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Europe: The Final Countdown Tour 1986-Live in Sweden (DVD)
 The year was 1986, and commercial hard rock & heavy metal, better known as "hair metal", was all the rage worldwide. A little band from Sweden called Europe had just hit it big with their album and title track of the same name, The Final Countdown, and were selling records by the boatload and filling concert venues all over the map. Now, 20 years later, we have an official live document of that magical year in the life of the band. The Final Countdown Tour 1986-Live in Sweden is the DVD that Europe fans have been waiting for, as it shows the band in all the youthful glory playing in front of a packed house in their home country. This set includes all their best songs up to that point, the title track, the hit ballad "Carrie", the hard rockin' "Cherokee" and 'Rock the Night", the catchy "Open Your Heart", plus the early gems "Wings of Tomorrow", the Deep Purple-ish "Dance the Night Away", and "Stormwind", three songs that really show their 70's hard rock roots. The sound throughout the show is excellent, and the camera work precise. Fans of John Norum's guitar work will be thrilled here, as his neo-classical shredding style is evident on each track, and his crunchy Stratocaster riffs permeate each song. Keyboard player Mic Michaeli adds more to these early songs than he does on the present day Europe material, injecting plenty of synth and Hammond tones to the pieces, giving many of the songs a symphonic flair. Joey Temptest is a great frontman, as not only did he have the perfect look for the time, with his long flowing hard, goo looks, and perfectly white teeth, but he could sing with the best of them.
As an added bonus, you get some current interviews with the band, as they look back upon that magical time, plus a picture gallery (complemented by the unreleased instrumental track "Where Men Don't Dare") , bio, and footage of the band revisiting the original studio where they recorded The Final Countdown album. It all makes for a complete and enjoyable package for Europe fans.
Track Listing
- The Final Countdown
- Wings of Tomorrow
- Ninja
- Carrie
- On the Loose
- Drum Solo
- Cherokee
- The Time Has Come
- Open Your Heart
- Rock the Night
- Stormwind
- Dance the Night Away
- Reprise: The Final Countdown
- Bonus Material-20th Anniversary Interviews, picture gallery, biography, revisting the old studio footage
Added: December 25th 2006
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:  
Related Link: Europe Website
Hits: 4498
Language: english
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Europe: The Final Countdown Tour 1986-Live in Sweden (DVD)
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-12-26 10:07:18
My Score:
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of their blockbuster album and tour for The Final Countdown, Music Video Distributors has re-issued a concert film that allows fans of the band Europe to relive the glory days of Hair Metal once again. This is also the perfect way to see the band in their prime if you were among those who were too young to enjoy them during those days and instead have only heard about it from the folks who remember and are now called the "Old School". To say that the song "The Final Countdown" was both a blockbuster and an instantly memorable hit would be an understatement as it was one of those tracks that once you heard it, you were going to find it in your audio memory banks forever. Oddly enough it would be the case whether you loved or hated the song and it's popularity made the band a juggernaut that would be the group others were measured against. The song itself was a majestic track with flourishing keyboards and not only was it living on a consistent MTV rotation and Rock radio but it also became a mainstay at sporting events worldwide. It was a song that single handedly helped to propel Europe into the stratosphere as a Hard Rock super power. This concert is chock full of great moments from the release and includes a full seven numbers from this album The Final Countdown alone. It's a concert video of a band who had risen to the top of their peers and are also on top of their game. They knew they were Rock stars and you can tell this from the level of energy that the group is displaying during the set. They are hometown heroes during this performance and it's easy for them to show just how appreciative they are for their fans. I remember seeing this concert many years ago on MTV and it just looks so much better after the remastering process has been done in terms of sonic and visual quality. The exciting performance of Joey Tempest, the bands front man, shows why his face grazed all the Rock magazines of the day while John Norum defies the senses with his stellar guitar work. He was not a typical shredder, but yet such a skilled and tasty player. Viewers get this as well as some great interview footage of the band in today's world and can also enjoy an extensive photo gallery with many unseen shots. The bonus features also deliver a segment where the band visits the very studio where they recorded the hit record and get to hear the only existing unreleased outtake from the sessions. The instrumental track "Where Men Don't Dare" that was penned by Tempest and Leven. Remember how it used to be done, go back to the eighties one more time with Europe.
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