The concept album of the musical Chess, originally released in 1984, is now issued in a remastered and expanded edition. The original double-album sold two million copies and spawned the international hit singles ‘I Know Him So Well’ and ‘One Night In Bangkok’. In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, Chess is now released as a 3-disc Deluxe Edition, with three previously unreleased bonus tracks plus a DVD featuring an in-depth documentary and five video clips of songs from the album.

The Chess musical was born in the early 1980s, when Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus joined forces with lyricist Tim Rice to create a brand new musical drama. In November 1982, the trio toasted their decision to collaborate on the project, and exactly two years later, in November 1984, the fruits of their labours were released as the concept double album Chess.

With Tim Rice’s original idea of using the game of chess as a metaphor for a love story, and with the tension between the East and the West of the Cold War era providing a dramatic setting, the result was an instant classic. The principal singers on the album were Elaine Paige, who sang the part of Florence, and Tommy Körberg, who interpreted The Russian. “I was lucky enough to be involved with Chess from its inception,” recalls Elaine Paige. “I would visit Stockholm to work with Benny, Björn, Tim and Tommy in Abba’s famous Polar Music Studios. We tried out different tunes, keys and lyrics; swapped around duets and solos for the concept album. Then two years later I had the joy of singing that soaring score every night at the Prince Edward Theatre. What great times.”

The concept album cast was completed by Barbara Dickson (Svetlana), Murray Head (The American), Denis Quilley (Molokov) and Björn Skifs (The Arbiter). Says Tim Rice, “Every time I hear the original studio recordings of Chess I am reminded how everyone concerned was on top form – Benny, Björn, Elaine, Tommy, Barbara, Murray and Denis of course, but also the studio musicians and Michael Tretow at the controls. 30 years later the album still sounds contemporary and exciting.”

And what better way to celebrate this 30th Anniversary of Chess than to offer a remastered Deluxe Edition of the original album. The first two discs feature the double-album as we remember it, plus three previously unreleased bonus tracks from the original recording sessions. Says Benny Andersson, “When discussions began about releasing the re-mastered Chess albums, I could not resist adding the track of ‘Der Kleine Franz’, originally meant to create some ambience for the meeting of our three main characters at the top of the Merano mountain (‘Mountain Duet’). We brought everyone we could find in the Polar Studios – engineers, receptionists, pinball players – and asked them to sing this Tyrolean send-up with German lyrics by Björn. Great fun! I have always liked the tune.”

The third Deluxe Edition disc is a DVD, featuring a fascinating one-hour documentary about the making of Chess, produced by Swedish television. The DVD has been completed with the five original videos made for ‘One Night In Bangkok’, ‘Nobody’s Side’, ‘The Arbiter’, ‘I Know Him So Well’ and ‘Pity The Child’. The package also includes a 32-page illustrated booklet featuring the Chess synopsis, the lyrics, and a timeline tracing the history of Chess from its inception to its continued present-day success.

Don’t miss out on this Deluxe Edition of Chess – in its remastered version the musical sparkles and shines like never before!