Sweet

Melodic glam rockers with infectious hooks and brutal riffs, who scored a series of smash hits in the '70s culminating with "Ballroom Blitz." In some ways, the Sweet epitomized all the tacky hubris and garish silliness of the early '70s. Fusing bubblegum melodies with crunching, fuzzy guitars, the band looked a heavy metal band, but were as tame as any pop group. It was a dichotomy that served them well, as they racked up a number of hits in both the U.K. and the U.S. Most of those hits were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, a pair of British songwriters who had a way with silly, simple, and catchy hooks. Chinn/Chapman and Sweet were smart enough to latch on to the British glam rock fad, building a safer, radio-friendly and teen-oriented version of Queen, T. Rex, and Gary Glitter. By the end of the '70s, the group's time at the top of the charts had expired but their hit singles lived on not only as cultural artifacts, but also as the predecessors for the pop-metal of the '80s. This is a repackaging of two previously released discs: Live At The Marquee and Andy Scott's Sweet "A", combined in a cardboard slipcase.

Recollections of Britain's arch-glam gods generally inspire two theories of their producers, Mike Chapman and his partner, Nicky Chinn. Either they knew just what they were doing and calculated accordingly, or blindly hit pay dirt, following toothless early singles like "Funny Funny" (none of which grace this disc). By this reckoning, Sweet was a '70s-era pinup band or a closeted hard rock quartet who only got their due after breaking the Chapman/Chinn combination…

Ongoing musical project featuring Michael Sweet (Stryper, Iconic) on lead vocals/guitars and George Lynch on guitars (Lynch Mob, The End Machine, ex-Dokken). This is their third album overall and the first since 2017. "How would it have been in the '80s if I sang for Dokken and if Don Dokken sang for Stryper? Well, it's 2023 and I'm in a band called Sweet & Lynch that's basically Stryper meets Dokken. If you're a fan of both bands, you're gonna love this!" says Sweet.

Matthew Sweet played in bands in Athens, Georgia as that scene exploded, collaborating with R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, playing in Linda Stipe’s Oh-OK, and The Buzz Of Delight. That work scooped him up into the major label world making countless acclaimed solo records, forming the supergroup The Thorns with Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge, and beginning a series of covers albums with The Bangles’ Susannah Hoffs. Now, it’s time for Matthew to just plain rock out by himself again.

Starke Zeiten is a greatest hits album from British rock band The Sweet, initially released in Germany in 1988 on the Ariola/BMG label.

4CD set includes the following albums: Level Headed (1978) Cut Above The Rest (1979) Waters Edge (1980) Identity Crisis (1982) plus some bonus tracks.

Taking what talents they've garnered from previous bands such as Hominy and Whiskeytown, lead singer Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher are onto something far bigger than the two could have foreseen. The opening title track lends itself as much to Margo Timmins as it does to a latter-day Lucinda Williams à la "Lonely Girls" in its almost morose tempo and arrangements, making the nearly seven-minute song glide along effortlessly and, to the listener, far shorter. The following numbers offer the same barren sounds, evoking images of members recording the songs in a log cabin. The well-trodden but solidly produced tracks never waver, especially "Doralee" and the slightly upbeat, honky tonk of "Lonely Hill." Resembling a trace of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon," the tune discusses heartbreak over a cross between Appalachian music and traditional country twang. "Don't Let Me Go" is another fine gem that doesn't stray too far from Sykes' strong points.