Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (ABBA album)

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released in October 1979 to coincide with their tour of North America and Europe (taking place between September and November 1979). It was ABBA's second chart-topping album of the year, the first being Voulez-Vous, and contained the brand new single "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", recorded in August 1979.

Greatest Hits Vol. 2
Greatest hits album by
ABBA
ReleasedOctober 29, 1979 (1979-10-29)
RecordedOctober 1974 – August 1979
GenrePop, disco
Length58:25
LabelPolar (Sweden)
Epic (UK)
Atlantic (US)
ProducerBenny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA chronology
Voulez-Vous
(1979)		 Greatest Hits Vol. 2
(1979)		 Gracias Por La Música
(1980)
Singles from Greatest Hits Vol. 2
  1. "Summer Night City"
    Released: 6 September 1978 (Sweden)/16 September 1978 (UK)
  2. "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
    Released: Tuesday October 2, 1979
  3. "The King Has Lost His Crown"
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Christgau's Record GuideC[2]

History

A round-up of ABBA’s hits since their first compilation album (released in 1975), the album exclusively included material recorded between the years 1976 and 1979 (albums Arrival, The Album and Voulez-Vous plus non-album single "Summer Night City") - with one exception, "Rock Me" from 1975 album ABBA, issued as a single and became a top 5 hit in Australia and New Zealand after the release of the band's first hits package Greatest Hits and also part of the setlist on the 1979 world tour.

"Angeleyes" was included primarily due to its success as a single in the UK, where it was the lead track of a double A-side with "Voulez-Vous". Elsewhere, "Voulez-Vous" had been the A-side in its own right but it was not included on the album. However, the track "I Wonder (Departure)" was not believed to have been released as a single anywhere, but was featured.

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 was released on CD in 1982 by Polydor but was deleted from their ABBA CD range in 1992 when it was replaced with ABBA Gold. It was also released in the US by Atlantic Records in 1983 with the same mastering as the Polydor CD but was discontinued there in the late 1980s as well.

Commercial reception

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 received massive commercial success in Japan, selling in excess of 920,000 units on the chart (it was the best-selling album by non-domestic artists at the time, until Michael Jackson's Thriller each sold over 1 million copies in the 1980s). It is certified Gold in the U.S.

Track listing

All songs written by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, except where noted.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" 4:49
2."Knowing Me, Knowing You"Andersson, Stig Anderson, Ulvaeus4:01
3."Take a Chance on Me" 4:05
4."Money, Money, Money" 3:06
5."Rock Me" 3:03
6."Eagle" 5:48
7."Angeleyes" 4:17
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dancing Queen"Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus3:48
2."Does Your Mother Know" 3:12
3."Chiquitita" 5:21
4."Summer Night City" 3:31
5."I Wonder (Departure)"Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:31
6."The Name of the Game"Andersson, Anderson, Ulvaeus4:50
7."Thank You for the Music" 3:47

Singles
  1. "Summer Night City/Medley" (September 1978)
  2. "Gimme Gimme Gimme/The King Has Lost His Crown" (October 1979)

Personnel

Production
  • Producers: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
  • Arrangers: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
  • Engineer: Michael B. Tretow

Charts
Chart (1979–81) Position Weeks
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 20
Austrian Albums Chart[4] 2 34
Belgium 1
Canada 1
Finland 5
Japanese Oricon Weekly CT Chart[5] 1 57
Japanese Oricon Weekly LP Chart[5] 2 51
The Netherlands 4
New Zealand Albums Chart[6] 3 14
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[7] 25 4
Spain 3
Swedish Albums Chart[8] 20 5
Switzerland 2
UK Albums Chart[9] 1 63
United States Billboard 200 [10] 46 14[11]
West Germany 6
Zimbabwe/Rhodesia 2

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[12] Platinum 100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[13] Gold 25,000[13]
Germany (BVMI)[14] Platinum 500,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[15] Gold 10,000*
Netherlands (NVPI)[16] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r38
  2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: A". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 12 September 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. "ABBA - Greatest Hits Vol.2 - austriancharts.at". Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  5. "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - ABBA" (in Japanese). December 30, 2007. Archived from a-ABBA the original Check |url= value (help) on June 19, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  6. "charts.nz - ABBA - Greatest Hits Vol.2". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  7. "norwegiancharts.com ABBA - Greatest Hits Vol.2". VG-lista. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  8. "swedishcharts.com ABBA - Greatest Hits Vol.2". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  9. "The Official Charts Company ABBA - Greatest Hits Vol.2". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  10. "allmusic ((( Greatest Hits Vol.2 > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  11. "Greatest Hits Vol.2 Chart History Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  12. "International Briefs - Australia" (PDF). Billboard. 24 May 1980. p. 72. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  13. "Abba" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Abba; 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  15. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1981". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  16. "Dutch album certifications – Abba – Greatest Hits Vol. 2" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 8 August 2018. Enter Greatest Hits Vol. 2 in the "Artiest of titel" box.
  17. "British album certifications – Abba – Greatest Hits Vol. 2". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2016-02-18. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Greatest Hits Vol. 2 in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  18. "American album certifications – Abba – Greatest Hits Vol. 2". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2016-02-18. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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