Sweet Cheater-Eatin' ain't cheatin', 2006

So this is an old band with a new CD of songs that sound old. Are you lost yet? It seems that Boston's Sweet Cheater broke up around 1991, but then they recently reformed and they recorded this album and it was released earlier this year. I am not sure what they did in between those years, but judging from the album title I would say that it's a good bet that none of them became English teachers. I first bought this back in the spring along with a number of other discs. Because I had so much to listen to, I was skipping through songs and if it didn't catch my attention right away then it got sat aside and I moved on. That's what I did with this disc, it didn't strike me as being special at first so I put it aside. About a month or so later I was looking for something to listen to so I grabbed this and listened to it on my way to work. It was at this point that I noticed that the singer sounded a lot like Steve Whiteman from Kix on one song and the next song he would sound like Stephen Pearcy of Ratt. I also noticed that this album sounded like it could have been done in 1989. Some of you will think that is bad thing because it means they are stuck in the past and some of you may think that it is a good thing because it is stuck in the past. I am in the second category because it grew on me with each listen and I think it's a good strong hard rock album. There are a number of bands still making albums that sound like 80's-early 90's hard rock. Still this one stood out to me because they are able to handle pace changes well and they have different tempo songs and all are equally good. Another big plus is that a number of other bands I have heard recently start off a song well yet there is not enough in the middle to sustain the whole song, but these guys keep the songs solid all the way through. Singer Mike Chappel is also big plus as his voice is strong, but has just enough of an edge that he doesn't sound too sappy. The only real downside was that there are times where the production is a little fuzzy. When the drums start to get going the sound isn't quite as clear as it should be. My favorite tracks were All fired up, One love, Money's Tough and Subway Train. It took me a second listen to really get into, but by about the third track I began to realize that they were in a slightly higher league then a lot of the other new hair metal stuff I have heard recently. It's not breaking any new ground for sure, but if you like good hard rock from say 88-91 then they have captured that sound and I know that I will be listening to it for some time to come.