ABBA – Voulez-Vous

Surprised with the sound of this edition !!! I highly recommend it. Very present voices, meaty basses, balanced midrange. The high frequencies slightly bright, but overall it seems to me a 4.5 star edition. I do not consider myself an audiophile, but I believe that this case many will have a similar opinion

I was initially hesitant to get this version of Voulez Vous because of some people repeating I think a false idea that the Reader’s Digest The Best of ABBA compilation was the best available recordings for the ABBA catalogue. I compared Chiquitita on four different pressings. These are the half speed mastered 45 RPM, the 2020 colored pressing from the Studio Albums box set, the Reader’s Digest box set, and an original pressing from 1979. The 45 RPM was the best sounding with the 2020 colored vinyl pressing a close second. The original and Reader’s Digest versions were similar but definitely different than the top two versions. The Reader’s Digest versions are good but definitely not the best sounding versions available. The original pressings of Super Trouper and the Visitors are definitely better than the Reader’s digest version’s of those songs. The original Voulez Vous is not quite as obvious that is is better than the Reader’s Digest pressing. So definitely get the 45 RPM version of Voulez Vous if you want the best sound.

Its sounds great.
But I buyed three times and all of them was with pressing faults. Big holes and waves thath put away the stylus...poor quality of pressing. I hope the next one will be propre.

This is a marmite pressing to me, It does sound good, I cannot hear at the moment that high frequency distortion that people talk about and there is no digital character at all on the pressing. Once said that, it is louder and way louder than older versions (I only have the Readers digest collection to compare) I mean Abbey Rd took advantage of the 45 to make a "Hot Pressing". Regarding being a 45, this is what really annoys me. I do not believe the album was long enough to require a 45 pressing and as usual you have to listen to a couple of songs before standing up. I would have love it if it was a just Half Speed master 33 rpm. I am starting to find a pattern about the Abbey Rd Abba pressings and bad art work, a new cheap pressing of "Super Trouper" Vinyl has in fact better printing quality in despite costing around half. Live At Wembley Arena is even worse packed but at least is 33 rpm and quality is superb.

I really like this version, compared to the European version of 2011 is this clearer, more defined and above all, the sound is very lively and colourful. Yes, it has a lot of noise at the beginning of each side, it seems to me that the tracks are very close to the edge, but the music covers it. The endings of the songs are clean. The arrangements and choruses sounds three-dimensional. Also the stereo is more defined, I do not know if it is due to Half-Speed mastering, but at least that indicates the information.

I use to digitalize my albums in high resolution, so I can compare them with measure tools. The frequency ranges become higher in this version.

First up, Voulez-Vous is not a particularly well-recorded or produced album. Do not expect sonic miracles from any pressing. What I've learnt from ABBA reissues / remastering is this. 1. The masters are in a vault in Sweden and will never see the light of day. What you are hearing are remastered versions from 192/24 bit hi-resolution flat transfers from the original master tape. That is not a bad thing, as Miles Showell continually works to improve the half-speed mastering process, and Super Trouper is evidence of how good ABBA can sound, when done right. Kudos to Miles for that release. 2. The EQ on this release is a little bass heavy, which leads to a loss in detail for the mid - high frequencies. I’ve had to wind back the bass setting by a notch, and wind up the treble by one notch. This brings it very close to the Reader’s Digest release - which many consider to be the best-sounding versions of ABBA on vinyl - there are no decent CD masters if that’s your preferred format. 3. The artwork is woeful - typical Universal - let's resize a CD cover for the album artwork, and give the fans a crappy washed-out cover. 🙄 4. If you want to hear sensational ABBA recordings on vinyl, then purchase the Best of ABBA (Reader's Digest UK pressing) - yes you read that right, Reader's Digest!. Allegedly, they worked from the 7” masters for this box set, but I have never been able to confirm the veracity of that story. Either way, when this box set was released, ABBA’s popularity had waned, and their label probably didn’t get too concerned about sending master tapes to labels interested in their artist’s roster. Benny and Bjorn also did not control their masters, as they do now - hence the reason they are locked in a vault somewhere in Sweden. The sound quality is so good, that I think it a fair guess to say you are listening to the master tapes on the Reader’s Digest release.

Overall, I’d have to say that I’m mostly satisfied with this version of the album. My two biggest complaints would have to be the washed out album art and the high frequency noise that starts toward the end of the Title Track and continues through the fadeout and into the runout. You really can’t miss it. I’m wondering if this is on all copies or if I’m unlucky.