Her a message from Europe in their official web site :

 

Hello everyone,

We´re now getting very close to start recording our new album. We´ve decided to work yet again in good old Stockholm.
The rehersal & pre-production will take place this spring, starting in May, and We´re aiming to have the album recorded & mixed by July.
The plan is then to have the CD ready for release in Oct/Nov.

The production will be handled by us (Europe), and it will be recorded and engineered by Pontus Nordgren, who was also our livesound engineer during the "Start From The Dark Tour".

At the moment We have about 15-17 song ideas. Joey is writing in London. Norum in LA. Mic, Ian and Leven in Stockholm.
we will probably record 12 tracks for the CD.
Everything is running very smooth and
there is a chance we´ll meet up for one more writing session before we start the pre-production.

We have a really great feeling about the new album, and we can't wait to get started so that we can get out on the road and see you guys again.

All the best & Rock on!
/Europe

Interview Europe

Interview by mail by Joey Tempest  the 14 march 2006

Valérie and Stephan

: Can you explain us your state of mind after this long tour "Start From The Dark"? Are you happy about the welcome that we, fans, we reserved to you after this long breack? What do you think about your french fans?

J.T. What can I say. I'm back with my friends in the band. I've known them since I was a teenager. It's a good feeling. You (our audience) have been very forgiving. We've been away for a while and you guys are giving us this big welcome back. SFTD was a statement. We took a chance and I believe it paid of. It's been a great tour as well.


Stephan and Mike : Are you conscious that a lot of people in France do not know that EUROPE is back, and this because to the lack of promotion and mediatisation: is it a choice of the group? Will the promotion of the new album be different, more ambitious?
In order to make a better promotion of the band in France (with the help of the fans), don't you think it would be interesting to e-mail the informations (that the band, the management or the record company want to release) to a selection of french website ?

J.T. We've been away for a while so it will take a bit of time and effort to let people know we are back to stay. By releasing more Cd's, Dvd's and doing more tours we will slowly get back into peoples consciousness again.
When the time comes for the release of our next Cd (which I hope will be in october) I'm sure there are ways you can help us by spreading the word. We will let you know through our website.


Valérie: About, "Start From The Dark", this album is different of what you were able to make in the past. However, I think that titles as "Hero" or "Sucker" could appear on "Prisoners In Paradise" and I think that titles as " Roll with you " or "Reason" could appear on your last solo album. What do you think of it?

J.T. We wrote it in 6 months and recorded it in 40 days. It is a snapshot of that period in our lives. It was an exiting album to make.
I'm sure you can trace our other albums in there, I think thats a natural thing.


Valérie, Stephan and Mike: Concerning your voice, your way of singing is different that in the past, you rise a little less in the pointed. Is it an individual choice or is it either to protect your voice, you avoid rising too much?

J.T. I think the voice will change and evolve during a lifetime. I'm also getting into this kind of singing again.


Stephan : In the last tour we can note that there is only one acoustic ballad (Carrie), is it the will of the group of not integrate more ballad as " open your heart ", " homeland ", " tommorow ", etc....
In the bonus of the DVD we can see the rehearsal of " spirit of the underdog ", knowing that it is one of the favorite songs of the fans, why didn' you integrated it in the tour's set list?

J.T. Everyone in the band will decide together which songs that we play on the tour. We try them all out and see which of them works. Some songs also work better on the Cd than in a "live" situation.


Valérie : "Live From The Dark", it's a magnificent present that you gave us by preparing us a double DVD. I saw that it's very successful. Does it motivate you to prepare another live DVD for the next tour 2006/2007?

J.T. DVD is a new format for us and we are looking forward to filming the next one on the next tour. We are planning these things already.


Stephan and Mike : What do you think of the "battle" of fan as regards both guitarists who made the story of Europe, I want to speak about John Norum and about Kee Marcello? Are you still in contact with Kee Marcello. Could a guest appearance be possible of the next album ?

