October 18, 1982, the world-famous band, ABBA, said their last goodbyes and recorded their tragic and last song, “The Day Before You Came.” Or so that was what the public thought.

After 40 long years, ABBA has been reunited as a band and with fans. Controversy spread on whether or not the band’s reunion will have a successful turnout. Many critics have speculated that their 1970’s rock genre and look may not fit into current media presence. However, the band’s latest album has proved all of these ideas wrong. The 40 years was worth the wait because now ABBA has released their newest album “Voyage.”

The album opens with the song “I Still Have Faith In You.” Rather than being short and repetitive like older ABBA albums, this song has a different lyrical approach, containing more wordy lyrics. The tone of the song, however, still has the light and bouncy feel of the older albums. The beginning of the album also has the old ABBA approach with an upbeat, proper ABBA feel. The band decided to take a risk for the second half of the album, and it worked very well with the album’s structure. As the album continues, the songs become emotionally focused and bring a feeling of sensitivity to the listeners. 

The last song of the album is heartfelt and pensive. “Ode to Freedom” contains all the member’s voices in the band to come together and create a beautiful song and close an outstanding album. Although all the lyrics throughout the songs are very complex, I believe that the overall message of the album was focused on growth. The pattern of the album’s songs and meaning behind the first and last songs sends the message that gaining maturity comes along with growing up, and losing your immaturity is the price to pay. This great theme relates to the situation of the, now, older band. 

After the success that “Voyage” has gained so far, fans hope to see another new album in their future. Whether it contains more songs like “Chiquitita” or more songs like “Ode to Freedom,” fans just loved the comfort of hearing the old voices all together once again.