A fourth song written for the musical, "Get on the Carousel", was rewritten as the up-tempo track "Hole in Your Soul" with "a substantial part of the melody [being] incorporated into [its] middle eight".

The album has been reissued in the format by PolyGram (later Universal Music) four times; first in 1997, then in 2001, in 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set and again in 2007 as a two disc "Deluxe Edition".

[7][8] On November 3, 2017, ABBA: The Album was reissued for its 40th anniversary with a half-speed mastered, 45rpm cut double-LP version of the original album, featuring new liner notes by Carl Magnus Palm; a 7” singles box set of "The Name of the Game", "Take a Chance on Me", and "Eagle", pressed on colored vinyl (blue, red and yellow, respectively); and 7" picture discs of each of these three singles.

[9][10] Polar's official cover made by art director Rune Söderqvist featured an entirely white background, and is the basis for current CD versions.

However, Epic Records' original UK release of the LP featured a blue background on the front cover, fading to white at the bottom.

The inner gatefold was designed to look like an air mail envelope, similar to the style later used for Gracias Por La Música and even had a photo of ABBA incorporated into a stamp in the corner.

Bruce Eder from AllMusic wrote that the album marked a "step forward for the group" since they "absorb and assimilate some of the influences around them, particularly the laid-back California sound of Fleetwood Mac (...) as well as some of the attributes of progressive rock" but "without compromising their essential virtues as a pop ensemble".

In the UK it debuted at the top and remained there for seven weeks,[17] ending up as the third biggest selling album of the year (behind the movie soundtrack LPs of Saturday Night Fever and Grease).