Oh, what a time the ’70s were. People were going all around in their floral shirts and flare jeans with their modified vans; the psychedelic hippie subculture was getting more vigorous than ever. There were anti-war chants all over the major cities of the States. As all this wasn’t enough, a young Robert Plant or Mick Jagger was probably taking the stage and putting on a hell of a show in some random concert hall.
What you might now call ‘dad rock’ was all around the top music charts. The rock scene hosted guitar heroes from Eric Clapton to Jeff Beck as they showed off how to handle a guitar properly. Yet, bad news for some, the decade had started with the news that the Beatles had fallen apart. So, what a complex but fantastic time to be alive… right?
Well, some might not think so. You see, only two years into the decade, a Swedish band would make their debut, and only another two years after that, in 1974, scored first place with ‘Waterloo’ in the European musical contest, Eurovision. This would only be the beginning of their reign over disco pop and synth-pop, and, however, for some, it marked the beginning of a nightmare.
So… You might wonder what it is with this headline people hating a Swedish band from the ’70s, whose music you might still come across while walking across a mall or shopping in a random grocery or a retail store. Well… according to the people of Reddit, this was precisely one of the reasons why.
Well, some users argued that from wedding receptions to proms to cheap bachelorette parties to one’s everyday shopping, ABBA’s music was overplayed. Well, hearing ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ or ‘Dancing Queen’ once or twice or three times might be fun; however, it seemed that after hearing it everywhere they might go, some users weren’t much keen to lie all their love on the Swedes.
Not surprisingly, the overuse of the band’s music in every aspect of one’s daily life to special occasions required some people to take some time off from the Swedes’ pieces. However, the overplayed ABBA tunes weren’t the only reason people didn’t have the fondest attitude toward the iconic band since some rock enthusiasts on Reddit and Quora also argued that the act ruined the rock scene as it was once known.
So, some people just enjoy listening to long guitar riffs, raw drumming, or any other basic elements of your usual rock record might have. So, in their opinion, ABBA’s synth-pop tunes, or what they might call the lack of ‘raw’ instrumentalization, didn’t have much chance to be worthy.
Some users also argued that during a decade when bands like the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac were making the most of the scene, ABBA’s synth had ruined the soul of rock. As the Swedes’ popularity eventually led to the popularization of the synth-oriented disco culture and music, classic rock was slowly but surely erased from the mainstream charts.
Well, the lengthy chat rooms of the Internet let anyone and everyone have the chance to let out their personal opinions and argue why listening to a band, which we might say to have been immortalized through their music and influence on the upcoming generations, might not be as pleasant as it might be to others.
However, any ABBA fan might easily argue that the band’s music being called overplayed or having changed the course of the music charts might only prove that the act had long left its influential mark on the industry. In the end, we should say that everyone is free to have their own opinion, whether they might be a prestigious critic or some unknown Reddit user, or an ABBA enthusiast.
So, there’s no chance for us to know if you enjoy or hate the band, but let us friendly advise that the best thing you can do is respect their impact and influence on music history.
