This two-disc set spans the group’s career for 32 tracks, charting Sweet’s development from bubblegum to glam to hard/arena rock (sort of proto-glampunk in its approach) to the more ambitious (and largely successful, though overlooked) work of the Level Headed era, on to some scattered gems among their later wasteland period.Īt its worst, the Sweet oeuvre is a collection of guilty pleasures. Their visual style certainly influenced “hair bands” such as Mötley Crüe, though whether they should be lauded or pilloried for that is up to you, dear reader. Their helium vocals and simple yet intelligent synthesizer use arguably influenced Queen and Electric Light Orchestra. Tough as leather, yet foot-stompingly catchy tunes gave the group hits. The results gave them the blockbuster (sorry for the pun) release Desolation Angels. When they got some control, they wisely meshed the best of their ideas with those of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. But as the liner notes make the case, Sweet always wanted to get out from under the control of their “svengalis.” One listen to “You’re Not Wrong For Loving Me” (an early group-penned b-side) shows they had plenty of ideas of their own. Let’s write it again and have another hit.”).

Even when viewed in the aforementioned contexts, they still hold up, and are more substantial and durable than the work of artists considered (at the time) as Sweet’s peers ( Mud etc.) Yes, the early ChinniChapp-penned material chased its own tail (“Wow. Especially when (briefly) removed from their pop-culture context of glam and top 40 radio, songs like “Fox on the Run”, “Little Willy”, the immortal “Ballrom Blitz” and “Love is Like Oxygen” are all certifiably good songs. Action: The Sweet Anthology makes these forceful arguments concerning the British act (heyday 1971-78): (a) they were never given their critical/artistic due, and were unfairly categorized as lightweight (b) they influenced other important and/or successful acts (c) their music was due for a proper anthology.Īs to the first argument, the music (or at least a good chunk of it) speaks for itself. But that isn’t necessarily an unreasonable endeavor. The 2009 2CD set on Shout!Factory is an exercise in revisionist history. Here’s a review of a Sweet comp from 2009. Songwriter, producer, svengali, Chinn is known for a lot of things, most notably being one of the prime movers behind The Sweet.

Volbeat album anthology