Category Archives: SWEET

SWEET New York Groove Plus

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The track listing here on this release is the same as on New York Connection, but with the inclusion of a few bonus tracks. The cover of Electric Frankenstein’s “It’s All Moving Faster” is listed as a ‘PDQ Mix’, but it’s still a frantic take on this mini punk classic, while a live take of Dead or Alive’s ’80s new wave/pop/disco hit “You Spin Me Right Round (Like A Record)” still kills with its wealth of heavy metal guitars and vocal wailing.

Sea Of Tranquility (July 2015)


‘New York Groove Plus’ knows exactly what it is and that’s throwaway fun that’ll sure as hell get the party started. What else was Glam ever for?

Fireworks magazine (May 2015)


The New York themed songs, despite there diversity, work brilliantly together…There’s so much to enjoy, especially on ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, Lou Reed’s ‘Sweet Jane’ and Smith/Springsteen’s ‘Because The Night’.

Vive Le Rock (May 2015)


There’s a loose New York theme to the album (which includes three new tracks) with covers of songs either about the city or by NY artists. They run the gamut of styles, but the band manage to sweet-ify them all starting with New York Groove by denim-clad British glamsters Hello, which also skilfully interpolates Jay-Z/Alicia Keys’ Empire State Of Mind…

Classic Rock Magazine (May 2015)


The Gold medal award must go to the unbelievable take on Dead Or Alive’s smash hit ‘You Spin Me Round’ – oh yes, right round like a hit record baby, right round, round, round. It will leave your head spinning. They even do a Ramones take one moment with ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ before getting you to dance ‘On Broadway’.

The three extra tracks now added are a new mix of ‘It’s All Moving Faster’, a live version of ‘You Spin Me Round’ recorded at the Sweden Rock Festival and an acoustic version of ‘New York Groove’.

This album is a pleasant surprise. You’ll be having a Ballroom Blitz around your house with this Blockbuster. The only thing I don’t like about it is Sweet FA.

metaltalk.net (April 2015)


This is a thumpingly good album right from the kick off. Knowing in this market dominated by Cowell clones, airplay for a new Sweet album aint gonna happen he’s astutely ‘Sweetified’ some classics and come up with a gem. ‘New York Groove’, ‘Because The Night’ ‘Join Together’ are just some of the highlights. And yes all the ‘classic’ Sweet ingredients are there, the layered harmonies, sawing guitar riffs and driving drum beats that made them such a great band…I hope this release brings them new fans who will discover what a seminal band they are.

ninebattles.com (April 2015)


No album with NY-inspired songs would be complete without a composition by Lou Reed / The Velvet Underground, and it’s the almighty Andy Scott himself who takes over on main vocals for a scorching ‘Sweet Jane’!

As for that other New Yaawk institution, The Ramones (oh how we love them!) the choice of song is ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, for which drummer Bruce Bisland takes on the lead vocals. Cheekily, the SWEET throw in the famous riff from ‘Ballroom Blitz’ amidst the Bop, and the whole shebang rolls across punchy and pacey. Twang!

Music-News (April 2015)


This is a full release of the 2012 album previously available directly from the band and this version adds three bonus songs…Fans will like this for the choice of covers and it may even win them a few new fans for the more mainstream tunes they have given the Sweet treatment to.

Jason Ritchie, www.getreadytorock.com (March 2015)

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SWEET Level Headed Tour Rehearsals 1977

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The sound quality is quite good, and Angel Air have included in the CD package a great booklet filled with photos & info on the band. As a sort of ‘final document’ of the classic line-up of the band, this one is a must have for fans.

Sea Of Tranquility (September 2014)


As close as it gets to the actual live show, these rehearsal tapes provide a great insight into the famous glamsters different clothes. 4/5 stars

DMME.net (August 2014)


Sweet fans will delight to well-recorded live versions of cuts like “Action,” “Fox On The Run,” “Love Is Like Oxygen,” “Sweet FA,” and “Windy City.” These are some of the last recordings made by the original line-up so they’re definitely a necessary slice of history for Sweet fans.

babysue (June 2014)


…this is a worthy addition to any Sweet fan’s collection. Who knows what they might have gone onto after this if they had stuck together.

Vive Le Rock (June 2014)


When all said and done these tracks are culled from rehearsal sessions and it would be harsh to be overly critical. They perfectly capture a band wrestling with transition and show both the highs and lows of that process. It’s a worthy release for collectors.

www.getreadytorock.com (May 2014)

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SWEET Sweetlife

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Although it’s possibly not quite as sparkling and attention grabbing as ‘…Answer’, ‘Sweetlife’ does still ably demonstrate what fine versions of this band Andy Scott has put together over the years. If you’ve heard their most recent studio effort, ‘New York Connection’, you’ll know it’s a knack he’s retained to this very day.

