Reviewed by Rob Birtley

Sweet & Lynch comprise of the renowned Stryper frontman Michael Sweet and the equally renowned guitar shredder George Lynch (Lynch Mob, ex-Dokken). The twosome are helped out here by Brian Tichy (Foreigner, Whitesnake) on drums and James LoMenzo (White Lion, Megadeth) on bass. Such a line-up screams quality heavy rock with a deft melodic touch and doesn't disappoint. Sweet and Lynch were brought together by the president of Frontiers, Sweet taking up the reigns as producer and co-writing the music with Lynch. "The Wish" offers Sweet's vocals soaring high over Lynch's swirling riffs. Next up on "Dying Rose", if you close your eyes you're transported to Rodgers-era Bad Company. "Love Stays" reminds you of another blues-influenced band Mr Big with a guitar line out of the Dan Huff/Giant songbook while "Recover" is a fist-pumping rocker straight from the Stryper stable. Sweet uses every inch of his vocal range and Tichy powers the track along like an American V8. Finally the structure of "Divine" owes a debt to late Beatles music. You could imagine this being played on a roof somewhere in London. Throughout Sweet's Christian sensibilities shine through in the lyrics and the unlikely union with Lynch, whose nickname is 'Scary', is a thorough success.

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