ABBA: Before And After

Many people know ABBA as a group, but very few know each member's solo careers. So, let's get started.

Before ABBA

Benny Andersson and The Hepstars

Benny Andersson was musically influenced by both his Father and his Grandpa, who were folk music lovers.

Benny got his musical talent by them and at the age of 6 years old he was given his first Accordion.

During the 60s Benny Andersson was part of a Swedish Rock-Band called "The Hepstars". At the height of the popularity The Hepstars was formed by drummer Chrille Petterson, bassist guitarist Lelle Hegland,  vocalists Svenne and Frisk Hedlund and keyboardist Benny Andersson.

The group formed in Stockholm in 1963 and by summer 1964 it was hugely popular across Sweden: It was the most popular group in Sweden (even more than The Beatles!) and the members were explosive when they were on stage. The Hep Stars had a rock repertoire and enjoyed 9 No. 1s. with their most popular song being "Sunny Girl". After a while the group started to cover other songs because of the lack of new material.

The Hepstars' No. 1s singles are: Cadillac (1965), Farmer John (1965), Bald Headed Woman (1965), Sunny Girl (1966), Wedding (1966), Consolation (1966), Don't (1966), Malaike (1967), Mot Okȁnd Land (1967).

The Hepstars were so popular that everybody in Sweden knew that name: Agnetha Fȁltskog then admitted  that when she went to see them in Concert she was a stan (like every girl in Sweden!).

In 1969 Benny Andersson left the band and started to work with Bőrn Ulvaeus, it was the end of The Hepstars' era, but ABBA was about to begin...

Here you'll can find some Hep Stars' videos:

Bjőrn Ulvaeus and the Hootenanny Singers

Bjőrn fell in love with folk music when he was very young: he loved playing the guitar and he was given one for his 13th birthday, Bjőrn later said "It was one of the happiest days of my life".

When he was a teenager he went to England for a summer job at a paper mill. That "holiday" made him want to become a singer (England was the modern-music centre) and when he came back, he founded his own group.

In 1961 The Hootananny Singers officially formed and they were composed by: Johan Karlberg, Tony Rooth, Hansi Schwarz and Bőrn Ulvaeus.

Despite Bőrn's love formusic, his parents wanted him to be a musician, but when "Omkring tiggar'n frȧn Luossa ranked 2nd on the Swedish charts, everything changed...

After The West Bay Singers won a talent contest they were discovered by Stikkan Andersson (the founder of Polar Music label) and then changed name in The Hootenanny Singers.

After Stikkan found them, they started singing in English and became one of Sweden's most popular group during the second half of the 60s. The Hootenanny Singers' most popular hit is "Bjőrkens visa" and the single "No Time" was described as a potential international hit ( No Time will be played by Benny's Hep Stars one year later).

The group also had a good reputation when it came to concerts, indeed they played 168 shows across Sweden during their career.

In 1966 The Hootenannies had been called up for military service so they decided to party before starting the military duties. That night they met The Hepstars and partied all night long: Bjőrn Ulvaeus later told us "We partied so late that they tossed us out of the hotel. So, in the early morning, with the sun rising, Benny and I sat down in a park with our guitars, playing Beatles songs".

After 2 weeks Benny and Bjőrn met again in Vȁstervik. Bjőrn's father let them use his office and that night Andersson and Ulvaeus created their first composition: "Isn't it easy to say?".

It was the beginning of a collaboration that would change pop music forever...

Agnetha Fȁltskog, The Girl With The Golden Hair

Agnetha has always been into music, she wrote her first song (Tvȧ smȧ troll) at the age of 5 and she loved playing the piano.

She was described by her relatives as a shy but deteremined girl.

Connie Francis was Agnetha's idol so she got inspiration from her. Connie's influence was so strong that we listen to an Agnetha's song we can hear something that reminds us of her

Agnetha's parents were working class folk and had very little money, but fortunately enough someone in the neighbourhood owned a piano, so Agnetha went to her neighourhours' house and played piano there. When she was 8 years old she got her own piano, she started to attend piano's lessons at the age of 10 and when she was 15 her teacher told her she had nothing else to teach her

Agnetha started to perform in local pubs with her father and her sisters.

