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Europe is a Swedish hard 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 eight studio albums, three live albums, three compilations and eight videos.

Europe rose to international fame in the 1980s with its third album The Final Countdown (1986), which became a high commercial success and sold over three million copies in the United States. Europe was one of the most successful rock acts of the 80s and sold over four million albums in the United States alone and over 16 million albums worldwide. title=Rock group Europe plan comeback The band has achieved two top 20 albums on the Billboard 200 chart (The Final Countdown and Out of This World) title=Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Europe and two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ("The Final Countdown" and "Carrie").
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. "I didn't really like the direction the band was going in," Norum said, "We became this teeny-bopper, bubblegum band and I hated that whole image, the spandex, poodle-rock type of thing. I was more into the heavier, guitar-oriented stuff and it seemed like the keyboards were taking over more and more, and we were becoming more commercial . So I decided to leave. I just wanted to move on and do something else."title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - JOHN NORUM Says EUROPE's Current Musical Direction Is Influenced By AUDIOSLAVE, VELVET REVOLVER

Kee Marcello was asked to replace him, and after some consideration decided to join the band. Marcello joined the band at its commercial peak, no less than three singles from The Final Countdown reaching the US Top 40. The following year included successful tours through Europe and the USA.

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 Tracks. "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. More touring followed, including an American tour with Def Leppard and a festival gig at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England with Bon Jovi, Skid Row and Vixen.

Europe in Hamburg 1992In September 1989, Europe did a gig at the Whisky a Go Go club in West Hollywood, California, under the pseudonym Le Baron Boys.albumlink=Prisoners in Paradise That name would later be used as a title for a much-circulated Europe bootleg, which contained demo recordings from 1989-90. Two years later, the album Prisoners in Paradise was released, but received limited media attention due to the "boom" of the grunge movement, started by Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. 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. On New Year's Eve 1991, Europe kicked off a new tour with a show at the Tokyo Dome, in which Tesla, Thunder and Metallica also performed. The show was called "Final Countdown '91".title=TOKYO DOME CITY WEB SITE

After ten years of living, recording, and touring together, Europe decided to take a break at the end of the 1992 tour. "I remember in the tour bus afterwards we were talking about where the whole thing was going and I think at the time the consensus of the band was we really felt ready for a break," Tempest said, "We felt that it was time to put some roots down and I was really into the idea of making my own solo album."title=RATHOLE.com - Fireworks Magazine: Issue 18 In that time, Tempest and Marcello released solo albums whilst the other members participated in several different projects and bands.

Reunion (1998–present)

The band members started to discuss the possibility of a Europe reunion in 1998. "Mic and Ian came over to see me in Ireland," Tempest said, "Then whilst we were there, John Norum called from LA, and we were like 'Yes, maybe now is the right time to get things started again'." For the millennium celebrations, Europe was asked to do a concert in Stockholm on New Year's Eve 1999. That would be Europe's first concert with two lead guitarists, since both John Norum and Kee Marcello had accepted to play. They played "Rock the Night" and "The Final Countdown".

John NorumOver the years, there were several reunion rumors, and on October 2, 2003 it was made official: Europe announced plans for a new album and world tour.title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - It's Official: EUROPE To Record New Album, Embark On World Tour The band then switched back to the Final Countdown line-up, with John Norum as the only lead guitarist. "There was no doubt that we wanted John back, and John wanted to get back," Tempest said, "For me it was important to get that spark going again that we had before." Kee Marcello claimed that he was too busy with his own projects. "I told them I didn't want to participate in a [1] studio album because musically, I want to go in a different kind of direction than the music Europe stands for," Marcello said, "Then we talked for a while about doing a six-piece tour – it didn't turn out that way because of different reasons."title=RATHOLE.com - Fireworks Magazine: Issue 17

The songwriting for a new album, Start from the Dark, began early in 2003. "It was just a matter of moving forward and writing songs for the new album," Tempest said, "That was always our intention. We thought that if we were gonna make a comeback, we wanted to do it properly, and that meant we wanted to write and record some new songs, a new album." For the recording of Start from the Dark, the band decided to work with producer Kevin Elson, who had also produced The Final Countdown. "We could either go with a younger producer, or we could go with someone that we knew, someone experienced who is on the same wavelength as the band," Tempest said, "So in the end we decided that Kevin would be the perfect choice."

