Avatar’s Johannes Eckerstrom Says ABBA’s Reunion Album Was Better Than Black Sabbath’s
Plenty of bands that have broken up have also reunited, whether just for a tour or for a brand new set of songs. Two huge groups that have done so are ABBA and Black Sabbath, and Avatar frontman Johannes Eckerstrom believes that ABBA's comeback was actually better.
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson formed ABBA in Sweden in 1972 with Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The band's story was unique in that it was made up of two couples, but unfortunately, they didn't last beyond 1982. They did, however, reunite in 2016, and released their ninth studio album Voyage this past November.
Sabbath, on the other hand, had several different reunions because they had a couple of different frontmen over the years, but Eckerstrom's remarks were about their most recent one with Ozzy Osbourne. The legends released 13 in 2013, which was accompanied by a massive reunion tour.
"So, ABBA's reunion album is better than Black Sabbath's was. Just sayin'. Also, divorce disco and senior citizens musical theatre... And second marriage boogie. Some real shit right there," the Avatar frontman wrote on Twitter back in November, after ABBA's Voyage was released.
During a new discussion with Metal Hammer, Eckerstrom elaborated further on his comments.
“I am a bigger Black Sabbath fan than ABBA fan, but I felt that the Sabbath stuff with [producer] Rick Rubin ended up being kinda contrived. I think Rick told them to pretend that they’re 25 and that doesn’t work. It didn’t have that energy and it didn’t transform into something else," the vocalist said.
"ABBA, with this new album, there’s a song where I go, ‘This is divorce disco!’ Ha ha ha! These are songs by people in that age bracket, with the life experiences of that age bracket. To have a reunion in your 70s, you have to make that mean something. Sabbath dropped the ball.”
As for Eckerstrom's own endeavors, Avatar released a new song titled "So Sang the Hollow" at the end of October, and will head out on a U.S. tour starting tonight (Jan. 19) in Columbus, Ohio. See all of the dates on their website.