Has anyone viewed the new ABBA Collection DVD? (1 Viewer)

I have been enjoying the 2 Japanese laserdiscs of ABBA's videos for several years. I just saw a new collection that supposedly contains all of the videos in one DVD set at Best Buy. Has anyone seen this who can comment on the picture/sound?

Thanks!!

C

From what I heard, the sound and video have been remastered for the dvd. Haven't gotten it yet, going to soon though.

I just finished comparing the new DVD to the three laserdiscs I have (ABBA DiscoVision, ABBA Gold, More ABBA Gold). Let it first be said that I've been a long-closeted ABBA fan, and have only recently come out!

The DVD picture has been beautifully remastered, compared to the previous collections. All but a few of the videos
were shot on film and look great. The others, shot on video, have that aged video look complete with chroma smearing and bright light noise, but they've always looked that way.

The DVD claims to include all thirty "official" ABBA videos together for the first time. Someone didn't check the vaults very well, because "Lay All Your Love On Me" and "I Have A Dream" are nowhere to be found. However, "Lay All Your Love On Me" is merely a compilation of still photo montages and footage from other videos, and "I Have A Dream" is taken from their 1979 concert tour (on LD).
They have included five "bonus" videos, so these could have been included in this section. The bonus videos are "When I Kissed The Teacher" (from a Swedish TV performance), Spanish versions of "I Have A Dream", "Happy New Year" and "When All Is Said And Done", and a Royal Swedish Opera lip-synched performance of "Dancing Queen".

The audio on the DVD is very disappointing (as usual with Dolby 2.0). The laserdiscs' PCM audio completely blows away the DVD. Even the 1980 analog audio DiscoVision LD sounds better. The DVD sounds very flat, with its lack of detail and virtually no low-end. The audio was supposedly transferred from the new CD digital remasters, but you'd never know it due to the limitations of Dolby Digital. This absolutely should have been released in PCM!!! Why these music companies continue to use Dolby 2.0 for music titles is beyond me. I wouldn't want Dolby 5.1 remixes...just a cleanly remastered PCM track like they've been using for the CDs and LDs for years. Is this too much to ask?

Hardcore collectors will want to keep their LDs for the better audio and the missing videos (which were both from ABBA Gold I). Also, the video for "Dancing Queen" differs slightly between the LD and DVD. The LD blends an occasional still photo into the scene, while the DVD focuses on people dancing in the crowd. I don't know the reason for the difference, but it's another reason for completists to hang on to their LDs.

Overall Score (compared to previous editions):
Video quality: 10/10
Audio quality: 4/10

Region two Abba disc is listed as having 5.1 audio. Haven’t got my copy yet so can’t say for sure but hopefully it’s a step up from the region one release.

Matt Hankinson, it's posts like yours that make this the best site on the internet. I'll hang on to my laser.

If no PCM i won't get it. 2.0 DD at the 192 datarate is just a crime. Sad about the 2 missing videos...those are 2 I would have specifically wanted.

-dave

hmmm. Well that's interesting. And it still sounded that bad? Doesn't look good for Dolby Digital

Thanks Matt!!!

I'm sure I'll pick it up some day (with a coupon or discount), but now I'm definitely no longer in a rush.

Too much coming out in the weeks ahead!

(Looks like I picked the wrong week to promise my wife I'd cut back on buying DVDs.)

C

OK as an ABBA expert let me fill you all in on why TDC is better than previous versions of the video collection.

Lay All Your Love on Me is NOT an official video. It was poorly made out of random trims of other videos by the UK record company for top of the pops, then never used (until the GOLD VHS/LD)

I Have A Dream is from a special (ABBA Live in Concert) that will be released on a future DVD

This DVD is also a must have for the reason that On And On And On contains the extra verse long available only on bootlegs! this song is however in Mono, since that is the only version that exists. The video was made before the song was finished, which is why the video was always meant to have the longer version of the track.

