ABBA- Thank You For The Music 4cd set  October 1994 Available worldwide. (I have heard rumours that this going out of print-but these are not confirmed)

This long awaited official box set (or in actuality booklet set) was released after ABBA GOLD proved that were still a handful people (not many mind you, just a lucky few) willing to spend money on ABBA records.B&B ,( who always seem disdainful of their fans wishes) were skeptical that any one would want to buy a ABBA box set.

More significantly, B&B were hesitant to release previously unreleased material. However, a trip to the vaults reminded them that many of the unreleased songs merited some kind of official release. So miraculously somebody (Chris Griffin & Michael Tretow )was able to convince B&B to put out a box set. So, the typical box set formula was followed-
combine hits , album tracks , rarities into one big smorgasbord. About half of ABBA's official output was compiled in this box set.-66 tracks on four Cd's.

The track listings of the first three CD's are chronological. All the songs on the first
three CD's had been released before in some form or the other (though the version of "Summer Night City" that is presented here includes the elegant intro that had been cut out prior to release).Some of tracks notably "Lovelight" are presented here in edited versions.

ABBA's non-album B-sides are treated with relative
respect. Most of the B-sides can be found on the
box. They are spread throughout all four CD's.
The selection of the previously issued tracks
is fairly sane, there were no worldwide hits
left out, and all 8 of ABBA's studio albums are well representated,
with ARRIVAL drawing the highest rate of
selection with six songs.

The Box set's centerpiece is the 15 song "ABBA Undeleted Medley". B&B were wary of giving these songs official sanction 'cos they didn't regard them as finished, polished material. But here they are anyway..In a way, B&B are correct, some of the songs are unfinished, most have awkward lyrics.-but most of the songs are chock full of great ABBA hooks. So,It is not illogical to put unfinished songs in a medley format.

The biggest flaw with the medley approach is that the individual songs are not indexed on the CD , so it's hard to get to a particular song if want to listen to that song repeatedly.

Probably the best tune on the medley is the lovely "Hamlet III", which is featured in two versions. The first version was a fast instrumental, the second a gentle ballad. Neither amounted to a finished song, but it's still a great melody.
The song had actually saw it's initial release when
Benny dragged up the tune for his 1987 solo album and recorded it as an accordion tune called "Lottis Schottis".

At least two songs featured in "ABBA Undeleted", "Just A Notion" and "Just Like That" don't seem to benefit from being put in the medley-they are too truncated compared to the unreleased versions-that some fans may have heard on bootlegs. It's obvious listening to bootleg versions that B&B were having problems with "Just Like That" ,they tried different approaches to the song-and all were good but none was just right. The version of JLT
found on the box set is a just snippet of a longer "Sax' version. The full length Sax version doesn't seem to develop the full potential of the song. The slower versions seem to make more sense but they lack the "hit single energy" of the sax version. B&B went back to "Just Like That' during the CHESS sessions and again on The first Gemini album where the finally finished the song. "Just Like That" is usually regarded as the most sought after rare or unreleased ABBA song. "Just A Notion" is not nearly as original as "Just Like That'-but it probably merited a full version release.

Two never before released songs were released in their entirety. "Dreamworld" (from 1979) is listenable but not overwhelming, whereas the Spanish sounding ,"Put On Your White Sombrero" is quite good. ,sung with character by Frida and has just some amazing vocals on the chorus. It seems strange that this song didn't make it least make it onto a B-side. "...Sombrero" was recorded during the Super Trouper sessions.

The rest of CD Four features 3 foreign language versions of famous ABBA songs, a b-side, and 4 songs originally released before the group was called ABBA. The fourth CD makes for uneven listening because of the jumping around from live to foreign language to unfinished to Early tracks ..

The key but apparently intentional flaw with the boxset is certain key rarities are left off-there is no sign of ABBA unreleased or barely released songs such as "I am An A", Sang to Gorel, I am Still Alive" , .Nationalsång,
Hovas Vittne ,Tiveds Hambo .Fanfare for Ice hockey World Championship '81 and others. These tracks may never see official release.

