Super Trouper
Unlike PolyGram in Europe, it seems that Atlantic never really had a serious Abba CD issuing programme. Following the release of the two Greatest Hits CDs in 1983, it would be another three years before it would issue another Abba title on the fledgling format.
The 1986 issue of Super Trouper has the distinction of being the only Abba original album to receive an Atlantic CD release throughout North America.
It is unclear why that album was ever selected for release but nonetheless Atlantic eschewed the easy option of reusing Polar’s European transfer and came up with its own unique one.
Atlantic’s transfer is superior to the European one: it lacks a major dropout during the title track and has a slightly crisper sound due to the addition of a little extra bass.
The packaging, however, was inferior: most of the album’s back cover was removed to provide space for the CD tracklisting and copyright information. However, this makes it much easier to distinguish this release from other Super Trouper CDs.
The back cover of Atlantic’s Super Trouper omits most of the LP’s artwork
There is no target version of this rare release, meaning that sale values are quite depressed. In some cases, copies can be got for as little as $10 and the release’s absolute maximum value is around $40 – $50.
First issued: 1986. Reissue: None. Deleted: 1988. |
Abba on CD 
The Atlantic CD version of ‘Super Trouper’ contains a 3:15 version of “The Way Old Friends Do” with an extended applause fadeout. There’s also no audio dropout in “Super Trouper” which makes me wonder if this didn’t feature the same master as the Japanese Discomate CD.
I bought “Greatest Hits,” “Greatest Hits Vol. 2,” and “Super Trouper” in the U.S. when they were released. The first two definitely came in full-color, illustrated long boxes; “Super Trouper,” as far as I can remember, did not. I don’t have sales figures, but “Super Trouper” was a very successful album for ABBA here in the U.S. — “The Winner Takes It All” was a big hit, the video was all over television, and Atlantic did a lot of in-store promotion — so I was not surprised to see it turn up on CD. Actually, all three of these titles sold very, very well on LP here.