In 1965 Agnetha started to work in a concessionaire but that same year, she was offered to sing in a dance band called "Bernt Enghart Band". The bamd didn't archieve much success but the cooperation lasted for 3 years.

At  the age of 16 Agnetha wrote herself the song "Jag var sȧ kȁr" after the end of a love affair. That song topped the Swedish charts and became her break-through. Agnetha still recalls the first recording as an absolutely exciting moment "I thought ,my God, that's my song! It was a fantastic felling!. And they paid really well for singing on for the Cupol label. Dad helped negotiate".

 After "Jag var sȧ kȁr  11 solo records entered the charts. Agnetha became the most popular act of the late 60s.

Agnetha's success continued at the beginning of the 70s, she released new hits and she played the role of Marie Magdalene in the Swedish version of "Jesus Christ Super Star" in 1972

In 1969 Agnetha met Bőrn and in 1971 they got married, now only Frida is missing...

Frida: The Jazz soul of the group

"I remember being a very shy, sweet girl with low self-confidence. I was an introverted child with lots of dreams and imagination" that's how Frida describes herself during her youth.

Anni-Frid's story was a very difficult one, she was without both her mother and father and she grew up with her grandmother in Eskilstulna, in central Sweden. 

Frida's grandmother had very little money, but she managed to buy her a piano. At the age of 7 Anni-Frid started to sing in the local church.

At the age of 10 Anni-Frid won a talent contest and when she was 12 she joined a local dance-band. The leader of the band later told he had never heard a 12 years old girl singing that well.

When Frida was 16 met her first husband :Ragnar Fredriksson and ,at the age of 17 she gave birth to his son Hans "I got pregnant when I was 17. That wasn't a problem ,but it was for many other people".

In 1967 Anni-Frid won the con test called "New Faces" with the song "En Ledig Dag" and recorded an album with EMI, but it didn't archieve musch success.

In 1968 Frida toured Swedish folk-parks with the famous Swedish crooner Lasse Lőnndahl.

1971 was THE year: she recorded her second solo album called "Frida", which had been produced by Frida' fiancé Benny Andersson. The album was welcomed by the critics ;finally, after a lot of time, the success arrived. Sweden's biggest Newspaper wrote "Professional, sure and certain LP-debut... low key but self-sure personality with sprinkles of both temperament, humor and tenderness. And she sings in this way that you understand she's got something between her ears - she sings with others words in a very intelligent way". 

Still in 1971 Anni-Frid released the single "Min Egen Stad", which features Agnetha, Bjőrn and Benny as backing vocalists. Min Egen Stad topped the Swedish charts and she became one of the famous musical acts of the early-70s (Along with Agnetha, Benny and Bjőrn)

During ABBA

During the ABBA-era both Agnetha and Frida released two successful albums

Elva vinnor i ett hus

In 1975 Agnetha released the album called "Elva kvinnor i ett hus".

The album should've been released in 1973, but it was postponed because of Agnetha's pregnancy. In 1974 Agnetha was busy with ABBA (ABBA had to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest) so the due date was postponed again but finally in 1975 the album was released.

The original name of the album was "Tolv kvinnor i ett haus" (Twelve women in a house). The songs should have talked about the 12 women ,who had nothing in come apart living in the same house, but the result will be different from this initial idea. The initial project was abbandoned and the Swedish version of SOS will be included in the album to improve the sales.

The majority of the lyrics have been by Bosse Carlgen (exept SOS ,which had been written by Benny, Bjőrn and Stig, and Visa i åttonde månaden, which had been written by Agnetha herself, who descrived the 8th month of pregnancy.

The singles SOS and Elva kvinnor i ett hus became huge hits across Sweden, but despite this initial success the album ranked 11th on the charts.

Frida Ensam

Frida Ensam was released in 1975 and became Frida's most successful albums after "Something's Going On".

The recording sessions began in February 1974, but because of the Eurovision and ABBA's debut, the recordings were postponed. 

