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Bright Lights Dark Shadows

The real story of Abba

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Bright Lights Dark Shadows

By: Carl Palm
Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
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An exploration of all aspects of the Abba member’s lives and careers. Amazingly detailed, it examines the group member’s family backgrounds, the pre-Abba days, the legendary Seventies, the marriages, the divorces, the business ups and downs and the post-Abba solo careers.©2002 Carl Magnus Palm by agreement with Bengt Nordin Agency (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Entertainment & Celebrities Music Celebrity Entertainment Career
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Critic reviews

“Another fine addition to the canon of music biographies… Palm’s biography is extremely thorough and dipped deeply in a pond of melancholy.” (The Times)
“A melancholy insight into the gulf between dreams and reality.” (Stuff)
“How did Abba do it? And why, 20 years after they split, are they still so popular? Palm’s book achieves the difficult feat of capturing the multiple layers of Abba… with a deftness unusual in a rock biography.” (The Sunday Times)
"It ain’t exactly Keith Richards’s LIFE, full of hair-raising stories of rock-and-roll, but, as its title implies, this book exposes the humanity behind the otherworldly presence that is the Swedish band Abba. In the 1970s they were pioneers of dance pop and world music while maintaining a sleek, detached edge that, at times, made them seem cold and calculating. The text is delivered deftly by Adrian Mulraney, whose familiarity with stage performance in Australian theater makes him a natural for the high drama of Abba's up-and-down saga. His voice resonates with a condescending tone that decries the ego game of pop success while revealing the intimate details of the musicians’ personal lives." (AudioFile Magazine)
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A very very in depth and engaging account of one of the biggest music phenomenons the world has ever seen. It took a while to get through but gives a very clear picture of the lives and the music and the impact they had on the world.

If you love their music, you'll love there story..

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A well researched biography of the group, my only complaint there was far too much info regarding their business ventures

Well read and absorbing

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A superb overview and insight into the best pop band ever. Loads of facts and superb research. It could do with an an additional update as it's now slightly out of date at the end, but a terrific effort.

Definitive in terms of info

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Enjoyed mostly but far too much about the financial side and the personal lives were skimmed over with very little details I didn’t know. Announcing of song names etc done in a very irritating way.

Succinct

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a well written book, though it feels clunky and awkwardly phrased in places, which I suspect is a result of the translation from Swedish to English.
Similarly the narration is mostly good, but every time there is a Swedish phrase or name to be said the narrator slows right down and takes a deep breath, which is very noticeable.
However the story is extremely interesting and written with great care and detail.

very interesting story, great detail

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