Review: 'ABBA at 50'

Last year ABBA surprised their fans by doing the unimaginable: making their first music together in thirty years. Not that cashing in on a legacy is outlandish in the pop industry, but most members seemed to want to distance themselves from memories of "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen". After having some success with more conceptual musical theater type pieces, chief songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeous regarded ABBA's pop glory as silly. Agnetha Fältskog seemed content to lead a civilian life outside the spotlight. There were also the members' broken marriages and the general lack of respect they'd always received from the snobby rock press that might make a reunion less than harmonious.

Yet, they came back together, rounding out a nearly five decade career as neatly as possible. Published to coincide with their actual fiftieth anniversary, Carl Magnus's ABBA at 50 now feels like the final final word on Sweden's premier pop act. A quick read full of photos, this book may seem somewhat facile, but it also suggests that a full story has been told. Despite the issues that likely kept ABBA from reuniting for a long time, there isn't any serious drama in this tale. While the group took their work seriously, they didn't seem to take their superstardom all that seriously. When Björn/ Agnetha, and Benny / Anni-Frid Lyngstad ended their respective marriages, the group wasn't tipped into tumult Fleetwood Mac-style. When it's revealed that Agnetha began her career as a singer/songwriter, one might assume conflict will follow because her role was completely vocal in ABBA, but no; she actually seemed all too happy to let the guys do all the writing.

So this is mostly a simple, fairly pleasant story, very much in keeping with the group's music. It says its piece, throws in some light but honest critique of the group's records, piles on the fab full-color photos of the quartet in their space-age goofus gear, and gets out before the needle hits the run-out groove at the end of ABBA Gold. Like that compilation, ABBA at 50 should hit the spot for all but the most dedicated fans.