"There's a memorable scene in Martin Scorsese's Last Waltz when the director asks The Band's bassist what he's going to do now they're gone. The camera lingers on Rick Danko's sad, stoned reaction. Crouched over a mixing desk he mumbles about trying to make music and keep busy, before pulling his hat down over his eyes and losing himself completely in cinematic shadow. A tape rolls and after a slow picked intro his familiar voice soars. The song in question was "Sip The Wine," just one of several gorgeous ballads on this neglected 1977 release that broke the post-Band silence. If any voice deserved the epithet tortured it's Rick Danko's. It defined The Band's sound on songs like "It Makes No Difference" and "Stage Fright" and here on "Sweet Romance," "Sip The Wine" and "New Mexico" it possesses the same strange and fragile beauty. The opener "What A Town" is reminiscent of fractured Dixieland bops like "Life Is A Carnival" and "Ophelia," but misses Levon Helm's loose feel behind the kit. All the ex-members do appear however: Levon harmonises on "Once Upon A Time" and the late Richard Manuel adds keyboards to "Shake It." With comparisons inevitable, this LP has stood the test of time far better than some of The Band's later output." (Charlie Dick, Q-Magazine, Rating: 4/5)