Golden Greats

AMG Review of Golden Greats

Dave Thompson
All Music Guide

Barely had the door closed following the Sweet's departure from longtime label RCA than the company was pulling together a collection of the band's best material for release on the eve of its own next album, Level Headed. Designed as a companion piece to the band's first hits collection, 1972's The Sweet's Biggest Hits, Golden Greats traced the band's career from January 1973's "Blockbuster" -- their first U.K. chart-topper -- through to summer 1977's "Stairway to the Stars," the Sweet's third successive non-starter. Indeed, the decline in the band's commercial fortunes is almost painful to witness, as Golden Greats gallops through one side of nonstop chartbusters and then founders through another of absolute clinkers. The dividing line, of course, is the band's decision to break away from songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, after a run of 11 more or less self-defining hits -- five of which are featured here. Two self-composed efforts, "Fox on the Run" and "Action," got by on the strength of the band's then omnipotent reputation, but thereafter, the Sweet's attempts to prove that they were something more than glitter-drenched puppets were doomed to failure. "Lost Angels," "Fever of Love," and "The Lies in Your Eyes" aren't bad songs. But they made dreadful singles and, if modern listeners find their attention wandering as Golden Greats tracks towards its conclusion, they're in great company. An entire country felt the same way at the time.