Intro (Edit)

Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest and guitarist John Norum. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band’s sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements. Since its formation, Europe has released seven studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and seven videos.

The first incarnation of the band was named Force and came together in 1979, in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, and was integrated by vocalist and keyboardist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist Peter Olsson and drummer Tony Reno.

The band sent several demos to record companies, but were told that in order to be published they had to cut their hair and sing in Swedish. Two years later, Olsson left the band and was replaced by John Levén.

In 1982, Tempest’s girlfriend entered Force in the Swedish talent contest, Rock-SM. Competing against over 4,000 bands, they won the contest. The reward was a record deal with Hot Records. Tempest won the individual award for Best Lead Singer, and Norum won the award for Best Guitarist. During the contest, Force changed their name to Europe. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year, and sold well both in Sweden and Japan. The album charted at number 8 in the band’s home country and the single “Seven Doors Hotel” became a Top 10 hit in Japan.

The second album Wings of Tomorrow was released one year later and the single “Open Your Heart” got interest from CBS Records who offered them an international contract in 1985. Keyboardist Mic Michaeli was soon recruited to play in live concerts, and became an official member of the band shortly after. At the same time, Tony Reno was fired because of his lack of motivation and alleged slacking off on rehearsals. His replacement was Ian Haugland.

In September 1985, Europe started the recording of its next album with Journey producer Kevin Elson. The result was The Final Countdown which was released on May 26, 1986. The album gave the band its international breakthrough and was certified Triple Platinum in the USA and reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart. The title track, which had been based on a keyboard riff composed by Tempest as early as 1981-82, was released as the first single and became a worldwide success, peaking at number 1 in 25 countries. The power ballad “Carrie”, which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Cherokee” and a re-recorded version of “Rock the Night” were the other hits from the album.

Not satisfied with the album’s keyboard-dominated production nor the band’s commercialized image, John Norum decided to leave Europe in November 1986 to pursue a solo career.

Click to edit INTRO

History (Edit)

Kee Marcello was asked to replace him, and after some consideration decided to join the band. Marcello joined the band at their commercial peak.

The follow-up to The Final Countdown was entitled Out of This World and was released in 1988. The biggest hit from the album was “Superstitious” which peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. “Superstitious” would be the last Europe song to chart in the USA. The album was certified platinum in the States and peaked at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 1991, the album Prisoners in Paradise was released. It received limited media attention due to the explosion of the grunge movement. Although the sales were low compared to previous albums, the single “I’ll Cry for You” managed to hit number 28 on the UK charts.

Over the years, there were several reunion rumors, and on October 2, 2003 it was made official. Europe announced plans for a new album and a world tour. The band then switched back to the Final Countdown line-up, with John Norum as the only lead guitarist.

The songwriting for a new album, Start from the Dark, began early in 2003. For the recording of Start from the Dark, the band decided to work with producer Kevin Elson, who had also produced their album, The Final Countdown. The album was released on September 22, 2004, the same day that John Norum became a father.

Europe released its latest album, Secret Society on October 26, 2006. “We think it’s one of the strongest albums that Europe has ever done,” Tempest said, “There is definitely some more melodic stuff on this one. Start from the Dark was very raw and made a statement, which is cool but for us it felt like a debut album in a way, so we wanted to branch out a bit on this one and take it to new levels.”

Click to edit HISTORY

Update (Edit)

Europe is currently in the studio working on their new album. The band plans on releasing it in May 2009. In December 2008 the band launched a blog with pictures and videos from the studio and tentative song titles. The current working title for the album is More is More. The band has described it as a modern retro rock album.

Click to edit UPDATE