It appeared the hits had dried up by the time Sweet, postChinnichap, signed to Polydor Records in 1978. Unsure whether they were committing to hard rock or keeping one foot in pop, they found the, er, sweet spot with Love Is Like Oxygen, a single edited from the baroque seven-minute album version.
Its parent album, Level Headed, which made inspired forays into strings and art-rock, was the last the band recorded with singer Brian Connolly, whose alcoholism wasn’t funny any more.
Cut Above The Rest, with Steve Priest and Andy Scott tackling vocals, again flits indecisively between styles. Yet that’s somehow the beauty of it, as on the godawful yet glorious Discophony, which declares: ‘Disco ain’t worth your masturbating/ Rock’n’roll will keep accelerating’.
By rights, Water’s Edge should be a wash-out, but their knack of making the tacky transcendent again births miracles like the harmonies on Own Up.
1982’s knowingly titled Identity Crisis really was the last knockings. Serious rock fans will consider it a minor release. For the rest of us it’s an utterly fascinating gold mine and time capsule, as a 70s giant flails to replace its frontman and enter the 80s, sometimes prat-falling, sometimes… accelerating
