Europe
Out of This World

THE REVIEW

In 1986, Europe climbed the global charts with the single "The Final Countdown," preceded by "Rock the Night." By then, Europe was known worldwide, and in 1988, they set out to record another album that, however, was less successful than "The Final Countdown." Indeed, Europe, or rather, Joey Tempest, avoided continuing with the same sound as the previous album (besides, Europe never repeats themselves in any album), partly due to the departure of guitar hero John Norum, replaced by the super-fast and clean Kee Marcello, due to musical differences. Anyway, in my opinion, the main reason for Europe's musical shift was keyboardist Mic Michaeli, who was already playing with the band during the "Wings of Tomorrow" tour: the following year (1985), we see him as an official member of the band. But that's another story.

Let's move on to the album, where we see Tempest in great shape and Marcello who doesn't make us miss the old guitarist at all. A very clean, catchy hard rock, even bordering on AOR melodies: this is precisely the strong point of this record. The album opens with "Superstitious," an excellent and very worthy single, and note the stunning solo by Kee Marcello. It is followed by "Let the Good Times Rock," in full Europe style, appealing even on the first listen. A track that is definitely one of the most appreciated by Europe fans is "Open Your Heart"; in this album, we find a revisited version (decidedly more beautiful with better production) of the one from "Wings of Tomorrow." It starts with a dreamy acoustic guitar, later accompanied by Tempest's moving vocal lines, eventually exploding into a heavy riff that serves as the chorus. "More Than Meets the Eye" is one of the album's peaks, with keyboards and guitar perfectly in sync, featuring a memorable and very enjoyable chorus. The following "Coast to Coast" is a simple ballad, very slow, but also the most useless of the album. It lacks that "something" that would make it better; in my opinion, it pales a bit compared to the other tracks. With the next track "Ready Or Not," the adrenaline rises to the brain. It's the most hard-hitting track of the album, just listen to the first few seconds (with pounding drums and a "scream" from the guitar), even here, despite the heaviness of the song, the keyboards fit in well, in the chorus, they are essential, indeed contributing to making this magnificent song even more beautiful. The next one is a noteworthy track, the beautiful "Sign of the Time," a very atmospheric piece with a consistently brilliant and well-sung chorus by the talented Joey. "Just the Beginning" is a well-structured song; the keyboards form the main melody, and the song always stands out among the others. Marcello's quick solo is great, and the choice to incorporate the motif of "Superstitious" into the song's "bridge," or rather, as a base for the solo, is excellent. The next track accentuates the album's AOR stamp ("Lights and Shadows"), the song proceeds slowly, but with a main guitar riff that makes it heavy at the same time. "Tower's Callin'" is a good song, with a nice and very heavy verse riff; the song sits a level lower than the others. The ballad of the album is "Tomorrow," with a very inspired Tempest (and in this song, he plays the piano), quite moving and certainly not comparable to "Coast to Coast."

Now, the rating. I've negatively evaluated only one song on the album, so just 1/12 of the entire album, obviously not worthy of a single star, which is worth 1/5. So, 5 stars are just fine. But still, this doesn't matter much. An album that, in my opinion, should not be missing in a good rocker's collection; it's a very original album, as are all of Europe's records, moral of the story, the ENTIRE discography of Europe should not be missing for "good" music listeners (at most the first album by Europe).