Waterloo is the second studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA, and the first released internationally. It was originally released in Sweden on 4 March 1974 through Polar Music. The album's title track won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and became a worldwide smash-hit, launching the group's career.
Overview
Recording sessions for Waterloo began on 24 September 1973 with the track "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)". This song was unusual in that it is the only ABBA track not to feature member Benny Andersson on keyboards, but instead featured American pianist John Rabbit Bundrick who was in Sweden at the time.[2] Bundrick, however, was not credited on the album. Three weeks later the next two songs ("Suzy-Hang-Around" and "My Mama Said") went into the studio. A recording sheet from the day credits the artist as "ABBA", the first time the name was ever used in writing, the group until now being called "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid", although their manager Stig Andersson had informally been calling them ABBA with the media for some time. The former of these songs marks the only time Benny Andersson sang lead on a track. 17 October saw the recording of two more tracks; "What About Livingstone" and "Honey Honey" - the latter being the second single released from the album in most countries. "King Kong Song" was recorded on 14 November, a song which members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus today single out as one of their weakest tracks.[2] This was also the date in which it was announced that ABBA were to appear at the Swedish selection for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. From that point, recording sessions speeded up and the rest of the tracks were recorded. Two songs were up for consideration for their Eurovision entry; "Waterloo" and "Hasta Mañana". The group preferred the former but felt the latter was a more safe bet. Ultimately they chose "Waterloo" as it was more the direction they wished to take the group. "Waterloo" and "Watch Out" were recorded on the same day - the songs that made up the lead single and its B-side.[2]
"Waterloo" swept to victory at the Swedish heats and the group represented Sweden in Brighton for the Eurovision Song Contest 1974. ABBA won the contest and "Waterloo" became not only a massive hit in Europe but all over the world (peaking at No.6 in the US for example). In Sweden, the album had already been released as topped the Swedish album charts for 12 weeks, becoming one of the biggest-selling Swedish albums ever to that point. In the UK the album made No.28 - the first time a foreign Eurovision act had charted an album and it performed well in the rest of Europe.[2]
Reviews of the album were positive with Phonograph Record's Greg Shaw stating that it "might just turn out to be one of the classic début LPs of the '70s". Rolling Stone also gave the album a favourable review.[2] In a 3-star review, AllMusic said that it was "a beautiful album".
Waterloo was first released on CD in Sweden in 1988; a West German CD release followed in 1990 (later released internationally). The album has been reissued in digitally remastered form three times; first in 1997, then in 2001 and again in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordingsbox set. It was also released as a special 30th Anniversary edition in 2004, celebrating 30 years of the group's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. The album was released yet again in 2014 as 40th anniversary edition with bonus tracks and bonus DVD. This version of the album re-entered the UK album charts.
The original 1974 Polar Music edition of the album opens with the Swedish version of the title track and closes with the English-language version. The American version of the album, released through Atlantic Records, closes with a 1974 remix of "Ring Ring". In the United Kingdom/Ireland and several other European markets, the original 1973 version of "Ring Ring" was added as track 6 on side 2. The cover features the sub-title "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida" although some editions replaced 'Agnetha' with 'Anna' – by which Agnetha Fältskog was known in some countries.[3]
Waterloo was remastered and reissued in 1996 with the same track listing as the original vinyl records. Note that the original Polydor CD issued in 1990 swapped the tracks "Watch Out" and "What About Livingstone?". The 1996 remaster followed this anomaly.
Waterloo was remastered and reissued in 2001 with two bonus tracks not found on previous releases. It also swaps the respective versions of the title track so that the CD begins with the English version. The track listing goes (in order):
2001 Bonus Tracks
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
12.
"Ring, Ring" (U.S. remix 1974)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody
3:06
13.
"Waterloo" (Swedish version)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus
2:45
14.
"Honey, Honey" (Swedish version)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus
2:59
Waterloo – 30th Anniversary Edition contained several bonus tracks and a bonus DVD that included the following tracks (in order on disc):
30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length
12.
"Ring, Ring" (U.S. remix 1974)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody
Waterloo was remastered and reissued again in 2005 as part of the box set of The Complete Studio Recordings with several bonus tracks, including (in order on disc):
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Buddy McCluskey, Mary McCluskey
3:09
17.
"Ring Ring" (1974 remix, single version)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Sedaka, Cody
3:08
18.
"Waterloo" (French version)
Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus, Boublil
2:42
Waterloo was reissued once again in 2008 as part of the box set of The Albums, but without any of the previously released bonus tracks.
Waterloo – 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition was released on 7 April 2014 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the group's victory at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The bonus tracks are listed as follows:
