EUROPE

Live they were just a classic, hard rock band! Totally '70's, early '80's vibe. They even played a Gary Moore song as a tribute right after he died. John is such an underated player, coming from the Thin Lizzy school of guitar-playing.

Thin Lizzy meets Schenker meets Blackmore, IMHO...

TheGreatDuck wrote:

Thin Lizzy meets Schenker meets Blackmore, IMHO...

with a little Yngwie thrown in.

chewie wrote:

TheGreatDuck wrote:

Thin Lizzy meets Schenker meets Blackmore, IMHO...

with a little Yngwie thrown in.

I understand what you mean. But you must also not forget that Malmsteen and Norum comes from the same background, with the same influences. They are contemporaries. So I'm not sure Yngwie inluenced Norum all that much, they just come from the same school of guitar-playing.

kmorg wrote:

chewie wrote:

TheGreatDuck wrote:

Thin Lizzy meets Schenker meets Blackmore, IMHO...

with a little Yngwie thrown in.

I understand what you mean. But you must also not forget that Malmsteen and Norum comes from the same background, with the same influences. They are contemporaries. So I'm not sure Yngwie inluenced Norum all that much, they just come from the same school of guitar-playing.

I think it is because I heard Yngwie waaaay before Norum that I forget that they are contemporaries. In the part of the US I lived in, we didn't hear about Europe until after The Final Countdown album came out.

Bumpin' for some opinions.

I've recently revisited the first 3 Europe albums (s/t, Wings of Tomorrow and Final Countdown) and thought perhaps I need to dig a little deeper into their discography. The first 2 are slightly more "metal" and less polished and poppy as Final Countdown, but I enjoy all 3.

After the first 3 I mentioned, they have put out 7 other studio albums. Any essential albums that are "must-have"? Any that should be avoided at all costs? Any opinions, good, bad or indifferent towards their releases would be appreciated.

I was a roadie for them - in the early 90's for what that's worth

Glower wrote:

I was a roadie for them - in the early 90's for what that's worth

Cool, I guess. Not really what I was looking for here, but if you have cool stories about tag-teaming a groupie with John Norum or doing rails of coke with Joey Tempest, feel free to share.

Speaking of John Norum, are his solo albums worth exploring?

Seems like a dream job. Carry a few boxes, drink some beer, watch a live show, and afterwards be the gatekeeper for all the girls wanting to get to Joey Tempest.

At least that's how I picture it.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Glower wrote:

I was a roadie for them - in the early 90's for what that's worth

Cool, I guess. Not really what I was looking for here, but if you have cool stories about tag-teaming a groupie with John Norum or doing rails of coke with Joey Tempest, feel free to share.



Speaking of John Norum, are his solo albums worth exploring?

Yes. "Total Control" is absolutely stellar in my humble opine. Very good melodic metal with fine vocals by Goran Edman and a nice Thin Lizzy cover. I have sort of broken up Europe into 2 main eras: '83-'91 and '04-now. Out of this World and Prisoners in Paradise are good but continue on in the commercial synth driven vein of TFC; whereas, the five most recent "reunion" albums are much more 1970's influenced and blues tinged with elements of the stalwarts of that generation like UFO, Thin Lizzy, and Scorpions. Unless you are becoming a Europe die hard and have to own everything, I wouldn't bother with the two first era albums you don't have but rather get two of the last three (War of Kings and Last Look at Eden) and a live album like Live at Sweden Rock 30th Anniversary Show. Hope this info helps.

the sentinel wrote:

Out of this World and Prisoners in Paradise are good but continue on in the commercial synth driven vein of TFC; whereas, the five most recent "reunion" albums are much more 1970's influenced and blues tinged with elements of the stalwarts of that generation like UFO, Thin Lizzy, and Scorpions.

Yea, that's kinda the direction I was leaning. I'm not necessarily looking for the hits when they were popular. I'm more interested in their later material when they stripped things back a little. I can always spin Final Countdown for that taste of nostalgia if I need it, but their more recent releases have me intrigued. That's what I'm looking for. Thanks.

Anytime, brother.

Total Control and Face the Truth are both very good John Norum albums. The latter has a cover of the Thin Lizzy song Opium Trail that kicks ass!

chewie wrote:

Total Control and Face the Truth are both very good John Norum albums. The latter has a cover of the Thin Lizzy song Opium Trail that kicks ass!

His solo albums aren't just shredding instrumentals correct? He (or someone else) provides vocals for most of the tracks from what I can tell. I enjoy a good guitar instrumentalist (like Paul Gilbert), but I also appreciate guitarists that write songs with vocals (like Paul Gilbert)

MetalGuy71 wrote:

chewie wrote:

Total Control and Face the Truth are both very good John Norum albums. The latter has a cover of the Thin Lizzy song Opium Trail that kicks ass!

His solo albums aren't just shredding instrumentals correct? He (or someone else) provides vocals for most of the tracks from what I can tell. I enjoy a good guitar instrumentalist (like Paul Gilbert), but I also appreciate guitarists that write songs with vocals (like Paul Gilbert)

Not instrumental shredfests at all. I think that there is 1 instrumental on each of those albums?.?.?.
Goran Edman and John Norum both sing on Total Control and Glenn Hughes and John Norum(also a duet with Joey Tempest) both sing on Face The Truth (I have both the U.S. and European pressings of this cd because they have a couple of different tunes from each other).


I forgot that his first album has another cover...... Back On The Streets from Vinnie Vincent Invasion!

I forgot that his first album has another cover...... Back On The Streets from Vinnie Vincent Invasion!

So did I.

Huge fan of this group, definitely don't think Final Countdown deserved to be on VH1's 50 Worst songs.

Imagine him speaking these words to you -
as if over beers - one of my favs

Anyone familiar with tempest's solo work?

Anyone looking forward to this?



It kind of sounds like what Boston would sound like if Joey Tempest was their singer to me.

When I think of Europe, I automatically think of The Final Countdown. Only. This new single sounds so much better than that. I really need to look further into their recent output. Cool tune!

Red Kitty wrote:

When I think of Europe, I automatically think of The Final Countdown. Only.  This new single sounds so much better than that.  I really need to look further into their recent output.  Cool tune!

reading on Blabbermouth, this new album will come out next month sometime.....

I didn't even realize they were still recording new music, they put out a new album in 2015 too, I believe.

Quote :

When I think of Europe, I automatically think of The Final Countdown. Only. This new single sounds so much better than that. I really need to look further into their recent output. Cool tune!

I would look into Last Look at Eden first. War of Kings is pretty good, but it takes a few spins to get into as a lot of the songs are kind of plodding.

glassprison wrote:

Quote :

When I think of Europe, I automatically think of The Final Countdown. Only. This new single sounds so much better than that. I really need to look further into their recent output. Cool tune!

I would look into Last Look at Eden first. War of Kings is pretty good, but it takes a few spins to get into as a lot of the songs are kind of plodding.

Thanks! I'll do that...

These guys are really channeling Uriah Heep on the new album!