Give Us a Wink [Import]

Sweet | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Bmg/RCA
• ASIN: B00092QSHI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,675,590 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Limited pressing Japanese reissue of 1976 album includes three bonus tracks, 'Action' (7 Inch Version), 'Cockroach' (Munich Mix), & '4th Of July' (Munich Mix). RCA. 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy Rock Masterpiece, January 23, 2003

By 

Mark Gordon (Tasmania, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Give Us a Wink (Audio CD)

One of the remarkable things about the Sweet's discography is the incredible variety of musical styles that they traversed in just a little over a decade. In many respects this album represents Sweet's heaviest hour and also one of its finest.
Songs such as "Keep it In", "Yesterday's Rain" and "White Mice" are loaded with lots of great riffs courtesy of Andy Scott and God knows what pills Mick Tucker was on as his drumming seems almost hyperactive.
Both musicians are largely responsible for the impression one gets that much more music is contained on this album than the 40 odd minutes it actually has.
"4th of July is one of my all time favourite Sweet songs. Although released as a single, it was never as commerical as "Action" or the "Lies in your Eyes", but the meandering keyboards and subtle guitar work with the drug oriented lyrics provide for quite a surreal song which ends with one hell of a bang.
"Action" is another one of the great Sweet songs. Possibly their best. With cash registers ringing, screaming vocals and guitars duelling, this song is loaded with energy and "action" a plenty. I was fortunate living in Australia at the time because as a single, this song performed better there than in the UK and the US and received much more airplay, making it to about no.6. (Ofcourse it made it to No 1 in Germany).
"Lies in your Eyes" is a much more commercial song. It has a very strong melody, but it does not have the musical variety of the other two singles. Once again Aussies appreciated the Sweet more than England and the US, the song making it to about number 10 in the National Charts. In fact, it even made number 1 in Australia's capital city Canberra. (Number 5 in Germany).
Brian Connolly might not have liked singing heavy rock, but he sure was damn good at it. And Steve Priest sure knew how to keep the tempo of a song up with frenetic bass playing, his vocal interludes and overlaid harmonies.

"Off the Record", the follow-up album to 'Give us a Wink", although similar, was a much lighter attempt as a rock album. And the next two albums include some material that is semi-classical (quite superb too if you can drop your preconceptions). Quite possibly the change in musical style was motivated by the fact (at last in my view) that Sweet completely mastered the heavy rock genre on this album.
If you're into heavy rock, I strongly recommend you buy this album. Others preferring Sweet's softer side should start with "Level Headed" or "Cut Above the Rest" (also both 5 star attempts but ooh so different).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They have assumed control., April 15, 2005

By 

Raymond Talbot (LaBaie, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Give Us a Wink (Audio CD)

The band has finally reached their adulthood and now have total artistic control of the finished product. SWEET now write all their songs. This gives them wind under their wings and SWEET soar! You can feel them bubbling with energy in every song in every note. We finally get to answer the age old question; how high can Andy Scott sing! Andy takes it to new heights in "The Lies in Your Eyes" putting the "Bee Gees" best vocal efforts to shame. There's only one way to play this album and that is VERY LOUD. The way it was intended. The only drawback here is (exceptionally) the extras (or lack there of). No demo versions, no previously unreleased material. The 3 extra tracks do not offer any incentive as they add very little to the originals. Personally I would very much have appreciated to have the North American version of "Lady Starlight" added as an extra here. It was included on the North American album and was slightly more "polished" than it's UK predecessor. Oh well, no use crying over Yesterday's Rain ;-) Oh, and another thing, would it have killed them to make a "winking" cover like the original vinyl album? We have the technology...

SWEET loses a star here for the extras not worth the extra bucks and being cheap on the cover...

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should you buy "Give Us a Wink" on CD again? It depends..., February 6, 2005

By 

Philip A.Cohen (Bay Harbor Islands, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Give Us a Wink (Audio CD)

This new UK remaster of "Give Us a Wink" uses the less satisfactory UK running order,which lacks "Lady Starlight"(version 2) which was on the U.S.A. album.The remastering is decent.As for the bonus tracks,you get the 7" single version of "Action"(a different intro,but otherwise the same take as the album version,which featured a longer intro which was spliced on to the same take.What I mean is that the intro on the single version is the orginal,the album version's intro is a revised intro.).The other two bonus tracks are alternate "Munich mix" versions of "Cockroach" & "4th of July",which are essentially alternate takes."Cockroach" features totally different vocals,and "4th of July" a prominent piano,which diluted the song's hard rocking impact.These are similar(but not identical) to the versions heard on the German CD "Platinum Rare".But if you're looking to hear the U.S.A. version of the album,get the Japanese Toshiba/EMI/Capitol CD of the album.That CD reproduces the album cover art(and its' graffiti) in full.