Review | Sweet – Full Circle

Metalville Records

If you grew up in the seventies (like yours truly) and followed TV-programmes like Top Pop (The Netherlands), Musikladen (Germany) or Top Of The Pops (England), you sure must have seen The Sweet (as they were called then). Starting out as a pop/bubble gum band working with the songwriters/producers Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn (who also worked with acts like Mud, Suzi Quatro and Racey) the band was a guarantee for hit singles (,,Popa Joe’’, ,,Coco’’ and many others) and you saw Mick Tucker (drums), Brian Connolly (vocals), Andy Scott (guitar) and Steve Priest (bass) on a very regular bases on TV.

GLAM ROCK

The hits kept coming but slowly but surely the band grew into a glam rock act extraordinaire. Their songs and even their singles like ,,The Six Teens’’ , ,,Teenage Rampage’’, ,,Block Buster’’, ,,Hell Raiser’’ and ,,Ballroom Blitz’’ became louder and louder and albums such as ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’  and ‘Desolation Boulevard’ were pure heavy rock records. Together with their glam image and their high pitched singing The Sweet (later changed in just Sweet) was an important act in the seventies for sure. I never minded their music at all as they were always fun to watch and I particularly liked the guitar exploits of Andy Scott and the crazy vocal interludes by Steve Priest.

FOLDED

In 1978 they had their biggest hit with ,,Love Is Like Oxygen’’ but about a year later Brian Connolly left the band to pursue a solo career. The other three blokes carried on without much success and the band folded in 1981. In the years that followed there were a few reunions but the real spirit was gone. At one stage Andy Scott had his own version of Sweet, Connolly had his version and Steve Priest (who emigrated to America) did his version of Sweet over there.

Only Andy Scott kept the band’s memory alive and although he did not bring out that many records, he kept touring world-wide with various musicians such as keyboardist Steve Mann (Lionheart/MSG), drummer Bruce Bisland and many others. Although it must be said that Steve Priest in the USA did his thing recruiting at some stage top singer Joe Retta (Heaven & Earth) before Steve passed away in June 2020.

SOLE SURVIVOR

In fact, Andy Scott (now 75 years old) is the sole survivor of Sweet. Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker, and Steve Priest have all passed away. Scott has now announced that it is about time to call it a day but that could well change as there is brand-new Sweet-album to be released. It is called ‘Full Circle’ and this eleven-track piece is a combination between heavy rock and AOR. Scott has a good band around him.

The singer is Paul Manzi, who sang with Cats In Space for a while but has been working with Sweet for quite some time now. On bass we find Lee Small, a great singer himself (Lionheart, Atack and more recently Falcon Trails) but with Sweet active as background vocalist and bass. On guitar and keyboards, we find Tom Cory (who also co-produced the current album together with Andy Scott) while drummer Adam Booth replaced Bruce Bisland about a year ago. With Scott on lead guitar and backing vocals this might even be the best line-up Sweet has ever had…

SWAN SONG?

Is this the swan song of a band that has made history in pop and rock music? If that is the case, at least Andy Scott goes out in style as Sweet has come up with an album that stands its musical ground. No, you will not hear pop-flavoured tracks but mature rockers and several AOR songs that are thriving on excellent vocals by Manzi and quite robust guitar parts. There is plenty of melody all around as well. ,,Burning Like A Falling Star’’ is a pure rocker with a great chorus, opener ,,Circus’’ bangs away nicely so there is plenty there to enjoy. Toward the end (the last two songs in particular) the level drops off a bit but overall ‘Full Circle’ is an enjoyable happening,

SWEET – THE CONCLUSION

With this album as latest sign of his musical adventures Andy Scott can be a satisfied man. He knows that the old days are a thing of the past and he also knows those days will never return. That did not stop him from creating a very decent and at stages very good heavy rock album and if this is it, well, at least he is going out with a bang and on his own terms.

Release date: 20 September 2024