Customer Reviews

Sweet Fanny Adams

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a few reasons, Sweet could never emulate their chart success in the U.K. and Europe in the U.S. Part of the problem was that the singles and LPs that were released in the U.K. and Europe were not released in the same format in the States, or sometimes not at all. In the U.S., the Desolation Boulevard LP on Capitol was actually taken from two 1974 RCA releases, the first of which was Sweet Fanny Adams and the second of which was the original Desolation Boulevard. Much of Sweet Fanny Adams was recorded in late 1973 and then released in early 1974. Desolation (RCA) was recorded in 1974 and released toward the end of the year. In the U.S., the Capitol version of Desolation Boulevard was released in 1975 and included half of the tracks from the two RCA albums, plus the single "Ballroom Blitz" which was not on either RCA LP but is a bonus track on the Sweet F.A. CD. Some of the other RCA tracks were issued as B-sides of Capitol singles but many other tracks were not issued at all. In my view, releasing this material in 1975 in the U.S. hindered success of the band as the two 1974 LPs represented the band at its peak. By the time "Give Us A Wink" was released in 1976 (at last in the same format on both sides of the Atlantic) disco had taken hold in the U.S. and the group was marginalized as hard rock/glam. Not even the 1978 success of "Love Is Like Oxygen" could help as the line-up that held for eight years would finally fracture the following year. Finally, the 2005 re-releases of Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard on BMG-Sony make previous renditions obselete. The mastering is first rate and the selection of bonus tracks is superb.

Although there is not one hit single featured on this album I recommend it as the best thing Sweet ever recorded.Out to prove themselves as more than a "singles band" they surpassed themselves both with songs and overall production which was handled by Phil Wainman.The album opens with the swirling, metallic "Set Me Free" written by guitarist Andy Scott (covered in the 80`s by Saxon on "Crusader") and I remember as a thirteen year old climbing the walls with excitement. Hellraiser and Ballroom Blitz only hinted that the band were capable of these sounds."Heartbreak Today", the second track has a Zeppelinesque riff and Connolly`s vocals have real depth and feeling. Once again the production makes your hi-fi sound ten times better than it probably really is.Next track "No You Don`t" was sung by Steve Priest, bassist and was covered later by Pat Benatar on her first album. Very angry, aggresive song complete with cellos reminiscent of the Rolling Stones on "19th Nervous Breakdown"."Rebel Rouser" and "Peppermint Twist" are probably the poppiest tracks the album has to offer. One of them was a big hit for the band in Australia (can`t remember which however!)"Sweet F.A." is the epic of the album at over 6 minutes long. It ROCKS! Heavier than any of the supposedly heavy bands of the time! Scary for little Mary I`d say!"Restless", again sung by Steve - a great stage favourite - a bitlike Free`s "Alright Now"."Into The Night", the next track was written and sung by Andy Scott and is reminiscent of something from Deep Purple`s "In Rock" album.The album offficially closes with "AC/DC" (rumoured to be where a certain Australian band took their name.) A song about bi-sexuality!!! This CD version of the album has some bonus track which were initially hard to get hold of B sides that indicated this monster of an album might be in the hearts of this greatly underrated band.If you love Seventies rock music, if you love great playing, if you love a well produced album, if you ever wondered what Sweet were really all about - THIS IS THE ALBUM!

I can't say enough about Sweet and this amazing CD. These guys were definitely trailblazers in the heavy metal/hard rock genre. Upon listening to 'Sweet Fanny Adams' (1974), the discerning music fan quickly realizes that Sweet's influence on modern 80's metal is undeniable. Anyone dismisses this band as just a 'bubblegum' act ought to be smacked upside the head. Here they crank out some of the earliest true metal tunes found anywhere on record....check out 'Set Me Free', 'Sweet F.A.', 'Into the Night', 'Restless', 'Burn on the Flame' & 'No You Don't'. Also, other great rock tracks included here are 'Heartbreak Today'(not sure why this wasn't a single--it's super), 'Rebel Rouser'(should have been single---it's similar to Sweet's 'Hellraiser' & sounds just like Motley Crue). Really the only tunes that don't measure up to the rest are 'Peppermint Twist' and 'ACDC'....they're fun and cute but one could live without them.

