Europe (band)

Europe
Europe live in Stockholm, Sweden (2016)
General information
Genre (s)	Hard rock , glam metal
founding	1979 as Force , 2004
resolution	1992
Website	www.europetheband.com
Founding members
Vocals , rhythm guitar	Joey Tempest
Lead guitar	John Norum
Drums	Tony Reno (until 1984)
bass	Peter Olsson (until 1981)
Current occupation
Vocals, rhythm guitar	Joey Tempest (1979–1992, since 2003)
Lead guitar	John Norum (1979–1986, since 2003)
bass	John Levén (1981–1992, since 2003)
Keyboard	Mic Michaeli (1984–1992, since 2003)
Drums	Ian Haugland (1984–1992, since 2003)
former members
bass	Marcel Jacob (1981)
Lead guitar	Kee Marcello (1986-1992)
Drums	Tony Reno (1979-1984)
bass	Peter Olsson (1979-1981)

Europe is a Founded in 1979, Swedish hard rock - band . The group achieved their greatest success in 1986 with the song The Final Countdown and the accompanying album. After the dissolution in 1992, Europe came together again in 2004.

history

Europe was founded in 1979 and was initially called "Force". In contrast to many other Swedish hard'n-heavy groups, the lyrics of the band were not written in Swedish , but in English . From the very beginning, Joey Tempest was almost entirely responsible for the songwriting . On the occasion of participation in a talent competition, the group renamed itself in 1982 to "Europe". As the winner of this competition, Europe received a recording contract with the Swedish record label Hot Records. This released the debut album Europe in 1983 , which reached number 8 in the Swedish album charts and achieved a respectable success. This was followed by a tour of Scandinavia and Japan, as well as the single release Seven Doors Hotel .

A year after the release of the debut album, the second album Wings of Tomorrow was released . In addition, the band appeared on a nationwide educational film for schools called On the Loose, represented by their singer Joey Tempest . For the film, Europe wrote the song Rock the Night in addition to the theme song , which is included again in a rearranged version on the third album. As part of the Swedish Metal Aid , the musicians appeared for charitable purposes. The album helped Europe break through in Japan. Founding member and drummer Tony Reno is said to have not been up to the success and was replaced in 1984 by Ian Haugland. In the same year Mic Michaeli became a permanent keyboarder member of Europe.

In late 1985 the band signed a contract with Epic Records . The third album The Final Countdown was developed by Kevin Elson produced , the so far with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd , Journey and Night Ranger had worked. The pre-single The Final Countdown was released in February 1986, with which Europe achieved the worldwide commercial breakthrough. The single reached number 1 on the charts in 26 countries and sold around 7.8 million times in the first two years. The album of the same name followed in the summer, was also a commercial success and sold around seven million times worldwide.

Guitarist John Norum left the band during the first part of the European tour through Scandinavia. It was officially declared that, from his point of view, the musical demands did not correspond to such commercial marketing. It later became known that Joey Tempest's supremacy within the band is said to have caused Norum to leave. He has been replaced by Kee Marcello (from Easy Action). In the winter and spring months of 1987/1988 Europe wrote the follow-up album Out of this World , produced by Ron Nevison (including Heart , Survivor , UFO ). Released in 1988, the album only sold around two million times, which was considered a failure given the high expectations. This is attributed to the lack of an anthem like The Final Countdown . The subsequent European tour for the album took place in half empty halls, and the singles Superstitious , Let the Good Times Rock and Open Your Heart only sold moderately. With Def Leppard , Europe also went on tour in the United States . The highlight was a concert in front of 60,000 fans at the Bombay football stadium .

Europe live in Hamburg

After test concerts under the pseudonym "Le Baron Boys", the next album, produced by Beau Hill and named Prisoners in Paradise , was released in 1991. This album also flopped, and the accompanying tour was just as badly attended as the one on the previous album. Europe played in Hamburg in front of only 1,500 fans. This failure is attributed to the fact that Europe did not manage to write a second super hit like The Final Countdown and to the image change that Europe had carried out in the mid to late 1980s. From the image of hard rockers, the band had developed into a pop rock band, the singer Joey Tempest was stylized as a swarm of girls, the band was reported less in music magazines and more in teen magazines like Bravo . This led the hard rock base to turn away from Europe. In 1992 the band broke up.

The band members devoted themselves to their solo careers in the following years. Joey Tempest released his first solo album in 1995, which John Norum was also involved in. Ian Haugland formed the band Trilogy, Kee Marcello Red Fun. In addition, John Levén, Ian Haugland and Mic Michaeli worked on two albums by Glenn Hughes and Brazen Abbot . Surprisingly, Europe performed at a New Year's concert in 1999/2000 in Stockholm harbor and played the band's biggest hits in front of a television audience. Both guitarists - John Norum and Kee Marcello - were on stage. At the same time, a new version of The Final Countdown appeared, which was placed in the European charts for the first time. Another three years later a double DVD was released.

