"Angeleyes" is a song in which the protagonist beseeches women to avoid the deceptively innocent looking gaze of a handsome yet deceitful man, warning them to beware of the "game he likes to play." The vocals came from Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
Reception and reviews
In the United Kingdom, "Angeleyes" was released as a double A-side with "Voulez-Vous", this being an unusual move for the group. ABBA and the personnel at Epic, the group's British record label, believed that with its classic ABBA arrangement, "Angeleyes" would be considerably popular with the record buying public. No promotional video for "Angeleyes" was made; as ABBA had filmed one for "Voulez-Vous", this was used to promote the double A-side single. The double A-side peaked at No. 3 in the UK in August 1979. Coincidentally, ABBA's "Angeleyes" was in the UK Top 20 at the same time as another unrelated song called "Angel Eyes" by the British rock group Roxy Music. The latter track was composed by musicians Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay, and although the two songs possess some lyrical similarities, Ferry and Mackay's song is more reminiscent of contemporary pop rock. In critical terms, when the track was featured on the BBC's popular TV seriesJuke Box Jury, the panel unanimously voted the song a "miss", predicting that it would not be a hit for the group. Oddly enough, only "Angeleyes" was mentioned on the show, with no reference made to "Voulez-Vous". A retrospective review of the Voulez-Vous album by AllMusic critic Bruce Eder gave "Angeleyes" a citation as an 'Album Pick' while praising the work as a whole. In the United States, the individual "Angeleyes" single failed to climb that high in the charts, reaching No. 64 on the BillboardHot 100 in October 1979. "Voulez-Vous" fared even worse a month before, peaking at No. 80. Compared to expectations, the songs' parent album only performed modestly in the US. In October 1979, "Angeleyes" was included on the group's compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 2. It was not featured on ABBA's 1982 double-album compilation '. "Angeleyes" has also been a part of numerous other ABBA compilations over the years, including ' ; the four-CD box-set Thank You for the Music ; The Definitive Collection, and The Albums. The group didn't make a video for the single and, despite an extensive promotional campaign for the "Voulez-Vous" album, with TV specials in Switzerland and Spain, and a tour at the end of 1979, "Angeleyes" is the only track from it that they never performed, either on TV or in concert.
