KEEN HUE – Heydays (2019)
On a summer’s day 1978, bass player Lars-Åke loaded his amp and speaker onto his bicycle trailer, heading for the first meeting and rehearsal with guitarist Åke Nyström. Some time later, the second guitarist Stefan Morén and new drummer Peter Ytterberg joined the band.. This was the start of Swedish melodic rockers KEEN HUE.
Fast forward to 2018: Stefan came up with the idea to make new recordings of the old KEEN HUE songs and contacted his old bandmates. Everyone was on board immediately recording their ’80s songs with an updated melodic sound. So here you are, 10 freshly recorded songs written between 1981-1989: the “Heydays”, to be released via AOR Heaven tomorrow.
During the ’80s Keen Hue managed to release two melodic hard rock albums, but singer Lars-Åke Nilsson left the band in 1989, and then the music stated to change and the band split.
“Heydays” sounds like they have never really been away and all of that after 26 (!) years, and while these song were composed / originally recorded between 1981 and 1989, still sound fresh and relevant today.
“Fly Away Honey” opens with a wall of vocal harmonies and a mid-tempo pace. Right away, you get a sense of how strong Nilsson is when it comes to the vocals. It definitely has that 80’s feeling to it. The chorus is big and rich.
“Blue Girls” starts with gentle waves crashing on the shore, followed by a faster moving riff. It has a slightly darker edge as well, until the chorus comes busting in, full with melody. “Stay Around” has that classic power-ballad feeling, but also ’80s metal ballads. It moves slowly with a nice atmosphere in the verses.
“Crossfire” has a tougher, more biting sound fueled by the guitar work, then “Gimmie Love” returns to melodic hard and features another strong vocal performance.
The arrangements on “Take it or Leave it” are pretty original: a slow tune including piano and some flute.The harmonized vocals are a nice touch as well, while strings are used here as well in this highly emotive song.
“The Doctor’s Crying” has a faster and heavier sound, and it’s all about fun where the main melody bring to mind Dokken. Again, it’s Nilsson’s strong pipes the key to the sound here.
“Wasted Time” has a slower groove, but still with strong vocal harmonies. This time, they hit the sweet spot in the chorus. “Ogre King” closes the album, with a heavy and more aggressive guitar riff.
This record is nothing but a travel in time. All songs are good, in the ’80s fashion re-worked and with an updated sound. I would have preferred new material, but Keen Hue decided to give these old tunes a new shot.
Anyway, most of these songs are ‘new’ to the major public as the original Keen Hue album releases were scarce and poorly distributed back in the day.
It’s classic melodic hard stuff, very enjoyable.
01 – Fly Away Honey
02 – Blue Girls
03 – Stay Around
04 – Crossfire
05 – Gimme Love
06 – Take It or Leave It
07 – The Doctor’s Crying
08 – We Don’t Need War
09 – Wasted Time
10 – Ogre King
Lars-Åke Nilsson – Vocals
Stefan Morén – Guitar
Åke Nyström – Guitar
Kent Jansson – Bass
Peter Ytterberg – Drums
PRE ORDER:
www.amazon.co.uk/Heydays-Keen-Hue/dp/B07YMHZL8J
