Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba

I recently rediscovered ABBA songs on youtube. They still sound really good after 30 years, and what a beautiful pair of young ladies! I figured that I'd like to find out more about the people in the band, and maybe get some insight into how they managed to do what they did.This book really gave me what I wanted. It is really well researched, and well written. After reading the book, I have huge respect of the people involved, especially the young people in the band.

A very thorough book, and an interesting take on the ABBA story - really enjoyed reading about the pre-ABBA days especially

Found this book enjoyable to read, although long, but understood why. Certainly gave a very good picture of the people involved. Arrived in good time and reasonable condition.

This book is the best in biography terms for a fantastic band. All the information is well researched, and correct. This is a great read, that you will not want to put down. Would recommend to any serious ABBA fan.

Bit of an Abba nerd here, so really enjoyed all the backstory to the band. Feels like a translation and there are a number of quality issues with the Kindle version in terms of grammar, broken sentences and typos but that doesn't bother me hugely. It's not the lightest of reading, so probably one for real Abba nerds!

New insights in the group's life and works. Historically correct and very well documented. Couldn't stop reading, and it answered many questions I initially had.

A lot detail I didn’t know

very good

I'm so glad to get my hands on this hardcover edition of the "famous" biography of ABBA!I did have the paperback version, but it's quite flimsy to hold, and the paper is so thin...(grin)....I have been and will be a huge fan of ABBA, and with this as part of my collection is a definite plus!I recommend anyone to get their hands on this book, either hardcover, paperback or kindle edition...you will NOT be disappointed!!!

Carl Magnus Palm hat sich im Laufe der Jahre den Ruf DES Abba-Experten schlechthin erschrieben, und so ist es nur konsequent, wenn er nun diese umfangreiche Biographie vorlegt. Und die ist für jeden Abba-Fan Pflichtlektüre und spannender als jeder Krimi. Dadurch, dass das Buch aber weder hysterische Heldenverehrung noch ironische Schlaghosen-Nostalgie betreibt, dürfte es auch für diejenigen interessant sein, die einfach mal etwas mehr über Abba erfahren möchten (ob die nicht vor dem Umfang des Buches zurückschrecken, ist die andere Frage).Palm hat gründlich recherchiert und bietet Unmengen an Information, was manchmal schon an Faktenhuberei grenzt. Viele Dinge wusste man als Fan natürlich schon vorher, bekommt sie hier aber nochmal detailgenau dargelegt, und bei dieser Fülle an Fakten ist natürlich für jeden noch etwas Neues dabei. Das Buch startet mit den Biographien der vier Abbas sowie ihres Managers Stig Anderson, beschreibt die Vor-Abba-Karrieren der vier Schweden und widmet sich in aller Ausführlichkeit dem schrittweisen Zusammenfinden, dem Aufstieg, den goldenen Jahren und dem allmählichen Zerfall der Gruppe. Schließlich wird in einem vergleichsweise kurzen Schlussteil auf die Zeit nach Abba eingegangen (hochaktuell bis zum Jahr 2001). Aber: das Ziel, den Menschen hinter der Pop-Fassade näherzukommen, erreicht auch Palm nur teilweise. Da erscheinen die hobbypsychologenhaften Aussagen über die Bandmitglieder doch manchmal etwas zu kühn. Aber immerhin sind alle derartigen Schlussfolgerungen durch biographische Details und Originalaussagen der betreffenden Personen begründet, so dass man hier allenfalls einen kleinen Minuspunkt geben kann.Palm ist mit Erfolg um Neutralität bemüht, lediglich bei den Aussagen über den einen oder anderen Song schimmern persönliche Meinungen durch - z.B. dann, wenn Palm mehrmals darüber schreibt, wie grässlich kitschig doch der Kinderchor in "I Have A Dream" ist... An diesen Stllen kann man als echter Fan und Kenner von Abba natürlich in begeistertes Kopfnicken oder eben auch in fassungsloses Kopfschütteln ausbrechen - das steigert den Unterhaltungswert dieses Buches nocheinmal.Dem reißerischen Titel wird "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows" - gottseidank - nicht gerecht, denn hier werden keine Skandale oder andere Indiskretionen ausgebreitet. Stattdessen wird versucht, dem Phänomen Abba von verschiedenen Seiten auf die Spur zu kommen. Und dieses Ziel darf als gelungen betrachtet werden.

