Disco de Sweet: “Sweet Fanny Adams [2005 Bonus Tracks]”

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!

"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.

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.

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!

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.