Retro Spins: Frida - Shine

During her solo career, Frida produced several albums. However, of them, only two were in English. Her 1982 Something's Going On, produced by Phil Collins, was the first. Her second, today's Retro Spin, 1984's Shine.

Though this follow up album was supposed to also be produced by Phil Collins, scheduling conflicts prevented this from happening. As a result, she turned to Steve Lillywhite for the job. This probably wasn't a bad choice as the end result was definitely a solid 80's sounding album.

With that said, while it nailed the sound of the era perfectly, where Shine falters in hooking you. The music itself grabs your attention. However, the lyrics don't do the same. There are no catchy choruses or soul jerking notes. It's just okay and that's what makes it the most disappointing.

The album title song, Shine, stands out the most. Unfortunately, this is also track number one. As such, the end result is it's downhill from there. Though the album boasts track five, Slowly, as (at the time of its release) the last song written by ABBA alum Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it's definitely not their best. It sounds like ABBA, but it's not. A rejected B-side at best.

Sadly, this is usually the end result of any one member of a group / band going solo. The sound is familiar. You want to love it, but it just doesn't capture the full magic of what made you "love" that person to begin with. The group. Everyone encompassed together, sharing, and in some cases, fighting for their input on an album is what ultimately results in a finely crafted end result. When you only have one of those members interjecting 100% of their own creative juice, you lose that balance, and that's what's happened here. Frida is a good artist, but with ABBA she's great.

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Retro Spins: Frida - Something's Going On

Frida
Something's Going On
1982

Call Frida a one hit wonder, and she'd probably look at you like you're mentally insane. While as a solo artist, she hit it big in 1982 with her track, There's Something Going On. However, this was by far the singer's first rodeo. Many will recognize her as Anni-Frid Lyngstad, or "the red head" from ABBA. Additionally, this also wasn't her first (or last) solo album.

The album came about in one of those "fun" music stories, often reserved for VH-1's Behind the Music or Pop Up Video. Frida heard Phil Collin's In The Air Tonight, and from there spent about eight months listening to his solo album, Face Value. During this time, Polar Studios approached the Genesis front man, and asked if he would be interested in producing the album. Collins not only agreed, but also contributed to the album by providing the percussion, backing vocals, writing credits on one track, and a duet with Frida.

The end result is a mediocre entry into 1982. Nothing to write home about, but listenable. The biggest problem with the album is the good songs render the ones which aren't as somewhat forgettable. This is not for a lack of Frida herself. You can definitely tell she's bringing her all to each song, and not just phoning it in. Part of this could have been the problem that many of the tracks sounded too similar to ABBA's style, and not the good kind of ABBA tracks either.

In the end, only two tracks made the cut for my 80's Ipod shuffle; Tell Me It's Over and I Know There's Something Going On. A few others made the cut for my 80's Itune shuffle. These included; I Got Something, To Turn the Stone and Threnody.

I expected more from it, and looking back as I write this, I probably shouldn't have. Frida, after all, was always someone who got paid to sing someone else's songs. She was a singer, not a writer. That's no different in this solo endeavor, as she once again has no writing credits. Unfortunately, she just didn't pick very good songs to sing.

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