With founding member John Norum on guitar, Europe announced the re-establishment in 2004, followed by the comeback album Start from the Dark . Despite positive reviews, it could not record any chart success outside of Sweden. The seventh album, Secret Society, followed in 2006 and, three years later, the eighth album Last Look at Eden , which entered the album charts for the first time since Prisoners in Paradise . During the 28th Vienna Danube Island Festival , Europe performed in front of over 80,000 concert-goers. In April 2012, the ninth studio album Bag of Bones was released .

Europe headlined the Sweden Rock Festival 2013 in Sölvesborg on June 7th and used the gig to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Scott Gorham played as a guest musician on the Thin Lizzy song Jailbreak with the group, while Michael Schenker supported them on the UFO title Lights Out . The concert was released on October 18, 2013 under the title Live at Sweden Rock - 30th Anniversary Show on double CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc . In 2017 the band performed at the Wacken Open Air .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	SE
1983	Europe	-	-	-	-	-	SE8 (8 weeks) SE	First published: March 1983
1984	Wings of Tomorrow	-	-	-	-	-	SE20 (6 weeks) SE	First published: February 1984
1986	The final countdown	DE6th gold (39 weeks)DE	AT5 (36 weeks) AT	CH1 (37 weeks) CH	UK9 gold (37 weeks)UK	US8th × 3 Triple platinum (78 weeks)US	SE1 (18 weeks) SE	First published: May 1986
1988	Out of This World	DE10 (15 weeks) DE	AT16 (4 weeks) AT	CH3 gold (14 weeks)CH	UK12 (5 weeks) UK	US19th platinum (25 weeks)US	SE1 platinum (12 weeks)SE	First published: August 1988
1991	Prisoners in Paradise	DE38 (8 weeks) DE	AT32 (2 weeks) AT	CH17 (9 weeks) CH	UK61 (1 week) UK	-	SE9 platinum (6 weeks)SE	First published: September 1991
1993	Europe 1982-1992	DE82 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	-	First published: March 1993
1999	Greatest Hits 1982-2000	-	-	-	-	-	SE47 gold (2 weeks)SE	First published: August 1999
2004	Rock the Night - The Very Best of	-	-	-	-	-	SE2 gold (20 weeks)SE	First published: February 2004
	Start from the dark	-	-	CH91 (1 week) CH	-	-	SE2 (7 weeks) SE	First published: September 2004
2006	Secret Society	-	-	CH93 (1 week) CH	-	-	SE4 (4 weeks) SE	First published: October 2006
2008	Almost Unplugged	-	-	-	-	-	SE23 (5 weeks) SE	First published: November 2008
2009	Last look at Eden	DE31 (1 week) DE	-	CH29 (2 weeks) CH	-	-	SE1 gold (22 weeks)SE	First published: September 2009
2011	Live! At Shepherd's Bush, London	DE61 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	-	First published: June 2011
2012	Bag of Bones	DE26 (1 week) DE	AT30 (2 weeks) AT	CH18 (4 weeks) CH	UK56 (1 week) UK	-	SE2 gold (17 weeks)SE	First published: April 2012
2013	Live at Sweden Rock - 30th Anniversary Show	DE66 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	SE18 (1 week) SE	First published: October 2013
2015	War of Kings	DE23 (2 weeks) DE	AT27 (1 week) AT	CH6 (3 weeks) CH	UK50 (1 week) UK	-	SE2 (5 weeks) SE	First published: March 2015
2017	Walk the Earth	DE40 (1 week) DE	AT28 (1 week) AT	CH20 (3 weeks) CH	UK69 (1 week) UK	-	SE2 (3 weeks) SE	First published: October 2017

