Sweet & Lynch: Only to Rise review

Imagine Dokken, Stryper and Whitesnake teaming up for one giant collaboration. That’s kind of what you get with the newest project from Michael Sweet (Stryper), George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake) and James LoMenzo (Black Label Society, Megadeth, etc.). The project- simply titled Sweet & Lynch- releases their debut record, Only to Rise­, on January 20 and it’s everything you could want, expect and then some. When you put Michael Sweet and George Lynch- two of the greatest guitarists of all time- together on one record you can expect near-perfection on the guitar front but when you add Brian Tichy to the fold on drums and James LoMenzo on bass, you have a combination that’s more than just lethal. Listening to the album from start to finish the music is immaculate and flawless, showing shades of Bad Company, Journey, Boston, Def Leppard, Stryper, Dokken, Whitesnake and more juggernauts from the 70’s and 80’s- when rock and roll was in its prime. Produced by Sweet, this album is as close to the original vision of Sweet and Lynch as you can get and it pays off in the end. This album is 12 songs of pure greatness and will hopefully not be the last time we hear from the team of Sweet and Lynch. Rating: 10/10 -Reggie Edwards