The Best of Sweet--Too Much Sugar Can Make You Sick

While I was doing my research for writing my review on The Best Of Sweet, I was a little stunned to learn that this group was formed in 1968. Although I really never really knew much about Sweet, I gained a little better insight into their music when I found out that they had been making music almost as long as I have. The group was still together, less one original member, and actively performing as late as 1992, when this "greatest hits" compilation was released.

Sweet is a pretty difficult band to quantify. They've been referred to as "the bad boys of English pop", and "a bubblegum band", although the liner notes of The Best Of Sweet make the claim that as the band became more experienced, Sweet experimented with glam, heavy metal, and progressive rock 'n roll, resulting in a more mature and mainstream rock sound. After listening to The Best Of Sweet, I think the liner notes are more than a little charitable. Even though Sweet had gorgeous four-part harmonies and its' members were above average instrumentalists, I fail to see the musical progression that the liner notes trumpet. Even though this collection of music is listenable, it's also forgettable--it's sometimes a little over the top histrionically and theatrically, and I'm left with the feeling that this band was all production and no substance.

I'll pay Sweet the ultimate comment--I think they sound like The Archies on steroids. You decide if that's a compliment or an insult.

The Best Of Sweet has a total of sixteen tracks, and I think these songs pretty much define what this band was all about. Here's the track list:

1. Little Willy
2. Wig-Wam Bam
3. Blockbuster
4. The Ballroom Blitz
5. Teenage Rampage
6. The 6-Teens
7. Fox On The Run
8. Action
9. The Lies In Your Eyes
10. Lost Angels
11. Fever Of Love
12. Stairway To The Stars
13. Love Is Like Oxygen
14. California Nights
15. Mother Earth
16. Sixties Man

Little Willy was Sweet's first big hit, and it can best be described as shameless bubblegum music, despite the big distorted guitars and four part harmonies. The Ballroom Blitz takes a stab at the glam genre, but the over-the-top histrionics of the players expose the song for the failure that it is--country players can't play metal, and vice versa--get the idea? Wig-Wam Bam is Little Willy recycled, while Blockbuster and Teenage Rampage target the people that this music was meant for--fourteen year old children in the 1970's.

That's not to say that Sweet didn't produce some good stuff--Fox On The Run is a fine song that uses a synthesizer to create an expansive sound, and Love Is Like Oxygen has a sturdy elegance that contrasts a big distorted guitar and seamless harmonies. But for every Fox On The Run, there's an Action, Lost Angels, or Mother Earth, all tunes that sound suspiciously like filler. Love Is Like Oxygen is offset by songs like Sixties Man, California Nights, and The Lies In Your Eyes, clearly demonstrating that the members of this band clearly lacked one important ingredient--soul.

I can't really recommend this album to anyone. Even though the harmonies are excellent, this is about the only redeeming quality that I can see in the band. It's clear that they wanted to be something that they weren't, and their music just doesn't translate well into anything else but bubblegum, and I'm all grown up now.

Thanks for reading.