Perhaps more than any other Greatest Hits compilation, Abba Gold has come to define a band's career on one disk. More than that, itsrelease in 1992 heralded the critical rehabilitation of a group whichhad, since its demise a decade earlier, become little more than amemory of trashy costumes and cheesy tunes to many people. Here, Elisabeth Vincentelli charts the circumstances surrounding the birth of Abba Gold, looks at the impact it had on the music world, and tells the stories behind some of the greatest pop songs ever recorded.