Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Sweet Fanny Adams

 
Album Review: Sweet Fanny Adams

  • Artist: Sweet
  • Rating: StarStarStarStar
  • Release Date: 1974
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Although they were often dismissed as a fluffy singles group in their day, Sweet crafted a handful of strong albums in the mid-'70s that sported some surprisingly muscular hard rock. A fine example of this trend is Sweet Fanny Adams. Although this album got little exposure in America on its own, over half of this album's contents ended up on the American edition of Desolation Boulevard. Sweet Fanny Adams' tone is set with the opening track, "Set Me Free," a fiery rocker that blends ultrahigh vocal harmonies to a furious succession of guitar riffs that jack the song up a level of speed metal frenzy. Other hard-rocking highlights include "No You Don't," a Queen-styled putdown of an unkind lover that was later covered by Pat Benatar, and "Into the Night," a complex track that pits mid-tempo verse against lighting-fast choruses over a surprisingly funky drumbeat that was later sampled by the Beastie Boys. However, the album's heavy metal masterpiece is the title track, a seedy portrait of juvenile delinquency whose brutal lyrics anticipate the grim imagery of punk rock. The song's vivid lyrics are effectively brought to life by a blinding succession of speed metal guitar riffs that are fleshed out by the kind of spacy synthesizer work that later graced "Fox on the Run." The remainder of the album doesn't always jell (there is a cover of "Peppermint Twist" that doesn't really fit in with the rest of the hard rock tunes), but Sweet Fanny Adams remains a solid release full of tight performances and scorching riffs. Anyone with an interest in Sweet beyond the hit singles should check this album out. ~ Donald A. Guarisco, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Set Me Free (Lyrics) Andy Scott Sweet
Heartbreak Today (Lyrics) Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Mick Tucker Sweet
No You Don't (Lyrics) Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman Sweet
Rebel Rouser (Lyrics) Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Mick Tucker Sweet
Peppermint Twist (Lyrics) Joey Dee, Henry Glover Sweet
Sweet F.A. (Lyrics) Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Mick Tucker Sweet
Restless (Lyrics) Brian Connolly, Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Mick Tucker Sweet
Into the Night Andy Scott Sweet
A.C.D.C. (Lyrics) Nicky Chinn, Mike Chapman Sweet

Credits

Sweet (Main Performer), Brian Connolly (Vocals), Steve Priest (Bass), Steve Priest (Harmonica), Steve Priest (Vocals), John Rollo (Engineer), Andy Scott (Synthesizer), Andy Scott (Guitar), Andy Scott (Vocals), Mick Tucker (Drums), Mick Tucker (Vocals)
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wikipedia: Sweet Fanny Adams (album)
Top
Sweet Fanny Adams
Studio album by Sweet
Released April 1974
Genre Rock
Length 42:44
Label RCA Records/Capitol
Producer Phil Wainman
Professional reviews
Sweet chronology
The Sweet
(1973)
Sweet Fanny Adams
(1974)
Desolation Boulevard
(1974)

Sweet Fanny Adams is the first of two 1974 albums by Sweet (also their first LP record simply as Sweet).

Contents

Track listing

  1. "Set Me Free" 3:57 (Andy Scott)
  2. "Heartbreak Today" 5:02 (Scott/Tucker/Connolly/Priest)
  3. "No You Don't" 4:33 (Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman)
  4. "Rebel Rouser" 3:25 (Scott/Tucker/Connolly/Priest)
  5. "Peppermint Twist" 3:28 (Joey Dee/Henry Glover)
  6. "Sweet F.A." 6:14 (Scott/Tucker/Connolly/Priest)
  7. "Restless" 4:28 (Scott/Tucker/Connolly/Priest)
  8. "Into The Night" 4:24 (Andy Scott)
  9. "A.C.D.C." 3:27 (Nicky Chinn/Mike Chapman)

Bonus tracks on 1999 reissue

  1. "Burn On The Flame" (Connolly, Priest, Scott, Tucker) – 3:37
  2. "Own Up, Take A Look At Yourself" (Connolly, Priest, Scott, Tucker) – 3:58

Name

The album title is English slang, first coined by Frederick Baker, the killer of 8-year-old Fanny Adams in 1867, and means "nothing at all" as well as a similar euphemism "F.A." = "fuck all".

Personnel

  • Brian Connolly - Lead vocals on tracks 1,2,4,5,6 and 9.
  • Steve Priest - Bass , Lead vocals on "Restless", and "No You Dont".
  • Andy Scott- Guitars , Lead vocal on "Into the Night".
  • Mick Tucker- The Drums and Backing vocals.

Produced by Phil Wainman for Chinebridge Ltd.

This album reached #27 in the UK in the year of its release by RCA Records in 1974.

Sweet Fanny Adams was not released in the U.S. but tracks 1, 3, 6, 8 & 9 formed the backbone for the band's U.S. version of the album Desolation Boulevard released the following year on Capitol.



 
 
Learn More
Hard Centres: The Rock Years (2002 Album by Sweet)
Sweet Fanny Adams [1999 Bonus Tracks] (1999 Album by Sweet)
Sweet Fanny Adams [2005 Bonus Tracks] (2005 Album by Sweet)

What rhymes with fanny? Read answer...
What is a fanny bottle? Read answer...
Who was Fanny Durack? Read answer...

Help us answer these
Who was the composer of Fanny?
Where is the bean in a fanny?
Can you get cancer on your fanny?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sweet Fanny Adams (album)" Read more