Generally, I could give or take ABBA. But, they’re one of my wife’s absolute favorites, so when their first Greatest Hits compilation appeared (sealed!) in a box of records, I had to keep it for her sake.

It is her birthday, after all.

But as much as she loves the Swedish disco icons, this compilation has a number of songs that even she had never heard of. Seeing as many of their biggest hits (see: “Dancing Queen,” “Voulez-Vous,” “Supertrouper,” etc) were released after this, it makes sense.

Not that this album isn’t filled with some of their bonafide bangers: “SOS” opens up the disc. The infections “Waterloo” and Latin-tinged “Fernando” are on side-B. “Mamma Mia,” perhaps the song most synonymous with the group, closes out the first side.

Apart from those, the tracklist is pretty foreign. It’s undeniably ABBA—filled with their trademark harmonies, chamber pop instrumentation, and almost unpalatable cheeriness. No one is going to mistake these tunes for anyone else, but it’s a little unnerving to hear this sonic palette used in songs I’d never heard before. In a certain sort of way, it’s a little like watching the Star Wars Holiday Special for the first time. I recognize all these characters, and there are even some moments that remind me of the movie I loved, but on the whole, it fails to come close to the material I’m more familiar with.