Fireworks magazine (June 2014)


Undoubtedly the best track of the album, ‘Leap Of Faith’ is a power ballad with a killer tune and a refrain to match it all (here, Scott takes over on lead vocal duties). Although pretty darn close to this side of schmaltzy, one can’t deny that it is an exceptionally well-crafted song whose overall harmonious layers and the sensible use of keys and strings turn it into a little masterpiece.

Music-News (May 2014)


It may look like the group started following their own followers, ‘Everybody Wants To Be Someone’ melding big riffs and non-English proverbs to nervous vocals and ‘Everything’ treading the power ballad waters, albeit with grace, while ‘Never Say Forever’ loses its defiance to the arena bravado which nicely dissolves in a six-string romance.

But Jeff Brown’s voice on the quasi-operatic ‘You’re Crazy’ sounds magnificent as does his bass that, together with Bruce Bisland’s heavy drums, perforate Steve Grant’s piano and the leader’s sharp chords, and ‘Airheads!’ taps into the classic glamour by effectively rewriting the ‘All The Young Dudes’ anthemity.

The old SWEET’s sensitivity seeps slightly through ‘Neon Psychedelia’ yet its chest-beating may be too exhibitionist to many a fan whose joy should be based on the fact that their heroes are still at it.

DMME.net (May 2014)


If you’ve long thought that the career of Sweet went into the abyss in the early 1980s, you really are missing out on a few really strong releases, and Sweetlife is certainly near the top of that list. Kudos to Angel Air for putting this one out there once again.

Sea Of Tranquillity (March 2014)


Another enjoyable Sweet album, successfully mixing their 70′s sound with a more melodic rock direction, making this album one for music fans who may think of the Sweet only as a glam rock band (and more fool them!).

Get Ready to ROCK! (March 2014)

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SWEET Hits

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On the album you will find exactly what Sweet fans can expect to find – from ‘Blockbuster’ to the obligatory ‘Ballroom Blitz’, from ‘Little Willy’ to ‘Wig Wam Bam’ to ‘Love Is Like Oxygen’ and ‘Hell Raiser’…hell, I don’t need to list every single track here for you guys.

But ok, also included are the fabulously upbeat ‘Peppermint Twist’ from the ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ album, and we even get a medley (Co Co/Funny Funny/Poppa Joe) on the bonus track.

Pete Lincoln does a great job on lead vocals, and it all comes over as fresh as a daisy. Just as importantly, the compilation evokes fond memories of those bygone and golden glam years. All together now: ‘It’s it’s a ballroom blitz! Yeah, it’s a ballroom blitz…!’

Music-News (April 2014)


The songs have held up surprisingly well over time and with the extra jolt added to these recordings, new Sweet fans are bound to pop up all around the globe. Scott managed to capture the original essence of these songs while injecting them with new threads of electricity.

babysue (February 2014)


Working from the Chinn-Chapman template, the band injected bubblegum-rock fun into the 1970s, and the aforementioned Co-Co, coupled with Poppa Joe, closes a set that should get plenty of mileage. Scott’s own Love Is Like Oxygen is also included to add an air of gravitas.

Classic Rock Magazine (February 2014)


To demonstrate equal energy to the younger ones, the band let rip in ‘Peppermint Twist’ and it goes to show SWEET’s dedication to the rock ‘n’ roll case hasn’t diminish – it even got bigger now that all the strains of their patented stripes came together. The proof delivered, ain’t it time to come up with new goodies, lads?

DMME.net (February 2014)


A couple of tracks that weren’t hits in the UK – Turn It Down and Peppermint Twist – along with a medley of Co Co, Funny Funny and Poppa Joe complete this must-have CD. Fresh, powerful and nostalgic. What a mix!

The Bolton News (January 2014)


Scott and company’s latest CD offering finds the four musicians revisiting the delights of Sweet’s back catalogue as they serve up very reasonable facsimiles of golden oldies such as ‘Teenage Rampage’, ‘Blockbuster’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’ to name but a few.

Kevin Bryan, Regional Newspapers (January 2014)


This is a faithful re-recording of their hits with a few tweaks here and there. Perfect for those new to the band and the band’s many fans should have this collection too as it is ‘new’ in the recording sense. Along with Slade one the most consistent hard rock bands to have a string of hit singles in the early to mid-70′s.

