernando" • "Dancing Queen" • "Money, Money, Money" • "Knowing Me, Knowing You" • "The Name of the Game" • "Take a Chance on Me" • "Eagle" • "Summer Night City" • "Chiquitita" • "Does Your Mother Know" • "Voulez-Vous" • "Angeleyes" • "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" • "I Have a Dream" • "The Winner Takes It All" • "On and On and On" • "Super Trouper" • "Lay All Your Love on Me" • "One of Us" • "When All is Said and Done" • "Head over Heels" • "The Visitors" • "The Day Before You Came" • "Under Attack" • "Thank You for the Music" Related articles Discography • Unreleased songs • Eurovision Song Contest 1974 • Mamma Mia! (musical) • Mamma Mia! (film) • Congratulations • Music of Sweden • Stig Anderson • "Thank ABBA for the Music"