J.T. We all met Kee a couple of months ago, he seems to be doing all right. I don't think a guest appearance will happen. We had good period with Kee in the band but I guess things have moved on.




Valérie : For a long time, I ask myself a question concerning your titles of albums. I seea logical continuation in the titles and this, since "Wings of Tomorow". I explain my thoughts :
"Wings of Tomorrow": it is the preparation for a flight
"The Final Countdown" it is the lght-off the rocket
"Out Of This World ": you are "in orbit"
"Prisoners In Paradise": you are prisoniers of your success and do not know how to go out of it.
"Start From The Dark": it is the liberation, you found the solution to return to us!
Did you really "calculate" these titles, or was it fate?

J.T. I think your story is very good, Why not. Maybe on some level its right...


Mike et Stephan : SFTD is a very good, guitar oriented album. Without going back to the sound of the 80's, do you intend to give more importance, more space to the keyboards arrangements as hope a lot of fans?

J.T. There is a possibility that there will be some more space for keyboards on the next Cd. We are keeping this in mind. It is still a little bit early to tell.

Valérie : When a tour gets ready, it is you with the management and the record company that decide which countries and cities you would give show in or countries and cities do contact you to suggest you to give a gig in in their place?

J.T. We work with a company called The Agency, They are very experienced with this kind of thing. They will ask around and then book the gig's for us.


Valérie and Stephan : Shall we have the luck in France to see you somewhere else that in Paris? In an interview that Joey gave in a french magazine, he said he hopes a live french tour worthy of the name in autumn 2006. Not only Paris as last time (except Colmar for your summer tour on 2004), France is a big country.. In which French town would you like to play? Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseille for example?

J.T. I hope we can play some more city's in France next time around. I wouldn't mind at all...


Stephan : Can we hope an album and a tour every two year for the twenty next year?

J.T. We will do more albums and tours. We are back as a working band.


Valérie : Many bands take your songs, which songs and which band do you prefer. I know for example, that Edguy sing "I'll cry for you" accoustic version in live. Do you listen this? And if yes, what do you think about this version?

J.T. I have not heard that version. There have been a few "covers" of europe songs. I think it's fun to hear them.


Mike : : Do you think it could be possible to organize a meeting between the band and some French speaking fans during next tour ?

J.T. Please check with our management when the time comes.


Mike and Valérie : Do you think, one day, you should release a live album? Or will your next album be a double one (or a studio album with live titles as a bonus) for example ?

J.T. We want to release a live album. It will probably be after the next tour.


Valérie : I know a great concert hall of approximately 5000 places in my city ( Agen). It is well placed ideally geographically I mean : 200 km far from border of Spain and it is between 2 big cities of more than 300 000 inhabitants (Bordeaux and Toulouse). Would that interest you?;-)

J.T. The best thing for you to do is to contact our management or The Agency if you have a genuine proposal.

 

So, Mike, Stephan and me (Valérie), with all french fans of you, we tell you : see you soon, on your next tour in France!!

And, thank you for your music!

See you soon, Take care.......Joey

 

Thank you to Hanna from Talent Trust, Winny and Andrea from Sanctuary Records!

Valérie

reconstitution)…Days before the release on Europe’s french forum: the Europe Active Forum…

Me (Valérie): OK, everybody remembers the rules!! Every good fan of Europe that buys the DVD in a shop should replace the remaining DVD’s (if there are such things) so as to be seen by everyone! Even if that implies putting it in front of a Bon Jovi and so on…

Other members of the forum: Yes boss

Me: no don’t call me boss it upsets me…

The others: Yes boss

Me: Well… If you insist… I eventually do feel in high spirits! A VIKING’S SPIRIT!! So much the better, we are speaking of Europe !

OK everybody to his position ! Put the Europe DVD in sight ! The customer MUST see it immediately!

The others: Let’s go

Me: It’s on ! Good, mission accomplished ! I have performed my good action for Europe !

I will start by presenting the 2^nd DVD, which seems logical since it shows everything that happens before the concert in London.

