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Definitive Collection DVD - Fan Reactions
Wish I had more time to give my thoughts on The Definitive Collection but briefly, I love it. We can quibble about what's missing and incorrect mixes til the cows come home but I think it is a pretty classy and "definitive" collection on the official videos and Universal have done us proud. The quality is really much better and there are so many things you didn't notice before...like Agnetha's hairy armpit in "Summer Night City"!!! In the second chorus when she is standing back to back with Frida. Maybe Bjorn didn't like her au naturel and this was the real reason for the divorce. She seems to have shaved by the time we get to "Super Trouper" though. I liked seeing "Estoy" for the first time. It's a better clip than I expected (better than Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! shot on the same day). The best is still "The Day Before You Came" which (despite the slight interference on the picture which I can live with) still looks like a mini movie, packed with drama and even a little soft porn...! Bye for now, Stephen Bryceland Glasgow, Scotland ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, I finally got the DVD. Bless www.skivhugget.com. I haven't had the time to sit down and watch it all the way through so these are very much my first impressions. I have watched some clips in full, skipped through others and actually ignored some (so far). I like the packaging and booklet. Very classy. The use of video stills in the booklet is very effective and of course, the text is factual and interesting to read. Once you get into the DVD, I like the look of the menu screens and the use of "Gimme Gimme Gimme!" as the background music which of course, matches the use of the photo on the cover. Simple but effective. It is easy to navigate around. I like the random feature. I haven't seen this on a music DVD before. Probably not a feature I'd use a lot but cute for parties. Has anyone else mentioned the misspelling "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie"? Maybe Ian needed to poof read (or should I say poof watch) the DVD before it was released. In this case, a minor point. The photo gallery is nicely done. Yes, we've seen most of the photos before but remember, this is not the main reason we bought the DVD. And they do look good on the TV screen. I like the slide show effect. One disappointing photo is actually one of my favourites. I don't know if I can describe it. From round about 1980 and The Winner Takes It All cover photo sessions. Frida and Agnetha looking sultry and Benny is trying to lift Frida's dress. On the DVD, their heads are cut off. Arghh. The other photos are fine. The important things of course, are the video clips themselves. It was hard to decide what to watch first. I thought I should get my favourite clips out of the way first. "Summer Night City", "Money Money Money", "Bang-A-Boomerang" and "The Name Of The Game" all look fabulous and the best they have ever done so I'm happy. I know I have seen the extended ending of Summer Night City before but it's usually not there. There is also an extended ending to The Name of the Game which finishes on a shot of Björn. I don't think I've seen this before. I had to check out "No Hay A Quien Culpar" and was surprised to find it wasn't that objectionable after all. Maybe time has softened me. It still doesn't look right and maybe they should have gone for a new idea for the video rather than trying to recreate the original. But overall, not so bad and I can't believe how ultra-clear it is. I don't mind the wrong "Ring Ring" so much although it would have been better if they got it right. I like the US remix. "Waterloo" is strange and I don't know what happened there. Sloppy editing. Overall, the older videos stack up well. No more washed-out, scratchy copies. The colours are quite vibrant. "The Day Before You Came" is looking better than usual IMHO. The colours are better and it does seem darker and more atmospheric. Just my view. "On And On And On" is a bit annoying but it great to have the extra verse back which I think outweighs the out-of-sync problem. The royal "Dancing Queen" performance also looks out-of-sync. Oh, and the sound quality is great. :-) Back to watching. Grant Whittingham Sydney, Australia ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well ok, here's my first thoughts... I am so, so pleased this has come out at long last. The opening credits made me grin like a fool. First that Universal animation, and then the Polar logo brought to life, albeit in a small way. Then the menu appears with the eyes and little stills for each video. The opening is very well presented. The picture quality is, on the whole, very good. Some of those old films are positively sparkling, but....... what on earth happened to The Day Before You Came? It's dull and blocky and the colour is kind of weird. I played it on my computer to see if it was just my TV, but no, it still looks bad, and there's a jagged yellow line running just inside the right hand edge of the picture on certain shots. To be blunt, the treatment this video has had makes it look like