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Honeyoon Suite was without a doubt one of the finest Canadian Melodic Rock / AOR acts during the eighties, being their founder, singer JOHNNIE 'DEE' DEGIULI, the man behind those lovable melodies.
HS returned the last decade with a couple of albums, but the general new sonic approach disappointed most the fans. In-between, Johnnie managed to release his debut solo album titled "Songs In Dee".
In this CD we find many tracks that easily could have been taken from the early works from Honeyoon Suite, although sonically Johnnie goes here for a guitar-rich Melodic Rock blending electric with acoustics, Hammond B3 organs and earthy drums.
Together with Dee in the studio were his HS band mates Ray Coburn on keyboards and Derry Grehan on guitars (the other responsible musicians of the 'classic Honeymoon' style) so the fine musical melodies are granted here.
Also other legendary Canadian icons like Rik Emett (Triumph) and Kim Mitchell (Gowan, Max Webster, solo) went into the recording sessions to provide a couple of guitar solos enriching the album's quality.
Songs like "Seriously", "Buch 15" or "Everybody Falls" indeed display that mid-eighties AOR nerve through charming melodies and Dee's special way to phrasing.
Catchy numbers as "Holiday", "Out Here" and "How" are more Melodic Rock oriented, the latter with an unmistakable Honeymoon Suite feel, while softer moments can be heard on the solo Richie Sambora-like "Setting Sun", the midtempo "The Light" and the extremely melodic closer "Life" (love the chorus), one of the highlights of this very good and complete album.
There was some troubles with the release of "Songs In Dee" at the very end of 2003: it was retired soon and then made officially available the next year but poorly distributed by a small Canadian label.
So it passed unnoticed for the major AOR/MR audience and still remains unheard by many fans of the genre, not to mention the CD is almost impossible to find these days. And believe me, it worth every bit of it.
Quite Rare and Very Good.
01 - Seriously
02 - Holiday
03 - The Light
04 - Everybody Falls
05 - Out Here
06 - How
07 - Setting Sun
08 - Buch 15
09 - Train
10 - Life
Johnnie Dee Degiuli - Lead & Background Vocals
Rob Laidlaw - Bass, Guitar, Background Vocals
Derry Grehan - Guitar
Ray Coburn - Keyboards, Hammond B3
Randy Cooke - Drums, Percussion
Rik Emmett - Guitar
Kim Mitchell - Guitar
Timothy Welsh - E-Bow, Guitar
Peter Nunn - Strings
Tara Slone - Background Vocals
JOHNNIE DEGIULI Songs In Dee
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