HONEYMOON SUITE-Hands Up

Powertrain Records

It has been a good eight years or more since we heard something from the Canadian melodic rock band Honeymoon Suite. Their last CD ‘Clifton Hill’ was released in 2008 and to be honest I thought the group had called it a day after a career that covered more than 25 years. Singer Johnny Dee and guitarist Derry Grehan have always been the core of the band, seeing countless others musicians on bass, drums and keyboards come and go and often make a return as well. In the current line up bassist Gary Lalonde, drummer Dave Betts and keyboardist Pete Nunn have shared the stage with Dee and Grehan in earlier days, left and have made a comeback. This CD has been financed by the band and their fans. Officially the band has released it as an EP, containing 7 news tracks and 2 live recordings from a show in Toronto on December 9, 2015. It is no surprise that one of the live tracks is a recording of their biggest hit ,,New Girl Now’’. If you are known with their older albums like ‘The Big Prize’ , ‘Racing After Midnight’, ‘Honeymoon Suite’, ‘Monsters Under The Bed’ and ‘Lemon Tongue’ it is fair to say that Honeymoon Suite has not changed very much. The emphasis is still on smooth songs that are a fine combination between AOR, melodic heavy rock and a small hint of pop rock. Easy listening stuff that is well produced and expeditiously performed by these crafted musicians.  And if the melodic rockers ,,Hands Up’’, ,,One Step Closer’’, ,,Never Was A Forever’’ or ,,Like The Stars’’ are your first encounter with Honeymoon Suite, I might advise you to go and dig into the past of one of the best Canadian rock bands ever. Especially the first 4 albums are very worthwhile having.