Power Pop - Ramshackle, Pretty and Potent

Review Score: (8/10)
After several spins of Sweet's Altered Beast, I carefully checked the CD booklet looking for the names of former Big Star members. To my surprise, I found drummer Jody Stevens on just one cut (Life Without You). But like the work of Big Star, Altered Beast is a shinning collection Lennon/McCartney mesmerizing melodies (Someone To Pull The Trigger, Life Without You), Pete Townshend lightning axe chops (Ugly Truth Rock, In Too Deep), and Hollies angelic vocal harmonies (Devil With The Green Eyes, Reaching Out).

Although masterfully crafted, the overall sound of Altered Beast is loose and, at times, ramshackle. Elegant lead guitar lines are provided by Robert Quine and Richard LLoyd. These guys prance inside, outside and all around the vocal melodies and bass guitar rhythms. Generally, tightly structured rock doesn't leave much room for "improvisation," but these two virtuosos saunter just wherever the heck they please. I admire Sweet not because he's an early seventies power pop imitator, but because of his rare ability to synthesize the finest rock attributes of the past four decades into a solitary musical vision. Sweet is surly not "stuck" in the past, but he gives more than nod of approval to "old" rockers such as Rolling Stones keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. Hopkins' deft and understated work is featured on four compositions here; unfortunately, one of rocks most in demand session players passed away a year after Altered Beast was recorded.

Altered Beast may feature Matthew Sweet's name on the cover, but this is the work of a balanced and cohesive band. No one member upstages the others. No one member (in the final production) said "Hey, turn my stuff up. I'm the big star." Altered Beast is alluring, powerful and inventive. Power pop doesn't get much prettier or more potent than Matthew Sweet.

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