Abba Book:

Editorial Review:
Arguably the world's most famous Swedes, ABBA--Anni-Frid, Bjorn, Benny, and Agnetha--delighted (or disgusted) music listeners with their too-perfect, chirpy harmonies in the late '70s and early '80s. This fully authorized biography complements their greatest hits CD, ABBA GOLD, and contains over 250 photos and a complete discography.

Abba Gold: The Complete Story Reviews:
not really the complete story
2000-08-19 - This book is full of great photos of the group, but it only really reflects on their UK single and album release dates,covers,etc.What about the US or other countries single covers and releases and album releases as well.This book vaguely explains the history of the albums in progress of recording.On the back of the book, it says clearly"not for sale in the UK" and all it focuses on is the UK ABBA history.If it truely was the complete story, it would include everything about the group and the songs from around the world.Good pictures, bland telling of ABBA's history.

Not really the "Complete Story"
2000-05-29 - Basically a glorified UK discography, this book will be a disappointment for those wanting to know more about ABBA than their UK single and album releases. Indeed, it is an updated version of the book ABBA For the Record from 1980.

It is hardly a complete story of the band, nor is it truly authorised by the group. After a basic introduction and brief biographies of the four members before ABBA was formed, the text is arranged around the release of every single and album in the UK, and is accordingly centred on the chart and sales performance in the UK. The fact that many singles were hits in Europe and other parts of the world, while singles languished outside the UK charts in the 18 months between Waterloo and SOS is brushed aside, and it's since become conventional wisdom that ABBA's records were universal flops in that era. Coupled with the author's equally inaccurate CD liner notes, ABBA's world history is being twisted to this "Anglocentric" view.

The author also relies to heavily on gossip and hearsay, quoting rumour as fact and thus distorting what little actual ABBA history is included in this book, especially in regard to "unreleased" recordings and "group reunions".

It has to be admitted that there are many wonderful full colour pictures in this book, but unfortunately, very few are given their proper place in the chronology of this book, or are inadequately captioned, so the casual reader will have no idea who is in the photos much of the time(besides the ABBA members) or from what particular period the photos belong.

Sadly, the only other ABBA "biography" to date (bar a couple of books written during the late 1970s), The Name Of The Game by Andrew Oldham et al, is even less factual than this book.

For a more balanced view of ABBA's recording history, look no further than The Complete Recording Sessions by Carl Magnus Palm. The forthcoming books ABBA: The Book should give a better overview of ABBA's entire history, while From ABBA To Mamma Mia (already published in Swedish)will be an excellent look at the later years of ABBA and beyond.

ABBA GOld Complete Story
2000-05-01 - ABBA Gold is a good book to round out a ABBA collector's library but in my humble opinon it is not the best or the most complete. There are many pictures of the FAB 4 and the text is readable. It is a hard book to find thus a collectable. For more detail information and insight into what was going on in the World of ABBA I recommend "ABBA The Recording Sessions." If you are looking for some rare pictures I recommend the next ABBA biggest seller is "From ABBA to Mamma Mia" coming out in the Fall. Currently it is in Swedish but the English version comes in the fall.

Excellent
1998-08-27 - Contains very good photos and extra info not contained in previous Tobler's ABBA Books. A must-have item for any ABBA fan

Very good for new fans
1997-08-17 - ABBA Gold: The Complete Story a fairly interesting, if bland "just the facts" look at ABBA, the Swedish pop group second only to the Beatles in worldwide sales. The book is devided into chapters covering each year of ABBA's career, including a biography of each member detailing the beginings of their respective careers. The book also has some information on the ABBA member's post-ABBA activities up to 1992. The book is largely written from a British point of view, and largely leaves out references to ABBA's spectacular rise and fall in Australia. The book does include many color pictures, some full page. Most of the pictures are in color, many are unusual, and all of them benifit from high print quality. Included in the book is a complete discography for all British releases (which mirrored those in most of the world), often including sales and/or chart information, and comments from period reviews. That is perhaps the book's greatest strength. Overall, this book is a pleasure to read and is highly recomended, especially to new fans, although older fans enjoy it as well.