| The Sweetest Drop | |
| Cover: | Peter_Murphy_-_Sweetest_Drop.jpeg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Peter Murphy |
| Album: | Holy Smoke |
| Released: | 04/1992 |
| Genre: | Alternative rock, gothic rock, art rock, new wave |
| Label: | Beggars Banquet, RCA |
| Producer: | Mike Thorne, Peter Murphy |
| Prev Title: | A Strange Kind of Love |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | You're So Close |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
"The Sweetest Drop" is a song by English musician Peter Murphy, from his fourth solo studio album, Holy Smoke (1992). Written by Murphy and Paul Statham, the song was released as the lead single off the album in 1992, through Beggars Banquet and RCA Records. The album reached number 108 on the Billboard 200 chart, while the single peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[1] [2]
A music video for the song was directed by Tim Pope.
The song builds the "miasmic" soundscapes over wall-of-sound proportions. The soundscapes are then followed by a chorus, which is described to be "rumbling in like a panzer division." The song then continues with pounding dance rhythms and muted wah-wah guitars, accompanied by the backing singers.
In his album review for Holy Smoke, Ned Raggett of Allmusic stated that the track "You're So Close" would have been a better choice as a lead single.[3] Nevertheless, another Allmusic critic Dave Thompson praised "The Sweetest Drop" in his separate track review, describing it as "the best Roxy Music song that Roxy Music never performed." He stated that the song "drifts in gently to echo the masters' Flesh and Blood/Avalon era", comparing Murphy's vocals to the former Roxy Music member Bryan Ferry. He also noted that "the influence of former bandmates Love and Rockets' "So Alive" does hang around the arrangements a little."[4]