Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA

I've read many books about ABBA. Mr Palm's book is by far the best of them. It gives a real insight intothe pre & post ABBA lives & careers of the four members. And about ABBA as a group it gives a greatmany details that will be interesting & new to a great many Fans. I cannot recommend the book highlyenough. Some of the details are baffling. Such as why Epic Records chose to re-issue 'Ring Ring' inthe UK, after 'Waterloo' had been a No.1 Hit. ('Ring Ring' had already flopped here in October 1973).The 1974 reissue, (which was also a remix), only reached No.32. At the same time 'Honey Honey'was covered by the male/female duo Sweet Dreams, & they took it into the Top 10 - at No.10. ABBAwould easily have taken it into the UK Top 10, & Epic should have rushed it out, to compete withthe Sweet Dreams version. Instead ABBA's original version never got a UK release. A huge mistake.ABBA did not have another UK Top 10 Hit until 'SOS' reached No.6 in the 2nd half of 1975. The book also explains how Atlantic Records did a huge ABBA promotion, in the USA, in early 1978, with ABBAthemselves going over to do TV etc.. It created much interest in them there, & 'Take A Chance On Me'reached No.3 & 'The Album' became their highest charting USA Studio Album & that reached No.14.Yet, the rest of 1978 saw Atlantic not bother to promote ABBA in the USA at all. There were nofurther USA Singles in 1978, even though 'Eagle' & 'Summer Night City' were big Hits in much ofEurope. Epic Records chose not to release 'Eagle' in the UK or Ireland. It would easily have beena Top 5 Hit in both countries. Instead there was just a long gap between 'Take A Chance On Me'& 'Summer Night City'. Another inexplicable decision by Epic Records. The book is full of trivia,with a lot of of facts & figures. A terrific & informative book. Extremely well written too.

Everything you want to know about ABBA up to 2014. Great details

Interesting book with more obscure lesser known information, prefer to think of it as an alternative rather than independent view. Some questionable. Sense a slight bias against Agnetha and Benny. Overall very good.

Like Hunter Davies book on the Beatles, this is. BY FAR the very best book to have EVER been written about Abba.No information has been left out in telling of ABBA''s incredible story and history in Popular 'Pop' Music.Considering that the Group have now released their first Album in 40 years, there is no better time in revisiting the incredible journey ( or voyage excuse the pun) that this group has graced the whole world with.This Book would make a Great Christmas Gift for ANY ABBA Fan.

The ultimate ABBA story & beyond, makes very interesting reading. There are a lot of things mentioned from before ABBA which I never knew about, growing up & how they met etc, some details to be honest we really didn't need to know as it's quite personal to them, but it's a warts & all story, but if that's what fans want fine, but at times not my cup of tea. It is well written by Carl & quite interesting for me further on in the book, but I think I would start from chapter 10/11 onwards, we all know about Stikkan's moods, Frida's past, Benny's past, reference their children & relationships, suppose it's their story but to me at times it's slightly too painful.

Luckily its a pretty good read as there aren't really any other Abba biogs about. I guess the more interesting interviews/articles would have appeared in Sweden anyway, so the (Swedish) author would have had good access to these. The book comes right up to the release of Agnetha's recent album. I have not read previous editions of the book (only read the amazon reviews), so not sure about the other changes.I find autobiographies more interesting (such as Keith Richards, Pete Towhshend) - I suspect we won't get one of those from the Abba members anytime soon, so this book is the next best thing.Check out the foreign (subtitled) TV interviews with Agnetha Falkstog on You Tube - much better than the lame British efforts after her new album was released.

Very detailed account of ABBA .Excellent read .Early chapters focus on each individual members life before ABBA , Their early musical roots i found fascinating , seems like they were destined to meet and form ABBA .Details their journey during the ABBA years , The music , the success , the good times and the dark times .Incredible detail .

Not much to say , if you like ABBA this is a really good book.

For the first year of our lives, all of us, we are soothed and cajoled by tones, forms of melody, no matter where in the world we are born, Alaska, Africa, Australia or the Amazon Jungle. Melody is our first universal language for every human being. “Dancing Queen” by ABBA is a delivery of glorious melody from the very first second to the end of the song. One the most perfect songs ever recorded by humans in the context of its glorious construction and recording by the group plus the studio guys. When you read Carl’s intensely and entertainingly researched words you understand the four unique path’s of the participants before the song existed and that the song was no accident, or off the cuff stroke of piece of luck. It took years to mature into its form from their four individual stories as children, as melody fully encouraged them towards music and singing. As the owner of 10’000+ records from over 50 years of loving music myself, a DJ, music journalist, record company director and Grammy contributor in the USA, I long ago came to the conclusion that the aforementioned “Dancing Queen” was quite possibly the most perfect pop song ever recorded, because of its incredible melody parts, musically and vocally. Carl Magnus Palm’s book here has confirmed that opinion for me personally. If an asteroid was heading for earth I would put that song on and leave this planet with that incredible melody delivery in my soul. Great book Carl. Thank you ABBA, for the music. Eddie Gordon.

Un libro enorme que pasa volando, una cantidad de información tremenda y con gran profundidad. Una gozada de libro.

Se você é fã das músicas da banda, precisa ler este livro. Ele conta com riqueza de detalhes as histórias de cada membro do ABBA, assim como revela o antes, durante e depois do grupo. O autor nos ajuda a entender como as canções foram criadas e a dedicada produção por trás delas. O livro não deixa de fora o polêmico empresário e nem as controvérsias. É um presente para qualquer fã.

The book described in details but in a very pleasant way the history of each member of Abba and their producer individually at first, and then of the group. It is very interesting.