Jason Ritchie, www.getreadytorock.com (December 2013)

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SWEET The Answer

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…The strength of The Answer, as written at the beginning of this review, is to perpetuate the lesson of the seventies even twenty years later, by virtue of an intellectual coherence of other times, immune to the passage of time…

…The Answer is completed with a twelve-page booklet with photos, as well as other notes about the band…hats off to history!

TrueMetal.it (December 2013)


The hook laden contents offer diehard Sweet devotees an enjoyably derivative hour or so of listening pleasure, with ‘Do As I Say’ and ‘Is It True’ emerging as the best of the bunch.

Kevin Bryan, Regional Newspapers (December 2013)


…the Brits’ tightest record, now remastered after it’s been long sold out and available only at outrageous prices on LP; with this occasion Angel Air records has decided to delight us with three bonus tracks, showing diverse versions of songs already appearing on this CD bringing the length to more than 74 minutes of angelic, heady and rocking music, as well as informative sleeve notes being the icy on the cake! 93/100

rockmetalbands.com (November 2013)


…”The Answer” feels most appropriate a title, then, especially as it starts with the groovy “Do As I Say” that, given its teenage rhetoric, could have been recorded a decade earlier, and contains quirky anthems such “Stand Up” alongside more humorous fare.

Easy riding contemporary creations like the ballad “I Don’t Want To Say Goodnight” by PLANET 3 and the glittery rock ‘n’ roll “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again” by THE ANGELS, the ensemble with former bassist Mal McNulty at the mike come hard on “Nouveau Rock Star” whose somewhat plastic slap assault the celebrity culture of “heavy metal clones” yet, as Andy’s heroic, although deliberately ironic, pose in “Marshall Stack” shows, they’re able to mock themselves in equal measure.

…With three alternative versions as bonuses, this reissue stands as a monument to SWEET’s tenacity 20 years later.

DMME.net (November 2013)


…this album would stand up well alongside any top AOR band like Bon Jovi. Each track has something to enjoy. The opener, ‘Do As I Say’ and the next, ‘X-Ray Specs’, are out and out rockers and the pace is kept up through the 14 tracks. There are mellower tracks like the slow-tempo ‘Natural’ and the ballad ‘Is It True’.

Bolton News (November 2013)


The Answer has been out of print for some time so Sweet fans will welcome this one with open arms. By this time in their career, the guys in the band had altered their sound from buzzsaw bubblegum to more of an arena rock sound. Rather than playful catchy tunes to make teenage girls squeal, the guys seemed more driven by the desire to deliver blistering lead guitars and walls of vocals. In addition to the original fourteen tracks that made up the album, this reissue also includes the bonus tracks “Marshall Stack (Alt Ending),” “Do As I Say (Single Mix),” and “Stand Up (Hard Rock Version).”

babysue (November 2013)


Fans of slightly obscure melodic rock from the ’80s and ’90s will find a lot to get excited about on ‘The Answer’ and I include myself within that clique of people. Just one listen to ‘Dangerous Game’ and you’ll be hooked folks, this is a supreme slice of AOR come latter day Sweet make no mistakes… Oh and before I forget, one of the albums real surprises for me on this record is the voice of one Mal McNulty, now I can finally see how he managed to step from Brian Connolly’s shoes into the cowboy hat vacated by the one and only Noddy Holder, and there’s not many people who could do that eh!

Uber Rock (November 2013)


Angel Air has done a great remaster job on The Answer, so it really sounds better than ever, and there are three bonus tracks included for good measure. Toss in a cool booklet filled with photos and info, and you have a very enjoyable reissue of a long forgotten album from a legendary band.

Sea Of Tranquillity (October 2013)

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SWEET Live At The Marquee 1986

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Not the one they are most famous for, but there’s a strong argument on this evidence to suggest that the 1986 version of The Sweet, having traded in silver shoulder pads for stripy spandex trousers, is the one of most interest to serious Hard Rock fans. Grab a listen to this release for proof, you won’t regret it!

Fireworks magazine (November 2013)


Originally unleashed in 1989, this album captures Sweet at their top of their game…The band’s live version of Love is Like Oxygen, with Fanfare for the Common Man thrown in the mix is still a favourite today, and the opening track – Action – just about sums the whole album up.

