POWER-N-GLORY "Resurrected Masters" LINER NOTES Resurrection - an awesome word, an almost unfathomable concept. Anyone who knows SWEET CRYSTAL also knows our reverence for which the word stands. Times change. People move on. Music tastes and trends evolve, but a good song remains a good song and a good message...well, that could go on forever. After more than 15 years of searching, the resurfacing of the master mix tape of our first release "Power-N-Glory" was so unexpected and to us, miraculous, that the term "resurrected" seemed fitting. The story behind this project can be found at our website, www.sweetcrystal.com. Thank you for helping keep this part of our musical dream and heritage alive. We cherish our families, our friends and the fans we know and have known these many years. Enjoy this trip down memory lane. We promise you - there is so much more to come. Marq Andrew Speck Bill Blatter Steve Wieser INTERNATIONAL REVIEWS: THE NETHERLANDS: SWEET CRYSTAL 'POWER-N-GLORY' (NIGHTCRIER MUSIC We're going back 18 years in time when a certain Christian Rockband called SWEET CRYSTAL released an obscure and very rare debut Tape. The Tape became that obscure that even the band couldn't find the original master Tapes. In the late 1990s however a certain magazine in Holland (Strutter of course) became aware of a new CD released by SWEET CRYSTAL and that particular record got a rave review. The band was still playing Classic AOR a la SURVIVOR and JOURNEY, and I highly recommended the band. Now a few years later the band returns to the scene with the release of a CD which contains that very rare debut Tape recording from 1985. The band did find the mastertapes and therefore this is the original record, and happily the sound and production is very good, of CD quality, so I can easily recommend this CD. It's actually a mini-CD, with 6 tracks spanning 25-minutes in total playing time. Musically it's of course pure 1980s AOR like a mix between SWEET COMFORT BAND, 80s PETRA, LE ROUX and SURVIVOR. Especially the first 3 songs ("Power and the glory", "Lead me to the rock" and "Now or never") are great uptempo AOR rockers with nice keys and catchy hooks and memorable choruses. Although their only CD from a few years ago is still their best effort, this mini-CD is highly recommended to fans of 80s AOR-Rock! More info at: http://www.nightcriermusic.com and e-mail at: info@nightcriermusic.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) Gabor Kleinbloesem Editor of Strutter'zine http://www.strutter.8m.com Detroit band Sweet Crystal have been featured previously on our old site HOTR. Now they return with a slice of retro AOR/pomp. From 1985, their superb 'Power N Glory' gets a digital resurrection. Check it out! NEW ZEALAND: SWEET CRYSTAL - POWER N GLORY [RESURRECTED MASTERS] Marq Andrew Speck - vocals, keyboards; Bill Blatter - guitars, vocals; Steve Wieser - drums RATING: 90/100 Sweet Crystal have been around for eons, and believe it or not, the band are still in operation today. Back in 2001, we interviewed Marq Andrew Speck about various aspects, and reviewed their then latest album 'Still Standing'. Well two years later, the SC boys turn up one for the books with this 6-tracker resurrected from 1985 called 'Power N Glory'. Marq says there is a bit of a story to the discovery of the original masters of this album, but it took them more than 15 years of searching, and the perseverance has paid off because the sound and the songs are worth the wait. Mid eighties era Christian AOR was populated by labels like Benson Music, Light, Refuge et al, and by bands like Allies, Twenty Twenty, and Idle Cure - all admittedly fantastic bands in their own right too. Hearing 'Power N Glory' is a direct reminder of that era, and you can't help comparing Sweet Crystal to those aforementioned acts, particularly Twenty Twenty, where the keyboard layers and fills are everywhere. Not withstanding the guitar work of Blatter which is played with razor-like precision throughout. For pomp fanatics I can reassure you that you will be blown away by the first two tracks: 'Power And The Glory', and 'Lead Me To The Rock'. Check out the keyboard run to the opening track, and start practicing on those air-keyboards of yours. To top it off, the guitar-solo from Blatter is a mind-bender. Great stuff. Third track 'Now Or Never' is a quaint eighties workout, a bit more subdued than what's gone before, followed by 'For Once In Your Lifetime', a harder edged effort, with heaps of organ and grinding guitar. The obligatory ballad 'Here, Now And Then' is a sweeping piece, very new-agey/atmospheric even, in the same zone as one-off eighties pompstersCelestium. The closing track 'Come On Over' finishes off with a bang, not a trace of keyboard to be heard in the mix, this one is all 'fire-in-the-belly' guitar oriented. Nice to see that a keyboard fronted band knows how to rock out when it counts! To summarise, this is less about where Sweet Crystal as a band are now, but more an eighties pomp harkback of yesteryear. To be honest, I'd rather be listening to this than most of todays poor excuse for modern music. Give me more please! Congrats to Marq and the guys for dragging this out of the eighties and letting all our GLORY-DAZE readers in on the action. You can purchase your copy from Target Records. Review By: George Thatcher http://www.glory-daze.com THE NETHERLANDS: SWEET CRYSTAL - POWER N GLORY [RESURRECTED MASTERS] We featured Christian melodic AOR band Sweet Crystal on our AOR Dreamzones CD sampler and "POWER N GLORY[RESURRECTED MASTERS]" is the bands first recorded mini disc going back to 1985. If you like bands from Nightranger, Asia, Journey through to Survivor and White Sister then you will love Sweet Crystal. After a pompy start with the catchy FM/Asia-ish 'Power And The Glory', the Journey, Nightranger and Survivor inspirations come into full view on the totally rocking 'Lead Me To The Rock', this is a fantastic song which will have AOR lovers in heaven thanks to it's swirling melodies, catchy addictive chorus and pompy keyboards. What is wonderful about this song is that even though it was recorded back in 1985 it is not dated and sounds amazing. 'Now Or Never' is also a very good AOR song, the chorus again is addictive as hell and this song sits up their with the likes of Aviator. 'For Once In Your Lifetime' is a more rocking track with heavier guitars and reminds me of Carl Dixon's first solo album crossed with The Works, good melodic rock. 'Here, Now And Then' is a gorgeous pompy based ballad that shows a hint of White Sister. 'Come On Over' ends this mini album on a rocking note showing yet more Journey and Nightranger influences. "POWER N GLORY [RESURRECTED MASTERS]" is a good little album, and one wonders what could have happened had Sweet Crystal been signed all those years ago, would we be linking them alongside the above mentioned bands today had they been signed? Never the less, if you like your AOR, you will love this. 80/100 Nicky Baldrian Metal Rock News www.aordreamzones.com