ABBA fans can't resist "Mamma Mia!" soundtrack

By Fred Bronson

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Two days before "Mamma Mia!" opened in North American theaters, the soundtrack to the ABBA-inspired musical romance charted higher than any ABBA album.

The Decca Records release opened at No. 7 on the U.S. album chart Wednesday. If the buzz is any indication, the soundtrack is going to sell a lot of copies once people see the film.

The album features new versions of ABBA tunes performed by the cast, including Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Pierce Brosnan.

Between 1974 and 1993, 11 titles by the Swedish quartet debuted on the Billboard album chart, and none went higher than No. 14, "The Album" (1978). The last of those 11 albums was "ABBA Gold," which peaked at No. 63, though it did have the longest run of any ABBA album in America, remaining on the tally for 104 weeks.

Here is a summary of ABBA's album history in the U.S., with titles listed in order of peak position:

No. 14: "The Album" (1978)

No. 17: "Super Trouper" (1981)

No. 19: "Voulez-Vous" (1979)

No. 20: "Arrival" (1977)

No. 29: "The Visitors" (1982)

No. 46: "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2" (1980)

No. 48: "Greatest Hits" (1976)

No. 62: "The Singles (The First Ten Years)" (1983)

No. 63: "ABBA Gold" (1993)

No. 145: "Waterloo" (1974)