"Life on Mars" by David Bowie, "Wouldn't it be nice" by The Beach Boys, "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich and "Wall Street Shuffle" are all pop-classics that you can find in Frida Ensam. Frida later told "On the album I've included a lot of songs that I wanted to do, but was unable to sing with ABBA because we're a group".

However, the album's most successful track is "Fernando": this song was frstly written by Benny and Björn for Frida's solo album in 1975 it it became a HUGE hit across Sweden: Fernando spent 6 weeks at the top of Swedish charts, becoming one of Sweden's best-selling singles of 1975.

The album also contains 2 Italian ballads: Anima Mia (Ett Liv I Solen in Swedish) by I Cugini Di Campagna and "Vado Via" (Aldrig Mej in Swedish (this is my favourite song from this album)).

Frida Ensam also contains the 1972 N.1 single "Man Vill Ju Leva Lite Dessemellan", which has contributed to its success.

This is the first time that I give a personal opinion: this is my favourite Frida alum with "Shine"!

After ABBA

The year is 1982 and everything in the group has changed: both couples had divorced and both men had found antother woman. Frida had moved to London and Agnetha wanted to spend more time with her family. ABBA's latest singles didn't do that well on the charts. The latest recording sessions had been unproductive. Everything seemed to come to an end: "Being ABBA wasn't fun anymore". As ABBA never "officially" formed, ABBA never "officially" disbanded; everything just happened. It was the end of an era for pop music, but it was the beginning of another one for Agnetha, Börn, Benny and Anni-Frid...

Benny and Björn

Chess

While Frida and Agnetha went their separate ways, Benny and Björn continued to work together: they had always dreamt to write a musical with their first attempt being "The Girl With The Golden Hair". The duo contacted Tom Rice, who had written the lyrics for Jesus Christ Superstar, and produced a very successful musical: Chess talked about the mystic chess rivalry betwen the USA and the USSR.

The stage version of Chess premièred in London in 1986 and it was attended by Björn, Benny and Frida.

The musical has been played in London for 3 years, but it bombed in Broadway in 1988.

In 1984 Chess' music was put in an LP and it gave the world 2 hits: "I Know Him So Well" topped the charts in the UK and "One Night In Bangkok" picked 3rd in the USA, becoming Benny and Börn's biggest hit after "Dancing Queen" and "Take A Chance On Me".

A Swedish version of Chess was released and it premièred at Stockholm's Cirkus Auditorium. The Swedish version of Chess won 5 Swedish theatre awards.

Frida

Something's Going On: a  Collins collaoration

1982 was a big year for Frida: She moved to London and recorded her most successful solo album: "Something's Going On"

During her painful divorce with Benny, Frida found strength in Phil Collins' debut album "Face Value" (which was havily influenced by Collins' divorce) and she decided to contact him.

The recording sessions began on February the 15th and continued until March 31; ABBA wasn't over yet, but the atmosphere between the four was freezing. The whole album was recorded in ABBA's Studio in Stockholm.

"A sharp, rock-oriented, delightfully eclectic album" is how Rolling Stone Album Guide describes Frida's album. The album sound was different from ABBA's music: it was a rock-oriented pop. Phil Collins' drums plays an important role in the melodies and Frida's vocals are at her best (Frida later told that singing with ABBA was very difficult, so in the 80s her vocals had already improved).

The album was released in September 1982 and all the efforts were rewarded: After being heavily promoted on MTV and other musical TV channles,"I Know There's Something's Going On" became an international hit: it reached the top 10 in (almost) every European charts, picked 5th in Australia and South Africa and it ranked 13th on US Billboard

The UK was the only exception: "I Know There's Something's Going On" only ranked 43rd on the national charts, something that sounds strange because ABBA was hugely populare in first part of the 80s.

Album Charts

Chart (1982-83) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] 40
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[7] 10
Canadian Albums (RPM)[8] 64
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 2
Finnish Albums Chart 3
French Albums Chart 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 12
Italian Albums Chart 18
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[11] 2
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 18
US Billboard 200[14] 41 

Single charts

Chart (1982-83) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 5
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 1
Canada (RPM 50 Singles)[6] 30
Denmark (Hitlisten)[7] 2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 7
France (SNEP) [9] 4
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 23
Israel (IBA)[11] 3
Italy (FIMI)[12] 7
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[14] 3
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 3
Poland (LP3)[16] 3
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[17] 5
Spain (AFYVE)[18] 29
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 3
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 1
UK Singles (OCC)[21] 43
US Billboard Hot 100[22] 13
West Germany (Official German Charts)[23] 5 

"To Turn The Stone" by Donna Summer and "Here We'll Stay" are the only 2 covers in this album.

