Ballroom

Heady work from Paul Butterfield's second great group – his mighty Better Days ensemble, heard here in a nicely unbridled live set from the early 70s! Paul himself is mighty great on vocals and harmonica - but the group's a very cohesive unit, too - with additional vocals and guitar from Amos Garrett and Geoff Muldaur, organ and piano from Ronnie Barron, and some mighty heavy drums from Billy Rich! The music seems to have even more punch than on some of Butterfield's studio sessions - blues rock, but with a little something extra, too.

This is the best of Sweet hits collections which includes all Sweet's hits from the early "Funny Funny" through "Blockbuster" and their huge hits to "Love Is Like Oxygen" which was their last really sizeable hit both in the UK and US. Most of the other collections miss off "Love Is Like Oxygen", and as that's one of their best tracks it is worth tracking down this collection. This CD also includes some of their famous B sides, such as the heavy rock "Burning", B-side to "Hellraiser", and their minor later hits which proved less popular with the public … and you can see why when listening to this album. Its not so much that the later songs were poor, but they sound ordinary compared to the euphoric sounds of "Hellraiser" and "Ballroom Blitz", and even the high-camp of "Wig Wam Bam" and "Little Willy" are much more fun. Undoubtedly a trail-blazing band and great to listen to over 30 years later.