Never a band defined by their albums as far as the general public was concerned Sweet was a huge presence in the U.K. and Europe in the early to mid 70’s. Those in the know of course knew better – the albums rather than the bubblegum was where it was at, and as a Hard Rock band Sweet rocked. With 7 albums released in teh 70’s Sweet put out only four albums in the 80’s and 90’s – two in each decade. Though always touring in various incarnations it wasn’t until 2002 that Andy Scotts incarnation of the band started releasing new music with ‘Sweetlife’. It was another 10 years though before the follow up ‘New York Connection’ and a further 8 before the covid influenced reworkings that was ‘Isolation Boulevard’. Now a further 4 years on comes ‘Full Circle’ the album that with Andy’s cancer scare may well have been their last record, though hopefully now not. Brian, Mick and Steve are of course sadly no longer with us but a pesky U.S. band bearing the name threatens to sully the legacy, but we’ll not get into that.
If you’re expecting the Glam of the 70’s then you’re really missing the point – that might be the way Sweet are remembered in the charts but the live show was always far rockier, and whilst the 80’s and 90’s records reflected that Andy’s version was always mellower and more varied. The title Full Circle of course has many meanings (check out our album interview with Andy next week) but at it’s heart what sets this record apart is its variety and some dan fine songwriting.
The album takes on a number of styles from Pop to Rock and all points in-between with a rather nice inclination at times towards AOR. It’s a mellower album, an assured album, lush and nicely produced.
It opens with a nice riff and a nice chorus for the hard rocking ‘CIRCUS’ – as we all know there are certainly plenty of clowns out there! It’s a great chunky opener but there’s no template here. We immediately change up for ‘DON’T BRING ME THE WATER’ a great Pop rock number that seems to nod to the chart breaking 80’s Yes in places.
‘BURNING LIKE A FALLING STAR’ that you have probably already heard has a more modern feel – it’s great midtempo rock – a huge song with a big Pop Rock vibe that mashes nicely into the disco beat of ‘CHANGES’ that sounds like 80’s ZZ meets New Age – great clean pop rock.
‘DEFENDER’ that follows is a complete left turn – almost ‘Yacht Rock, it shines with the subdued light of light AOR and is all the more refreshing before the crash and soaring vocal of one of my favourites ‘EVERYTHING’.
We fire up again for the riff rocker ‘DESTINATION HANOVER’ which has a bit of a story to it, and there’s another huge build and big chorus adorning the atmospheric ‘RISING UP’ another great 80’s tinged Pop Rocker. We stay in that space for the equally impressive ‘FIRE IN MY HEART’, before the lush melodies of ‘COMING HOME’ kicks in with it’s feelgood ‘Summer Sky’ feel.
The album closes on a high with the title track ‘FULL CIRCLE’ a wonderful tune that if it is the final track on the final album is a great way to take that last bow.
Sweet has inspired and been a part of the lives of so many over the years and here we are with possibly the final album. It’s a great way to go out and a wonderful reminder that the fire never dies for some.
8 / 10
