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Please be aware that this a fan-maintained page featuring Agnetha Fältskog's solo recordings released between 1983 and 1986. Agnetha cannot be contacted through this page. Thank you for your kind comments and positive feedback.
On 16 August 2005 Polar Music International AB released meticulously remastered versions of Agnetha's first two post-ABBA solo albums, Wrap Your Arms Around Me and Eyes Of A Woman. These releases feature enhanced sound quality, remodeled sleeve art, and bonus tracks including soundtrack work, collaborations, b-sides, and extended dance mixes.
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Recording sessions for Wrap Your Arms Around Me began 17 January 1983 and continued until the end of March. The album was digitally recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm, was produced by Mike Chapman, and was engineered by Michael B Tretow.
Wrap Your Arms Around Me was released 31 May 1983. The album reached number one on the album charts in Sweden, Norway, and Belgium, the Top Ten in numerous European countries, and the Top 20 in Great Britain, South Africa, and Australia. Major singles from the album include "The Heat Is On", "Wrap Your Arms Around Me", and "Can't Shake Loose".
The album exhibited a variety of musical styles, explored by Mike Chapman, who had previously worked with Mud, Blondie, and Suzi Quatro. The gentle calypso flavor of "The Heat Is On" gave way to a hard-driving rock sound on "Can't Shake Loose" (a Top 40 charting single in the United States.) Cinematic flourishes emerged during "To Love" and "Wrap Your Arms Around Me", the latter featuring a babble of disembodied voices and an unearthly drum machine intro. An obscure gem here was a rare track penned entirely by Agnetha, simply entitled "Man", which evokes Olivia Newton-John. The unifying element in this diverse collection was Agnetha's stellar, crystalline vocal performances. Agnetha's voice was effortlessly wrenching, with a startling purity, which becomes even more apparent in these newly polished remasters. Even a bubblegum trifle like "Mr Persuasion" is rescued by Agnetha's simultaneously bosomy and lighthearted delivery.
The new remastered version features two tracks recorded for the 1983 Swedish film P & B, including the tongue-in-cheek single "It's So Nice To Be Rich".
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Recording sessions for Eyes Of A Woman began in early October 1984 and continued until the end of November. The album was digitally recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm, was produced by Eric Stewart, and was engineered by Paris Edvinson and Michael B Tretow.
Eyes Of A Woman was released in March 1985. The album reached number two on the album charts in Sweden, and the Top 20 in Norway, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Major singles from the album included "I Won't Let You Go" and "One Way Love".
A considerably lower-key release than its predecessor, Eyes Of A Woman is a time capsule of brittle, remote Europop. The production, helmed by Eric Stewart of 10cc, was sonically lush, but Agnetha sounded somewhat ill-at-ease and noncommittal. The 80's synth bombast and heavy drums came very close to overpowering her vocals at times. There were bright spots-- the two tracks sound-shaped by ABBA's former studio engineer, Micke Tretow, came closer to the ethereal fullness associated with an Agnetha vocal performance. One of these, "I Won't Let You Go", became a modest success as the album's début single. "One Way Love", written by Jeff Lynne of ELO and Travelling Wilburys, had a quirky charisma, with its almost comically jaunty saxophone solo. Agnetha even flirted with ska on the chirpy "Just One Heart". The album veered off course during its second half, where Stewart attempted to establish a more power-pop mood.
The new remastered version features an extended dance remix of the aforementioned "I Won't Let You Go", plus single b-sides, and a pair of tracks recorded with Ola Hakansson of Secret Service during this period, the a-side of which became a number one single in Sweden in early 1986.
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