Albums

Album of the Week: Sweet – Level Headed

November 19, 2023 — Leave a comment

Today’s album I will be looking at is Level Headed by Sweet. Released in 1978, this was the sixth studio by the band. It would be the last to feature Brian Connolly on vocals. The album and in particular the lead single “Love Is Like Oxygen” would lead to a temporary resurgence in the band’s fortunes.

The album itself comes across as a mature sounding record. They were free from the shackles of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn and wanted to show this to the world. A mixture of styles helps gives it that sound. Lead vocals are shared amongst the band.

Dream On

The album opens with Dream On. This was written by Andy Scott who provides the lead vocals. It is a ballad while sounding alright it may not be the best track to open an album.

Love Is Like Oxygen

The highlight of the album which was co-written by Scott and Trevor Griffen. However, the version that appears on the album is the long one which almost bears no relation to the version released as the single. The album would have been better suited to include that version on the album. This would Sweet a chart resurgence reaching No.6 in the UK and No.8 in the US.

California Nights

This was the follow up single to Love Is Like Oxygen and features Steve Priest on lead vocals. There is a West Coast feel to the song and almost has a yacht rock feel to it. This only reached No.76 in the US chart.

Strong Love

This track has almost a funk rock feel to it. I feel this is a strong track. It is a good attempt to extending the sound from the normal. This was a sign of a band who felt confident in their own abilities.

Fountain

Side one closes with another Andy Scott ballad. This is a far stronger tracker than “Dream On”. Better vocals, but it begs the question would it have sounded better if Brian Connolly had taken the lead?

Anthem No.1 (Lady of the Lake)

Side two opens with an almost prog sounding song. You can imagine tales of chivalrous knights riding off to battle. Could have been inspired by recording part of the album in a castle, Chateau d’ Herouville in France.

Silverbird

This is has a mature commercial sound and to my ears would have been a better choice of follow up single than California Nights. This was a band who were growing up. At this point they were all in their late 20s.

Lettres D’Amour

Another departure from the band’s expected sound. However, I am not too sure what they were trying to achieve with track and sounds like a bit of a mish-mash.

Anthem No. II

Pointless short instrumental.

Air on ‘A’ Tape Loop

The album closer is another instrumental apart from one line ‘Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Delta’. This was a band exploring their musical boundaries.

Overall, my feeling is that Sweet were trying too hard to show they were serious musicians. There are simply too many styles and this gives the album an uneven feel.

US Cover

Album Of The Day 04/10/2022: Jethro Tull – This Was (1968)

October 4, 2022 — Leave a comment

The story of Jethro Tull’s first album “This Was” is of two people who had different visions for the band. At this point the band was a quartet, Ian Anderson (vocals), Mick Abrahams (guitar), Glenn Cornick (bass guitar) and Clive Bunker (drums). Originally starting out a a blues band then morphing into a blue-eyed soul the band were always developing their sound.

By the time Jethro Tull had recorded “This Was”, the sound was a mixture of progressive rock mixed with blues/RnB sound. The progressive element came from Ian Anderson while Mick Abrahams provided the blues element. Indeed the pair would share songwriting credits on the album.

The album itself reflects these two influences and it is why it a great album. Songs like “My Sunday Feeling” and “A Song For Jeffrey.” It was a showcase for Anderson’s flute playing and Abrahams guitar skills.

Sadly, this line-up would not last. Soon after the release of “This Was” Abrahams left the band. Various reasons were given. Abrahams was a blues purist who did not like the direction the band was going in. He had heard that management had wanted to push Ian Anderson as the star of the band. Or that Abrahams was unwilling to travel for overseas gigs. Whatever the reason it left Ian Anderson in total creative control of the band and the rest as they say is history.

That said ‘This Was” remains an impressive debut album and one wondered which direction the band would have gone if the line-up stayed together. For some people “This Was” remains their favourite Jethro Tull album.

Steve Whitty

Album Of The Day 03/10/2022: The Knack – Get The Knack

October 3, 2022 — Leave a comment

Sometimes a band makes a record that defines a moment of time and therefore find it impossible to get anywhere near that level of success again.

This is certainly true in the case of The Knack. The summer of 1979 saw their single “My Sharona” all over US radio. It was the number one in the US and Canadian charts. It was even a hit in the UK.

The album “My Sharona” came from was “Get The Knack” which was released June 11, 1979. The album was produced by Mike Chapman who fresh from the success of Blondie’s “Parallel Lines.” It was recorded in two week and only cost $18,000 which was peanuts for that time. It was released by Capitol Records. As The Beatles were a huge influence on the band insisted Capitol released the album on the old rainbow label.

Get The Knack became a huge success thanks to the promotional campaign by Capitol. It became their fastest selling debut since Meet The Beatles!. The album was No.1 for five weeks.

However the backlash was to start almost immediately. There were those who objected to the perceived overnight success. Some critics were unhappy about the misogynistic lyrics in some of the songs. The Knack certainly did not help themselves by refusing to conduct interviews which showed them as being arrogant. By the time of the third album Round Trip they were finished as a band.

What about the album itself? I find that “Get The Knack” to be an excellent slice of new wave power pop. Yes, it wears its influences on their sleeves but The Knack were no different to many new wave bands of that period. What makes this album stand out in my opinion are the standard of the songs. The stand out song is of course My Sharona which contains the heavy backbeat of Bruce Gary’s drumming. Songs like “Let Me Out” and “Frustrated” are hook laden guitar pop at it’s best. They can even be forgiven for including a cover of “Heartbeat”.

Maybe it’s best to end this blog with Kurt Cobain listing “Get The Knack” as one of his favourite records.

Steve Whitty