Tag: europe
1 Europe premieres “The Final Countdown ‘LIVE’ from Sweden Rock”
earMUSIC is excited to announce the UK release of Europe’s “Live At Sweden Rock – 30th Anniversary Show” (2CD, DVD and Blu-ray) on Monday 21st October 2013.
To celebrate the news, the band has premiered a stunning video clip of “The Final Countdown – Live”. Watcgh below to see the video performance of this classic song in its entirety.
On 7th June 2013, Europe took the stage in their home country Sweden for a special occasion: celebrating 30 years of rock music. The Swedish rock band celebrated this event together with 30,000 fans at the prestigious Sweden Rock Festival. Europe performed 28 songs, selecting their personal favorite moments spanning from their earlier years up to their most recent songs taken from albums including Last Look At Eden and Bag Of Bones; plus songs performed for the very first time.
Described as a greatest hits extravaganza, Europe’s headline festival performance also displayed it’s more soulful moments, especially when the band sat down to perform an emotional acoustic set. This segment of the concert gave the massive festival atmosphere an intimate club feeling before Europe returned to perform the hard rock anthems their fans have grown to love and cherish.
To pay tribute to some of their biggest rock heroes, Europe invited two very special guests to perform with them – Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy) for an electrifying version of Jailbreak and Michael Schenker (MSG, ex-UFO and Scorpions) for their tribute to UFO’s classic Lights Out.
The set list is full of treasures and surprises. Europe were determined to celebrate and enjoy their long record of hit singles including Carrie, Rock The Night, Superstitious, Open Your Heart, Last Look At Eden, Prisoners in Paradise, New Love In Town and, of course, the ever-present and always electrifying iconic rock anthem The Final Countdown.
Clocking in over 2 hours, 40 minutes of footage, and filmed with state-of-the-art hi def cameras, the concert features behind-the-scenes material, plus an exclusive interview with the band, making “Live At Sweden Rock – 30th Anniversary Show” the definitive Europe live experience!
Track Listing:
1. Intro / Riches To Rags
2. Firebox
3. Not Supposed To Sing The Blues
4. Scream Of Anger
5. Superstitious
6. No Stone Unturned
7. New Love In Town
8. In The Future To Come
9. Paradize Bay
10. Girl From Lebanon
11. Prisoners In Paradise
12. Always The Pretenders
13. Drink And A Smile
14. Open Your Heart
15. Love Is Not The Enemy
16. Sign Of The Times
17. Start From The Dark
18. Wings Of Tomorrow
19. Carrie
20. Jailbreak (featuring Scott Gorham)
21. Seven Doors Hotel
22. Drum Solo
23. The Beast
24. Let The Good Times Rock
25. Lights Out (featuring Michael Schenker)
26. Rock The Night
27. Last Look At Eden
28. The Final Countdown
DVD/Blu-ray – Bonus Features
1. Behind The Scenes Material
5 Vie’s Verses – Missing M3 Bands
We are less than a month away from this year’s M3 music festival. It’s the only festival that revisits all the best from the hair metal days and lets us party like a long lost rock star all weekend long! I really
enjoy the annual Hard Rock Hideout trip to Maryland for this festival and I think 2013 may be our best trip yet.
And while this year’s lineup doesn’t contain much to complain about (how can you complain when WASP, KIX, Jackyl, and Twisted Sister are all on the same bill?), there are a couple of bands missing that I
would really like to see. Perhaps M3 can keep them in mind for 2014.
Stryper
Stryper got screwed at last year’s festival. They had a lousy time slot, they had to cut their set short due to poor scheduling and they weren’t even allowed to play one additional song despite strong demand
from fans. It does not surprise me that they are not going to be at this year’s M3 after what happened last year. However, they should be there and they should be given a prime slot. Stryper had one of the
best performances in 2012 and had they been allowed to play a little longer, they may have had the performance of the weekend. And while I think that WASP, Twisted Sister, Bret Michaels, and KIX are
all fine headliners, Stryper would fit that bill as well. If Bret Michaels went missing and Stryper took his place, I don’t think anyone would complain. And no, that’s not a knock on Bret, it’s more of a testament
to Stryper.
White Lion
For the love of all that is holy, when are Vito Bratta and Mike Tramp going to make up and get a full on White Lion reunion together? Could it be that hard for these two guys to talk to each other for one tour?
