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Europe (Sweden)
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February 23, 19:00
Mir 
Suddenly they were there for the whole world: Europe. And their first single, 'The Final Countdown', topped the charts in no less than 26 countries. No surprise, as the song had the success written into it: start with a catchy synthesizer riff and make it an unforgettable one, bring in the drums and blast off, have a catchy first line and a chorus that anyone can remember. Then bring in a solo, a reprise of the synthesizer hook, then go for the climax, repeating the chorus. Van Halen had done it two years before with 'Jump'.
The difference with Van Halen though was that Europe didn't feature an outrageous, womanizing legging wearing party animal singer with a whiskey soaked bariton screaming 'Whoooooaaah yeah! Running with the Devil! Whooo ah ah whoooo!!!", but a squeaky clean alt singing "We're leaving together, but still it's farewel..." while looking visibly touched in the clip. In common they had the bleached poodle haircut, however. Anyway, Europe was a neat, new group, with medolic soft-rock (or hard-pop) music, that any teenager would even propose his parents to play in the car on a long trip. Daddy would probably even put his foot down on the accelerator. Every mom's heart was won by the 2nd single, the honey-sweet 'Carrie'. Single number three, 'Rock the Night' was a bit off the already beaten path, featuring an atonal and rather incomprehensible guitar solo and lyrics as shallow as the gloss on singer Joey Tempest's lips.
And as soon as they appeared, they disappeared. They were gone. Off the planet. Never heard of again, like David Bowie's Major Tom, Tempest's inspiration for 'The Final Countdown'. Again, another one-hit-wonder risen and fallen. Or so it seems...
The truth is: Europe wasn't a new group when they came our in 1986 with that huge hit. This hit was a song from their third album, meant as an opener for their concerts in Sweden or Japan, where the audience already knew them for years. It was an accidental hit. And the group, having already celebrated quite some success in both countries, was getting tired. Their originally progressive sound was now synthesizer dominated and there were differences in opinion about the musical direction they were going to take next (this is actually another similarity to Van Halen, who struggled with exactly the same).
In 1988, when they again released an album, the field of medolic, chart-friendly rock was already taken over by the likes of Bon Jovi, Guns 'n' Roses and not to forget U2. Three years later, another attempt was largely ignored due to a new genre coming from Seattle: grunge. It was too late and the Europe members went on doing other things.
After twelve years of silence, the group reunited in 2003, almost in the original set-up of band members. 2004 saw and album release and late 2006, a tour for 2007 was announced. This tour brings Europe to Moscow (doesn't that sound symbolic?).
Now, those expecting another come-back of another group of old people trying to milk out on a hit, should review their prejudice. The band seems rather self-confident, toting a state-of-the-art website, a forum with many members and a look that tells you that Europe is far from gone. If the music matches all that, this may be an interesting gig. Check the band out on www.europetheband.com
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