Europe
Europe

THE REVIEW

Europe… What comes to your mind when you think of them? I hope not just “The Final Countdown”, or even worse, the new Vodafone commercial… No, no, you’re off track… A song makes the band, it is often said…

And unfortunately that’s the case with Europe; not that I don’t like “The Final Countdown,” on the contrary, I’ll say more, I like the entire album, fully aware that there is nothing atypical or innovative about them, and that they are just one of the many '80s bands, making music similar to each other, yet there is something about them that attracts me, captures me, makes me regret not having lived in those years…
And if many perhaps believe that the album “The Final Countdown” was over-commercialized, they might appreciate their first self-titled work from 1983, which in my humble opinion is enjoyable…

I had the chance to watch the video for “In The Future To Come”, the first track, and I must say you could tell they weren't rich!!! Especially from Joey Tempest’s appearance, without his usual dazzling tan, without highlights, without the super-teased hair, and especially without his moves and his fantastic stage presence, in fact, he’s standing still singing, arms crossed!!! Almost makes you laugh!!!
Enough chatter, let’s talk about the album, let’s say that in general all 9 tracks are harder compared to those of the later albums, especially after 1986… It starts with “In The Future To Come”, Joey's voice is always formidable and paired with such a distorted rhythm forms a mixture full of energy and power… The second track is “Farewell”, fantastic, with a beautiful rhythm that reminds me, I don’t know why, of “Stormwind” from the next album, “Wings Of Tomorrow”…

Then comes “Seven Doors Hotel” which is my favorite, it has a somewhat darker atmosphere and so are the words, if I'm not mistaken it is inspired by a horror movie, whose title I don’t know… I’ll find out more… The next track is “The King Will Return” featuring the magnificent guitar of John Norum, then comes track number 5, “Boyazont”, an instrumental piece, nice, very catchy, then there are the tracks “Children Of This Time”, "Paradize Bay” and “Memories” in the same vein… Track 7, “Words Of Wisdom” has a slight melancholic hint, very beautiful and melodic…
Here are the 9 tracks briefly described, it’s not much… Of course, describing an album, especially song by song is not easy, it requires significant experience and the ability to grasp the various style nuances, but in general, I can only say that the album is nice and listens to easily, indeed many rhythms stick in your mind right from a first, attentive, listening.