something they put together from the remnants on the cutting room floor. Sorry, but there it is. It's dreadful. As for the rest? Superb! Considering their age they've scrubbed up very well, though there's some old movies, like Lawrence of Arabia (1962) which look like they were made earlier this morning. No doubt the quality of the film materials was better though. I'm not sure I see the point of putting the Royal Gala version of Dancing Queen on the DVD. It isn't a particularly animated performance, and the sound is identical to the 'proper' DVD. If we forget about TV appearances, then we already have the existing films and it looks like a filler, which is exactly what it is. Speaking of TV appearances, I know the ABBA In Switzerland performance of Chiquitita is the 'official' version, but I've always thought it very bizarre that you can sing a Spanish (or South American) themed song surrounded by snow. I mean, ok, I've heard of Patagonia and the Andes, but it just doesn't fit. Given that the song was released on behalf of UNICEF they ought to have either a) shown the clip from the TV special that was filmed at the UN or b) shown the ABBA members actually speaking to, playing with, or visiting kids from around the world, maybe interspersed with clips from that TV special. Altogether it's more appropriate, and it's something that would have reminded people of the very important work of UNICEF many years later, like now :-) BTW when I went to the UN in April I couldn't find that plaque anywhere, and the guides had no idea what I was talking about.... Apart from these little quibbles and the Ring Ring blunder, I have to say how pleased I am that we finally have this lot out on DVD. I know most of us are disillusioned with record companies - and with very good reason - but at least Universal are making a far better effort to put fan-friendly(ish) stuff out than Polycrap ever did. They're in it for the money, yeah, but still, can you imagine where we'd be if these were still the days of Tobler and the ABBA Gold crown and fake logo? All we need now is for Universal to buy Sandrews so we can get Raskenstam out - lol! Cliff Docherty, Wembley, UK ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, here I am after a quite stressful week with a lot of work and far too little time to watch the biggest treat we got in long time, our DVD! I think it's amazing how such a little golden disc (well, speaking of that disc, I haven't seen it since I got it a week ago - must be lost somewhere in my DVD player.........;-) can bring so much joy to the bunch of people we are. I have read several times now that a lot of us actually feel again, through this DVD, why they love ABBA that much. The same goes for me. It's also great to read all those comments and reviews about it, I love that, really! Ian has pointed out that, for the first time in years, he enjoys listening to "Happy New Year". Well, the same goes for me. But I maybe enjoy "Felicidad" a little more. I think it's a great clip. A lot of Agnetha in it (and I don't mean a lot of the person Agnetha, though she sometimes seems a bit.......no, I won't say it..........) and that's great. I also love the "Estoy Sonando" clip. It's really beautiful. And you maybe haven't heard that one now from me before but: Frida looks really beautiful in those candle-close ups. Yes, now I've said it. (and as I'm in the mood now I'll say something else as well, though it's a bit out of place here now: I think "Shine" is a great track!) I just wish they'd done something which reflects a song that well as this clip does also for the song "Chiquitita". Now to some highlights when it comes to picture quality: - "Money, Money, Money" - try pressing the "break" button when it comes to the close up of Agnetha's eye. It's just amazing, you see every tiny little detail in it, superb. - "Super Trouper", "Happy New Year", "Felicidad" - the indoor circus shots have a great quality really! - "Summer Night City", "Does Your Mother Know", "Voulez-Vous" - the disco clips have improved a lot. - "No Hay A Quien Culpar" - far better quality than "When All Is Said And Done" - "One Of Us" - very good and sharp as well. Looks like being shot just some hours ago. All in all, Universal gave us a x-mas present in the middle of summer (or winter, depending where you live) - thank you so much for that! Harry Ehler Linz, Austria ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't want to sound like an obsessed fan, but I have some more The Definitive Collection DVD comments to make. * TURN THE BRIGHTNESS ON YOUR TV UP!! IT IS A VERY DARK DVD. * The picture quality of most songs is just stunning: Ring Ring, Fernando, Money Money Money, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Summer Night City (amazing - just amazing), Voulez-Vous & Does Your Mother Know. Ironically the clearest, best quality video is the worst - No Hay A Quien Culpar. No matter how clear it is, the girls look their worst in this video - and Agnetha looks worse than Frida. * My theory about straight-to-video songs being poor quality is shot by "One of Us" which I'm sure is straight-to-video. Also the Royal Wedding Dancing Queen looks fine. But where they found the masters