Arrival (1976)

Arrival is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records. It became one of ABBA's most successful albums to date, producing some of their biggest hits: "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You". The track "Fernando", which had been released as a single in March 1976, was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions of the album. Arrival was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 2024, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Background and production

By the time ABBA began working on their fourth album in August 1975, they had achieved a modest level of success around the world. It was with Arrival however, that they would achieve global superstardom. Recording sessions began in August 1975 and continued until September 1976 at Metronome and Glen studios in Stockholm, Sweden.

The first song to enter the studio was a track called "Boogaloo" on 4 August. Taking inspiration from the current disco sound (and in particular George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby"), the backing track was laid down. The group knew that they had something big on their hands, as member Agnetha Fältskog remarked: "We knew immediately it was going to be massive". With re-written lyrics, the song became known as "Dancing Queen", and would go on to be ABBA's biggest ever hit. Work on the song continued intermittently until December 1975 due to the group's increasing commitments in the latter half of the year. This was a result of the sudden surge of popularity that they found in the United Kingdom and Australia. During this time they also recorded a song (in Swedish), "Fernando", for member Anni-Frid Lyngstad's solo album, Frida ensam.

In March 1976, "Fernando" was re-written with English lyrics and released as an ABBA single, becoming the group's biggest hit to date – hitting No.1 in many countries, including a 14-week stay at No.1 in Australia. It was featured as a brand new track on their Greatest Hits album which became the UK's biggest-selling album of the year. (In the Australian release of Arrival, "Fernando" was included between "Why Did It Have to Be Me" and "Tiger"). The next song they began working on, in late March, was "Knowing Me, Knowing You", which became another major hit worldwide. Member Benny Andersson has said that it is "one of our five best recordings".

By the end of April two other songs had been laid down: "That's Me" and "Why Did It Have to Be Me". The latter track was reworked into "Happy Hawaii" before being reverted to its original title, with new lyrics and vocals by Björn Ulvaeus ("Happy Hawaii" would later be released as a B-side). Similarly, "Money, Money, Money" was worked into "Gypsy Girl" and then reverted to its original title. The song was released as a single and became a major hit some months after the album's release.

In June 1976, a TV special dedicated to the group (entitled ABBA-dabba-dooo!!) was filmed. Around the same time, what was to become the album's opening track, "When I Kissed the Teacher", was recorded. By late July "Tiger" and "Dum Dum Diddle" were recorded, considered by biographer Carl Magnus Palm as the "complete antithesis" of each other,. Both Lyngstad and Ulvaeus have expressed dissatisfaction with "Dum Dum Diddle". In Ulvaeus own words, "I'd been working all night trying to come up with a decent lyric. And I thought, 'Well, I'd better take in something to prove that I've been working.' I showed them this song, thinking they'd say, 'Oh, no! We can't do that!'". "My Love My Life" was recorded next. Originally a more upbeat song titled "Monsieur Monsieur", it became a lush ballad with backing harmonies inspired by 10cc's hit "I'm Not in Love".

The final track to be recorded was an instrumental piece entitled "Ode to Dalecarlia". Mostly featuring Andersson on keyboards, the track was renamed to "Arrival" – a word that had already been decided as the title of their new album. By September 1976, work on the album was finished.

Release

Arrival was released on 11 October 1976. The album was first released on compact disc (CD) in 1984 and then re-issued in digitally remastered form a total of four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set, and again in 2006 (as a special Deluxe Edition).