Martin Hutchinson (November 2013)


Sweet as in the case of the U.K. pop rock group that broke the sound barrier with their 1973 world wide smash hit single ‘Ballroom Blitz’. Associated with the advent of early 1970s glam-rock sound, The Sweet are fondly remembered again with the 2013 Angel Air CD release of Sweet Live At The Marquee 1986.

Featuring original Sweet guitarist Andy Scott, drummer Mick Tucker and a well rehearsed Sweet lineup, the 13 track CD features The Sweet rocking out at London’s fabled Marquee Club in 1986, running through a number of the Sweet’s 1970′s classics including ‘Ballroom Blitz’, ‘Fox On The Run’ and many more.

MWE3.com (October 2013)


Unleashed in 1989, this album captures Sweet at the top of their game. A different line-up, and one which includes keyboard player Phil Lanzon, who furthered his heavy metal career by later joining Uriah Heep, and original Sweet drummer Mick Tucker. Sadly no longer with us, his legacy as a drummer will never be forgotten as long as we have recordings like this. The band’s live version of Love Is Like Oxygen, with Fanfare For The Common Man thrown in the mix, is still a favourite today, and the opening track, Action, just about sums the whole album up.

theboltonnews.co.uk (October 2013)


…The sound is much harder and rockier than the pop/glam sound Sweet has in their 70s heyday, and to these ears much more appealing. There are plenty of hits – Action, Love Is Like Oxygen, Fox On The Run, and of course Ballroom Blitz…all delivered with much more of a punch with this lineup and is an interesting piece of nostalgia.

Classic Rock Society (September/October 2013)


…The band are on fine form, as are the audience who can be heard loud and clear. Most of the tracks on this album are self penned numbers including many gems from the ‘Sweet… Fanny Adams’ album.

Familiar numbers such as ‘Action’ and ‘Fox On The Run’ are real belters whilst ‘Love Is Like Oxygen’ is drawn out into a rocking progathon.

Originally released in a different cover on vinyl many moons ago this new release has now been bolstered by two extra tracks recorded on the night in the gender swinging ‘AC/DC’ and the old B-Side favourite ‘Burn On The Flame’ available for the first time ever.

A fascinating insight into a forgotten era of the band.

Metal Talk.net (September 2013)


The revitalized group didn’t have a new album out – it would have to wait until 1992, when “The Answer” (also soon to be reissued on Angel Air) arrived – but they plucked the courage to deliver the non-hits cuts such as “Burn On The Flame,” one of the previously unreleased bonuses on this reissue, and the dramatic “No You Don’t” alongside sure fire smashes like “AC-DC” and opener “Action”, where vocal harmonies make a glorious return into fray.

Yet it’s “Sweet FA” that gets aurally upgraded for a genuine metal clang now, which hits the low ceiling once Scott unleashes a solo and during the slightly hysterical charge through “Set Me Free” that also receives a pseudo-orchestral backdrop from synthesizers, one taking the edge off “Fox On The Run”. That edge would be gone ten years later, when this scribe saw SWEET live, but, surprisingly, 25 years on, the band embraced their mojo anew and, judging by the recent live album, still rock in fine fashion.

DMME.net (September 2013)


A fantastic live album (originally released in 1989) showcasing a uber-talented band during a three-night residency at the Marquee, one year before the club closed its doors for good. And it all sounds as far removed from ‘sweet’ as possibly can.

music-news.com (September 2013)


This re-issued live offering provides a compelling showcase for the talents of the 1986 incarnation of Sweet, which featured original members Andy Scott and Mick Tucker alongside keyboardist Phil Lanzon, bassist Mal McNulty and original Iron Maiden frontman Paul Mario Day.

The Latter was apparently sacked by the heavy metal outfit because of his lack of stage charisma, but he’s in particularly fine fettle here as Scott and his cohorts power their way through a potent package boasting energised re-vamps of Sweet’s seventies hits such as Fox on the Run and Ballroom Blitz.

Regional Newspapers, Kevin Bryan (August 2013)


Angel Air’s reissue of this stellar live album includes 2 bonus tracks, additional live cuts from the gig that include “AC DC” and “Burn on the Flame”, both bursting with heavy rock swagger just like their siblings. With a cool booklet jammed with photos and info, this is a well done release from the Angel Air team.

Pete Pardo, Sea of Tranquility (August 2013)


Having seen the 2013 version of Sweet live in recent months it is pleasing to report they remain in rude health, still led by Andy Scott’s fiery guitar riffs and still sending the crowds home happy. Live At The Marquee 1986 is a great reminder of what they were like back in the 80′s with this short lived version of the band.

Sea Of Tranquility (July 2013)

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