used for Eagle/Thank You For The Music & One Man, One Woman I'll never know. I FEEL THAT UNIVERSAL WERE NOT AWARE THAT THESE SONGS WERE ORIGINALLY VIDEOTAPED, whereas they did with "One of Us" & Dancing Queen Royal Wedding. They have found some old film-transfers and thought they were the masters. Maybe they want the whole DVD to look "Filmy" and not "video-ish" but making everything grainy is not for me.... I quite like the clarity of video (Kylie's "Intimate & Live" DVD quality is amazing). * I love start of Take A Chance On Me where you see half a second before the music starts & Agnetha looks a little nervous. And the long endings to The Name Of The Game & Summer Night City (Is that Lasse's little car at the end?? - the camera has done a complete 360°). * There is no doubt that Eagle, One Man, One Woman & Head Over Heels look better on the Brazilian MORE ABBA GOLD DVD. Maybe The Day Before You Came too. What do you guys think?? When I Kissed The Teacher looks the same as the Brazilian MORE ABBA GOLD BUT cuts about 2 seconds of the start, so you miss when Björn, Benny & Frida run around the corner of the staircase. Chiquitita & Thank You For The Music look better on the Malaysian ABBA GOLD VCD that I have. * I think even some SONGS are strangely inconsistent in quality even within the songs e.g. The Winner Takes It All - looks great in the group shots but really grainy at other times. I want to compare the verses of "Super Trouper" on The Definitive Collection DVD to The Winner Takes It All-THE ABBA STORY DVD. I'm sure they aren't that grainy. * I think that I (and a lot of us) am guilty of having too high expectations for this DVD. It would have been a difficult job and for 75% of the time, the job has been done very very well (EXCEPT that Waterloo shocker - unforgivable). * I now have a renewed appreciation for what happened in 1992 with the revival. I remember watching the ABBA GOLD video, amazed at how well it was put together and the respectful way each song was introduced at the start (I like that). But it did seem more consistent quality-wise than this DVD. * I want to point out that this is in no way a criticism of Carl Magnus Palm. I'm sure he gave his 100% best as always. I still say Carl Magnus Palm is the best thing to happen to ABBA fandom since........ABBA!! Maybe it's because he has ALWAYS EXCELLED in his delivery that I had such high expectations for this DVD. Philip Muytjens Sydney Australia ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Got my DVD this past Friday and had to watch it right away! (It's a good thing I have vacation at the moment even though my conscience told me I should've been working with getting our new apartment organised instead). I was quite impressed with how they managed to get the sound loop of Gimmex3 in the menu play over and over without ending. I've never seen a DVD where the music doesn't start over after the loop is played to the end before. A really nice touch! As I watched the videos I got disappointed though since I think the synching between picture and sound was awful here and there. (Which it does on other DVDs we have as well, like W. Houston's Greatest Hits, for example) I do have a suspicion that it might be our DVD-player that causes this though. (It has been acting a little weird from time to time). Anyone knows if this is something that can happen? (We feed the digital sound signal from the DVD-player into our Dolby Digital amplifier that decodes it). Anyway, the suspicion that there might be something wrong with the player became even greater when I found two major sound drop-outs (one in Voulez-Vous and one in Happy New Year). Since I didn't want to go through the hustle of sending the DVD back I played those parts in our computer DVD-player and there was no sound drop outs! Weird...! I'm quite satisfied with the release even though (being a perfectionist - my major flaw...!) I can't say I'm thrilled. I think that the picture quality could've been better than this (but maybe the masters isn't better?). I can still see white stripes on The Day Before You Came and Under Attack even though the quality is *much* better than the GOLD VHS/Video-CD releases. But, at last I have my first ABBA DVD! Fredrik Augustsson, Skövde, Sweden ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yep, I have it. Bought it today. Finally a record shop in Linz got about 20 of these great things called DVD and with four gorgeous letters on it!!!! And it's amazing! I just love it - what else can I say than just I LOVE IT!!! I think I don't have to tell you how great it is, have I? No, you've heard that all before. But it's exactly my opinion! Nearly all clips have improved a lot from the treatment they got. What? Just "nearly" all? Yes, I think it would have been possible to achieve a better result for "Chiquitita" (nearly no difference to my VHS version) and maybe also for "The Winner Takes It All". But I don't wanna complain, no no never. I must say that I was a bit surprised when watching the "No Hay A Quien Culpar" clip. And I was surprised in a positive way, yes. This one is really not that bad as everyone stated it would be. I haven't seen it before so maybe it's just bad when watching