The liner notes to the box set are lengthly
and include essays by USA Billboard editor ,Fred Bronson and British ABBA publicist John Tobler. ABBA memorabilia is pictured and some of Björn's latterday original handwritten lyrics are reproduced. The best part of the liner notes is easily Carl Magnus Palm's liner notes to the actual songs. Among the interesting things you learn in
Palm's notes is that "Dancing Queen was recorded in mid -1975, at the same time as "Fernando."! (A full 20 months before the DQ single hit number 1 in America).

As a whole the box set is pretty good, it could have been better, but it could have been far worse. If I want to listen to a ABBA complimation I usually listen to the BOX Set......

The box set was compiled by Chris Griffin,and remastered by Michael B. Tretow. The photograph on the cover was originally
used on the Voulez-Vouz /Angeleyes single. The earliest printings of this set in the UK were numbered individually.

In 2005 a new box set was issued-The Complete Recording Sessions, it included all of ABBA's  commercially issued studio recordings...so all of the recordings here, with the exception of the live tracks show up also on that box set....

TRACK LISTING FOR THE ABBA BOX SET -THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

Disc: 1 1. People Need Love 2. Another Town, Another Train 3. He Is Your Brother 4. Love Isn't Easy 5. Ring Ring 6. Waterloo 7. Hasta Mañana 8. Honey, Honey 9. Dance (While the Music Still Goes On) 10. So Long 11. I've Been Waiting for You 12. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do 13. S.O.S. 14. Mamma Mia 15. Fernando 16. Dancing Queen 17. That's Me 18. When I Kissed the Teacher 19. Money, Money, Money 20. Crazy World 21. My Love, My Life Disc: 2 1. Knowing Me, Knowing You 2. Happy Hawaii 3. The Name of the Game 4. I Wonder (Departure) [Live] 5. Eagle 6. Take a Chance on Me 7. Thank You for the Music 8. Summer Night City 9. Chiquitita 10. Lovelight 11. Does You Mother Know 12. Voulez-Vous 13. Angeleyes 14. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! 15. I Have a Dream Disc: 3 1. The Winner Takes All 2. Elaine 3. Super Trouper 4. Lay All Your Love on Me 5. On and on and On 6. Our Last Summer 7. The Way Old Friends Do 8. The Visitors 9. One of Us 10. Should I Laugh or Cry 11. Head over Heels 12. When All Is Said and Done 13. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room 14. The Day Before You Came 15. Cassandra 16. Under Attack Disc: 4 1. Put on Your White Sombrero 2. Dream World 3. Thank You for the Music 4. Hej Gamle Man 5. Merry-Go-Round 6. Santa Rosa 7. She's My Kind of Girl 8. Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smoke/Midnight Special 9. You Owe Me One 10. Slipping Through My Fingers/Me and I 11. ABBA Undeleted-(Scaramouche / Summer Night City / Take A Chance On Me / Baby / Just A Notion / Rikky Rock 'n Roller / Burning My Bridges / Fernando / Here Comes Rubie Jamie / Hamlet III Parts 1 & 2 / Free As A Bumble Bee / Rubber Ball Man / Crying Over You / Just Like That / Givin' A Little Bit More) 12. Waterloo [French/Swedish]13. Ring Ring [Swedish/Spanish/German] 14. Honey, Honey [Swedish] INFORMATION FOR SONGS ON SIDE FOUR- 1. Put on Your White Sombrero(Andersson-Ulvaeus)Lead Vocal-Frida Recorded September 1980 Lead & Backing Vocals-,Frida Lyngstad ,Backing Vocals-Agnetha Faltskog Guitar & Backing Vocals-Bjorn Ulvaeus Keyboards-Benny Andersson Lead Guitar-Lasse Wallender Bass Guitar-Rutger Gunnarsson Drums-Ola Brunkert "Put on Your White Sombrero" , a great Spanish flavored song with a awkward if interesting title &lyrics. The song was left of the Super Trouper album due to lack of space-but oddly was not released even as an b-side. The singing on this song is absolutley phenomenal probably the best background singing of ABBA's 1980's recordings. Some of the song's arrangment was recycled for use in the 1982 B-side "Cassandra". Sombrero finally saw its official release on this box set... 2. Dream World (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Circusy sounding track recorded and rejected early during the Voulez-Vous sessions-listenable, but nothing special....The instrumentation is annoying...Perfect example of the problems that ABBA was having finding a cohesive sound in the early Voulez-Vous sessions.... 