Europe
Bag Of Bones

The Europe in 2012? Listening to the new album Bag of Bones, the ninth of their career, it is clear how we are facing another band. This is the fourth record after the 2004 reunion; it had already become clear in these years that the Europe of The Final Countdown had stepped aside to make way for a band with a decidedly heavier and more modern sound. The influences of the returning John Norum on guitar were also noticeable. With this Bag of Bones, in my opinion, the band's stylistic change journey is completed, reaching a musical maturity that few other rock groups can afford today.

Just start listening to Riches to Rags where the band showcases its renewed creativity, highlighted by the riffs and solos of John Norum. Joey Tempest now dedicates himself, with good results, to singing in medium-high tones, trying to accommodate the more aggressive style compared to the past adopted by his bandmates.
The single Not supposed to Sing the Blues is an excellent track and unsurprisingly chosen to launch the album; the Blues, exactly. How many notes of good old blues come out of Norum's guitar. It then continues with the rocky Firebox, enriched by the sound of the sitar just before the guitar solo. Details and peculiarities that do not seem random in the song, like the subtle yet effective keyboard sounds.

So we have Bag of Bones, starting with excellent acoustic guitar interplays between Norum and Joe Bonamassa, a U.S. guitarist known for being a member of the supergroup Black Country Communication; the bass also makes its presence felt in the slow verses and blends perfectly with the guitar parts. A very catchy chorus and another tasteful guitar solo complete what is, in my opinion, one of the best tracks. The track Requiem serves as an introduction to My Woman My Friend, a song introduced by very dark piano notes where Joey Tempest finally stands out until all the other instruments kick in, making the piece even darker and more driving.

The 70's style hard 'n' heavy dominates subsequent tracks like Demon Head and Doughouse enriched by the ever-melodic lyrics created by Tempest; Mercy You Mercy Me is perhaps the piece with the most punch of the album and is a real bomb that the five Swedes drop at the end of the album.
Worth mentioning is the acoustic Drink and a Smile which lasts only two minutes but shows something different to the listeners, proving to be more than just filler; and finally, another touch of class with the beautiful final ballad Bring It All Home. It is here that, in my opinion, the biggest difference with what Europe used to be is seen. Tempest doesn't sing (he evidently can't anymore) like in the old Carrie, trying to hit high notes, but sets himself to a simpler tone reflecting the "ballad Europe" of today, still managing to hit the mark.

The strengths of this album, in my opinion, are primarily the ability to show a mature band with new ideas, but above all, it shows a band honest with itself and its fans. These sounds, which are a mix between blues and 70s hard rock, have always been in the veins of the five Swedes and now they come out like never before. There are no more carefully constructed tracks, or at least I don't have this sensation while listening to the album.

Europe are no longer the five boys who seemed more like supermodels than musicians of the '80s, prisoners of the music business; even then they played great, but there was something, or rather there was that exaggerated importance given to image over the music that made many wrinkle their noses. With this album, those doubts or prejudices for me fade away. Europe are excellent musicians and play great rock.