Europe

Europe began as a progressive rock outfit but only found broad acclaim after reshaping their approach into anthemic, melody-driven pop-metal. The Swedish group, originally known as Force and built around Joey Tempest on vocals, John Norum on guitar, Tony Reno on drums, and John Leven on bass, captured a national talent contest in the early 1980s that secured them a recording agreement. Following the name change to Europe and the Swedish releases of Europe and Wings of Tomorrow, they obtained a worldwide contract with Epic Records; by then Reno had departed and Ian Haugland had taken over drums while keyboardist Mic Michaeli had come aboard.

The pivotal 1986 album The Final Countdown placed Michaeli’s keyboards at the forefront, most notably supplying the central riff of the hit title track, and this shift toward polished pop hooks paid off when the record reached the Top Ten in both the U.S. and U.K. while “The Final Countdown” and “Carrie” each became Top Ten singles. Norum exited before year’s end, with Kee Marcello stepping in on guitar. The 1988 follow-up Out of This World adhered to the same blueprint and still charted successfully, though its sales fell short of the previous album’s totals. Three years afterward Europe issued their fifth studio set, Prisoners in Paradise, which included the hit title track and the midtempo ballad “I’ll Cry for You,” before disbanding the next year.

The lineup that included Norum reconvened for a New Year’s Eve show in Stockholm in 1999, prompting an official reunion announcement three years later. They then cut and released the sixth album Start from the Dark in 2004, followed by Secret Society in 2006 and Last Look at Eden in 2009—the latter of which entered at number one on the Swedish album chart. Bag of Bones arrived in 2012 with a blues-rock orientation, whereas War of Kings in 2015 delivered a heavier, doom-tinged sound laced with faint psychedelic hues and clear echoes of their early heroes Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin.

After completing a 30th-anniversary trek billed as The Final Countdown, the Swedish rockers resurfaced in 2017 with the fresh album Walk the Earth, produced by Dave Cobb and tracked at London’s Abbey Road Studios.