My Personal Ranking Of ABBA's Albums From Skips To Disco Classics

Because it's fall, I'm unemployed, and I'm an expert on these Swedes.

Hi, everyone. This is ABBA. You may have heard of them.

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Their music is iconic, and there are two — not one, TWO — jukebox musicals based around their songs.

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But which ABBA album is the BEST? You know, the absolute, no-skips, musical masterpiece from this Swedish quartet?

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...and which album is their biggest FLOP?

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As your resident ABBA expert, I'm here, I'm queer, and I'm ready to give you all my opinions.

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I'm ranking all 8 studio albums from 1973-1981, plus their most recent album in 2022. I'm also including bonus tracks from the deluxe editions, because some of their best songs were released as just singles!

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Let's do this!

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9. Waterloo (1974)

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I said what I said. The title track is one of their all-time best, but the other songs feel half-finished next to the glam-rock Eurovision winner. This was their second studio album, and they were clearly still trying to find their sound — Bjorn and Benny's songwriting needed improvement, and Frida's voice was underused.

Verdict: SKIP! You can find "Waterloo" (the best song on the album) on any ABBA compilation album.

Best song(s): "Waterloo."

Worst song(s): "King Kong Song," "Suzy-Hang-Around," "Sitting in the Palmtree," "What About Livingstone?," and "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong" (yes, these are all as terrible as they sound).

8. Voyage (2022)

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Oh, I wanted to love this one. I wanted to love it so bad. And honestly? It’s not terrible. Like most studio albums from ABBA, it has a few weird songs, a few boring songs, a few fun songs, and one or two genuinely amazing songs. The problem with this one is that it doesn’t feel cohesive; it samples various styles, but leans too heavily on nostalgia to stand up on its own. Some of the lyrics also sound a bit uncomfortable, considering the women are singing songs written by their ex-husbands. It was nice to hear them working again, though.

Verdict: SKIP! But stream the singles

Best song(s): "Don’t Shut Me Down" and "I Still Have Faith in You."

Worst song(s): "Little Things," "I Can Be That Woman," and "No Doubt About It."

7. Ring Ring (1973)

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I have a little more forgiveness for their first album, but there’s some actual bops on here! It doesn’t sound like the ABBA we know, but they’re playing around with a lot of different genres — folk, pop-rock, ballads — and it’s a fun glimpse into who they were as individual musicians in the early 1970s. Again, not a lot of Frida on here, and this is back when the guys somehow thought it would be better if they sang most of the songs. But the lyrics are better than their second album and the music is catchy, if sometimes, forgettable.

Verdict: Check it out! Not a high priority, though.

Best song(s): "Ring Ring," "Nina Pretty Ballerina," and "He is Your Brother."

Worst song(s): "I Saw It in the Mirror," "Me and Bobby and Bobby’s Brother" (way more innocent than it sounds), and "I Am Just a Girl" (even more nauseating than it sounds).

6. ABBA (1975) (yes, self-titled)

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Their third album feels a lot like the first two, except everything is significantly better. The arrangements are smoother, the lyrics and music are more polished, and only two of the songs feature significant male vocals. It was also their first album to have multiple high-charting singles — “Mamma Mia," “SOS," and “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do.” The rest of the tracks fit squarely into pop-rock/ballad perfection. Agnetha gets one of her most underrated ballads with “I’ve Been Waiting for You,” and Frida gets the boring and lackluster “Tropical Loveland." It’s okay though, we’re getting to her good stuff in the next album!

Verdict: Worth listening to!

Best song(s): "Mamma Mia," "SOS," "I’ve Been Waiting for You," and "So Long."

Worst song(s): "Tropical Loveland" and "Man in the Middle."

5. Arrival (1976)

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And finally, ABBA arrived. Their fourth album follows the same structure as the first three, playing around with various genres, but their tone is self-assured. These were artists about to embark on an Australian tour which launched them into superstardom. Just on this album alone — “Dancing Queen," “Knowing Me, Knowing You," “Money, Money, Money,” and on from the deluxe edition, “Fernando.” On the last three, Frida finally gets the solos she deserves, while Agnetha does well on her usual ballad, this time “My Love, My Life." This one also features several hidden gems, like “When I Kissed the Teacher," “Why Did It Have to Be Me,” and “Tiger.” The only thing that brings it down is a lack of thematic cohesiveness.

Verdict: A classic!

Best song(s): "Dancing Queen," "My Love My Life," "Knowing Me Knowing You," "Money Money Money," and "Why Did It Have to Be Me."

Worst song(s): "Arrival" (just an instrumental song with some “ah” vocals, a little boring) and "Dum Dum Diddle" (definitely the worst lyrics, but still catchy).

