Intercontinental
1149
1997
One of those rascally, unannotated collections appearing when the remnants of the original act redo said act's biggest. Undiscriminating types might enjoy this selective jaunt through the mighty Sweet heyday, and the disc is ridiculously inexpensive. First though, one must get past the disconcerting fact that these are not the legitimate desolation boulevard brats chewing up and spitting out these bubble-metal masterworks. The songs are unquestionably incredible, with two true obscurities closing the festivities down: "Burn of the Flame" and "Let's Go." The revised roll-call at the beginning of "Ballroom Blitz" will perplex a few and annoy the rest. Brian Connolly could very well be bellowing out in front, as he rerecorded many Sweet tracks with studio hacks. Check out the crazy cheese coda on "Blockbuster." Naturally, shrill 90's processing tramples the terrific tubular production of the 70's. Let me give you a true confession though: when I was a little shaver and bought a record of chart hits, I didn't know they were not the originals, and I loved a couple versions more than the real ones. So whatever the clandestine facts, you're walking away with ten very Sweet classics.
-STONE, Cheap Trash NYC
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