The bonus tracks 'Burn on the Flame' (one of Sweet's best ever tracks) and 'Own Up and Take a Look at Yourself' (Bow Wow Wow later [borrowed] the opening vocal melody line in 'I Want Candy') are excellent.

Many of you may know that the US release of 'Desolation Boulevard' was merely compilation of tracks taken from the UK 'Sweet Fanny Adams', the UK 'Desolation Boulevard' and the UK 'Strung Up' (and single B-sides). The record executive eggheads who compiled 'Desolation Boulevard' ought to be [reprimanded] for the tunes they left off that record. Don't get me wrong---they pick some great ones, but they left off many great ones. Some of the best Sweet tunes ever, didn't make it to the album. However, 'Burn on the Flame' did later become the US B-side of 'Fox on the Run' and 'Restless' became the US B-side of 'Ballroom Blitz'. Including 'Heartbreak Today', 'Rebel Rouser' and 'Burn on the Flame' could have made 'Desolation Boulevard a landmark release.

That being said----do yourself a favor and buy 'Sweet Fanny Adams' and the UK version of 'Desolation Boulevard' (contains great tunes like 'Medussa, 'Turn it Down', 'Breakdown' etc...)..........if you are a fan of hard rock and/or metal, you will not be sorry.

"Sweet Fanny Adams" was one of the two UK albums which was the source for tracks on the American "Desolation Boulevard"(the other tracks on the U.S.A. album were taken from the UK "Desolation Boulevard" & non-L.P. singles).This remaster adds 6 non-L.P. singles tracks,but no outtakes or vault tracks.The previous BMG remaster from Germany in 1999 had only 2 bonus tracks.How does the sound compare? This new UK remaster has brighter sound.It's a matter of personal taste,but I prefered the sound on the 1999 German CD.But it would be hard to dispute that having more bonus tracks here makes this CD a better overall value than the 1999 German CD.

...to FINALLY make this masterpiece available again! Even at the time of its initial release in 1974, you had to be a dedicated record geek (guilty!) to track down a British-import vinyl copy of "Sweet Fanny Adams". While over half the songs on this album were pasted onto the U.S. version of "Desolation Boulevard" and the rest scattered onto various compilations over the years, you have to enjoy this one in its original sequence to truly appreciate its significance in the Rock Pantheon. An almost supernatural mix of crunching rock,unforgettable melodies and angelic harmonies, this set never lets up from start to finish. The re-issue also features two outstanding bonus tracks. Glam-rock's "Revolver"!

The SWEET shock a few of their fans here and jump from bubble-gum to Rock. From the first 30 seconds of track one "Set Me Free" for good or bad, you know those days are gone for ever. In the process they acquire an entirely new audience. The SWEET have attained their adolescence. Although they do not have total control (yet) of the final product, they are now penning many of the songs and are breaking free from the nest. This gives the band new energy and motivation which is evident in the final product. As adolescents, gone is the "goodie two-shoes" image. The topics now range from fast cars (Rebel Rouser) to bi-sexual women (AC-DC). In the 70's the "moral majority" still ruled over freedom of expression, so these subjects are dealt with some subtlety and an occasional bit of humour.

Oh yes the music...I could decipher the music for pages but I'll let YOU do it. Someone once wrote that SWEET was a fly by night, 3 chord churning and "very limited talent wise" band. Alright then "smarty pants", compare Pat Benatar's cover of the song "No You Don't" to the original SWEET version. Compare the drums, guitar and vocals. Then you can make-up your own mind...

GREAT STUFF!!! An excellent deal with all those extra tracks.

