Great Rock Albums of the 70s: The Sweet- Desolation Boulevard

Long before the glam metal antics of Motley Crue and Ratt and even before the make up of KISS, there were the glam rock founders of Alice Cooper, Marc Bolan and of course, The Sweet. Way back in 1973 or early 74, the song “Little Willy” became my first official favourite song. I knew nothing about The Sweet, not even what they looked like, however, one thing I knew was that I liked that song, still do. Not long after, this great album was released and then I knew that The Sweet was one kick ass band, although I probably didn’t use those words back then, I was a good boy. (LOL)

Desolation Boulevard is one of The Sweet’s best known albums and was even included in Wayne’s World’s top ten list along with some great offerings from Aerosmith and Led Zepplin. But for me, I can still see myself skating around the roller rink silently jamming to such great tracks as “The Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox on the Run.” Even then, I knew that this was a killer album.

There are two versions of “Desolation Boulevard,” a US version and a UK version. Being brought up in the US, I am more familiar with the US version and probably would prefer it more because of “The Ballroom Blitz.”

Track Listing (UK)

1. The Six Teens

2. Solid Gold Brass

3. Turn It Down

4. Medusa

5. Lady Starlight

6. The Man With The Golden Arm

7. Fox on the Run

8. Breakdown

 9. My Generation

Track Listing (US)

1. The Ballroom Blitz

2. The Six Teens

3. No You Don’t

4. AC DC

5. I Wanna Be Committed

6. Sweet FA

7. Fox on the Run

8. Set Me Free

9. Into the Night

10. Solid Gold Brass

The Sweet

Brian Conelly- lead vocals

Steve Priest- bass, backing vocals

Andy Scott- guitar, backing vocals

Mick Tucker- drums

The Sweet were one of the kings of early glam metal and with albums like this one, they definitely had the sound to go with the look. I can safely say that they were a major influence on many of the hair and make up bands in the 80s.

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