Sweet - Any Love?

Video of their current bands is just painful to watch. Especially Steve

 

I like to remember them as they were.....
For me, Sweet ended in 1982 after Identity Crisis, but you could argue they were never the same after forcing Brian out in 1979.
I've seen Andy's Sweet and enjoyed them......but they felt like a tribute band. Kudos for him and Steve for still performing live and know one can dispute their right to earn a living off their legacy but it Ain't Sweet....and it never will be.

 

I've always seen Def Leppard as an 80s version of The Sweet. They are big fans too so it was possibly their intention.

 

The third disc in the recent DVD set is abysmal and embarrassing. I'd bin it if it wasn't part of a set. I still might! The first two discs are excellent though.

 

On that one they managed an awful title aswell! The less said about the awful puns all over the sleeve the better too. But yes, an excellent album, including two great singles. The production is superb. The Lies In Your Eyes is one of my favourite Sweet songs and it sounds amazing. A great drum sound and Mick Tucker, as usual, playing a blinder.

I'm used to the UK versions and think Sweet Fanny Adams, Desolation Boulevard and Give Us A Wink are great rock albums. I always enjoy them. Though I must admit I don't currently own Give Us A Wink and haven't heard it for years. I'll have to sort that out! The US Desolation Boulevard has a perfect track list and would appear to be the definitive Sweet rock album. It's actually a compilation from the UK Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard LPs but it takes a lot of the best of both and includes I Wanna Be Committed (very Ramones before the Ramones song title) which was unreleased in the UK at the time. It appeared a bit later on Strung Up.

 

Yeah Give Us A Wink is a blantent play on words!!!!!
Re: the production.... almost all their 70's stuff is superbly recorded and produced and personally I feel has stood the test of time way better than many of their contemporaries of the same era.
Even when they went their own way, leaving Chinn and Chapman they obviously learnt a lot from them and Phil Wainwright regarding production.

 

I was going to say that too. All of The Sweet's pop and rock 70s stuff sounds excellent. Set Me Free is awesome sounding.

 

Looks like this will happen later this year:

Give Us A Wink at amazon UK
Give Us A Wink at amazon US

It looks like the RCA catalogue minus Funny How Sweet Co-Co Can Be, which Cherry Red’s 7Ts label reissued like two years ago (so, Desolation Boulevard, Sweet Fanny Adams, Off The Record). They all say “New Extended Version” but I saw a listing for Sweet Fanny Adams that had the same bonus tracks as the previous Sony/BMG version, so maybe these are reissues at budget price.

 

I have the Japanese CD's from 1990/1991 that utilize/replicate the original US albums. Some of the Repertiore discs were cloned from these. I vastly prefer them to the UK albums or any subsequent remastering.

 

Bugger!!!!!
Recently re-bought Wink after giving it away to a friend.
Relatively expensive, but I wanted my set complete again.

 

I bought Desolation Boulevard and Give Us A Wink a couple of months ago for (I think) 11 euros each via Discogs. The 2005 versions with the bonustracks. Not a bad deal I think?

 

I always thought that Queen were the poor man's Sweet!

Seriously though you're right. As much as I love Brian Connolly, they didn't miss him when he left.

 

Beg to differ. They were never the same once Brian left.

 

Really, you mean apart from never releasing another single that went within a mile of the charts?
I would bet you anything that 99.9% of the Sweet fans who bought millions of their singles couldn't name you one song they released after Brian left/was sacked, myself included.
They went from the charts t0 oblivion at a stroke, which is were they remained.
Most ill informed post of the year so far, grab yourself a Sweet LP from the bargain bin on your way out....

 

I would also say that most couldn't name many album tracks outside a greatest hits set. Doesn't alter my opinion that their most consistently strong albums are Level Headed through to Identity Crisis & the best songs on Level Headed are mostly sung by band members other than Brian.

This is not to denigrate Brian at all. He was a fine singer. However, so were the others & they covered his absence magnificently. As for charting, I've never regarded that as important, as far as quality is concerned. Certainly in Britain, The Sweet were considered old hat by the late seventies so couldn't get on the radio & in any event were never particularly good at selling albums here (only Sweet Fanny Adams charted at all), yet they're all worth a listen.

You definitely don't get the full Sweet story just listening to their singles.

Happy for you to disagree, though.

 

I agree they weren't the same but for me they managed the change amazingly well.

The songwriting & performances on those last few records were really quite special but certainly different to the early days.

 

And in Sweden!

 

Except Give us a wink, produced by themselves. I would like to hear a remixed remastered version of that album!

 

Has anyone heard the latest remastered edition of Strung up? I would like some comments on the soundquality. Hope it is not insanely loud!!!

 

Great underrated band. Got all their stuff on vinyl (including the singles that had tracks on them that never made it to lp). Did vinyl rips, and they sound great. Always afraid buying new reissues of cd's, since it's always hit and miss with remastering (which goes double or triple for a box set). Got some grey market cd's that have some interesting stuff.

Agree about Mick Tucker many times over. An absolute beast behind the kit, but still very tight and precise. Absolute top of my list on underrated drummers.

Along with the usual Sweet l.p. suspects, I love the last 2 albums, Water's Edge (VI in North America) and Identity Crisis. Very underrated to me.

Probably my favorite Sweet song (technically an Andy solo track, but appearing on Wink) is Lady Starlight. Awesome tune!!!!!

And just recently found out about a biography by Dave Thompson called Blockbuster! I got it just before Xmas and read it over 2 days. Great book, and if you are a fan, you should get it. Lots of interesting tidbits that I never knew before.

 

There killing it here..and this is just a rehearsal, There's much more out here to uncover about THE SWEET.

 

Their live stuff from this period is some of the best rocking music made. This band could really play. Everyone in the band was just amazing on their particular instrument. A damn shame the bands history a few years later.

 

I see the Sweet Fanny Adams stand-alone vinyl dropped today (according to Amazon).

These are likely the same as found in the recent box set. Can anyone comment on the quality?

https://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Fanny-...sr=8-1&keywords=sweet+sweet+fanny+adams+vinyl

 

and this one just dropped today ..

time to reevaluate the entire SWEET catalogue !

 

Finally found an original Give Us A Wink in excellent, barely played condition. Best thing is it only cost £5. Very happy with this.

I love The Lies In Your Eyes.