Prisoners in Paradise

Prisoners in Paradise
Studio album from Europe
Publication (s)	September 25, 1991
Label (s)	Epic Records
Format (s)	CD, LP, MC
Genre (s)	Hard rock
Title (number)	12
running time	54:49
occupation	Singing : Joey Tempest Guitar : Kee Marcello Bass : John Levén Keyboard : Mic Michaeli Drums : Ian Haugland
production	Beau Hill
Studio (s)	Enterprise Studios, Burbank
chronology Out of This World (1988) Prisoners in Paradise Start from the Dark (2004)

Prisoners in Paradise is the fifth studio album by Swedish hard rock band Europe , released in September 1991 . It is the last album the group recorded before they split up.

background

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Prisoners in Paradise   DE 38 10/28/1991 (8 weeks)   AT 32 11/17/1991 (2 weeks)   CH 17th 10/06/1991 (9 weeks)   UK 61 October 19, 1991 (1 week)   SE 9 10/09/1991 (6 weeks)

Singles

Prisoners in Paradise   SE 8th 10/23/1991 (7 weeks) I'll Cry for You   UK 29 02/01/1992 (5 weeks) Halfway to Heaven   UK 62 03/21/1992 (4 weeks)

Europe could not build on the success of The Final Countdown with the album Out of This World . The album, released in 1988, produced the hit single Superstitious , which had reached the top 40 of the music charts worldwide, but the album, which reached number 19 on the Billboard 200 in the USA and number 1 in Europe's home country Sweden , did not leave a lasting impression: All four after Superstitious published singles remained without chart success. Out of This World couldn't live up to the high expectations the band had after The Final Countdown .

The group decided to record the next album in the USA and moved to San Francisco for preparation. The recordings for Prisoners in Paradise took place under the direction of the music producer Beau Hill, who has already been responsible for numerous platinum successes by other groups (including Ratts Out of the Cellar and Invasion of Your Privacy , Warrants Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinky Rich and Cherry Pie as well as for Winger's debut album and the Successor In the Heart of the Young ) was held in Los Angeles .

But even Hill could not help Europe to the hoped-for great success: Prisoners in Paradise was released on September 25, 1991, the title song reached number 8 in the Swedish charts. The two singles that were subsequently released, I'll Cry for You and Halfway to Heaven , only made it into the British hit lists. The album reached the Swedish top ten and made it into the top 40 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but in Great Britain it only reached 61st place, while the album was not even listed in the USA. The album only received awards in Great Britain (silver record) and Sweden (platinum).

After the tour following the release of the album, the group separated, the individual musicians pursued various projects of their own or joined other musicians. But nobody spoke of an actual breakup of the group.

Track list

1. All or Nothing ( Eric Martin , André Pessis, Joey Tempest) - 3:55
2. Halfway to Heaven (Tempest, Jim Vallance) - 4:07
3. I'll Cry for You (Tempest, Nick Graham ) - 5:21
4. Little bit of Lovin ' (Tempest, Kee Marcello) - 4:48
5. Talk to Me ( Mic Michaeli , Tempest) - 4:07
6. Seventh Sign (Tempest, Michaeli, Marcello) - 4:43
7. Prisoners in Paradise (Tempest) - 5:37
8. Bad Blood (Tempest, Michaeli, Marcello) - 4:20
9. Homeland (Tempest, Michaeli, Marcello) - 4:51
10. Got Your Mind in the Gutter (Tempest, Beau Hill, Marcello) - 5:00
11. 'Til My Heart Beats Down Your Door (Brian McDonald, Fiona , Tempest, Michaeli) - 3:48
12. Girl from Lebanon (Tempest) - 4:21

Bonus title of the 2001 re-released edition:

13. Mr. Government Man (Tempest, Hill)
14. Long Time Comin ' (Tempest)

Single releases

• Prisoners in Paradise
• I'll Cry for You
• Halfway to Heaven

reception

Frank Trojan wrote in 1991 for Rock Hard that the song The Final Countdown "still weighs on the troupe like a curse", but Prisoners In Paradise is "an at least partially successful attempt to remove the utterly lousy" Out Of This World "from the song. To get away from groove ”. Fourteen songs "with an excessively long game length of almost 70 minutes" also resulted in "some gap fillers or failures", but "Prisoners In Paradise" also has "some great songs". Europe would have "certainly made the mistake of putting too many songs on the disc, half would have been more in the end". Because pieces like All or Nothing or Little Bit of Heaven would "still take your shoes off". One thinks “automatically wistfully of the old Wings of Tomorrow times”. Europe is now “light years away” from “their class” and it will be “extremely difficult for the group to build on old successes”. With an album like Prisoners In Paradise , "despite the good approaches mentioned, this will certainly no longer work."

Web links

• Official homepage of Europe

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart positions of the album:
   • Prisoners In Paradise in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de
   • Prisoners In Paradise in the Austrian charts on AustrianCharts.at
   • Prisoners In Paradise in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
   • Prisoners In Paradise on the Swedish charts on SwedishCharts.com
   • Europe in the US Billboard 200 album charts
   • Prisoners in Paradise in the Official UK Charts (English)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chart placements of the singles:
   • Prisoners in Paradise on the Swedish charts on SwedishCharts.com
   • I'll cry for you in the Official UK Charts (English)
   • Halfway to Heaven in the Official UK Charts (English)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Europe // Biography // Band, Joey Tempest, July 14th 2009 ( Memento from March 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Source: Databases for awards: DE / CH / UK / SE / US (use search queries)
5. ^ Frank Trojan in Rock Hard, No. 54 (1991)