Action! The Ultimate Story (Deluxe Action-Pack)

a good band and a good cd

In commemoration of the 45th anniversary of guitarist Andy Scott joining Brian Connolly (vocals), Steve Priest (vocals/bass guitar) and Mick Tucker (vocals/drums) in The Sweet, this two-disc collection generally provides an excellent appraisal of the British glam-rock giants, a band that forever struggled to reconcile its disposable pop-star image with its members' clearly gifted abilities as musicians.Sure all of the hits (bar 'Alexander Graham Bell') are here, from the pure bubblegum of 'Funny Funny' and 'Co-Co' to the mighty 1973 trilogy of 'Blockbuster!', 'Hell Raiser' and 'The Ballroom Blitz', but so too is a selection of choice album cuts like the Deep Purple-esque 'Set Me Free' and 'Into The Night' (both from 1974's SWEET FANNY ADAMS), '4th July' (from 1976's GIVE US A WINK) and 'Windy City' (from 1977's OFF THE RECORD), together with the quartet's own excellent self-penned singles such as 'Fox On The Run' and 'Love Is Like Oxygen' - both of which proved that the band could survive without the guiding hands of song writers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman and erstwhile producer Phil Wainman. Furthermore Andy Scott's "solo" track 'Lady Starlight' (originally released on 1975's DESOLATION BOULEVARD album) is also given a well-deserved place in the running order while the neglected, post-Brian Connolly era of the band is represented too thanks to the inclusion of the singles 'Call Me' and 'Sixties Man' (taken from the albums CUT ABOVE THE REST and WATERS EDGE respectively). Furthermore, keen to prove that The Sweet brand is still a going concern, we also have a handful of later cuts recorded by "Andy Scott's Sweet" - including two brand-new recordings - which, although commendable, I must confess don't really sound much like the band that I have grown to love over the years. Rather more incongruously, however, lurking as a hidden track at the end of disc one is a dance remix of 'Fox On The Run' which Sweet fans of a certain age will probably dislike intensely. Personally, rather than having nearly seven minutes of playing time taken up with this pandering to the 21st century music scene, I think that I would have preferred to have had a couple of excellent early b-sides included instead, particularly 'You're Not Wrong For Loving Me' (the lilting flip of 'Funny Funny') and the stupendous 'Done Me Wrong Alright' (which backed 'Co-Co').Sound-wise the tracks are nice and beefy, although there doesn't appear to be a tremendous amount of difference between the mastering of this set and the previously released series of remastered albums from 2005. Nevertheless this is no great shame as a fine job had been done on that occasion, and songs such as 'Teenage Rampage' and 'Burn On The Flame' continue to blast from the speakers here.It is nice to see Sweet's legacy finally being lavished with a certain level of care and attention to detail by Sony - in comparison to the scores of budget-priced retrospectives of the band's work which have appeared over the years - and this compilation makes for the ideal companion to the similarly packaged DVD set also available. Overall ACTION! THE ULTIMATE STORY is a fine (if not flawless) introduction to a perennially under-rated British band which - thanks to the inclusion of a number of lesser-known album cuts - should encourage those familiar only with the hit singles to investigate The Sweet's repertoire more thoroughly.

It's always difficult to comment on CDs that have the words "definitive collection" or "ultimate collection" as, inevitably, individuals will have their own personal favourites that may, or may not be, on the CD. I've never liked the magazine articles which state "50 greatest rock guitarists" or "50 greatest rock songs" as it's all subjective.................and so to this CD package, "Sweet - Action! The Ultimate Story (Deluxe Edition).It must have been extremely difficult to leave some tracks off this CD as Sweet themselves were consistently excellent (and underrated) songwriters during and after the Chinn and Chapman years. Yep, nearly all the Chinnichap and band composed hit single releases are here which will delight their fans from the 1970s, but the quality of the singles (some of which were massive hits throughout the world) that didn't make the UK charts ("Lost Angels"; "Fever Of Love"; "Stairway To The Stars"; "Call Me"; "Sixties Man") was first class and may lead people to question why these songs were bypassed at the time.In Sweet, however, there was always a hard rock band trying to get out and boy oh boy could these guys rock with the best of them! Strap yourselves in for the likes of "Set Me Free";"4th July"; "Windy City" and "Burn On The Flame" (a b-side that really should have been a single) to name but a few. Sadly rarely accepted by the rock press and a lot of the hard rock fraternity, as Sweet weren't taken seriously because of their association with glam rock, (Slade were more accepted, yet could be just as outrageous) the aforementioned songs still blow away the opposition...and were these really produced in the 1970s? Okay, they've been re-mastered but the original vinyl releases of these songs still sound as powerful as the day they were recorded. Class!Brian Connolly left Sweet in 1979 and the remaining 3 members (Steve Priest, Andy Scott and Mick Tucker) made 3 superb albums before disbanding in the early 80s. There are a smattering of songs from Andy Scott driven Sweet projects from the mid-1980s through to the present line-up with this year's offering of the excellent "Defender" and the unusual, but great, "Still Got The Rock". Neither of the new songs sound like Sweet in their heyday, but don't let this distract,this is Sweet in the 21st century. There's also a bizarre dance remix of "Fox On The Run" at the end of the first disc; whilst it is a "very good" dance remix, if you like that sort of thing, it doesn't really fit in and probably isn't something I, personally, would listen to that often.Yes, of course there are songs I would have included but, as previously stated, Sweet fans will have their own personal favourites too; although I was surprised to see that "Solid Gold Brass" wasn't present or any songs from 1982's brilliant "Identity Crisis" LP, however this compilation is a fair reflection of Sweet from 1970 to the present day and I'm sure you will find this an exciting and enjoyable addition to your music collection.

I do like Sweet, even these days, having seen the current line up several times. Andy Scott keeps the flag flying and although I have most of the tracks on offer here, there are a couple of new ones and others I didn't have, so maybe half a dozen in all, but for me it's worth buying. If you're new to the Sweet catalogue, this is the one you need, if it's just a 'best of' you want. All line ups feature in this collection, so it's all here just about, apart from the early single Alexander Graham Bell, but hardly essential, as I think they only sung but didn't play on it.

If you are old enough to remember them this is a must have

Excellent CD, Sweet as a nut😷

The ultimate collection. A must for all Sweet fans. These to me were the best glam rock band of the 70s they created a good solid rock sound which they evolved into there own style . Many of there songs Are as strong today as they ever were

Fast delivery and Item arrives as has been discribet. Many Thanks!