SWEET & LYNCH - Unified
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More Sweet Than Lynch
After an excellent debut collaboration release, Sweet and Lynch, just two years later, return with more solid melodic rock and metal. There is some really good/solid stuff here for sure, and most who enjoyed Only To Rise will find Unified in pretty much the same vein. But while I really liked the balance of Lynch’s styles with Sweet’s on the debut, to me, Unified feels a bit more Sweet than Lynch. I mean, the first two tracks could easily find their way onto a Stryper record (both musically and lyrically). I love Stryper, but I feel with this band there should be something a bit more distinctive. I think Only to Rise was able to blend the two artists effectively, but many of these songs have a strongly Sweet/Stryper vibe. And again, I don’t mean that in a negative way, just a bit surprised by the direction here. The bluesy guitar work in “Tried & True” shifts the balance in Lynch’s direction, but once again the lyrics bleed Sweet. Regardless the intent, I do like the message and the lyrics to the title track. There is some redundancy here as well – listen to the main riffs in “Heart of Fire” and “Make Your Mark” and tell me you don’t hear a lot of similarity. “Bridge of Broken Lies” has some nice guitar and vocal melodies – can’t help but wonder to whom these words are directly though. “Better Man” is one of the best songs here – great words and some tasteful guitar leads. And the album ends on a really positive note with the upbeat and uplifting “Live to Die.” In summary, Unified is a solid collection of songs, but I think the creative energy/synergy of Sweet/Lynch is not as evident here as it was on the debut. In fairness, I definitely think this will appeal more to fans of Sweet’s solo work (and even Stryper) than to fans of Lynch Mob/Dokken. [Frontiers]