Terry's Reviews
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Honeymoon Suite – Lemon Tongue Bullseye Canada – 2002 This must be the month for me to cover Canadian rock bands but you know what, I relish it. Honeymoon Suite (HMS) is a very underrated hard rock act that was moderately successful back in the 80s and excellent at balancing hard with pleasant-sounding rock elements. Honeymoon Suite actually uses qualities from progressive rock and places them in a pop hard rock setting. Not something easy to do and they are one of the few bands to do it well. |
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| LEMON TONGUE is the latest offering from two
continuing original HMS members Johnnie Dee (vocals) and Derry Grehan (guitar & back
vocals). Dee is an excellent vocalist who is able to express the inner turmoil love &
relationships bring, which he expresses in songs like "So Hard", "The Way I
Do" and "Even Now." Derry Grehan is a terrific guitar player. Never really mentioned in the press, even during the band’s more popular days, is something I find a real shame because Derry Grehan should be noticed for the skill he brings to the instrument. Grehan alternates between the rocking hard to backing the more sensitive sound of HMS. Grehan’s tone is always cool. Just listen to his heavy distorted feedback riff in the opening track "What I Know." His solo and energetic distorted riff standout in "Lemon Tongue." "Gone" has the wonderfully constructed musical space HMS has always been able to create. There is room for the vocals to mix with the music and never interfering with each other. Grehan gets a feisty tone in "Touch The Sun" and I like the how rhythm guitar leads into the solo. Grehan is amazingly crafty in "Don’t Make Me Want You" shifting between the heavy riff and acoustic rhythm track. The tiny little solo in this tune is awesome. I was hooked on Grehan’s beautiful rhythm in "Lagavulin" and the solo is a work of art. Johnnie Dee brings tremendous warmth to this song. "Radiant" is a passionate tune that is totally HMS. Speaking of progressive, HMS incorporates cello with touching acoustic guitar and Dee’s heartfelt voice with "Into Me, Into You." |
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