In the summer of 2004 Europe went on a festival tour through the European continent. The concert setlists included the old hits, but also introduced the title track from Start from the Dark. The album was released on September 22, 2004, the same day that John Norum became a father. Start from the Dark featured a more modern sound compared to Europe's previous albums. "We wanted to be doing something at least that was a little bit relevant now; bit of a dry mix, detuned a bit," Tempest said, "So we felt like we didn't want to do an '80s album per se, we just wanted to start like a fresh band really."title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - EUROPE Singer: 'We Have More Great Songs Than Just The Final Countdown' Eventually, the album sold in excess of 600,000 copies worldwide.

Europe released its seventh 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."

On January 26, 2008 Europe did a semi-acoustic live concert at Nalen in Stockholm, calling the event Almost Unplugged. The band was accompanied by a string quartet and played reworked versions of its own songs, as well as cover versions of songs by bands that have influenced Europe's sound throughout the years – Pink Floyd, UFO, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy. The show was broadcast live over the Internet on Europe's official website.title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - EUROPE: Footage From Stockholm Semi-Acoustic Concert Posted Online It was released on CD on September 17, 2008Europe Announce Almost Unplugged Live Album and on DVD on August 19, 2009.

On July 23, 2008 Europe did a co-headlining concert with Whitesnake in Padua, Italy. During Whitesnake's performance of their encore "Still of the Night", Joey Tempest joined David Coverdale on stage for the last chorus.title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - EUROPE Frontman Performs With WHITESNAKE In Italy; Video Available In August 2008 Europe was the opening act for Deep Purple for two concerts in Sweden, in Linköping on August 8 and Ystad on August 9.title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - BONAFIDE To Support EUROPE And DEEP PURPLE In Sweden John Norum joined Deep Purple on stage in Ystad for a performance of "Smoke on the Water".title=The Highway Star — Purple smokes with Norum

On July 21, 2009, bassist and former member of Force, Marcel Jacob, committed suicide. He was 45 years old.title=Marcel Jacob

Europe's eighth studio album, Last Look at Eden, was released on September 9, 2009.title=Universal Music The title track was released as a single in June.title=BLABBERMOUTH.NET - EUROPE: 'Last Look At Eden' Due In August/September The band has described it as a modern retro rock album.title=Europetheband blog: Some answers... "This time, we're taking some new directions with our songs, and we're exploring different styles," they stated, "There is a definite classic rock vibe on some of the tracks... a tip of the hat to groovin', funkin' 70s rock songs - but ones we have bought into the here and now."title=Europetheband blog: New directions The second single, "New Love in Town", was released as a digital download on September 3, 2009.

Band members

Current members

  • Joey Tempest - lead vocals, acoustic & rhythm guitar¹, keyboards² (1979-1992, 2003-present)
  • John Norum - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1979-1986, 2003-present)
  • John Levén - bass (1981-1992, 2003-present)
  • Mic Michaeli - keyboards, backing vocals, rhythm guitar³ (1984-1992, 2003-present)
  • Ian Haugland - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1984-1992, 2003-present)
¹Live

²Until 1984

³Live during the Prisoners in Paradise Tour 1991-92

Former members

  • Kee Marcello - lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals (1986-1992, December 31, 1999)
  • Tony Reno - drums, percussion (1979-1984)
  • Peter Olsson - bass (1979-1981)
  • Marcel Jacob - bass (1981)

Discography

Copyright Citations

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Europe
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