Something's Going On sold 3 milion copies worldwide becoming the biggest musical success after ABBA and the single I Know There's Something's Going On became entered the top 20 best-selling singles of 1982.

Shine: the power of 80s Pop

Finally the moment has come: I'm gonna talk you about my favourite Frida album!!! (I'm so excited)

On Feruary 1st Frida went to Paris to record her second english-language album. At first Phil Collins was supposed to produce Shine ,but in the 80s he emerged as an international star and he simply didn't have enough time; but Frida found a good solution: Steve Lillywhite.

By 1984 Steve Lillywhite had already worked for famous musical acts such as The Rolling Stones and U2.

As we said before, the recording sessions began on February 1st 1984 and was entirely recorded in Paris, at the Studios De La Grande Armée.

This album brought Frida back to happiness: she had finally recovered from her divorce and during the recordings she came across her new partner. All the good vibes are found in this 80s pop album.

"Ahead for its time" is how Shine is described: indeed Steve Lillywhite managed to produce an album which was evem more arranged and musically complex than Something's Going On .

Thanks to Shine the classical 80s-Pop-Sound was created .Oh yes, believe it or not, famous bands such as Duran Duran found inspiration in this album. The arrangements and the melodies became more and more complex: "The sound is bolder than on the last album, Steve opened me up as a musician. All of a sudden I have reached sounds and a way of working musically that I had no outlet for before - but now I have discovered it." is what Frida told when the album was released in September 1984.

In this album the majority of the lyrics were written by Steve's wife Kirsty MacColl, but we can also find some "Rarities": Frida wrote "Don't Do It" and "That's Tough" herself and "Slowly" was written and composed by Benny and Björn.

Shine didn't manage to replicate the initial success of Something's Going On, but it still managed to enter the top 10 in: Norway, Sweden (where it picked 6th on the national album chart) and Belgium and it entered the top 20 in The Netherlands

Djupa andetag: Deep Breaths

After a long break, Frida came back to the recording studios again.

During the 90s Frida dedicated herself to charity works and in 1990 she joined the Swedish environmental organisation called "Det Naturliga Steget" (The Natural Step) and later became a member of the "Artister För Miljön" (Artists For The Environment).   In 1992 Frida performed live at the Stockholm WaterFestival, located the Kings Castle.

Frida later told that by the 90s everything had changed: she had moved to Zermatt, she got married to the German prince Ruzzo von Plauen and her voice was lower.

The recording sessions took place from 18 March to 9 August 1996 and the album was recorded in different studios (Polar Studios, Sveriges Radio Studio and Cirkus).

The lyrics in this album are far different from those that Frida used to sing before:  "inner personal environment" is what Frida had dealt with. Nature plays an important role in the majority of the lyrics too (Djupandetag's most famous song, Även En Blomma, means "Even a flower").

In this album we can also find Frida's composition "Kvinnor Som Springer", which was inspired by the book "Women who Run with the Wolves", by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. 

The song "Alla mina bästa år" should've been an Agnetha and Frida duet, Agnetha rejected ecause of possible rumors about a reunion. The song became a duet fitured by Frida and Roxette's Marie Fredriksson.

Djupa andetag was entirely recorded in Swedish and was released in Scandinavia only. 

The single  Även En Blomma ranked 6th in Israel (strange, isn't it?) and 11th in Sweden, but the album performed much better: it topped the charts in Sweden and received the Swedish gold-disc.

Djupa andetag will be Frida's last studio work.

In 2004 "The Sun Will Shine Againe" was relased and ,afyer ABBA's reunion, Frida also released the Spanish version of "Andante Andante"

Agnetha

Wrap Your Arms Around Me

After ABBA "Took a break" Agnetha decided to stay with her family. In 1983 she decided to come back and recorded her most successful solo album: Wrap Your Arms Around Me. 