Behind The Tour starts in a "Final Countdown" atmosphere, all the towns and dates of the tour Start From the Dark of October/November 2004 appear one afeter the other.

The report itself starts with the final of the Tilburg concert in Holland on the 13^th of November. 22H40, the boys leave the stage. Here we learn it’s the 21^st concert of the tour and that it’s their 1437^th in their whole career!!! They are happy with their performance.

-Hey Johnny! say Joey to John Norum

-Good Job ! answers John Norum to a chuckling Joey.

Later the group will leave for a night bus-trip for the final date of the tour. They know well the place they are about to enter, it’s the Apollo Hammersmith Theater, they had played there in 1989 and 1992.

But for the time being they are in no humour to move, the boys will relax and rest for a while. You should be aware that on stage with all the lightings the temperature is 40 degrees. That’s why Ian Haugland (drums), drags us under the shower with him… to perform "Singing in the Rain"…

At 00H30 the group leaves its room with Mark Johanson the tour manager. Fans have been waiting for 2 hours outside to meet the band. Joey finds it fantastic that fans should have so much patience ! they will all sigh autographs and take photos with their fans.

It’s 01H05, time to leave, the band says goodbye and takes the bus. They must catch the Ferry from Calais to Douvres.

4H10 boarding the Ferry in Calais. At one point we see Joey on the bridge yawning… very attractive! Arrival in Britain, we’re on the 14^th of November, the day before the concert. Joey poses in front of the Theater.

On the day of the concert, 8H00, the team starts installing the whole stage. Everything has to be ready for 16H00, that leaves just about 8H00 to prepare the Theater. The equipment is very impressive!!

17 Swedish guys work to get all this done. 5 Huge lorries with 5 tons of equipment each follow the tour ! ! Pontus Norgren, the tour’s sound engineer explains to us how a Europe live develops 95 decibels, for comparison, he tells us that a commercial aeroplane does a 100 ! ! That lets you imagine what your hears have to endure ! !

Then we see the boys preparing the rehearsal, they always play song that will not appear in the show. In this case it will be "Spirit of the Underdog" and "Heart of Stone", but I’ll come back to this later…

We see fans that tell us how excited they all are about seeing the concert. They come from everywhere, Italy, Bosnia, U.S.A., France…

At the same time a few floors underneath we see the group preparing. John with his guitar, Mic combing himself with… his fingers… Joey drinking tea and playing his guitar. He’s doing his favourite youth song written by Bobby "Blues" Bland "Ain’t no Love in the Heart of the City".

After a 45 second count-down before the show begins we see the group exiting their box and getting behind the scene. Little jumps of impatience on Joey’s part, then, The concert starts!

Taxi Diaries : this is a series of interviews of the members of Europe while they are travelling in the streets of London in a cab. Here are the different interviews:

John Norum and John Leven

Ian Haugland

Mic Michaeli

Joey Tempest

John Leven and John Norum:

The reporter asks for a word to describe each member of the group.

John Leven answers as follow:

Ian is the funny guy

Mic is the diplomat

Joey is the dreamer

The reporter then goes on to asking how they’d had the idea of reforming: Johns Norum answers that it was after the Millenium gig of the 31^st December 1999 that they gave at Stockholm where they performed The Final Countdown and Rock the Night… They didn’t start working together as early as they would have wanted to because Joey was working on his 3^rd solo album. John Norum also tells us how the album was prepared. He sent his ideas to Joey, who worked on them before sending it all back. Then they met in Sweden to work together on it.

The reporter asks what songs they best prefer to play in live:

John Leven: "

Got to Have Faith" , "Yesterday’s News" , "Sign of the Times" , "Start form the Dark" , "Flames"

John Norum: "

Yesterday’s News" , "Start form the Dark" , "Flames"…

The reporter asks what was funny about the tour:

John Norum tells about the bus’ toilet door ! !