Vito Bratta is one of the greatest guitarists to ever perform in the 80s and I still can’t understand how we haven’t seen him at one of these nostalgic festivals. I don’t think that there is any band that I would
love to see perform at a festival like M3 more than White Lion. I missed them the first time around. I didn’t get to see them tour behind Big Game. So yes, I am being a little selfish here, but White Lion was
a terrific band. If nothing else couldn’t White Lion perform at least one show? How hard would that be to coordinate? It’s not like they have much else going on. Give your fans what they want already!
Vain
While they may not have huge, memorable, chart topping hits ala White Lion and Stryper, Vain is an exceptional sleaze metal band that got their start in the 80s. Recently the band released a brand new
album of material titled Enough Rope. It was another solid album from this great band. Yet, with all the fantastic music they’ve recorded, and despite the fact that I saw several Vain T-shirts at M3’s past, Vain
continues to be left off the bill. Now, I don’t know if it’s because the promoters contacted them and Vain is not interested, but I seriously doubt that. Maybe the money isn’t right, but I am only speculating.
I do not know the reason that Vain is not performing at this year’s M3 (or any year’s M3 for that matter),
I just know that they aren’t there. And that is a disappointment. Vain is definitely an act that should be
added to the roster.
Pretty Boy Floyd
Two years ago, Pretty Boy Floyd opened the second stage and put on what I feel is one of the best performances in M3 history. It is still one of my top 5 moments in festival attendance. So why the hell
hasn’t this band been back since? Not only should Pretty Boy Floyd have returned, they should be in a prime slot on the main stage. Perhaps not a headlining slot, but the slot just before that would be good
for this band. They give a solid performance and there is no reason why the fans wouldn’t love them. All of their songs weren’t huge hits, but that doesn’t really matter. Pretty Boy Floyd is so talented as a live
act, fans will love the entire performance by the time it is over, whether they know the songs or not. The only advice that I would have for the band is to make sure they kept copies of their album(s) on hand,
because after dominating the stage, fans would want to scoop them up. Alas, it won’t matter much, because the band is not on the 2013 bill. Again, I reiterate—why the hell not?
Europe
Can someone say headliner? M3 is always looking to mix up their headlining acts and bring in bands that will draw fans. Why not reach out to Europe and get them on the bill? The band released a new album
last year and they have plenty of well known, stateside hits that would bring the audience to their feet and leave them screaming for more. “Carrie,” “Superstitious,” “Rock The Night,” and of course, “The
Final Countdown” all qualify this band to be headliners, so why haven’t we seen them at an M3 yet? Warrant has been there. Cinderella has been there. Ratt was there last year. Even Nelson has made it
to the show. Why not Europe? What is it that could be holding them back? Promoters? Demand? Pay? I have no idea, but if M3 really wanted to blow us all away in 2014, they would announce that Europe is
going to be the closer for one of the two nights. Now, I will admit that I’ve never seen the band live and I don’t know how their current live performance is—perhaps it’s not headliner worthy. But, something
tells me that is just not the case.
Those are the missing bands that I think belong at this year’s M3 Festival. What about you? Which bands do you think should be there?
4 New Video – Europe – Firebox
Europe has released a killer new video “Firebox” in support of their new album, Bag of Bones! Check it out!!
1 Europe – Bag of Bones (2012)
On April 18th, Europe released their 9th CD, Bag of Bones. If your only knowledge of Europe is the band’s mega pop metal “The Final Countdown”, you may find yourself disappointed with the band’s latest opus. This is not a pop metal CD. This is a real rock record! For you classic rock fans, Europe has offered up a tasty block of well executed rock that will sound amazing on your turntables, or “gasp” mp3 players.
Europe’s latest long player has a classic, more bluesy feel to the music. There are moments when I hear little bits of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin influence in the music, and I think that is really cool. I love the classic approach that the band took for this album. John Norum dishes out some excellent riffs, but also offers up a variety of styles which shows just how versatile of guitarist he is. Joey Tempest’s voice is as strong as ever, but I think he smartly refrains from going after those super high notes. That makes no difference on the songs on Bag of Bones, as Tempest often proves he has plenty of gas in the tank. He delivers another great vocal performance.
Bag of Bones is more of a guitar oriented album, but the music also has some excellent keyboards in it too. Mic Michaeli’s playing reminds me a lot of Jon Lord on this album. His keys and bluesy approach really enhance the songs on Bag of Bones.