Schon ganz schön lang, aber was soll man weglassen? Die Vorgeschichte? Wäre schade drum, weil manches sich aus ihr erklärt. Allerdings hat man schon fast das halbe Buch durch, bis man zum Grand-Prix-Sieg kommt. Hier hätte man sicher kürzen können.Was in der Kindle-Version weggelassen wurde sind wohl die Fotos (zumindest sind mir bisher leider keine begegnet) und das Register. Schade. Man muss die einzelnen Personen ja nicht innerhalb des Buchs verlinken, die Suchfunktion tut es ja auch - aber wenn man die Personen nicht aufgelistet hat, dann ist die Suche mühsam (Beispiel: Man sucht nach Björns Geschwistern - im Register fände man sie unter "Ulvaeus", aber wenn man ihre Vornamen nicht (mehr) weiß, findet man sie ohne Register halt gar nicht). Da hat die Druckversion wohl einen echten Mehrwert...Ich bin bis jetzt erst im Jahr 1977 angekommen, muss jetzt aber was loswerden, was mich extrem nervt, ohne dass der Autor was dafür kann: In der Kindle-Version fehlen oft (je weiter hinten, desto häufiger) die Abstände zwischen "I" und dem folgenden Wort (Iremember, Idon't, Imanaged...). Das irritiert und ärgert mich, zumal es so auffällig ist, dass man es selbst bei nur grobem Drüberschauen bemerken müsste. Lieblos halt, aber es geht ja auch nicht um eine liebevoll gestaltete Sonderausgabe, sondern 'nur' um ein e-book...Vier Sterne, weil man wirklich viel an Information bekommt. Kein fünfter, weil in der Kindle-Ausgabe doch einiges fehlt, ohne dass es vorher ersichtlich war.

Someone said it's as difficult to write about music as it is to dance to architecture, and I guess Carl Magnus Palm faced a tougher task than most. As any "Behind The Music" aficianado knows, your typical pop group creates plenty of drama, even when their music isn't all that good. Abba is unique in that their story is devoid of drug arrests or lurid groupie tales. Divorces, yes, they had that going in spades, as the band mates were all husbands and wives who broke apart and eventually ended the band, but the partings as described by Palm seem almost antiseptic, even when Benny cheats on Frida with (gasp!) a journalist. The dissolutions feel more like a Bergman movie than "A Star Is Born," but that's not Palm's fault.Palm does a fine job with the story at hand, telling it in a Joe Friday "just-the-facts" kind of way that commands respect and a healthy amount of interest. He takes care to give us a perspective of the band in its time and place, and notes how badly Abba's music was received in its own homeland because of its excessive commerciality. (People digging your sound meant something was wrong with you, comrade.) He analyzes key moments in the band's creative development with commendable detachment and fairness. It's nice to see he doesn't pile on the negativity over the 1979 album "Voulez-Vouz" or praise 1977's "The Album" as the band's finest hour as others do. He's an especially biting critic after the band breaks up, even ragging on "Chess," but he's careful to always give credit to Benny's tuneful genius, Bjorn's often-clever way with a lyric, and the way Frida and Agnetha's voices, when joined together, created a unique "third voice" which gave the band much of its urgency and power.I wish he was more willing to take us inside the band by painting some individual scenes in greater detail, making us feel like actual witnesses rather than readers of a police report, even a very good one. Guess the Swedes don't practice New Journalism too much. I didn't get much of a feeling of who the Abba band members really were, except that beyond their era-defining brilliance they seem a bit cold and dull. The only vibrant character, manager Stig Anderson, blusters and rants on the sidelines much of the time as Palm focuses on the band.But what's here is good enough. Its an absorbing, thorough, and sober-sided account of the life and death of one of pop's most successful and misunderstood bands. If you like Abba even a little bit, you will like this book.

This book is definitely for ABBA fans who haven't had access to much information about the group. It is all gathered together here and makes for very interesting reading. The style may be a bit dry, as others have stated, but none of these people are incredibly flamboyant anyway (70s costumes aside!). I learned a lot more about each of the members than I ever knew before, which was very satisfying. There was also more information about their interactions as two couples outside the group and the friendship between Frida and Agnetha in those early years when they lived near each other.Frida definitely pops out of this book as the most interesting member. Her life has been quite a trial and she's definitely a strong woman to have survived all of this. In this Oprah-age it's important for people to remember that it wasn't all that long ago that depression and psychiatry were taboo subjects that were scorned and frowned upon. Frida was coping with depression before there was decent medication to help and before going to therapy was as common as going to the movies.Palm does a fairly good job of keeping things in the perspective of the time in which they took place. I agree with others that he does seem to be a bit negative about ABBAs music and the solo careers later on. Agnetha's three solo albums all have fun, enjoyable music on them and sound current to the 1980s. Frida's last album Djupa Andetag is also better than he claims. I do speak Swedish and the songs are very enjoyable and not all "happy fulfillment" like he says. Vem kommer såra vem ikväll (Who Will Hurt Whom Tonight) is about the disintigration of a relationship. I was surprised to hear that Agnetha turned down a duet with Frida for this album. I have several Marie Fredriksson CDs, but it would have been great to hear that "Third Voice" again.This book is a great addition to any ABBA fan's collection and certainly the most thorough and detailed information about the individual members.