Ever pick up a new album from a band you’ve been a fan of for years, only to find yourself asking, “What the hell happened?” Unfortunately, this is the exact situation I find myself in when it comes to the latest Honeymoon Suite album, Wake Me Up When the Sun Goes Down. Now just to make it clear, I’ve never considered myself a diehard HS fan. When it comes to cult AOR acts, I’ve always preferred the likes of FM and Magnum, but I digress. I have, however, always enjoyed their classic albums, and gained a whole new appreciation upon catching them live last year for their first Chicago show in forever.
Similar to fellow Canucks Loverboy, Honeymoon Suite’s brand of AOR was characterized by new wave quirkiness, pop rock pleasantries, and hard rock gusto. They were a tough act to pin down: Too sappy for the headbangers, too rockin’ for the preps. Nevertheless, the band capitalized on this unique charm, cultivating a rabid fanbase and scoring a handful of rock radio hits along the way. If you’re lucky, you’ll even hear “New Girl Now” or “Feel It Again” on your local classic schlock station’s “deep tracks weekend” or “’80s at 8” or whatever other brainless blocks they employ to maintain their fading listener base.
When it comes to present day Honeymoon Suite, Wake Me is the sound of a band who have completely abandoned their classic sound, instead opting for “modern” songs and production…and by “modern”, I mean this album would’ve sounded dated in 2012. If you played it for me blindly, I’d never in a million years guess it was Honeymoon Suite, but rather a collection of 21st century Def Leppard throwaways, complete with artificial sounding vocals, painfully tepid pop “rockers” (I use that word VERY lightly), and the obligatory banal adult contemporary ballads.
To be fair, Wake Me isn’t completely devoid of value. Wonky as the production is, harder edged cuts (again, if I can call them that) like “Way of the World” and “Crazy Life” are decent for what they are, leaving us wondering why the riffage wasn’t a greater focus of this affair. Hell, there’s even a foray into the frat-boy world of bro country, and as much as that should suck on paper, it’s shockingly one of the highlights of this outing, if only because it makes me nostalgic for those drunken nights at Old Crow Smokehouse in Wrigleyville. Aside from these, I’m struggling to think of a song on here I could pick out of a lineup.
Although it breaks my heart to barb a band I dig like Honeymoon Suite, I also can’t let longtime loyalty blind me from an album that falls short in every way possible. If they want to go “modern”, they’d best do so by templating acts like Eclipse and H.E.A.T, not latter day Bon Jovi and Keith Urban. After spinning Wake Me, I found myself immediately retreating to my favorite HS song, “Burning in Love”, for a much needed palette cleanse and reminder of what once was. Those of an old school disposition will likely do the same. Spin at your own risk!
4 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: AOR
For fans of: Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, FM