Posted on: September 25, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Mamma Mia! was one of the biggest hits of the summer movie season, and as of right now, the box it brought in far surpassed any other musical released. It is not surprising that Decca chose to release a soundtrack of the film, then. All of listeners’ favorite ABBA tracks are here, be they “The Winner Takes It All”, “The Name of the Game”, “Super Trouper”, or even “Dancing Queen”. For those individuals that want to hear how a true reimagining of ABBA would be, the tracks present on this disc represent a pretty solid smattering of the best of ABBA’s tracks.

The tracks are all done by the cast members of the movie; for example, “Our Last Summer” features the vocal talents of Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan, while “Super Troupers” is fueled by the vocals of Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, and Christine Baranski. While ABBA purists may have problems with the way in which some of these tracks are spun, I really see what was done here to be more of an updating of ABBA’s tracks instead of a whole-scale changing of everything to do about the track. Where there were decidedly seventies-styles of arrangement and instrumentation, more current dance arrangements predominate. This allows for a set of tracks that skillfully blends new and old, speaking well to what happened during the movie.

While there are a few omissions (“Fernando” is especially startling in its absence), one has to understand that what is present on the soundtrack is largely what the directors had time for with the movie: further constrained by the length of the CD, what Decca has here is as perfect as one can get without moving to a 2 CD set. What would be nice to see in the next few years is a “sequel” of sorts to this soundtrack, with the stars reprising their roles, taking on a second set of ABBA’s hits. If that was not possible, bundling together this CD with the ABBA originals would be a nice holiday-themed promotion. Seeing the movie is not a requirement for properly enjoying the soundtrack, but I can imagine if individuals like the soundtrack in the first place, they should like the related film. Pick this up, and (if the desire strike you), pick up the movie as well.

Top Tracks: When All Is Said and Done, Thank You For The Music

Rating: 8.5/10

OST: Mamma Mia! / 2008 Decca / 18 Tracks / http://www.mammamiamovie.com / http://www.decca.com /

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