Tag: Clifton Hill
0 Honeymoon Suite – Clifton Hill (Release Year – 2008)
When word came out that Honeymoon Suite would be releasing a new album in 2008, lead singer Johnnie Dee was quoted as saying the new album would be a return to the bands roots and was he ever right. If I didn’t know better it would be easy to think the band’s latest release “Clifton Hill” was released between “the Big Prize” and “Racing After Midnight”, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because in my opinion those are Honeymoon Suite’s two best releases. The band announced the return of the original line up in 2007 and brought producer Tom Tremuth, producer of their debut album, back on board for “Clifton Hill” and the results couldn’t have turned out any better for the band. While they did have a few songs make the charts in the U.S. the band was never a household name which is unfortunate because these Canadians write some very good AOR in the same vein as Journey and fellow Canadians Loverboy.
“She Ain’t Alright” is a great way to start “Clifton Hill” off, this rocker has everything an AOR fan wants to hear. Derry Grehan inspires some great air guitar on this song and Dee’s vocals and the rest of the band sound as great as ever.
“Tired of Waiting” follows the same recipe as “She Ain’t Alright” although it is a little more radio friendly nevertheless it amounts to another solid song. Drummer Dave Betts plays this song like his life depended on it.
“Riffola” isn’t the best song on the album but it is still good, a little heavier than the first two songs. Grehan puts on another great performance and the whole band sounds just like a band that has been playing together for some 20 odd years, tight and in sync with one another.
“Ordinary” is a mid tempo song that starts off with some nice keyboards by Ray Coburn before it kicks in on the second verse.
Dave Betts is at it again, playing like his life depended on it in the opening of “the House” and the band as a whole gets back to rocking while Dee takes a stroll down memory lane thinking about growing up and how it has affected him today.
“Why Should I”, “That’s All You Got” and “Restless” are three more songs that really stand out and exemplify Honeymoon Suite.
In one fell swoop on “Clifton Hill” Honeymoon Suite were able to get back to their roots, while not dating themselves and were able to make themselves a viable band once again in today’s music scene. Hopefully this time around they will be able to make a dent in the U.S. and get the credit they deserve as a great rock band.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- She Ain’t Alright
- Tired O’ Waitin’
- Riffola
- Ordinary
- The House
- Why Should I?
- Down To Business
- Sunday Morning
- That’s All I Got
- Restless
- Separate Lives
Honeymoon Suite is:
Johnnie Dee – Vocals
Derry Grehan – Guitars
Dave Betts – Drums
Gary Lalonde – Bass
Ray Cockburn – Keyboards
5 New Honeymoon Suite Clifton Hill Audio Samples!
Frontiers Records is excited to announce the European release of the brand new HONEYMOON SUITE album entitled “Clifton Hill” on October 10th 2008.
Formed in 1982 by Derry Grehan (guitar) and Johnnie Dee (vocals and guitar), HONEYMOON SUITE have achieved well over a million album sales worldwide earning them multiple gold and platinum awards, thus becoming one of the most successful Canadian acts on the international markets. Albums such as the self-titled debut, “The Big Prize”, “Racing After Midnight” and “Monsters Under the Bed” are considered by press and fans like real classics of the Melodic Rock genre.
During the last 20 years the band had been
touring with the likes of Heart, Journey, ZZ Top, Bryan Adams, Saga, Status Quo, Aerosmith, Jethro Tull, Night Ranger and other successful classic Rock and Hard Rock bands.
Honeymoon Suite’s original line-up reformed in 2007 and after a very successful year of touring, is now on the road again for the summer of 2008. The band will continue their non-stop touring schedule with summer shows alongside Loverboy, April Wine, Kim Mitchell and other classic rock acts.
In the meanwhile Derry and Johnnie started working on a new album together with the collaboration of original debut album producer Tom Treumuth and deciding to call it “Clifton Hill,” after the Niagara Falls, ON location where the band was formed 25 years ago. Derry Grehan explains “Clifton Hill is a famous landmark right dead 
centre of all the tourist activity in Niagara Falls. The picture on the album cover was taken there back around the mid-eighties when it was still a kind of cheesy tourist trap, and we wanted to show that side of it. We of course see the whole thing differently than the millions of tourists who visit there every year. The picture is also cool because we shot our “Burning in Love” video there in the early 80’s, and that’s just what it looked like then”.
On the music included on the new album, Derry has to say that “Every time Johnnie and I sit down to write a record, the sound does progress because we have lived a lot more of life than when we were all kids. We never say “the new songs are going to sound like this or that”, but this whole new album has really been somewhat of a return musically to the sound that we had in the 80’s. It’s produced by Tom Treumuth who did our first record, so it seems we’ve all come full circle, hence the title “Clifton Hill”.
The result is a incredibly mature and inspired album with all the trademarks of the classic Honeymoon Suite sound, chock full or great rock songs and fascinating mid tempos and ballads.
Final tracklisting of “Clifton Hill” includes:
She Ain’t Alright; Tired O’ Waitin’ On You; Riffola; Ordinary; The House; Why Should I?; Down 2 Bizness; Sunday Morning; That’s All U Got; Restless; Separate Lives.
An amazing return of a truly great band, don’t miss it !