Care was also taken to use the remix of Ring Ring on the video rather than the album version, since the video was originally released with this remix version (which appears on the 2001 reissue of the Ring Ring CD)

Dancing Queen on the LD and VHS was reedited by Polygram to include clips from other videos since the clip was thought to be "boring"

the DVD is the original, proper clip

all sound on the DVD was taken from the 2001 24 bit remastered versions, the previous versions are not remastered.

also the packaging and liner notes are top shelf, the notes done by the world's foremost ABBA Expert, Carl Magnus Palm author of several ABBA books, and the official ABBA consultant to Universal Records.

This package is well worth owning!

and no, i dont get a kickback from Universal lol

Moe,
thanks for the incredible update. Still too bad they took that glorious 24 bit PCM sound and gave it to use through a 2.0 DD funnel. Heck...they could have given us 24/48 PCM audio!
Still though, with everything else you've mentioned, sound like I *will* have to get this disc

The disc came out two weeks ago in Europe (PAL/R2) actually, far ahead of our release (as it is with most things ABBA)
The release is not region coded, but it is of course different as to PAL or NTSC
ABBA:The Movie is currently being restored in Sweden in addition to something like 50 hours of outtakes... so we should have some good bonus stuff here
ABBA:In Concert, a special created for the 79 tour is also to be released on DVD, likely with bonus footage
After these two additional releases next year, there is the possibility of a collection of TV specials for 2004 if these three DVDs sell well.
Universal is also working on a new Live CD release (the 86 release is now discontinued), and there are also rumors of a new box set, which might contain further archive material if approval can be coaxed from the two fat old men (the fans semi affectionate name for Benny and Bjorn)
But the new official site is open (beta) at www.abbasite.com where you can hear clips of three previously unavailable songs (Sang Til Gorel, TivedShambo, Hovas Vittne) which were made in limited vinyl editions for birthday recordings for their managers, Gorel Hanser and Stig Andersson's 30th and 50th birthdays (and have appeared on bootlegs for years)
Considering that things like On And On And On with the extra verse, the UK remix of Ring Ring and the extended remix of Voulez Vous (on the definative collection CD) and the US remix of Ring Ring (on the Ring Ring 2001 remastered CD) are trickling out, if we support these releases, we may see things like Just Like That released in full on the next box set....

An update to this very old thread: The Korean R3 dvd
was recently released as a 2-disc set. It's called ABBA: GREATEST HITS AND STORY. Disc 1 is the same as the R1 "Definitive Collection". It features both DTS and Dolby 5.1 audio. The R1 release has pretty poor Dolby 2.0 audio. However, the transfers for the clips that were shot on video, instead of film, still have that
strange "processed" look that some objected to. But overall, a HUGE improvement! The second disc is THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL: THE ABBA STORY. It's a 90 minute documentary on the history of the band. It is also available here in R1. The R3 2-disc set was only $25 from koreandvds.com.

I sure wish we would get the musical stage show "Mamma Mia" on DVD one day. What a fantastic show. All of ABBA's hits were cleverly woven into a very funny story. It's such a great show. I wonder if there is a chance of having it released one day?

Why can't these things just be simple. I mean...we ought to just be able or order up our ABBA DVD and not have to worry about it...it ought to look and sound as good as the format can possibly allow. Instead it's another one of those "which version is the definitive" with the requisite trade-offs of region coding, PAL/NTSC, image quality, sound quality, or content.

Sigh.

p.s. I missed the show the first time but I won't the second...I think it's coming to the Wash D.C. area again...

Is ABBA the movie coming out anytime soon?
Edit: Never mind. I missed seeing this:

ABBA:The Movie is currently being restored in Sweden in addition to something like 50 hours of outtakes... so we should have some good bonus stuff here

Click to expand...

I don't understand why DD 2.0 sounds so bad? I haven't heard the ABBA disc, but at 384 kbps bitrate, it should be able to sound good. MP3's encoded at 192 kbps sound very good, you mean to tell me that Dolby's encoding algorithims are that much different? I thought the Smashing Pumpkins video collection sounded pretty good and that was encoded at 224 kbps.