There are plenty of rockin’ cuts on this disc including “Riches to Rags”, “Not Supposed To Sing the Blues”, “Firebox” and my personal favorite “Doghouse”. There really isn’t a bad song in the bunch. This is the type of album that you can listen to beginning to end, and will want to hit repeat afterwards. Bag of Bones may be a bit of a grower for some, but if you give this one a fair chance, I think you will enjoy it quite a bit.
While Bag of Bones has not had an official release in United States, you can still purchase it at a reasonable price from Amazon.com at this link.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
01. Riches to Rags
02. Not Supposed to Sing the Blues
03. Firebox
04. Bag of Bones
05. Requiem
06. My Woman My Friend
07. Demon Head
08. Drink and a Smile
09. Doghouse
10. Mercy You Mercy Me
11. Bring It All Home
Europe is:
Joey Tempest – lead and backing vocals
John Norum – guitars
John Levén – Bass
Mic Michaeli – keyboards and backing vocals
Ian Haugland – drums and backing vocals
0 New Video – Europe – Not Supposed to Sing the Blues
I absolutely love the new Europe song, “Not Supposed to Sing the Blues”! Europe has just a released a new video for the song (see below.) “Not Supposed To Sing The Blues” is on the new Europe album Bag Of Bones, which will be released on April 27th in Europe, April 30th in the UK, via earMusic/Edel. No word on a U.S. release date yet.
2 Europe’s New Single “Not Supposed To Sing The Blues” Out Now!
I just had the pleasure of listening to the new Europe single, “Not Supposed To Sing The Blues”. This song is a heavy, bluesy rocker, which almost sounds as if it came out of the Deep Purple play book. For you folks in the United Kingdom, you can purchase the single from iTunes and Amazon now. There is no official word on the U.S. Release date yet! This song needs to be released worldwide, it is great!!
“Not Supposed to Sing The Blues” is the first single of Europe’s new long player, Bag of Bones released in the UK on Monday April 30th, 2012 was produced by one of the hottest producers, Kevin Shirley, who was in charge of the overall album production as well.
“Kevin Shirley did such a great job capturing the spirit of this band. He just let us do our thing and then pushed us and our songs to the max,” states an enthusiastic Tempest. “Finally we express ourselves completely without restraint. Straight from heart and soul. It took some time but WE HAVE ARRIVED!”
You can listen to a preview of the song at this link.
0 EUROPE Unveil New Album “Bag of Bones” With Guest Appearance from Joe Bonamassa
earMUSIC is thrilled to announce the new album from Swedish rock supergroup, EUROPE. The long player, set for UK release on Monday 30th April 2012, is entitled Bag of Bones. The first single, Not Supposed To Sing The Blues, will be released digitally on Friday March 9th.
Bag of Bones is produced by Kevin Shirley. No stranger to the crème de la crème of iconic rock, Shirley has produced albums for the likes of Iron Maiden, Joe Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, Black Stone Cherry and Journey.
Contributing slide guitar to the title track Bag of Bones is blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa. “We’re honoured that Joe Bonamassa wanted to play some slide guitar on our record. We’re all big fans of his music”, says Europe front man Joey Tempest. Released on CD and vinyl formats, the album features a more straightforward rock approach.
“Why drive a VW beetle when you can drive a Rolls Royce?” asks Europe’s guitarist John Norum. “Bag of Bones is a classic rock album with lots of class. Even my mom likes it!”
“Bag of Bones” Album Track Listing:
1. Riches To Rags
2. Not Supposed To Sing The Blues
3. Firebox
4. Bag Of Bones
5. Requiem
6. My Woman My Friend
7. Demon Head
8. Drink And A Smile
9. Doghouse
10. Mercy You Mercy Me
11. Bring It All Home
0 EUROPE Confirm New Album Produced by Kevin Shirley
EUROPE, Sweden’s biggest rock band, confirm their next studio album, slated for April 2012 release, will be produced by the world’s hottest rock record producer, Kevin Shirley.
No stranger to the crème de la crème of iconic rock records, Shirley’s produced albums for Iron Maiden, Joe Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, Black Stone Cherry and Journey.
“We still feel we have one hell of a rock record to make” says Europe’s singer Joey Tempest. “Kevin’s the man for the job. We love his work with Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, and Black Stone Cherry. He’s the real deal. We’re ready to do some serious damage.”
Last week Europe met up with Shirley in Stockholm to discuss the direction of the next album. Based on reactions from the fans and media, Europe’s 2009 album ‘Last Look at Eden’ proved to be the band’s most important record since ‘The Final Countdown’. “I’ve been a big fan of Europe’s work for many years,” says Shirley. “The band is influential and highly underrated. I can’t wait to make the upcoming album their most explosive to date.”
