| Cut Above the Rest | |
| Type: | Studio album |
| Artist: | Sweet |
| Cover: | Sweet - Cut Above the Rest (U.S. Cover).jpg |
| Released: | April 1979 (US) October 1979 (UK)[1] |
| Genre: | Rock, hard rock, disco |
| Length: | 40:50 |
| Label: | Polydor, Capitol |
| Producer: | Sweet |
| Prev Title: | Level Headed |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Waters Edge |
| Next Year: | 1980 |
Cut Above the Rest is the seventh studio album by the English glam rock band Sweet, released on Polydor Records in April 1979. It was their first album release following the departure of their original lead vocalist Brian Connolly. Connolly had begun recording this album with the band at the TownHouse Studio in Shepherd's Bush, London, but his vocals were subsequently wiped and replaced by vocals from bass player Steve Priest and guitarist Andy Scott. Original outtakes of "Play All Night" and "Stay With Me" (a.k.a. "Log One/That Girl") featuring Connolly's vocals have been recovered and were released on the rarities CD Platinum Rare.
Cut Above the Rest was released with two different sleeves: one for the US/Canada/Japan/UK markets and another (a wood carving of the three members' faces) for Europe.
In their retrospective review, AllMusic described Cut Above the Rest as "a bizarre combination of the hard-rocking pop that dominated classic Sweet singles with progressive flights of fancy in a 10cc/Electric Light Orchestra vein, plus a dash of lounge lizard-ish soft rock balladry thrown in to cover all the pop/rock bases." They found that some of the excursions in this hodgepodge of styles were disastrous, but that the stronger cuts were distinctive and compelling enough to make the album as a whole memorable, albeit "too erratic" for casual listeners.
All songs written and composed by Steve Priest, Andy Scott and Mick Tucker except where noted.