Reception
"Under Attack" was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles (Head Over Heels and The Day Before You Came) had failed to reach No. 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and The Netherlands, and a minor Top 20 single in a couple of other European territories, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at number 26 in the United Kingdom In Australia, where the group's popularity only a few years earlier had rivaled that of The Beatles, "Under Attack" was a sad swan-song, only reaching No. 96 in the singles chart. After the single's release, it was decided that ABBA would take a "break"; however, they would not record as a group again and later disbanded.
Björn Ulvaeus has said that "Under Attack" is a good song which, if released a year earlier, would have been a big hit. Benny Andersson, however, has stated that although the production was strong, the song overall was not one of ABBA's better recordings.
Musically, "Under Attack" is a song with strong production values and tight harmonies – it has a stereo sound that was popular in its day with a "soft fade" to end the song. The lead vocal has an interesting frequency equalization effect, not unlike certain parts of David McWilliams's "The Days of Pearly Spencer". Despite not being a commercial success, Rolling Stone magazine described the song as "the best thing they've done in three years."
"Under Attack" is featured in the musical theatre smash Mamma Mia!.
Read more about this topic: Under Attack
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
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