After summer 2011, Europe will finish the promotion of Last Look at Eden tour, and will start to focus their energy on the next album produced by Shirley. “We’ve toured for one and a half years” adds Tempest. “It’s time to write and record some new songs and get back on the road again in 2012.”
The new material suggests a more straight forward rock approach evident in ‘Doghouse’ – a new song Europe performed on their recent UK tour. The song is also featured on Europe’s upcoming ‘Europe: Live at Shepherd’s Bush’ DVD, released August 2011 on earMUSIC CDs and DVDs.
earMUSIC is also about to release a limited deluxe book with pictures be Denis O’Regan. “Live Look At Eden” features exclusive live audio and the stunning performance at last year iTunes Festival in London. Recording for Europe’s new album begins in Stockholm on October 3rd, for an April 2012 release.
2 Europe’s Joey Tempest Joins Planet Rock
Joey Tempest is soon to hose his own radio show on Planet Rock! Joey will be joining Planet Rock’s Star-Studded Lineup of Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott, Alice Cooper, and Rick Wakeman who all have shows on the station.
Joey Tempest commented “Rock music has been a major part of my life, whether I am recording, touring or just listening to it. This time I’m heading into a different kind of studio and get to play the music I live and that has influenced me over the years.”
Joey Tempest’s new radio series starts November 7, 2010, and will run on Sunday evenings from 6 P.M. – 7 P.M. Planet Rock Broadcasts on Digital Radio, Sky 0110, Virgin Media 924, Freesat 730, On iPhone and Online at PlanetRock.com.
1 New Video – Europe – Last Look At Eden
Check out Europe’s latest video, “Last Look At Eden” below.
5 EUROPE – “LAST LOOK AT EDEN” UK Album Release: 14th September 09
Europe, Sweden’s biggest selling hard rock band, are pleased to announce the 14th September release of their eighth studio album “Last Look At Eden” – the first studio album since 2006’s critically acclaimed “Secret Society”. The album will be released by Edel Germany’s international rock music label earMUSIC.
TRACKLISTING
1. Prelude
2. Last Look At Eden
3. Gonna Get Ready
4. Catch That Plane
5. New Love In Town
6. The Beast
7. Mojito Girl
8. No Stone Unturned
9. Only Young Twice
10. U Devil U
11. Run With The Angels
12. In My Time
To coincide with the band’s headline appearance at the Bloodstock Festival on August 16th (www.bloodstock.uk.com), Europe will release the ‘Last Look at Eden’ 5-track mini album on Monday August 10th, featuring the album’s title track as well as a previously never-before-released live version of the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’.
After shooting to fame in 1986 with the hugely successful single ‘The Final Countdown’, Europe spent the next 10 years touring the world and released two further albums ‘Out of this World’ and ‘Prisoners in Paradise’. After taking a break from the limelight for most of the 1990’s, a break which many fans thought would be the end of the band, Europe got back together for a one-off new year’s eve performance in Stockholm in 1999 and announced their official reunion in 2003 by welcoming back original guitarist and founding member John Norum. Since then, Europe has released two studio albums – ‘Start From The Dark’ (2004) and ‘Secret Society’ (2006).
Now back and stronger than ever before, Europe gear up to release ‘Last Look at Eden’ – a monumental hard rock album packed with undeniably skilled song writing and musicianship. The album features John Norum’s signature guitar tones and proves that Joey Tempest still has one of the most powerful and gifted voices in rock music today.
From the epic title track to the melodic ballad ‘New Love in Town’ this album is on another level, less extreme than previous offering ‘Secret Society’ and with matured sound, ‘Last Look at Eden’ is a mix of all the elements that have made Europe famous the world over.
“This time we’re taking a new direction with out songs, and we’re exploring different styles,” says Tempest. “There is a definite classic rock vibe on several tracks on this album – a tip of the hat to groovin’, funkin’ 70’s rock songs, with a modern twist.”
Adds Tempest – “We’ve got a couple of great ballads, plus some thundering rock tracks that will put you flat on your ass! We’ve taken the best bits from our recent albums and taken it to a new level ‘Last Look at Eden’ is more of a Europe album than ‘Secret Society’ or ‘Start From The Dark’. We had to make those albums in order to do this.”
0 Black Label Society to Wreak Havoc in Europe This Fall!
On November 22nd in Helsinki, Finland Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society will return triumphantly to Scandinavia and Europe to wreak havoc on a 10-city tour that culminates with a headlining appearance at the Metal Hammer Hard Rock Hellfire festival on December 6.
