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The ultimate clamour, culminating in worldwide success, arose from a jingle. A manager from Stockholm asked Tempest, just as those from Ivernizzi's robiola might have asked Raoul Casadei back in the day, to come up with a riff to play while patrons were taking their seats in his venue, the 'Galaxy'.
Some time later Leven, the bassist, casually suggested: “Joey, why don't you turn this thing into a track? I think there's potential.” On the other hand, Norum, the original guitarist, remarked: “Come on, really, do we have to...?”
They didn't pay attention to him: “The Final Countdown” was born, the song, and the rest, well, you know it.
The self-titled album, driven by the single, was a global success. It broke through everywhere, making an impact at a time when the compromise between bubble-gum, glossy pop, and rock reached its peak.
Epic didn't allow the 5 members to catch their breath, and with the echoes of “The Final Countdown” still lingering in the hit parades around the world, they mandated the release of the new album for the 1988 calendar year.
John Norum had left the project midway through the tour, despite the phenomenal success.
“I was tired of the playbacks, of the keyboards overshadowing the guitar. It wasn't our sound anymore, I couldn't relate to it.”
Bidding him farewell with a prayer, the remaining 4 hastily recruited Kee Marcello.
It turned out to be a luxury move: less impetuous than the first but more technical and refined, he deftly led the new companions to the tour’s conclusion and helped brainstorm some ideas for the new album.
And, in the opinion of the one writing to you, it was one of the few positive notes.
“Out Of This World” barely manages to consolidate the band at the levels of its predecessor.
It lacks significant peaks, impulsiveness, and doesn't explore new territories. It is short of breath, struggles. Produced by Ron Nevison, desired by the band for his encouraging precedents with Kiss, Led Zeppelin, and Ozzy Osbourne, it is listened to gladly but re-listened to with the impatience of someone who wants to reach the end.
Let's try to outline the reasons. Haste, as our grandparents teach us, is a bad advisor: recording an album is no exception, save for very particular and isolated cases.
The contribution. As with the predecessor, everything fell on Tempest's shoulders, except for a collaboration with Marcello for ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ and ‘Just The Beginning’ which indeed have pleasant features.
The rest is a poorly veiled deja-vu, a bad copy of the predecessor, a tired projection into the present while winking at the past until it blinds itself.
I don’t like Tempest’s voice; although it's in tune, his approach to the microphone disturbs me, but credit has to be given to him for doing what he could, even more, even at the piano with just vocal support like in ‘Tomorrow’ which candidly closes the album.
It was unthinkable for the album to replicate the success of “The Final Countdown,” indeed it didn’t come close, though it did make an appearance everywhere and generated moderate approvals.
As often happens, enthusiasts of the genre, years later, reassessed the project. The same cannot be said for the band's members.
Marcello, who as mentioned was the mainstay both in the studio and live, reluctantly recalls Ron Nevison’s reprimands in the studio, who, never satisfied, would abruptly interrupt him during solos.
“Sounds too sticky” is the posthumous comment of the drummer, Ian Haugland.
In short, more could have been given, as Morandi, Ruggeri, and Tozzi pointed out a year earlier, adding ‘how to do it I don't know, neither do you’ and regarding “Out Of This World” that’s exactly what remains, an unfinished piece that could have been much more. More polished, more enriched, more in-depth and, for heaven's sake, better remastered by Hard Candy in 2018 which, my friends, sounds worse than in 1988.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Superstitious (04:35)
(chorus)
Keep on walking that road and I'll follow
Keep on calling my name I'll be there
And if a mirror should break
It's easy to take
Deep down I know that you care
Well I'm not superstitious - No
I'm not superstitious, I have no doubt
That there's a reason how things turn out
While things are changing from day to day
Well I keep this feeling with me all the way
And I want you to know that you're on my mind
Everyday and all of the time
(chorus)
It might be times of wonder when I'm on my own
Trying to find out if love is gone
It might make a difference, it might bring me down
But no superstition is gonna turn things around
And I want you to know that you're on my mind
Everyday and all of the time
(chorus)
So keep on walking, and we'll make things right
Yeah - Keep on dreaming, each and every night
We're gonna make it, that's what we'll do
Right to the end girl, we're gonna walk on walk on through
(chorus) - twice
03 Open Your Heart (04:05)
Days filled with joy and days filled with sorrow
I don't know just what to do
Am I happy today, am I lonely tomorrow
Everything depends on you
And I've been waitin'
For the angels to knock on my door
I've been hopin'
That everything could be like before
Open your heart and tell me what's wrong
Why can't you talk like you used to do before
I don't know if I'm weak, I don't know if I'm strong
Hey girl I can't cope anymore
And I've been waitin'...