3. Thank You for the Music (Doris Day version) (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Lead & Backing Vocals-Agnetha Faltskog Backing Vocals-Frida Lyngstad Guitar & Backing Vocals-Bjorn Ulvaeus Keyboards-Benny Andersson Lead Guitar-Lasse Wallender Bass Guitar-Rutger Gunnarsson Drums-Ola Brukert This early alternate version of Thank You For The Music was made available first on the box set in 1994 and then also placed as a bonus track on the 2001 ABBA remaster. It would of course, been far more interesting to be able to hear "I am An A " or "Get On the Carousoul". That said, this more proof that blond girl could actually sing.... 4. Hej Gamle Man (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Recorded 1970 Agnetha Faltskog- BackingVocals Frida Lyngstad-BAcking Vocals Bjorn Ulvaeus- Lead Vocals, Guitar Benny Andersson-Vocals- Keyboards John Counz -drums bassist -Gus Horn- Bass Guitar,S.O.Walldorf-String arrangments This song is from Bjorn and Benny's LYCKA album. It was a successful Swedish single. It is included on the box set because it was the first time all four ABBA members appeared on a ABBA record together... 5. Merry-Go-Round (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Recorded March 1972 Agnetha Faltskog- BackingVocals Frida Lyngstad-Backing Vocals Bjorn Ulvaeus- Lead Vocals, Guitar Benny Andersson-Vocals- Keyboards Janne Schaffer-Guitar ,Mike- Watson Bass Guitar,Ola Brunkert-Drums,Various Swedes-Cellos, Violins,Violos, Cellos One of the peppier and most of effective the early songs that had Bjorn on lead vocals. Oddly, this was hard to find for non- Swedish record buyers to get till 1994 when it showed up on both the box set and in it's Swedish version on PA SVENSKA,This English version was released in 1972 as the B-side to "People Need Love". 6. Santa Rosa (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Bjorn Ulvaeus- Lead Vocals, Guitar Benny Andersson-Vocals- Keyboards ,Mike- Watson Bass Guitar,Ola Brunkert-Drums,Various Swedes-Flutes A non Lp b-side and one with a bad lyric . You wonder why they dug it up for reissue here and on the boxset, in light of other tracks being left unreleased. 7. She's My Kind of Girl (Andersson-Ulvaeus) 2.39 Recorded Late 1969 Bjorn Ulvaeus-Vocals, Guitar Benny Andersson-Vocals, Keyboards A listenable 1969 Bjorn and Benny recording that has somehow found it's way onto the Ring Ring CD, it was not on the original 1973 album...It's possible but not likely the Agnetha or Frida are somewhere singing on the record. It's a good song but historically speaking doesn't really belong on "Ring RIng".... 8. Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smoke/Midnight Special 9. You Owe Me One Recorded May 1975, August 1978 Lead vocals Agnetha, Frida, Bjorn and Benny Vocals-Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson Guitar-Finn Sjoberg,Bjorn Ulvaeus, Bass-Rutger Gunnarsson, Mike Watson, Drums-Roger Palm, Keyboards& Synthesizers-Benny Andersson, Medley' was a medley of three folk songs in the Public domain that was recorded right after the ABBA album was released for use on an German album.. The songs were chosen to reflect ABBA's roots although it's doubtful Agnetha or Frida would ever have performed this songs before. "Medley" would also be dug up to become the B-side of "Summer Night City"in 1978. The medley does not really work- "Pick and Bale of Cotton" and Midnight Special" are recorded in a bizarre and inappropriate Stars on 45 pop /rock style and "On Top Of OLD Smokey" is dreary ballad edited in between the two pop numbers. Still ABBA's version of "Midnight Special" is certainly original and fun to listen. 