Sweet struggled to earn credibility as album artists and/or score hits after finally wresting themselves free of songwriting/production team
Nicky Chinn and
Mike Chapman in the summer of 1974. They turned out a few albums before achieving both goals with
Level Headed. The album gave them their final Top Ten hit with the dreamy
"Love Is Like Oxygen," a single that suggested that its accompanying record was a trippy mainstream
pop record. Instead, it was one part of an ambitious sonic mosaic where
Sweet tried a little bit of everything, cloaking it all in a
neo-prog aesthetic. If it was hard to hear the candy crunch of early
Sweet on
"Love Is Like Oxygen," it seems like
"Little Willy" in comparison to the rest of
Level Headed, where the group runs wild in the studio. Throughout the first half, they indulge in catchy
pop, dressing it up with mild
psychedelia, elongating melodies with breezy harmonies and studio swirl. This is just a teaser for the second side, where they delve deep into
album rock weirdness, trying on
classical-inspired
art rock with
"Anthem No. 1" and
"Anthem No. 2," waltzing along with the
Europop "Lettres d'Amour," and livening the proceedings with
"Strong Love," a horn-spiked
disco tune. Certainly, this is not classic-era
Sweet, but that's precisely what's good about
Level Headed -- they're off-kilter and adventurous, occasionally stumbling but always making interesting music on an album that's anything but what the title promises. If
Level Headed didn't spawn another hit, so be it -- it remains one of
Sweet's most fascinating albums, compared to both what came before and after. Yes, it was
"Ballroom Blitz," "Fox on the Run," and other early hits that influenced the
pop-metal of the late '70s and '80s, but for hardcore
Sweet fans,
Level Headed is a gem to treasure. [The 2005 CD reissue on
Lemon adds a bonus track, the single version of
"Love Is Like Oxygen."] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
![Fire Of Unknown Origin [Strictly Limited Collector's Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0819514010074_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Fire Of Unknown Origin [Strictly Limited Collector's Edition]")