a bad quality version? Maybe. Nevertheless, I think it's even better than "When All Is Said And Done", at least Agnetha's looks better in it ;-) Watching "The Day Before You Came" now is a real highlight. I love it! And especially a lot of the early clips have improved a lot - very good job! And I like the raunchy mono version of "On And On And On". The extra verse gives it extra spice. But enough said now - Stop write and watch! yeah Harry Ehler, Linz, Austria ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Well. I only ordered the DVD from Skivhugget on Monday afternoon and it arrived this morning. Talk about quick service! Maybe they just like me seeing as I always seem to be ordering stuff from them ;-) I really should be getting on with the work I'm supposed to be doing, so I've not had time to play it all the way through but have spent about an hour looking through various sections. The packaging is sooo classy, although I could have done without the Mamma Mia! advertisement in the back inner sleeve. On the front inner sleeve are the covers of the albums + ABBA Gold + The Definitive Collection which looks good, although I don't know why they have been jumbled up into a random order rather than presented chronologically. Love the booklet and Carl Magnus Palm sleeve notes, though you will have to be careful with fingerprints on the black cover! Several stills from the various videos including close-ups of the ABBA members faces, The Day Before You Came bridge and finally, the warehouse door opening at the end of Under Attack. The sound and quality of the picture is absolutely fabulous and full marks to Universal for this. I have only watched a few clips so far from the 80-82 period, but they all look fantastic. Especially on Estoy Soñando - they look great. I haven't seen that clip video for years I don't think. While you select the promo clips, the instrumental part at the start of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! plays over and over again on a loop. The first one I watched was of course No Hay A Quién Culpar. Amazing to see this in perfect quality after all this time. Actually, cleaned up, it does not look as bad as it does in all those fifth generation video copies and I find Björn to be the scariest looking now! Obviously the fact that it was not included has passed me by in all the talk about this release over the past x months, but I am a little mystified as to why Lay All Your Love On Me isn't here. Sure, it's not really a proper promo clip, but it still should be there. The other problem concerns Under Attack, where the first second or so of the song has been cut off. Two other points are that When All Is Said & Done is no longer the early mix that was used on the original clip, but just the standard album version. I also get the feeling that Dancing Queen at the opera has had the sound dubbed of the original song over the SVT footage, which makes it seem just a little artificial. Some applause has been added at the end, but perhaps they might have used the original TV sound instead for a more authentic experience. Over the closing credits, Thank You For The Music is played. The photo gallery: various ABBA music plays while you are watching this slide show. The photos are mostly from Anders Hanser's collection. I am not exactly the great expert on which pictures have been seen before and which haven't, but most look pretty familiar to me. The one thing is that they are heavily balanced towards the 79-82 period, with not much before that and the way that a few of them have been cropped leaves something to be desired. Several of them are repeated in both colour and black & white which seems a little odd given how many there must be to choose from. But from what I have seen so far, I am very impressed with this release. I hope that the few problems that I've come across do not appear to be unnecessarily picky as I haven't watched the full thing yet to take it all in - hopefully later on tonight. Maybe then I will write something else about my overall impression ;-) Paul Carter London, UK ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I went to the local shop here in Sweden and bought my copy of the new superb DVD. It has wonderful artwork and the liner notes are a great read. (Thanks Carl Magnus Palm!) With wonderful pictures... Yes, the Dancing Queen version is in the original version without the presentation of the band as shown on Gold-video. I've noticed some things: 1. In the beginning of the Chiquitita video you can see the group members freezing! 