The earlier reviewers of this album are on the ball as this album is truly great and was constructed with incredible precision.
Its brilliance has not gone completely unnoticed either. To the music, and the track 'Sweet F.A. is a super heavy rock song with a super beat and a great groaning guitar solo to finish off. Truly one of the great rock songs in my view. Set me Free is similarly good in this mode with lots of crunching chords and guitar runs. Rebel Rouser is a more commercial effort but still has a heavy rock base to it. Then there's the beautiful "Heartbreak Today", a lovely mix of harmonies and melodic guitar. "Into the Night" and "Restless" are more laid back, but still with lots of good drum and guitar work.
Probably the best thing about this album is the professional way the musicians work together. They are all completely in sync with each other. Mick Tucker's drumming is as tight as the drums he used. Steve Priest's base keeps and changes the rhythm like a clock, Andy Scott's guitar work makes it what it is and Brian Connolly's vocals have a richness of tone yet he is still more than capable of singing the hard stuff.
Then there's the harmonies. >One of the beauties of the band was they were able to produce great albums that were so different. "Off the Record" and Give us a Wink" are substantively different from this album yet masterpieces in their own right. There is no doubt in my mind that Sweet Fanny Adams is one of the great Sweet albums and one of the great albums full stop. Its also probably one of the most accessible albums the Sweet produced. I would therefore recommend that those considering the purchase of a Sweet album buy this one first. If you love it as much myself and all the other reviewers here, then I suggest you buy most if not all the other Sweet albums as well.

Finally, The Sweet's best album is out on CD! This is a must for all glam rock fans young and old! O.K. this album contains a few typical Sweet singles too, but this is the band at its best! Who said that Queen was the only band with vocal harmonies? Think again, friends! All of the four members really show us what they are capable of on this record. Just check out "Set Me Free" (covered by Saxon much later) and the title track "Sweet F.A." This is hard glam rock at its best. To live a full life; Don't miss this one! Please!

This is not only one of the best albums released by The Sweet, but definitely one of the best hard-rock albums ever released. The band here tried to abandon their teenybopper image and transferred to powerfull rhythmic attack hard-rock. It was their peak hour and after its release in 1974 this album successfully competed with Deep Purple albums. Only 3 songs here were written by prolific tandem Chinn-Chapman, all the rest (but one) are their own. But in my opinion the BMG Germany 1999 release is not the best. It does not contain the proper booklet ! I own different release by Chinn-Chapman's publishing company Chinebridge Ltd. released this album directly (also digitally remastered) in 1998 with 2 bonus tracks. My CD contains all the original artwork from LP inner sleeve and full lyrics. And CD is made in USA! I wonder why it is not available here in Amazon and they advertised only import release. All in all, this is a hard-rock classic undoubtedly and original LP was never released in the USA. Just for your information - this not the first appearance of this album on CD ! Way back in 1989 British Castle Communications released a compilation The Sweet - The Collection (which was a copy of double LP set while 1 song was omitted) where one could find ALL original 9 tracks from Sweet Fanny Adams but NOT in original running order. And the sound quality was awful. Better buy this ! RECOMMENDED !

I remember vividly the first time I heard this album, I was living in Madrid at the time, sometime around 1974. I was an impressionable young teenager and this was a "new" rock band. A friend of mine had just bought the vinyl album, great cover I thought, but can they play? First song he plays on the stereo was "Set me Free", from then on, I was hooked like I just couldn't put it down. I never bought the album cause after a couple months moved to the states and SWEET just wasn't known here. Later on Ballroom Blitz came out and I liked the song a lot, but liked Restless (B-side) a lot better. I searched and searched for the Sweet FA album till I gave up and had Looooong forgotten, many many years have passed since I last heard SWEET, till I came across the album here at cdnow. I immediately bought it and it is as fresh and furious as it was 30 years ago. What a pleasure to own this CD, took me back to that first day I heard it and it is now one of my favorite CD's of all time. "Set me Free" "heartbreak today" "No you don't" "Sweet F.A., my favorite one "Restless", "Into the Night", just great fun rock. And the bonus tracks, I don't recall hearing those before, but they just ROCK! The only ohter songs I remember hearing from SWEET here in the states are Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the run and another favorite of mine "Love is like Oxygen", but them bonus songs are way cool, I should probably start researching their albums again now that is widely available and simple in the internet.

Great CD for fanatics of hard rock, especially those interested in bands that help redefine and shape it in its early stages.