Intermixed with the tour dates will be a UK Zakk Wylde personal appearance that will be announced shortly.
DATES:
11/22 Helsinki- House of Culture
11/23 Tempere- Pakkahuone
11/25 Stockholm- Berns
11/26 Oslo- Sentrum
11/28 Copenhagen- Amager Bio
11/29 Eindhoven- Speedfest
12/1 Milan- Alcatraz
12/2 Zurich- Rohstofflager
12/3 Cologne- Live Music Hall
12/06 North Wales – Metal Hammer’s Hard Rock Hellfire Festival – Prestatyn
2 Video – Europe – Let The Good Times Rock
I stumbled upon this Europe video the other day, and realized that I have not seen this one before. I thought I would share this with you all. This song is from the Out of This World CD, from 1988. Cool Stuff!
3 Europe – Secret Society (Release Year – 2006)
Wow…this is a pretty tough CD to review. Fans of late 80’s and early 90’s Europe may find this release a little shocking.
Secret Society has a similar sound to Start From the Dark. There are a few modern rock almost Nu-metal sounding songs.
A couple of times, I had to check the credits to see if Joey Tempest was singing. His powerhouse vocals were so toned down, it didn’t sound like the same singer. At times he sings, what seems like, an octave lower than normal.
Personally, I think Joey is one of the the best singers out there. Why would they want to mess with his voice? It is a powerful instrument that they seemed to tone down this time around.
So how are the songs? If you can get past the initial shock of an almost 180 in sound from the late 80’s and 90’s version of Europe, you might actually like this. I am actually liking it more with each listen. John Norum plays like a madman on this disc. I always new he was a good guitarist, but he picked it up big time on Secret Society.
Here is a breakdown of the tracks:
Secret Society is the first track that may make you say….wtf?! Toned down vocals but excellent guitar work. It doesn’t sound like the Europe I was most familiar with, but its a good song. Norum starts slinging his axe around quickly and sets the tempo for this record.
Joey Tempest starts to sound like himself more on Always the Pretenders. This song still has the modern rock, heavy bass feel to it. It is a pretty good track. I could see this as being a hit in the United States, if they ever would play real rock on the radio.
The Getaway Plan is a more of the modern rock, heavy bass again. This song nearly ventures into the Soundgarden territory, then jumps back out of it again, as soon as Norum starts playing. It is my least favorite track so far, but it isn’t a bad song by any means.
The pace slows down with Wish I Could Believe. This song is really growing on me. This is a well written song. Tempest and Norum both sound great.
Let the Children Play is an interesting track that almost ventures into the Nu Metal area. This is another well written and Tempest sounds pretty decent here. The song finishes with kids singing the Chorus with Tempest. It sounds better than I can describe it. You have to listen to this song to understand it.
Human After All is another mid tempo modern rocker. There is plenty of noodling by Norum here. At this point, this song is starting to sound too much like some of the others on the disc. It isn’t a stand out track to me by any means.
Ah yes………Love is Not the Enemy picks up the tempo. I really like the groove to this song. This is a great track!
A Mother’s Son starts with some piano playing, and ventures into a low tempo modern rock song. This isn’t my cup of tea, but I can see that some people may like this track. It isn’t a bad song, but it is one that I will probably skip while playing this disc.
Forever Travelling is another mid tempo song. It is just an ok track.
Brave and Beautiful Soul almost comes across sounding like a U2 track. I like U2, but I am not sure if I like Europe sounding like U2. Another track that I am not crazy about.
I was hoping that Europe would close this disc with a powerful and high tempo rocker. Devil Sings the Blues is that same mid tempo modern rock formula that the rest of the songs on this disc have. Once again, it isn’t a bad track, but it isn’t great either.
If you are looking for the Final Countdown 2006 style, you aren’t going to hear it on this record. If you can listen to Secret Society with an open mind, you may enjoy it. This is one of those CD that is pretty good through the first half and kind falls off about midway through the disc. Nonetheless, it is another solid effort from Europe.
Rating:
Out of 10
Track Listing:
- Secret Society
- Always the Pretenders
- The Getaway Plan
- Wish I could Believe
- Let the Children Play
- Human After All
- Love is not the Enemy
- Mother’s Son
- Forever Travelling
- Brave and Beautiful Soul
- Devil Sings the Blues
This video will give you a minor taste of the Europe 2006 sound.