Before we get started, it's worth mentioning Agnetha amd Linda's Christmas collection: Agnetha had always wanted to sing with her daughter, so ,in 1981, Agnetha and Linda released an album which contained Swedish Christmas songs. The album was recorded in 1980 (when Linda was only 7 years old), but it wasn't released until October 1981. The album reached the 6th position  and has remained a consistent seller each Christmas since then.

But now, let's go back to 1983: the recording sessions went from January to March 1983 and the album was released in May the same year.

Wrap Your Arms Around Me contains 3 hits: "Wrap Your Arms Around Me", "The Heat I On" and "Can't Shake Loose". 

1. "Wrap Your Arms" became a hit across Europe: it topped the carts in Belgium and entered ranked 5th in The Netherlands and in South Africa. 
   Chart (1983) Peak
   Position
   Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[9] 20
   Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 1
   Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 30
   Ireland (IRMA)[13] 15
   Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 4
   South Africa (EMA)[14] 2
   UK Singles (OCC)[15] 44 
   
2. "The Heat Is On" performed well too: it was a huge hit across Scandinavia and became quite popular in some areas of Europe suche as France and Belgium.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Chart (1983) Position
   Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[2] 2
   France (SNEP)[3] 6
   Germany (Official German Charts)[4] 20
   Ireland (IRMA)[5] 28
   Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 2
   Norway (VG-lista)[7] 1
   Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 1
   Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[9] 15
   UK Singles (OCC)[10] 35 
   
3. "Can't Shake Loose" is definitely my favourite track from this album, but unfortunately it was much less important than "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" and "The Heat Is On", but it managed to reach the 29th position on the American Charts. The lyrics of this song have been written by Russ Ballard (the same person who had written Frida's I Know There's Something's Going On).

The album was published by Mike Chapman, who had already worked with famous artists such as Blondie and The Knack. Wrap Your Arms Around Me is a pop album heavily influenced by Agnetha's emotions :"We wanted good songs with strong melodies, a positive spirit. Not just tragic ballads about someone having left you, or that life is difficult,". This sentence has a deep meaning: it mainly tells us Anna's will to create something new, but it also tells us her will to separate from ABBA's music (which had become particulary sad during the 80s).

Wrap Your Arms Around Me became one of Scandinavia's best selling album of 1983: it topped the album charts in both Sweden and Norway and sold 1.2 milion copies around the world, becoming one of the best selling albums of a former ABBA member after ABBA.

Album weekly charts[edit]

Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 49
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[6] 5
German Albums (Media Control Charts)[7] 13
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[8] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 18
US Billboard 200[11] 102 

Eyes Of A Woman

After the success of Wrap Your Arms Around Me Agnetha decided to come back with another pop-influenced album Eyes Of A Woman.

Before we start, it's worth saying that by 1985 something important had changed: In 1984 Agnetha found writing good tunes harder than before: "I was struggling alone with 'I Won't Let You Go' for the whole of last summer," she later told a reporter. "It's only a matter of hard work, no glamour at all."

The recording sessions began in October 1984 and by the end the year the album had already been fully recorded. Eyes Of Woman was entirely recorded at ABBA's Polar Studios and it will be Agnetha's last album released under the Polar label.

The album was produced by Eric Steward (a 10cc member), who has also written the majority of the lyrics along with Agnetha and other artists.

The songs "Turn The World Around" and "You're There" haevn't been included in the album, but they were released as Bonus Tracks in 2005. "One Way Love" and "I won't Let You Go" were released as singles in Europe and "One Way Love" (one of my favourite Aggie songs) was performed and promoted at the Montreaux Festival in 1985

Eyes Of A Woman hasn't been as successful as Wrap Your Arms Around Me, but it archieved a moderate success across Europe and a great results in Sweden: The album entered Britain's top 40 and West Germany's top 30 .Eyes Of A Woman entered Norway, Belgium and The Netherland's top 20 and it ranked 2nd on the Swedish album-charts.

