Album Review
*** ½ (3.5 Stars)
By Anthony Kuzminski
{Buy the record here}
- Read about Europe's 2005 live gig in Chicago here
The Swedish rock band Europe will forever be known for the infectious keyboard synch that dominates their single “The Final Countdown”. Used at virtually every timed sporting event for over two decades, it’s loathed as much as it is loved and like anything larger than life, it flat out divides people. Sadly many people only know of Europe from the hits from the The Final Countdown record, which is a misfortune because there’s more to them than meets the eye. I know what you’re thinking, but stay with me. There is far more depth to the band than anyone ever gave them credit for. By the time “The Final Countdown” crept into the Top-Ten in America, the band had been writing, recording and performing for almost seven years, something that is often unnoticed. They were a band long before the hard rock genre began flooding the marketplace with gold and platinum records. Following The Final Countdown the band released two records, 1988’s Out of This World and 1991’s Prisoners In Paradise. Both of these albums found the band broadening their creative muscles creating tunes dripping in melody, impeccable guitar and wailing keyboards. In truth, while neither yielded a hit on the same level as “The Final Countdown”, top to bottom, both were superior works to Countdown. While most other bands within the hard rock genre were writing about decadence and debauchery, Europe were writing songs that weren’t far from the classic rock staples they knew growing up from the likes of Thin Lizzy, UFO and Led Zeppelin. “Superstitious”, “Sign of the Times”, “Halfway To Heaven”, “All or Nothing” and “Talk To Me” all have a timeless quality full of contagious choruses and rave-up riffs. Both records were ignored by US audiences for a lack of promotional support. Aside from a six-week opening stint for Def Leppard in the summer of 1988 (done before the release of OOTW) the band went over seventeen years without touring the US. Prisoners In Paradise was released on September 24, 1991, one week after Nirvana’s Nevermind had been released and with minute promotional activity on US shores, the album and the band fell completely off the radar of everyone in the US. When Europe’s brand of music fell out of popularity, they decided to take a step back and take some time off and begin living their lives.
After a decade-long break, the band reconvened gather the same line-up that recorded The Final Countdown. Aside from an all too brief reunion on New Year’s Eve in 1999, the band remained dormant until sometime in 2003 when they decided to reunite for some concerts. The concerts progressed into their first studio album in thirteen years; Start from the Dark a staggering record, recorded with Countdown producer Kevin Elson, reaffirming that Europe was anything but a fluke. Seriously. Managing to incorporate the easy on the ear melodies that defined their success along with augmenting more mature lyric writing, this wasn’t an album full of nostalgia but a brave step forward forcing people to give the band a second look. Europe found themselves in an unusual predicament for 80’s rockers; they made a record that confirmed not just progression but it paid tribute to their legacy with modern panache. Ever since then the band has reached far, wide and high for heights that most would say is unattainable. Europe is one of the very few bands from the 1980’s who has surpassed their 80’s glory days creatively. Don’t let airplay and song recognition fool you, this is a band defying expectations making the best music of their career. The reaffirming Start proved to be lightning rod of inspiration that continued with 2006’s Secret Society and now with Last Look At Eden (released through earMusic) an album which may be their most accomplished to date.
Opening with an instrumental prelude followed by the title track, it finds the band well grounded and storming through the Y2K version of Europe with militaristic unwavering conviction. John Norum’s distortion-symphonic guitars provide the intrinsic melodies while Joey Tempest’s vocals command your attention unlike anything the band has attempted previously. The song isn’t subjugated by guitars or piano chords but by their bracing lyrics. (“This could be our moment, Time that we own it“) As the song reaches its exultant ending, they invite us in by growling “Come with me!” before the riveting climax pulling us in, completely readying us for the rest of the journey. “Gonna Get Ready” blastoffs amidst a rhythmic and supercharged guitar heavy performance reminiscent of their glory days. “New Love In Town” features an alluring chorus without veering into sentimental territory. The chorus of “The Beast” flies in your face amidst an effervescent performance where the band flexes their brute force as a unit. “Run With the Angels” has a jolt of buzzing guitars that hearken back to the band’s commercial prime but this time with bite. “Mojito Girl” is drenched in bluesy-metal reverb; John Norum’s guitars evokes the sounds of a bastard child of Jimmy Page & Jimi Hendrix. “Gonna Get Ready” stands as a proclamation from a band that is proving their greatest music is ahead of them and not behind. They wholly and outright are capturing the spirit of what made them break through to the mainstream without sounding passé. “In My Time” is the closest they get to a ballad on this record, but Norum’s blues guitar fills the song with a yearning desire and a heart rendering need that proves to be much more than you could envision. The album’s most illuminating and audacious track “No Stone Unturned” features back-to-back solos, one on guitar and one on organ. The arrangement is ambitious and has a larger-than-life quality to it that ventures into an avant-garde metal sound. This is the sound of a band stepping into the world of modern prog-rock while still keeping a toe in the pond of melodic rock with a dash of orchestral grooves that assault your senses leaving your mouth agape in bewilderment at the band’s command of their sound.
The twelve songs that encompass Last Look At Edenfeature more than virtuosic talents, but a band whose shared history is used adroitly to further their sonic template. This isn’t a throwback record or an album so far off their musical lineage that it would alienate their core fans. Europe appears to have found middle ground between channeling their past while feeding the fire of five distinctive musical talents that incessantly cultivate with every record. Most hard rock bands from the late 1980’s have had been incapable to evoke the magnetism that inspired their best-selling records. The key to Europe’s ongoing progression is that the band consists of the core line-up that wrote and recorded The Final Countdown. Guitarist John Norum left the group midway through the tour for that record and by reconnecting with him this past decade, they are picking up where they left off. To Norum’s credit, while his guitar is clearly up front in the mix on Eden it doesn’t engulf the songs. Instead of embracing the pop-metal sound that made the band famous, they are tackling an abundance of musical styles from classic rock to metal to progressive rock to produce an authentic sound that doesn’t feel forced. John Norum’s guitar solos are sprawling as they are bluesy and smoky-sweet while the rhythm section of John Levén and Ian Hauglan are bonded with purpose, creating a riveting backbeat that feels more like a legion of rhythm guitars instead of bass and drums. Keyboardist Mic Michaeli’s role may not be as prominent as it was at their commercial peak, but he adds ingenious flourishes never over-dominating yet fleshing out the sonic textures when needed helping create a indomitable sound. Europe’s shared history has allowed them to not just stay alive but become more than a nostalgia act, but an ongoing and ever evolving band that matters.
Laced with lyrics of resolve and songs that jump out at you amidst modern arrangements, Last Look At Eden is evidence that Europe’s initial success was no happenstance. Their accomplishments are a result of their ability to follow their own muse rather than trends. Whether you enjoy the brand of music Europe creates or not, you must respect them. On Europe’s last three records you will find a band amidst a creative revival. They are one of the few groups from the 80’s who hasn’t just survived but has grown in ways no one deemed possible and with each subsequent record as demonstrated by Last Look At Eden, Europe is a band that continues to astound. This is their moment, they own it.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
