''Level Headed'' is the sixth studio album by British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band

Sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

. Different versions were released by

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

in Europe and by Capitol in the US, Canada and Japan. The album features "

Love Is Like Oxygen "Love Is Like Oxygen" is a song by English glam rock band Sweet and released in January 1978. It was co-written by the group's guitarist Andy Scott, and Trevor Griffin, a musician who had played with various unsuccessful bands before becoming a ...

", the band's last single to hit the top 40, peaking at No. 8 in the US and No. 9 in the UK. The single version of "Love Is Like Oxygen" is substantially shorter than the album version. A second single, "California Nights", was released from the album but only reached No. 76 in the US. This was the last album to feature the classic Sweet line-up, as

Brian Connolly Brian Francis Connolly (5 October 1945 – 10 February 1997) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and known for his charismatic stage presence and di ...

departed around a year after the album's release, in order to embark on a solo career. The remaining trio of

Steve Priest Stephen Norman Priest (23 February 1948 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician who was the Bass guitar, bassist (and, later, co-lead vocalist) of the glam rock band The Sweet. Early life Priest was born in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes, Middlese ...

, Andy Scott, and

Mick Tucker Michael Thomas Tucker (17 July 1947 – 14 February 2002) was an English musician, best known as the drummer of the glam rock and hard rock band Sweet. Personal life Mick Tucker was born on 17 July 1947 in Kingsbury, North West London, the s ...

continued, and delivered three more albums before breaking up in 1981.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

lauded the album in their retrospective review, praising the wild sampling of styles and the band's shift from their earlier bubblegum singles to album-driven rock. They concluded: "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."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by

, Andy Scott, and

except where noted.

Polydor release

;Side one #"Dream On" (Scott) – 2:53 #"

" (Scott, Trevor Griffin) – 6:53 #"California Nights" – 3:45 #"Strong Love" – 3:28 #"Fountain" – 4:44 ;Side two #"Anthem No. I (Lady of the Lake)" – 4:11 #"Silverbird" – 3:26 #"Lettres D'Amour" – 3:30 #"Anthem No. II" – 1:02 #"Air on 'A' Tape Loop" (Priest, Scott, Tucker) – 5:59

Bonus tracks on 1991/1997 reissues

#"Love Is Like Oxygen" (single version) – 3:48 #"Cover Girl" – 3:34 #"California Nights" (single version) – 3:22 #"Show Me The Way" – 3:22

Bonus track on 2005 reissue

#"Love Is Like Oxygen" (single version) – 3:49

Capitol release

This version has different artwork and a different running order ;Side one #"California Nights" – 3:39 #"Silverbird" – 3:24 #"Dream On" – 2:50 #"Fountain" (last part with harpsichord is shorter and no hi-hat cymbals) – 4:12 #"Love Is Like Oxygen" – 6:49 ;Side two #"Anthem No. I (Lady of the Lake)" – 4:08 #"Strong Love" – 3:28 #"Lettres D'Amour" – 3:27 #"Anthem No. II" – 0:58 #"Air on 'A' Tape Loop" – 5:59

Personnel

;Sweet *

– lead vocals (except as noted) *

– bass guitar, synthesizer voice, lead vocals (track 1), backing vocals * Andy Scott – guitar, synthesizer, lead vocals (track 4), backing vocals *

– drums, percussion, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *Ronnie Asprey – brass * Richard Harvey – baroque wind *

Stevie Lange Stevie Vann (born Stevie van Kerken), also known as Stevie Lange, is a Zambian-born British singer and vocal coach. She is best known for her work as a backing vocalist and studio singer for many groups and solo performers in the 1970s and 1980s. ...

– vocals (track 8) *Geoff Westley – keyboards, string arrangements (tracks 6, 9) *Louis Austin – engineer

References

{{Authority control The Sweet albums 1978 albums Polydor Records albums Capitol Records albums Art rock albums by English artists Neo-progressive rock albums Progressive rock albums by English artists