Live at Wembley Arena is an album of live recordings by Swedishpop groupABBA, released by Polar Music on September 29, 2014, on 2 CD, 3 LP and digital format. The album, produced by Ludvig Andersson, includes the complete concert at London's Wembley Arena on November 10, 1979, the last of a six-night residency at the famous venue. It features most of ABBA's hit singles and album favorites from their first eight years as a unit, as well as the never-before-released "I'm Still Alive", written by Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus.
Overview
ABBA played to packed crowds at London's Wembley Arena from November 5 until the 10th, as part of their North American and European Tour of 1979, also known as. The largest night had an attendance of 179,353. Members of the group, including Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, agreed that those concerts were the highlight of the entire tour. Music stars like The Clash's Joe Strummer and Ian Dury were among the audience. Several songs from the Wembley concerts were filmed for the TV special ABBA in Concert, which was broadcast the following year. The song "The Way Old Friends Do", performed during the encore, was later included as the closing track of their 1980 album, Super Trouper. Songs from Wembley also appeared on 1986's ABBA Live, but were overdubbed in the studio by producer and sound engineer Michael B. Tretow. The BBC compiled its own one-hour version of the concerts and aired it on Christmas 1979. It circulates as an unofficial bootleg entitled "ABBA - Live In London". In an interview with the webpage Ice The Site, in December 2013, ABBA songwriter and pianist Benny Andersson confirmed that a live album would be released "exactly as it was" sometime in 2014, as part of the band's 40th anniversary. Andersson detailed that his son Ludvig went through hours of tapes, choosing the right material. It was Ludvig who decided that the November 10th 1979 concert was the one to be released. The decision was approved by all the members of ABBA, including vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who listened through it at the studio in Stockholm. On June 9, 2014, ABBA's official Facebook and Instagram accounts confirmed the release and the next day, on June 10, the full track list was revealed. The album omits the song "Not Bad At All", performed on tour by backing vocalist and fellow Swedish pop singerTomas Ledin.
Track listing
All tracks written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus except where noted. Notes