2. The first videos up to I Do, I Do... have the title shown in the beginning with white text. All music is good, but some of them have a little background noise. The menus have a wonderful Definitive Collection- layout and in the background you can hear Gimme!, Gimme!, Gimme! instrumental (that part from the beginning of the song) repeating on and on. As someone said can you hear the extra verse to On and On and On. NHAQC shows Frida in short-haircut - the original When All Is Said And Done shows Frida in long hair! The Picture gallery shows famous shots, as seen in many books. All is good, and I think it's DEFINITELY a good buy. I will update my site with a bigger review soon - it'll be in both English and Swedish. Robin Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Stopped by at Åhlens on my way home today and spoiled myself with the DVD. I've only had a brief look trough it, but a fuller review will follow * That's Me. Have never seen that clip in it's completeness before. And I guess I know why, it seems like it was made out of the rests of Money, Money, Money * Super Trouper - Still want Frida's sweater * Happy New Year - On my old video recording - when the track fades there's a picture of a clock on midnight. And because it's not in the video it must have been on that long forgotten TV feature I recorded. * Bang A Boomerang - We got those Superman cartoons everyone was raving about! * Eagle - love that one! * When I Kissed The Teacher - Love that one too! * The Day Before You Came - It's so dark! Why?? Don't remember it that way. (And I don't mean the story in it, but the picture) * love all those 70s Stockholm pics. Still have the booklet to read. Linda Granqvist, Stockholm, Sweden ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hej everyone. I too have got the new The Definitive Collection DVD and love it deeply. To my surprise I found an error/fault and a blunder on the DVD when playing Waterloo. The blunder is this: When Agnetha & Frida for the first time starts to sing "Finally facing my Waterloo", Universal have used a wrong clip. You can see Agnetha & Frida continue miming, even if there is no song/lyrics between "Finally facing my Waterloo" and "My My" (it's an interlude). I have checked with the Japanese ABBA Gold DVD, which was released some years ago, and the clip here is totally different (and right) to what's on the new DVD. I guess the right clip is used on the ABBA Gold VHS too. You'll find the blunder when the display shows about 1.00 minute. Also, on my The Definitive Collection DVD copy there's some digital noise in the picture of Waterloo. It's about 1.43 minutes into Waterloo and shows Björn playing guitar. Suddenly the picture looks like a puzzle with a lot of small squares spread around. It only lasts about 2-3 seconds, but I wonder if it's only my copy or it's on all the copies made? Would the ones already having the DVD please check their copies and tell me if they see the same digital noise? I hope it's only my copy, so I can go to the shop and have it replaced with a new one. Finally I think there's some ghost pictures (movements) from time to time. I'm not 100% sure what it's technically called, but it's when something/someone moves a little fast and you see a "ghost" or a "shadow" follow after. I have seen that from time to time when watching the new DVD, but it's nothing inconvenient or annoying - not at all. Oh, and before I end this mail, I have to stick at trifles. The sound is great though, but I wonder why Universal didn't use something called "fade out". On many videos the clip has ended and you have a black screen, but the music continues playing. I think Universal should have faded out so the music fits in with the picture. On other videos the music has finished playing, but the clips hasn't ended yet. Well, here I think it's the opposite to the above mentioned situation. It doesn't matter to see the videos endings "in silence". It fits well. But as I said.....trifles. In spite of the above mentioned errors and/or the blunders, I think the Definitive Collection DVD is great, fantastic and worth the long waiting time. The quality as a whole is great. The picture and colour is as sharp as a knife, great contrast - simply just great. I wish you all could have it NOW !!!!!! Back to watch the DVD -Jan Bach- Copenhagen/Denmark ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Just got the DVD !!!! Hurried home and looked through it -. It's amazing !!! the image quality is incredible. Especially in the older clips like Waterloo, Ring Ring the difference shows so extremely. The colours are so sharp that they seem to jump out off the screen. Fabulous !!! And, no Grant, the NHAQC-video isn't that awful. I found it actually less scary than the version we had before. The clips are as original as they come!!! In the booklet Carl Magnus Palm states that the clips for Mamma Mia, SOS, Bang-A-Boomerang and I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do were originally released together as a package called 4 x ABBA and were as such shown on Swedish Television. The versions on the DVD are in the exact same order and not just that. On the screen at the beginning of each clip it shows the song title and at the end the credits (in this case the names of the four ABBA-members). Oh, another great surprise !!! The On and On and On clip is the one that features the extra verse !!! Yippeeee !!!! The clips can be played in a random order if wished. And the Photo- collection is giant. I've been watching it for 5 minutes now, and new pics keep popping up. This is great !!!! Well, time for me to stop writing now. I'm actually quite close to having a major orgasm and I don't wanna screw up my PC. Hahahahaha !!! Thank you Universal !!! This was worth the wait. From Jürgen Parys Bremen (Germany)
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