Tag: honeymoon suite

Album number one for Clifton Hill’s finest, and they were up and running immediately with the success of opening track New Girl Now. It exploded across North America with that hybrid sound of rock and new wave.

If you thought that was a fluke, then Burning In Love would do just as well. Hearts On Fire would have been my choice for a single as well, because the hook and chorus are so good. The band sure could write a hit single. My favourite song however is Side 2 opener Funny Business, there is more of an uptempo groove and a hint to what would come on the next two albums.

Great band and they sure put on a show when witnessed live.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

This is the third album from Niagara Falls’ finest. After the huge success of The Big Prize, the pressure was on with this release and the record company gambled by not using Bruce Fairbairn, and going for Ted Templeman instead. As with everything Ted is involved in, this sounds superb with an awesome production.

This album was aimed straight at the US radio market with four huge singles being released from it. The biggest being Love Changes Everything, which is such a cool song, and Looking Out For Number 1, both very slick tracks. For some reason Cold Look was only released in Europe, I thought that would have been a hit in the US.

They still know how to rock with tracks like Love Fever, but with a more commercial vibe and groove. My favourite track is Other Side Of Midnight, a great uptempo rocker with a superb hook and chorus.

This is what a great producer does and Ted is one of the best. Sure, the songs are awesome but that sprinkle of awesome makes a good album a great album.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

Hailing from Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), this was the band’s 2nd album released in ’85. After the success of the first album, which spawned four singles, Warner Bothers decided to throw the kitchen sink at this release to hope lightening struck twice. They got mega producer Bruce Fairbairn to produce, and Bob Rock was the engineer. Well it worked, as four singles were also released from this one.

Bad Attitude was one of those singles and opens up the album with its polished rock sound tailor made for the North American market. Second track, Feel It Again, was an even bigger hit with its huge chorus, melody, and huge production – it couldn’t fail – they had that pop/rock sound nailed down. Lost And Found has that big eighties keyboard driven sound, again with the big chorus, and everything sounds super polished. Of course the ballad rears its ugly head with What Does It Take. When the band writes such good pop/rock songs it amazes me that they are put under pressure to write them. And again, what do I know, as this was a hit also. Side 1 closes out with One By One, again with the big keyboard intro, and the guitars are a bit louder to give it that extra bounce.

Side 2 kicks off with Wounded. It’s an ok track with a bit of a cheesy lyric but the big production carries it through. Words In The Wind is up next, again with the super processed keyboards, it’s nearly a mirror image of the previous track – at least this track has a decent solo. The final single from the record is All Along You Knew and its claim to fame is that it had flute played by none other than Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. How that came about I would love to know. Once The Feeling follows and we’re back to the slick big rock sound which Fairbairn is known for. Album closer, Take My Hand, is super disappointing as it’s a ballad. Who closes an album with a ballad? Anyway, this is what an album sounds like after it’s had a million bucks thrown at it (slight exaggeration).

8/10 from The Grooveman.