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	SE
1985	Rock the Night The Final Countdown	DE17 (13 weeks) DE	AT11 (16 weeks) AT	CH6 (11 weeks) CH	UK12 (9 weeks) UK	US30 (13 weeks) US	SE4 (6 weeks) SE	First published: April 1985
1986	The Final Countdown The Final Countdown	DE1 (21 weeks) DE	AT1 (22 weeks) AT	CH1 (19 weeks) CH	UK1 gold (16 weeks)UK	US8 (18 weeks) US	SE1 (8 weeks) SE	First published: February 1986
	Carrie The Final Countdown	DE22 (11 weeks) DE	AT15 (12 weeks) AT	CH10 (6 weeks) CH	UK22 (8 weeks) UK	US3 (19 weeks) US	-	First published: August 1986
	Cherokee The Final Countdown	-	-	-	-	US72 (10 weeks) US	-	First published: December 1986
1988	Superstitious Out of This World	DE21 (12 weeks) DE	-	CH9 (10 weeks) CH	UK34 (5 weeks) UK	US31 (13 weeks) US	SE1 (5 weeks) SE	First published: July 1988
	Open Your Heart Out of This World	-	-	-	UK86 (3 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: October 1988
	Let the Good Times Rock Out of This World	-	-	-	UK85 (2 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: December 1988
1991	Prisoners in Paradise Prisoners in Paradise	-	-	-	-	-	SE8 (7 weeks) SE	First published: September 1991
	I'll Cry For You Prisoners in Paradise	-	-	-	UK28 (5 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: December 1991
1992	Halfway to Heaven Prisoners in Paradise	-	-	-	UK42 (4 weeks) UK	-	-	First published: February 1992
1999	The Final Countdown 2000	DE35 (6 weeks) DE	-	CH33 (6 weeks) CH	UK36 (4 weeks) UK	-	SE6th gold (10 weeks)SE	First published: December 1999
2004	Got to Have Faith Start from the Dark	-	-	-	-	-	SE21 (6 weeks) SE	First published: September 2004
2006	Always the Pretenders Secret Society	-	-	-	-	-	SE2 (4 weeks) SE	First published: October 2006
2009	Last Look at Eden Last Look at Eden	-	-	-	-	-	SE50 (2 weeks) SE	First published: June 2009
	New Love in Town Last Look at Eden	-	-	-	-	-	SE15 (19 weeks) SE	First published: September 2009

More singles

• 1983: Seven Doors Hotel
• 1984: Lyin 'Eyes
• 1984: Dreamer
• 1984: Open Your Heart
• 1984: Stormwind
• 1986: Love Chaser
• 1989: More than Meets the Eye
• 1989: Tomorrow
• 1993: Sweet Love Child
• 2004: Hero

Video albums

• 2013: Live at Sweden Rock: 30th Anniversary Show (SE:gold)

Awards for music sales

Silver record  France 1987: for the single Rock the Night Golden record  Denmark 2018: for the single The Final Countdown  France 1989: for the album Out of This World 1994: for the album Europe 1982-1992  Italy 20XX: for the single The Final Countdown  Canada 1987: for the single The Final Countdown 1988: for the album Out of This World  Netherlands 1986: for the album The Final Countdown  Norway 2004: for the album Rock the Night - The Very Best of  Spain 1988: for the album Out of This World

2 × gold record  France 1988: for the album The Final Countdown Platinum record  Finland 1987: for the album The Final Countdown  France 1986: for the single The Final Countdown  Netherlands 1986: for the single The Final Countdown 2 × platinum record  Canada 1987: for the album The Final Countdown 4 × platinum record  Spain 1987: for the album The Final Countdown

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Denmark (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	45,000	ifpi.dk
Germany (BVMI)	-	gold1	-	250,000	musikindustrie.de
Finland (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	71,707	ifpi.fi
France (SNEP)	silver1	4 × gold4th	platinum1	1,650,000	infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Italy (FIMI)	-	gold1	-	15,000	fimi.it
Canada (MC)	-	2 × gold2	2 × platinum2	300,000	musiccanada.com
Netherlands (NVPI)	-	gold1	platinum1	150,000	nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	20,000	ifpi.no ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Sweden (IFPI)	-	6 × gold6th	2 × platinum2	330,000	sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	25,000	hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae)	-	gold1	4 × platinum4th	450,000	mediafire.com
United States (RIAA)	-	-	4 × platinum4th	4,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	-	2 × gold2	-	600,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	21 × gold21st	15 × platinum15th

literature

• Stratmann, Holger (Ed.): RockHard Enzyklopädie. 700 of the most interesting rock bands from the last 30 years . Rock Hard Verlag, Dortmund 1998, ISBN 3-9805171-0-1 , p. 110 f .

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sources chart placements:
   • Europe in the German charts at OfficialCharts.de
   • Europe in the Austrian hit parade on AustrianCharts.at
   • Europe in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
   • Europe in the Official UK Charts (English)
   • Europe in the Swedish charts on SwedishCharts.com
   • Europe in the US singles and album charts of Billboard Magazine
   • The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

Commons : Europe  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Europe at Allmusic (English)
• Europe at laut.de
• Europe at 45cat.com (English)
• Europe in Rate Your Music (English)
• Europe on Chartsurfer.de