| Just been watching the whole ABBA In Concert DVD finally. By the end of it, I was blubbering like a baby. Despite how comparatively dull and laid-back the 1979 tour and the special seem compared to the 1977 tour and The Movie, I'd forgotten just how fantastic Summer Night City, Does Your Mother Know and Hole In Your Soul are. Pure magic. The sound through the whole special is excellent. Okay, so it's not like the laserdisc (which had some fabulous stereo separation, and was infinitely better than the crap PolyGram VHS version from 1993), but the surround has been very well done. Bravo for holding off the release so that the sound could be properly done. Picture too is so clear and sharp, except for the aforementioned soft focus bits of Björn and Agnetha introducing The Way Old Friends Do, and the uninterrupted I Have A Dream seems less clear (but at least it doesn't "lead in" to Does Your Mother Know, like it does on the ABBA Gold DVD, proving that they cheated there by using the ABBA Live album recording). My one big regret with the special: we don't get to see the moment when the icebergs/mountains part revealing the flashing ABBA logo. I'd love to see that moment - I'm sure it must have been pretty exciting. Also watched the Waterloo 30th Anniversary DVD again, this time on the TV (rather than the PC, which was all I'd seen it on before). God, it's so good. I love it to death! Ian Cole, Sydney, Australia | 
"WOW!!!!!!! At the risk of sounding really superficial, FUCK THAT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!! Simple, elegant, relevant, iconic..... Can't wait. Thanks again CMP and Ian. Making the reality better than I could ever have imagined... " Philip Muytjens, Sydney Australia |
I eagerly sat through my ABBA In Concert DVD when I got home from work this evening and have to say that it is an absolute must for any ABBA fan. It's great to have it looking and sounding so-o-o-o-o good! It's interesting that the DVD comes along at a time when rumours of Agnetha phobias and fears etc. are rife as she looks genuinely very happy and relaxed at times. Not all the time, obviously! I adored the interviews (especially the Thomas Johansson interview and the very funny snippet about the Las Vegas Mob and ABBA). All will be revealed soon, I'm sure, for those still waiting for delivery. It's great to have a copy of the concert finally that doesn't play havoc with the picture when the 'A' 'B' 'B' 'A' lights are up in the background. Sub-consciously I was still expecting that to happen! LOL! There are many 'pieces of the action' that I just don't recall experiencing so vividly before. For a concert film that is so old, I think the producers have done a wonderful job. Make no mistake, it’s not in the same quality league as more recent releases (obviously) but I absolutely believe that we're getting the very best (and everything) that we can with this release. The menu selection is great, with the Polar stage logo behind it. The extras, of course are wonderful to have. All apart from one, that is I must admit to falling about during the Mamma Mia! Trailer. I hadn't seen it before and it's so cringe worthy as to be totally shaming on everyone involved in it. Interspersed with London cast performances (yes, Lisa bloody Stokke) is Björn interviewed outdoors in Stockholm citing every stupid line that we, as fans, know he's going to chant about the show. I mean, is there any single person living or dead that thinks that Mamma Mia! is the story of ABBA?! For Gawds sake. The booklet, which I haven't had time to read yet, looks really classy and smells lovely! Just my thoughts on a wonderful release. (Plus, no menu hiccups, glitches, sound drop-outs or the like that I can tell). When La Cole confirms this, I'll truly believe my own eyes and ears! Oh - and incidentally, no synthesized drums (or whatever they were called) that stomped all over the ABBA Live album!! Toodle Pip, Dominic 'Ice' Wallis London, UK | I went to a record store this afternoon, hoping to find a copy of the "In Concert" DVD, found about 20 of them, bought one, drove home, watched it, was in heaven! And I'm still in heaven. It's such a fab experience watching those clips, which you have in more than bad, 100-times-watched VHS quality, now in 5.1 surround sound (+ a subwoofer ;-) and in sensational picture quality. It's just like seeing it for the first time again. "Thank Your For The Music" is beautiful, finally something new, never seen before. Great. Love it. "The Way Old Friends Do" is impressive. I can't find the right words to discribe it. This sound! Amazing! Guess I will watch some more clips and the interviews this evening. Should be pretty interesting and it will be a great ending of an exhausting day. cu Harry Ehler, Linz, Austria |
| Everything Ice said about the quality, the production values, the extras and so on - all true. A very classy piece of work indeed, and it brought back some wonderful memories. The concert I attended was one of those filmed so I like to think that I'm in there somewhere. The 147th pixel to the right 32.4 minutes in ;-). Lovely clip of Thank You For The Music too. Great to see that for the first time. One thing that people might not pick up on unless like me they have bad hearing, is that the dialogue is available with subtitles in English and several other languages. I follow things much more easily with subtitles so naturally I turned them on and got a pleasant surprise when I discovered the behind the scenes chatter, which of course is in Swedish, was nevertheless subtitled in English (and I daresay the other languages though I've not checked yet). Nice touch. Well done to everyone who had involvement. Universal have done an excellent job and put out a very good DVD. If this is the quality we can expect I can't wait for ABBA - The Movie. Cliff Docherty, Wembley, UK | |