4. Super Trouper (1980)

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Alright, folks. We’ve reached the point where the top four albums could all be argued as the best ABBA album, so I’m gonna get picky here. Super Trouper was the first full ABBA album after Bjorn and Agnetha’s divorce in 1979, and it shows (in the best way possible). From “The Winner Takes It All” to “Happy New Year," and “Super Trouper” to “Our Last Summer,” melancholy overhangs the entire proceedings...and you better believe my emo teen self loved it way back in the mid-2010s. Even their iconic dance track “Lay All Your Love on Me” is tinged with unhealthy jealousy. The deeper cuts — “On and On and On” and “Me and I” are fun offbeat synth-pop, “Andante, Andante” is an underrated Frida ballad — also deliver intricate melodies and some of their best lyrics to this point. “The Piper” is a strange, but enchanting medieval piece, and if you don’t like it, at least it has a short runtime.

Why #4?: Musically, the other three albums are more cohesive. Also, the bonus tracks on this one are pretty weak.

Best song(s): "The Winner Takes It All," "Super Trouper," and "Lay All Your Love on Me."

Worst song(s): "Elaine" and "The Way Old Friends Do" (the live-version from their 2014 concert album is miles above the album version, which is overdubbed and loses most of its emotion).

3. The Visitors (1981)

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This is probably the least known ABBA album, which is unfortunate because even though it doesn’t have their traditional upbeat melodies or iconic dual vocals, it’s a haunting group of songs that show the band at its lowest and most reflective state. By this point, both couples were divorced, and most songs have Frida or Agnetha singing lead instead of together, foreshadowing their solo careers in the early and mid-'80s. The album fully embraces themes of war (“Soldiers”), oppression (“The Visitors”), divorce (“When All is Said and Done”), children growing up too fast (“Slipping Through My Fingers”), and overall gloom. One of the best is the closing track, “Like an Angel Passing Through My Room,” which plays as a wistful farewell lullaby.

Why #3? It’s not as accessible as the first two since it’s, ya know, pretty depressing. The thing that bumps it above Super Trouper are the bonus tracks on the deluxe edition: most of the songs from their unfinished 1982 album, a series of upbeat synth pop and beautifully arranged ballads, which might have been their best work yet.

Best song(s): "The Visitors," "When All is Said and Done," "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room," "I Am the City (bonus track)," "The Day Before You Came (bonus track)," "You Owe Me One (bonus track)," and "Should I Laugh or Cry? (Bonus track)."

Worst song(s): "Two for the Price of One" (how did this pass the writing phase?).

2. ABBA: The Album (1977) (yes, it's confusing)

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In 1977, ABBA went on tour in Australia and returned to record their setlist into a new album. This is their most rock-influenced work — the arrangements from Arrival have become large enough to fill an arena, and the layering of vocals adds to the transcendental feel throughout. It also features popular hits like “Take a Chance on Me," “The Name of the Game," and “Thank You for the Music.” Coming in at nine original songs with only one bonus track, it’s the shortest album on this list and also the most cohesive. From beginning to end, it invokes a distinctly summer-y/hippie vibe, even when it strays into marital issues (“One Man, One Woman” — not as terrible as it sounds).

Why #2?: it’s more cohesive than Super Trouper, is more accessible than The Visitors, but doesn’t have as many hits as #1.

Best song(s): 'Eagle," "Take a Chance on Me," "One Man One Woman," "The Name of the Game," "Move On," "Hole in Your Soul," "I Wonder (Departure)," and "I’m a Marionette."

Worst song(s): "Thank You for the Music" (one of ABBA’s cheesier hits).

1. Voulez-Vous (1979)

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I can already hear the hardcore ABBA fans coming for me. This is probably their most ridiculed album, mostly because of the disco aspect — which I think is pretty unfair, as disco is basically the great-grandmother of dance-pop, and she’s making a comeback in the early 2020s anyway. Love it or hate it, that leads to most of this album being pretty fricking catchy, and also the most accessible. There’s underrated gems like “As Good as New” and “Angeleyes”. There’s some all-time great disco songs — “Voulez-Vous” and “If It Wasn’t for the Nights” are the standouts. The beautiful ballad “Chiquitita” makes up for the somewhat sappy “I Have a Dream." “The King Has Lost His Crown” is their most experimental here, and admittedly the verse works better than the chorus. The lesser disco songs — “Lovers (Live a Little Longer)” and “Kisses of Fire” are still pretty catchy, and “Does Your Mother Know” is a refreshing rock entry.

Why#1?: All of the above, plus THE BONUS TRACKS. “Summer Night City” could have easily replaced “Lovers (Live a Little Longer)” on the album. But the real treasure is “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," one of the best disco songs of all time. I’d even say it rivals “Dancing Queen” as their most iconic track.

Best song(s): "As Good as New," "Angeleyes," "Voulez-Vous," "If It Wasn’t for the Nights," "Chiquitita," "Does Your Mother Know," "Summer Night City," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."

Skips: None.

So there you have it! My ABBA album opinions (with some fun outfits, as well). Let me know if you agree or disagree and comment which ABBA album or song you love the most!

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