When I was 15 years old, I discovered a guitar player, one year younger than myself, who played his instrument with heart and soul, and with a blues feeling that I'd never heard from a Swedish musician. His name was John Norum and after that day nothing would ever be the same again. Together we formed the band 'Force', started rehearsing frequently and playing local gigs. I had found a new love for writing songs and together we had a vision to become a touring rock band, just like the bands we looked up to like Thin Lizzy, UFO, and many more.
Around the same time another young man, John Leven, played bass and guitar in various local bands, with a short stint in Yngwie Malmsteen's 'Rising Force'. Mic Michaeli played keyboards in the band 'Avalon' and Ian Haugland sang and played drums in a band called 'Trilogy'. We all knew and respected each other. It wasn't long before the classic line-up of Europe was formed.
Over 1000 concerts later, we are still addicted to touring the world and pushing our limits in the recording studio. Ever since our first record in 1983, which came out as a result of winning first prize in rock band competition, we've never lost our focus. Europe started touring in Scandinavia in 1983-84 and by the time of the release of our first two records "Europe" and "Wings of Tomorrow", we also established ourselves in the Japanese market.
Managing to land a recording contract directly with CBS New York (now Sony) paved the way for our third album "The Final Countdown". For the first time we were working with an American producer, Kevin Elson, who earlier produced the band 'Journey'. That is when it really started to kick off. Radio and MTV began playing our music worldwide. We could finally do what we had always dreamt of - 'tour the world', and as a bonus, sell millions of records. When we were not on the road we were in the recording studio.
"Out of This World", the follow up to "The Final Countdown", was recorded at Olympic Studios in London. Soon after, we found ourselves on a massive world tour that lasted more than a year. From 1989-90 we set up base in California for the writing and recording of our fifth album "Prisoners In Paradise". Our American management made it possible for us to live and write in San Francisco and record in Los Angeles. After the release of "Prisoners In Paradise", we embarked on another world tour; one that would prove to be the last before taking our "break".
We all kept in touch during the years that the Europe machine was down. We had never officially disbanded and I think we all knew we would get together again. The break turned out to be a bit longer than we expected. Each member of Europe was playing or recording with other projects, and after a while I started missing my partner in crime, John Norum. In October '86, John decided to focus on solo material and left the band to live in LA. This is how Steven Tyler must have felt when Joe Perry left Aerosmith for a few years. Even though Kee Marcello did a great job playing guitar on "Out of This World" and "Prisoners in Paradise", when John was not around I always felt that something was missing.
When we teamed up with Norum to perform in Stockholm on the millennium eve in front of 500,000 people, there was no turning back! There were just a few solo contracts that needed fulfilling before we could return to "The Master Plan".
The comeback album "Start From The Dark", was recorded in Stockholm, and released in 2004. Our decision to work together again was based on a long term commitment and to record "relevant" music to slowly establish the band again. We knew this would take time and that we had to work as hard as, if not harder, than ever before. The reaction to the "Start From The Dark Tour" exceeded all expectations and soon after we returned to the studio to record our seventh album "Secret Society". The Europe machine was now in full motion.
Triumphant moments, personal tragedies, a music business that's forever changing and the Europe fans that have never given up on us - all these things have led us here today and have given us inspiration for our new album "Last Look At Eden".
It feels like we've finally made a record that has those special ingredients - classic Europe melodies together with guitar and keyboard riffs that will grow and stay with you. With experience, hopefully, some of the lyrics will reflect what's going on in our world - perhaps this time with a touch of humour and irony.
After all, it's only rock 'n roll.
// JOEY TEMPEST, JULY 14, 2009 //