Album Charts

I Stand Alone

Before we start talking about Agnetha's album I Stand Alone ,it's worth metioning Agnetha and Kristian's children album Kom följ med i vår karusell. The album was released in 1987 by Warner Music label. It became one of the best swedish children albums (it was even candidated for the Swedish children-Grammy (called "Barn").

Today I'm particulary happy because I'm going to talk about my favourite Agnetha album: I Stand Alone !. The thing I like the most about this album is that it is far different from the other albums which had been recorded before (we're going to find out the why later).

I Stand Alone was heavily influenced by American music because it has been entirely recorded in Los Angeles and it's been produced by Peter Cetera (a former member of rock-group "Chicago").

As we said before, the album is heavily influenced by american pop-music, but it is very variated too:                    we can find pop songs with catchy melodies such as "I wasn't the one who said goodbye) "An Agnetha-Peter duet) and the pop-rock "We Got a Way" ; but it also contains more quiet songs like "Maybe It Was Magic" (which is one of favourite Agnetha songs").

The album also contains the 1986 hits " The Way You Are" / "Fly Like The Eagle" (written by Ola Håkansson).

I Stand Alone is probably one of Agnetha's most successful albums: It topped the album-charts in Sweden for 8 weeks and became Sweden's best selling album of 1988. The album enrtered the top-20 in The Netherlands and in Norway too, nìbut unfortunately it was less successful in the rest of thr world :(

Charts

This will be Agnetha's last work or 17 years, until she'll come back to the studio again in 2004

My Coloruing Book

After a long period of silence and pain, Agnetha came back to the recording studios and produced one of the best albums of the 2000s: My Colouring Book

Agnetha is the kind of person who never closes all the doors: in 2004 My Colouring Book ,one of Agnetha's most commercially successful album was released

The album contains all the songs Agnetha loved and wanted to cover (most of them are from the 60s). "I just couldn't say no," she recalled. "I really loved the songs from the beginning."

But not all songs in this album are covers: for example "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" and "Sometimes When Are Dreaming" have been speially written for Agnetha.

As we said before, a lot of tracks from in this album are from the 60s, that's why Agnetha's way of singing reminds of us of her youth.

The album is very variated: it contains positive and energetic songs such as "Walking in The Room", but we can also find more melancholic ones like "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming".

The only thing I can say about is that is SO perfect ,I love it so much :)

As I mentioned before, My Colouring Book is one of Agnetha's most commercially successful albums: it contains  2 international hits:

1. "If I Ever Thought You'd Change Your Mind" ranked 11th on the British single-charts
2. "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" (one of my favourites) ranked 6th in Britain in 2013, becoming Agnetha's biggest hit in Britain after ABBA. (in 2004 it "only" ranked 12th).

My Colouring Book sold 500.000 worldwide. In Britain it went silver after selling 60.000 copies. In Sweden the album sold 64.000 in the early weeks after being released. Germany also contributed to its success, making the album reach the 6th position on the national album charts. 

Album Charts

Weekly charts

A

Today I'm a little sad: this is my last chapter :(  But I swear it will be a good one!

My Colouring Book was supposed to be Agnetha's last album as she left the music world in 2005, but something went differently: "The project came about through a good friend of mine", Agnetha explained. "She called me up and told me that Jörgen Elofsson and Peter Nordahl wanted to play me some music. They came to my house and played me three songs and I thought, "Oh my God, I have to do this". It felt like a challenge."

The album was fully recorded for Atlantic Records in Stockholm. As we mentioned before, the recordings of this album  hadn't been regularly planned, so there was a feeling of anxiety during the recordings: Paul Stenning later told "Agnetha is not just any artist, she is an icon with a rich heritage. We really felt the pressure of making something great, we didn't want to destroy anything for ABBA or Agnetha given the reputation they've built over the years. I'm really happy to say I think we pulled it off!"

The album's main tracks are :"When You Really Loved Someone", "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" and "The One Who Loves You".

The album also contains the first Agnetha-written song since 1985:  "I Keep Them on the Floor Beside My Bed".

The album is a pop/easy listening one, but it also contains the disco-influenced track: "Dance Your Pain Away"

Before we finish, I'd really like to thank all the people who read and will read this, you're wonderul.