Abba fans aren’t happy with the latest compilation collection (Picture: OLLE LINDEBORG/AFP via Getty Images)
Abba fans were left feeling gutted this week as the legendary Swedish pop group revealed the price of their upcoming greatest hits album.
The Singles: The First Fifty Years, which will be available from October 25, comprises of 38 tracks spread across four vinyl LPs and comes with some supplementary materials, including an Abba photo album.
Despite initially calling it a day over 40 years ago, Abba have remained one of the biggest pop bands of all time – their comeback album Voyage flew straight to number one in the UK in 2021.
But the bigger your fanbase is, the more people you stand a chance of irritating when you charge an almost three-figure sum for an updated greatest hits album.
At the time of writing, the 4xLP collection will set you back £95.99 if you want to pre-order it from Abba’s official store (£110.99 on Amazon), and it’s safe to say even some of the Dancing Queen band’s biggest fans aren’t happy about that.
In response to the band advertising the compilation, Abba fan Nik said on Facebook: ‘Sorry, you’ve had enough money from me for the same old songs – it’s a pass from me.’
The new Singles collection will cover Abba’s 50-year career (Picture: Michael Ochs Archives)
Meanwhile, Nik’s fellow Abba devotee Ron let his feelings be known after following the band for a long time: ‘I still have all the original albums, including the compilations. So I will never pay 100 euros for four albums.’
Barnaby wasn’t happy either: ‘ABBA: The First Fifty Years – a better title than the rather more accurate ABBA: The First 8 Years, Then About a 40-Year Gap with Nothing In It and Then One or Two Tracks Off Voyage.’
Tom still registered a complaint about the price of the collection but did at least try to get others to see the funny side: ‘No previously unreleased bonus tracks. Universal just wants your Money Money Money.’
The full box-set will cost you £95.99 from Abba’s website (Picture: Polar Music)
While the vinyl collection is on the pricey side, the 2xCD version is available for £16.99 (£21.99 on Amazon) and includes the same photo booklet as the 4xLP collection.
Dedicated Abba fan Sean then slammed the collection as a whole, saying: ‘An absolute ripoff – just an extended version of the Definitive Collection!’
The Definitive Collection was released back in 2001 and was formatted as a double-album compilation featuring their biggest hits from 1972 to 1982.
However, long-time Abba fan Ingo was in favour: ‘ABBA newbies, or people without an ABBA compilation so far, The Singles will be a much better compilation.’
The 4xLP collection is an expansion of previous compilations like Abba Gold (Picture: Polar Music)
Complaints from Abba fans come amid several pricing wars between music fans and the music industry that have taken place this week.
In America, 90s alternative rock band Weezer released a 30th anniversary edition of their self-titled debut album, otherwise known as The Blue Album.
Described as the ‘most comprehensive edition’ of the album yet, it comes with 36 tracks – including never previously heard bonus recordings – and a host of supplementary materials.
However, the super-deluxe vinyl box set – which came with limited edition signed sleeve – was on sale for $400 (over £300). And of the 100 copies that were made, several were snapped up by scalpers who then posted them on retail sites for $2,900 (£2,200).
Abba reformed in 2021 for a brand new comeback album (Picture: Getty)
And this, of course, has taken place against the backdrop of the Oasis reunion, which has seen Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’ model called into question.
Some fans expected to pay around £150 for some tickets, only to find out that they were closer to £300 once they finally got to the front of the huge online queues.
With the band also promising that tickets would not be re-sold for more than face value, scalpers still attempted to use sites like StubHub to charge desperate fans over the odds.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has even promised to investigate the inflated prices as the Advertising Standards Agency received over 450 complaints about the mayhem.
Now, with more gigs announced, Oasis have promised to clamp down on those aiming to exploit their fans, saying: ‘Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters.’
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