BEST OF

Sweet: Brian Connolly (vocals); Andy Scott (guitar); Steve Priest (bass); Mick Tucker (drums). Includes liner notes by Vicki Arkoff. Digitally remastered by Kevin Reeves. Personnel: Brian Connolly (vocals); Andy Scott (guitar); Mick Tucker (drums). Liner Note Author: Vicki Arkoff. Recording information: 1971-1979. Photographer: Dick Barnatt. Is Sweet nothing more than a time capsule from the bell-bottomed '70s? Surely, the band's fey appearance doesn't do much for ensuring a legacy of pride. All glam pretensions aside, when one lines up all the band's best singles in a row it's an indisputable feast of delirious hooks, pop throwaways, and car-radio screamers. Sweet was something like a hard pop version of the Monkees in that producers-songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman dictated the group's output with an eye on the teen market. The early '70s saw a flurry of immediate singles blast out of this "collaboration": "Little Willy," "Wig Wam Bam," and "Blockbuster" all crackle and zap with hard pop confection. After the band broke away from Chinn and Chapman with DESOLATION BOULEVARD, Sweet took on a decidedly harder edge, shying away from its bubblegum beginnings. As evidenced here, the decision was a smart one as it culminated in the band's signature song "Fox on the Run" which packed an FM-ready wallop. Elsewhere, "Lost Angels," "The 6-Teens," and "Love Is like Oxygen" demonstrate the band knew its own way around a pop hook and could create songs as accessible as their earlier work with considerably more texture to boot.