Open your heart, let me hear you
Make up your mind, I want to hear you call
Open your heart, want to come near you
Make up your mind, before we lose it all
Maybe that time has its own way of healin'
Maybe it dries the tears in your eyes
But never changes the way that I'm feelin'
Only you can answer my cries
And I've been waitin'...
Open your heart, let me hear you...
05 Coast to Coast (04:01)
You look out that window
For someone you know
But it all looks the same and time and again
It hurts you so
You wonder if always
You'll stand on your own
But bear in your mind, you'll get through this time
You're not alone
When time seems so lonely
And your day seems too long
You wonder if you will ever get through
And still be strong
With eyes full of sadness
You stand on your own
It tears you apart, but you know in your heart
You're not alone
Coast to coast and land to land
We're together hand in hand
Coast to coast and land to land...
06 Ready or Not (04:04)
Ready or not but I waste no time
I'm headin' out with some friends of mine
Holdin' on to what we've got
Oh even if we're ready or not
Ready or not but they're back in town
The word is out that this time around
They'll be lettin' go with all they've got
Oh even if we're ready or not
Rock me til I hit that floor
Rock me til I take no more
Roch this hungry heart of mine
Rock me down right to the ground
Rock me like you never done before
Then rock me just a little more
Ready or not but for all I know
We'll be hangin' on til it's time to go
We're always there with all we've got
Oh even if we're ready or not
Ready or not but i waste no time...
Rock me til I hit that floor...
08 Just the Beginning (04:32)
I can walk on fire, it ain't stoppin' me
It's just showin' me the way
Come thunder, lightning all over me
I'd still be on my way
You can put me through loads of trouble
But in anyway
It's just the beginnin' and not the end
No use in pretendin' cause you can't win
It's just the beginnin', the beginnin'
Not the end
It's not a stange behavior, it's the way I am
Nothin' puts me down
And if a situation would get out of hand
I'd still be back around
You can put me through loads of trouble
But never bring me down
It's just the beginnin' and not the end...
I can walk on fire, it ain't stoppin' me...
You can put me through loads of trouble
But in any way
It's just the beginnin'
It's just the beginnin'
It's just the beginnin'
It's just the beginnin'
It's just the beginnin', and not the end...
09 Never Say Die (04:01)
Oh who took that shot
Well I couldn't say, I was already down
Oh who set me up
Well I couldn't say cause I saw no one around
Now I'm lyin' here in desperation
I had it all worked out
Everything I hear is consolation
I've got this feelin' youshould never say die
In my fantasy
There were days to come that I wanted so bad
Someone sold me out then it all was done
That dream was all that I had
Now I'm lyin' here in desperation...
Oh who took that shot...
Now I'm lyin' here in desperation...
10 Lights and Shadows (04:03)
One night she cam, in from the cold
Like a long lost friend, someone to hold
She said, don't ask me now
Cause what's in a name
But when I'm gone you'll never be the same
So won't you hold me now
Can't you see what I came here for
Save me now, cause I now
We'll keep on headin' through
Lights and shadows
We're talkin' lights and shadows
She came from far, with so much to tell
Cause when you're lookin' for love
You can walk through hell
Just like a ricochet, she might come and go
And one look can say more than you'll ever know
So won't you hold me now...
Oh lights and shadows
We're talkin' lights and shadows
So won't you hold me now...
Oh lights and shadows...
We keep on headin' through
Lights and shadows
11 Tower's Callin' (03:50)
All set ready to go, but little does he know
He ain't comin' back no more
All set ready to fly, into that deep blue sky
Like so many times before
Now the tower's callin', there's no reply
And there's nothin' they can do
Now the night is fallin' before their eyes
Still no one's comin through, callin'
Somewhere out in time, God knows what's on his mind
Is there a reason for his doubt
Somehow unaware just like he didn't care
There must be ways of gettin' out
Now the tower's callin', there's no reply...
12 Tomorrow (03:04)
Will you be there beside me if the world falls apart
And will all of our moments remain in your heart
Will you be there to guide me all the way through,
I wonder will you walk by my side and follow my dreams
And bear with my pride, as strong as it seems
Will you be there tomorrow
Will you be there beside me as time goes on by
And be there to hold me whenever I cry
Will you be there to guide me all the way through
I wonder will you walk by my side and follow my dreams
And bear with my pride, as strong as it seems
Will you be there
Will you be there
Will you be there tomorrow
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Other reviews
By otrebla86
A very clean, catchy hard rock, even bordering on AOR melodies: this is precisely the strong point of this record.
Kee Marcello who doesn’t make us miss the old guitarist at all.
By cliff
I want to 'un-review' an album that I had always underestimated, but now I understand that it is a good album.
Sign of the Times... blends the power of Marcello and Leven well with Michaeli’s beautiful keyboard part at the beginning.