9. You Owe Me One (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Lead & Backing Vocals-,Frida Lyngstad , Lead Backing Vocals-Agnetha Faltskog Backing Vocals-Bjorn Ulvaeus Keyboards-Benny Andersson Lead Guitar-Lasse Wallender Bass Guitar-Rutger Gunnarsson Drums-Per Lindvall This b-side for the last original ABBA single was the first track recorded during the 1982 sessions, it seems like a Techno version of "Happy Hawaii". Lyrically it's the weakest of the 1982 tracks but vocally it still interesting to listen to....This track never really was released on any of ABBA's major releases other than the box set... It also showed up temporarily on the first Remasters of THE VISITORS from the late 1990's but not was retained on the 2001 remaster...It can be found on the box set. 10. Slipping Through My Fingers/Me and I (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Recorded April 1981. Good if unexciting live versions recorded for the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA Tv special.. Slipping Through My Fingers can actually be seen on the 2005 ABBA box set -The Complete Studio Recordings . 11. ABBA Undeleted- Scaramouche (Andersson-Ulvaeus)Instrumental from The Album sessions.. Summer Night City (Andersson-Ulvaeus)Just a joke version almost.. Take A Chance On Me (Andersson-Ulvaeus)Early instrumental version -kind of gives you a idea of what B&B ending up with musically-after the songwriting sessions...but before the lyrics ,vocals and overdubs were added. Baby (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Early version of "Rock Me' with Aggie singing instead... Just A Notion (Andersson-Ulvaeus)Another Voulez Vous reject.-Sounds more retro 50/60's ish than disco-it's a fairly good song but very out of place in 1979. Rikky Rock 'n Roller (Andersson-Ulvaeus) A reject from the ABBA album, the lyrics are stupid, but the song is a good rocker... Burning My Bridges (Andersson-Ulvaeus)"Burning My Bridges' is a pseudo - country 1980 song sung by Björn.("Bridges' has a great guitar riff by Lasse Wallender ) Fernando (Andersson-Anderson-Ulvaeus) Early short 1975 Swedish version of "Fernando" which later was recorded for Frida's Ensam album... Here Comes Rubie Jamie (Andersson-Ulvaeus) Short unfinished 1975 duet recoding between Benny and Frida . How did those two ever end together anyway??? Hamlet III Parts 1 & 2 (Andersson-Ulvaeus) This 1978 Voulez-Vous reject is the best tune on the medley ,which is featured in two versions. The first version was a fast instrumental, the second a gentle ballad, sung with emotion by Aggie and Frida..Neither amounted to a finished song, but it's still a great melody. Free As A Bumble Bee (Andersson-Ulvaeus)This 1978Voulez-Vous reject is is sung by Bjorn and Benny-it's interesting but once again kind of out of place for it' time. Rubber Ball Man (Andersson-Ulvaeus)This 1979 reject is one of the songs attempted in the search for a new song for the Greatest Hits Vol 2, it 's got a infectious melody, but the boys never got a good lyric for it... Crying Over You (Andersson-Ulvaeus) 1978 reject ,not so great, one get s a little bored with all the Bjorn songs on ABBA Undeleted... Just Like That (Andersson-Ulvaeus) This 1982 reject was recorded in a uptempo Zax version of which this is a snippet.. There was also a slower version.. The slow version has never been released and the most requested of the ABBA's unreleased tracks. Givin' A Little Bit More (Andersson-Ulvaeus)11981 reject listenable, but one get is getting even more bored with all the Bjorn songs on ABBA Undeleted... 12. Waterloo [French/Swedish] (Andersson-Anderson-Ulvaeus) Special Mix of two different languages , German and English are left out.... 13. Ring Ring [Swedish/Spanish/German] (Andersson-Anderson-Ulvaeus) Another special mix -Left out the English version! 14. Honey, Honey [Swedish] (Andersson-Anderson-Ulvaeus)Recorded October 1973 Agnetha Faltskog-Lead Vocals Frida Lyngstad- Lead Vocals Bjorn Ulvaeus-Lead Vocals, Guitar Benny Andersson-Keyboards Janne Schaffer-Guitar Rutger Gunnarsson-Bass Guitar Ola Brunkert-Drums Strings arranged by S.O. walldoff This was the last of four ABBA singles to also be released in Swedish, although the girls would release solo Swedish versions of "SOS" and "Fernando". The Swedish versions of "Waterloo" and "Honey Honey" first saw worldwide release on the 1994 ABBA box set Tracks in blue were originally Non-Album B-sides, Tracks in Green are other rarities or previously unreleased tracks. Tracks in Black are the tracks on ABBA UNDELETED.