N°102 Europe
Nú Ninja Helga Mjöll2022-05-21T16:36:22+01:00For old school glam rockers this band needs no introduction. For others, this week’s Nordic Art Sunday is the Swedish 80’s rock band Europe that rose to mega-fame in 1986 for the song “The Final countdown”.
The band was formed in 1979 by Joey Tempest, John Norum, Peter Olsson and Tony Reno. Their breakthrough on national level in Sweden was in 1982 when they won the televised Swedish Rock Championship.
In the mid-eighties Europe got signed by the American record label Epic Records and started working on their third album. It was with the release of that record that they really hit international stardom and their career skyrocketed. The album was called ”The Final Countdown” and includes the infamous title track. It received Triple Platinum in the USA and reached number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart. The title track reached number 1 in 25 countries around the world. Other classic songs from this album are Carrie and Cherokee.
Following the success of that album, Europe toured all over the world and released two more albums. But, after more than a decade together, Europe decided to take a break at the end 1992. Grunge rock was gaining popularity and glam rock was on the decline.
After about a decade-long hiatus, Europe announced their comeback. Back with a renewed energy, Europe has since then released multiple records, held a lot of concerts and been a part of all sorts of events around the world.
So far, Europe has released eleven studio albums. The latest, “Walk the Earth” came out in 2017 and received a Swedish Grammy. A year later the band was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame.
Europe’s Discography – Studio albums
- Europe (1983)
- Wings of Tomorrow (1984)
- The Final Countdown (1986)
- Out of This World (1988)
- Prisoners in Paradise (1991)
- Start from the Dark (2004)
- Secret Society (2006)
- Last Look at Eden (2009)
- Bag of Bones (2012)
- War of Kings (2015)
- Walk the Earth (2017)