Even having Alan Partidge as their biggest fan, it seems, can't prevent Abba from becoming cooler with every year that passes. The Definitive Collection is the perfect reminder why: amidst the garish costumes and silly hairdos the Swedish superstars produced roughly 20 pop songs of breathtaking perfection that will probably survive as long as pop itself. There have, of course, been plenty of compilations before now but this complete singles collection has two key advantages over them all. One, Abba were never an albums band so virtually everything of worth they ever did is here. Two, the chronological order perfectly illustrates how, just like the Beatles, the disintegration of the band's personal relationships lead to songs of ever greater complexity and depth - just compare the light, fluffy Waterloo to the heartbreak of One Of Us or The Day Before You Came. Simply essential.
