Great Metal Albums of1988: Sword- Sweet Dreams

Credit Mike Ladano with the save. If he hadn’t written a recent post on Sword and mentioned the album, “Sweet Dreams,” I would have gone through the entire tour of 1988 without posting about the album. However, it is strange that I hadn’t heard of the album back then. They were already known in the UK for their “Metalized” album two years prior, so I don’t know why this album failed to make a dent anywhere, except possibly in Canada.

Now I promised myself that I wouldn’t make comparisons to this album and “Metalized” but there is one similarity to note. First, different songs can be attributed to different subgenres of heavy metal. The first two tracks are definitely power metal. “Land of the Brave” sounds very Viking metal to me and it is a fun tune with the falsetto vocals of Rick Hughes. It is the second best song on the album. The top spot goes to the more melodic metal penultimate track, “Life On the Sharp Edge.” The chorus is mind blowing and the guitar solo really rips.

One good thing is that Wikipedia doesn’t comment much on the album. It only says that it’s Sword’s second album. Without such outside influence, I was able to completely make up my own mind about “Sweet Dreams.” My verdict is plain and simple, it’s just a great metal album which isn’t afraid to branch out into territories which are now inserted into sub-genres of metal. “Back Off” is the fastest song on the album and they come they close to playing thrash. However, there is a very intriguing guitar solo from Mike Plant on it. The again, “Prepare to Die” is even more closer to thrash.

Reading my post on “Metalized,” after a couple of years, I sang the praises of bassist Mike Larock in the post. I still think he should be mentioned in the same breath as other great bassists but his basslines aren’t so prominent on this album, at least to my ears. But he and Dan Hughes make a great rhythm section. Oh yes, if you want a song that captures all the genres at once, then “Caught in the Act” is the song to go to there.

Track Listing:

1. Sweet Dreams
2. Trouble Is
3. Land of the Brave
4. Back Off
5. Prepare to Die
6. Caught in the Act
7. Until Death Do Us Part
8. The Threat
9. Life on the Sharp Edge
10. State of Shock

Sword

Rick Hughes- vocals, keyboards

Mike Plant- guitar, keyboards

Mike Larock- bass

Dan Hughes- drums

Is “Sweet Dreams” yet another album which came and went and didn’t get the notice it deserved? For me, the answer to that question is a definite yes.

Next post: D.A.D Disneyland After Dark- Special

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