My highest recommendation for this disc from The Sweet, and as live albums go, it doesn’t get much better.
Written by: Eric
ARTIST: The Sweet
ALBUM: Live At The Rainbow: 1973 (The Complete Concert)
LABEL: BMG
SERIAL: 74321 69859 2
YEAR: 1999
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Brian Connolly – vocals * Steve Priest – vocals, bass * Andy Scott- vocals, guitar * Mick Tucker- vocals, drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Intro * 02 Hell Raiser * 03 Burning/Someone Else Will * 04 Rock N Roll Disgrace * 05 Wig Wam Bam * 06 Need A Lot Of Loving * 07 Done Me Wrong Alright * 08 You’re Not Wrong For Loving Me * 09 The Man With The Golden Arm * 10 Little Willy * 11 Teenage Rampage * 12 Rock N Roll Medley * 13 Ballroom Blitz * 14 Blockbuster
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
The other day I was in a local record shop, one of the last of its kind in my area and discovered no less than three rather new-ish compilations from The Sweet, two of which included live material. Now, I’ve always been a huge fan of these guys and try to collect everything I can of musical value they’ve produced, but very few bands have totalled up the amount of compilations, best of, boots, pirates, rarities LP’s and CD’s than The Sweet.
To be honest, much of it is of little substance and does nothing but create endless confusion and frustration for the potential buyer as to what’s what. Here’s a good example, this live show recorded at The Rainbow Theater in London December 21, 1973 originally appeared in portions on the German-UK double album ‘Strung Up’ and has appeared in several variations since and often on labels of European origin and of equally questionable merit.
The entire concert was never available and trying to piece the show together the show was near impossible until finally, in 1999 BMG released the entire gig, warts and all.
The Songs
As cliched as it might sound, this CD kicks serious ass and proves once and for all that The Sweet were the best band to come out of the glam rock era. Raw, uncompromising rock ‘n’ roll conjuring images of screaming glitter girls and lipstick boys in platform shoes, this is music to be played loud and who cares what the neighbors think.
The Sweet run through all their classics, but not before a taped intro of the David Rose Orchestra 1962 classic ‘The Stripper’ sets the stage for ‘Hell Raiser’ which is blistering to say the least. It’s all here, the big hits – ‘Wig Wam Bam’, ‘Little Willy’, ‘Teenage Rampage’ and ‘Blockbuster’ sounding a hundred times heavier than those old 45’s.
But it’s the original Sweet songs like the Led Zeppelin styled ‘Burning-Someone Else Will’ featuring the classic line ‘If we don’t fuck you then someone else will.’, the pounding ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Disgrace’ and the poignant ‘You’re Not Wrong For Loving Me’ show a band that had grown beyond the Chinn-Chapman bubblegum days and developed into a fiery hard rock band that seemed unstoppable.
In Summary
My highest recommendation for this disc and as live albums go, it doesn’t get much better. By the end of the decade, The Sweet had lost Brian Connolly and unlike their rivals Queen, never did become the major superstars they had hoped to be. They deserved more as this CD will amply attest to. Buy.
