Honeymoon Suite - Clifton Hill (CD)

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Nah, I'd expect something more charming from these Canadian rockers. Not that there was a season that HONEYMOON SUITE rocked the house with their songs, but there had always been some FM rock/AOR 'pathway' in much of the band's discography eager to please fans of the pre-mentioned genres. Clifton Hill will be more applicable for the taste of full-grown American 'simple' Rock devotees.
Lemon Tongue - the band's latest studio CD - was released in 2002, with Dreamland being kinda of an equivalent for the European market. Cannot recall if this/these release/releases hailed an recognition, truth is - however - the anticipation grew stronger when the first 1984 debut album's lineup (Johnnie Dee, Derry Grehan, Gary Lalonde, Dave Bets and Ray Cockbourn) teamed up to work for Clifton Hill. All three '80s' albums of HONEYMOON SUITE (1984's Honeymoon Suite, 1985's The Big Prize and 1988's Racing After Midnight) scored remarkable success, while the band offered the same-titled song to the OST of Mel Gibson's Lethal Weapon II movie.
Not enough for Clifton Hill? No, not for the solid rocker. Settled down tunes, mild production, absence of volume, a late HAREM SCAREM suspicion…the guitars job is smart and well-worked, while the band's performance is top-class. Still, dunno if more 'oriented' Rock fans can be attracted to such a songlist. A sentimental issue is the CD's title: Clifton Hill is a Niagara Falls, Ontario location where the band cut its teeth in 1983 when they were first formed. Hence, it may be of a 'memories' conceptual basis, which surely gives credit. But, for the music vibe itself, I think it's not enough for even a melodic Rock aficionado.