The ABBA Generation

1	Mamma Mia 3:44
2	Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie 3:56
3	Super Trouper 3:52
4	One of Us 3:55
5	Voulez-Vous 3:41
6	S.O.S. 3:11
7	Dancing Queen 3:52
8	Take a Chance on Me 3:51
9	Lay All Your Love on Me 4:03
10	The Name of the Game 4:20
11	Our Last Summer 4:30

Barnes & Noble

Once upon a time, the prospect of an Abba reunion was so enticing that one promoter actually offered the Swedish supergroup one billion -- yes, with a "b" -- dollars to re-form. Silly fella didn't realize that a gaggle of teens from the same land had already beaten him to the punch, lovingly updating the madly catchy strains of Abba for the new millennium -- and for the "Abba Generation." Using the same boy-girl harmonies that propelled their icons, albeit with a touch more innocence, the A-Teens jump start chestnuts like "Mamma Mia" and "Dancing Queen" with just enough extra octane to capture the attention of their peers. For the most part, the melodies themselves sound much like the originals -- although "Take a Chance on Me" ratchets up the beat-meter a fair amount. But the decidedly modern electro-sheen that coats "Gimme Gimme Gimme (a Man After Midnight)" and "Super Trouper" is likely to turn many a head. Kitsch value may draw some listeners, but THE ABBA GENERATION will also show those whippersnappers what bubblegum pop was like back in the good old days. David Sprague

All Music Guide

When ABBA was together, many American rock critics gave the Swedish group scathing reviews and dismissed its pop-rock, Euro-pop, and Euro-disco as disposable fluff. But time would be much kinder to ABBA than American rock critics, and its songs proved to be anything but disposable. Although ABBA broke up in 1983, its music proved to be quite durable and continued to be incredibly influential when the 21st century arrived -- in 1999 and 2000, artists all over Europe were proudly claiming ABBA as a major influence. One example of ABBAmania came from Swedish teen popsters the A*Teens, who pay tribute to their idols on The ABBA Generation. The members of this half male, half female quartet from Stockholm were 15 and 16 when this CD came out in the U.S. in 2000, which means that they weren't even born when ABBA was together. And that fact says a lot -- even though ABBA's ex-members are old enough to be the A*Teens' parents, the adolescents are calling themselves The ABBA Generation. The A*Teens' versions of ABBA gems like "Take a Chance on Me," "Mamma Mia," "Dancing Queen," and "Voulez-Vous" aren't brilliant, but they're enjoyable -- and they show just how well the songs have held up over time. Not surprisingly, the high-tech production is about as European-sounding as it gets; anyone who appreciates the Hi-NRG/Euro-dance sound will have a hard time not moving to the A*Teens' remakes of "S.O.S.," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme (a Man After Midnight)," and "Lay All Your Love on Me." Listeners could nit-pick about the absence of "Waterloo" (one of ABBA's finest songs), but all things considered, The ABBA Generation is a pleasing, if unremarkable, testament to the durability of ABBA's songs. Alex Henderson