2013 CD Reviews - Honeymoon Suite - The Big Prize (Reissue)

[TageRyche]

Honeymoon Suite

The Big Prize

Rock Candy Records - 2013

http://www.honeymoonsuite.com

The UK reissue label Rock Candy Records have gone and done it now. They've released the first three Honeymoon Suite albums after remastering the original recordings. While the self-titled debut album and Racing After Midnight are great albums in their own right, it was their second album, the triple platinum selling (in Canada) CD The Big Prize that really did it for me.

I know that it is a rare thing to find an album that can song for song be described as perfect, but the ten songs on this disc really do continue to stand out for me 28 years after the first release of the disc.

The remastered album comes with a new 16 page booklet that has a lengthy essay about the recording of the album. It features new interview comments from singer Johnnie Dee and guitarist Derry Grehan as well as drummer Dave Betts. Dee and Grehan also give a track by track breakdown of each song.

It had a solid pedigree in the recording of the album with the late Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Van Halen) producing and Bob Rock (Metallica, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi) mixing.

The majority of the songwriting is handled by guitarist Grehan but keyboardist  Ray Coburn did write two of the tracks.

I know that it isn't fashionable to like, much less admit to liking the music of the 1980's anymore but between the 80's heavy metal movement and the still thriving (as "melodic" rock) pop rock bands, I was and still am an emphatic fan of the era.

For me, The Big Prize is one of those albums that completely sealed the deal. The CD has big hooks, huge choruses that echo resoundingly and a superb sense of both lyrical trade-craft and a true feel for musicianship you can't help but be moved to sing along.

The power ballad "What Does It Take" ended up being one of the biggest songs the band ever had and it rings true with every standard of the 80's power ballad. There is a real depth of character to the song and I really enjoyed this portion of the lyrics:

It's not like I've been mean to you
It's not like I've got something better to do
The life I live you'll never understand
If you fly with me we'd never have to land

The album is a product of the era in that the songs are heavily interlaced with the keyboard sound so prevalent. But the good news about that is that it doesn't overshadow some rather good guitar work from Grehan.

"Wounded" opens up with a big scream from singer Dee and then a monster guitar riff rams its way into your head.

I liked how the band changed things up on the lively rocker "All Along You Knew" by using the flute as a main instrument in the song. And to top it off, the man playing the flute on the song was none other than Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. The sound of the flute mixed in with Grehan's guitar hooks was a winner in my book.

There were a couple of verses in the song that have stuck with me over the years both for the smooth way the words flow and for how they were performed:

In the cover of darkness / In the heat of the night / The roll that we burn / Outta the line of sight

Fighting, to leave but I can't pull away / She phones me I know, that you know what is going on / And I guess your silence and you get my soul

Two other songs, "Bad Attitude" (which ended up being included in a Miami Vice episode years later) and "Once The Feeling", also feature a real heavy guitar.

There's a kind of mood setting atmospheric intro to "Feel It Again" while the very slow and plaintive restrained vocals of Dee on "Take My Hand" was a different way to close out what was a highly energetic rocking album.

I find nothing wrong with nostalgia. Though sometimes that means bands who may never have had a heyday get dredged up for another go-round, the reissue of the first three Honeymoon Suite albums feature a band that showed a steady advancement in song-craft from album to album and allowed the records to stand the test of time.

[Jon]

So how does the remaster SOUND? Jeez louize peezy peeze!!

Tempted to get this one and the debut as long as they sound good.

[TageRyche]

It sounded good to me.

[Scott]

Seriously?  You didnt listen?

http://classic-rock-bottom.ning.com/forum/topics/hidden-treasures-a...

[Jon]

Me? of course I did, but you really can't judge from computer speakers. Boy, you got a little bit miffy there!

[TageRyche]

I'm not expert audiophile so I can tell you if I liked something or not. The full production values or changes are outside my area of credible knowledge.

[Scott]

miffy?  Miffy?  MIFFY?

[Jon]

That's real?

[TageRyche]

What the hell is that?

[Scott]

yup, thats real...  google "miffy" and look at the images, pretty disturbing