Ah, yes, that iconic synth riff of The Final Countdown. Despite not being fully realized until the 1986 album of the same name, it's actually a composition which lead singer Joey Tempest had composed around 1981. The song would be released as the first single from the album, and peak at number one in twenty-five countries, leading the album itself to peak at number eight on the Billboard Hot 200.
Unfortunately, the success of the album brought with it issues for guitarist John Norum. Despite his awesome guitar licks and killer solos, he felt that the success of the album was pointing the band in a direction he didn't want to go. He was quoted as saying, "We became this teeny-bopper, bubblegum band and I hated that whole image, the spandex, poodle-rock type of thing. I was more into the heavier, guitar-oriented stuff and it seemed like the keyboards were taking over more and more, and we were becoming more commercial. So I decided to leave. I just wanted to move on and do something else." Kee Marcello was asked to replace him, and joined the band at its peak commercial success.
Europe concluded their Final Countdown tour in 1987, and by the time it was over had two additional tracks in the top thirty US charts. Carrie would reach number three, while Rock The Night would just make the cut at number thirty. Additionally, Cherokee peaked at seventy-two. The album, as a whole, would go triple platinum in the USA, double platinum in Canada, platinum in France, and gold in the UK, Netherlands, and Germany.
With expectations high, the band returned to the studio to record and release 1988's Out Of This World. Though the album would peak at nineteen on the Billboard Hot 200, and go platinum in the USA, and Sweden, as well as gold in France and Canada. However, it would overall fail to perform as expected, only spawning one Billboard Hot 100 single, Superstitious, which peaked at thirty-one.
Playing through it, the album keeps that all to familiar sound from the band, which is definitely a good thing. Despite this, it's definitely weaker than their prior release, and this is possibly from the loss of Norum. The songs just don't have the energy that typically accompanied them. Mind you this isn't because of the synthesizers taking over. Rather, it's because the band seems intent to focus on several ballads.
That's not to say there aren't hard hitting rock songs here. Personally, I dug Superstitious, Let The Good Times Rock, Ready Or Not, and Never Say Die. I'll even give a nod of approval to some of the ballads / slower paced tunes, such as, Open Your Heart, and Sign Of The Times.
Overall, it's a good album, and I must say, I don't hate my journey through the band Europe. In fact, I rather enjoyed it, and found a lot of good stuff hidden amongst the albums.
The band would release 1991's Prisoner's In Paradise, and once again set out on tour. However, by 1992, they were ready for a break, and to try something new. As such, they put the group on hiatus to pursue other projects, and as a result were dropped from Epic Records.
The core members, Joey Tempest, John Norum, John Levén, Mic Michaeli, and Ian Haugland would reform Europe in 2003, and release six additional studio albums between 2004 and 2017. They would also embark on a 40th Anniversary tour in 2023, which concluded in September of that year. Though they remain active, there's not been much further announced from the band since.
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
 |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS October 16, 1982 |
It's amazing to find out some of these bands still put out albums and toured so late. I still dig Final Countdown.
ReplyDelete