They then go on to tell about their future dates in England, Italy and the U.S.A…

Interview on stage

John Norum introduces us to his guitars

Mic Michaeli

John Leven

Sound Check: here we see

Europe’s rehearsal with "Spirit of the Underdog". I love the way Joey sings ! It’s nice to see that they are as lively alone as they are in front of a crowd. It’s really as intense as a real live! It’s great!

Video Clip

"

Got to Have Faith", a very fast-paced video with this motorbike and the way the band is filmed. Everything shakes, it gives a rather cool effect. I love the moment where Joey goes "I’ve got the feeling…", we see the memories of the group, Europe in the 80’s…That’s nice!

"

Hero" is a nice clip mixing live performances and a reconstitution of teenage Europe. In the latter we see teenagers handing out concert tickets to themselves for Thin Lizzy in a bus. The driver seems quite upset and keeps staring at them, it’s funny ! The concert part is great ! In the end we see Ian’s son playing guitar in his room in front of a Europe poster. It’s a touching clip that reflects the lyrics quite well.

The Live

For you, I "confronted" the live. Let me explain, forgetting my own safety, I tried it with a Home cinema! you remember the 95 decibels? I was almost there….

The concert opens on a perfectly frantic "

Got to Have Faith", it’s really fast. The group is at his best, so is the audience. It creates the atmosphere immediately. That is an unbridled rhythm and songs that will connect very fast. A song like "America" is so well performed that it literaly explodes the scene. It’s big! Very big! The band leaves us no rest: their goal is to exhaust every the whole crowd by the end of the show! A keyboard opening makes us aware that "Superstitious" is about to start. Joey gives us a nice singing exercise that makes me wonder if he’s not going to do a little Indian sing song… and there again, the song really takes you, dynamism has a name: Europe !

An excellent "Wings of Tomorrow" comes next, this title is always great in live. It really hasn’t got older. Same thing for the fantastic classic "Seven Door Hotel" ! Here again

Mic offers us a good keyboard opening. Great!

A lot of things happen on stage, for the drum opening of "

Let the Good Time Rock" Ian has the audience play, during the song Joey is "offered" with a Union Jack that he uses as a cloak (Superman style!).

The first keys of "

Hero" echo, this song always has a special character. What happens between the group and the crowd is very moving. It’s huge, I can’t stop myself from shedding a tear… To get over so much emotion we needed a good "Wake Up Call". I Must tell now, if that song doesn’t turn you on then you can go straight off to bed ! Everybody’s Jumping ! Joey’s going everywhere ! What liveliness!

While Joey introduces the band Ian gives away his drum sticks. John Norum starts a guitar solo that will become the intro of "

Girl From Lebanon" . I love that song! What a guitar, and Joey really did some great singing !

then the boys exit the stage and leave poor Joey alone. He does an impressive acoustic version of "

Carrie" that everyone sings along with him. It’s beautiful ! What’s beautiful too are the close shots on Joey (I had to speak about that) they really are good. "Flames" comes next with bursting energy, it’s pure madness, flames appear. Breath Taking !

There really is no rest in this show ; as I told you, there must be no one left standing. that’s why they give a mad "Yesterday News" ! What a performance. Nice skills during the silence at the end of the song, great synchronisation to start all together again.

"Rock The Night" starts in a few keys, euphoria carries on, Joey jumps everywhere, so does the audience !

Time for the last songs: "Start from the Dark" where the audience does the chorus. Brilliant ! "Cherokee" follows frantically before "The Final Countdown".

Once more pure madness, on the stage, for the crowd.

That’s it it’s over… Ian gives his sticks away once more, Joey gives water to the audience.John Leven gets a red under bra that he hurriedly gives to Ian. Who eventually places it on his head !

What more could we say, except the fact that the boys still love playing together and we see it ? It’s magnificent to see this smile on Joey’s face, and the understanding that these five musicians share. I will end by saying that Joey is a really brilliant singer, because having such a stage performance while keeping a right voice during the whole concert… Mr Tempest’s the best ! You are a great Artist to say the least ! You are five great Artists.

Thanks for all these great moments and big luck for the future, because this is just a beginning and the fans will always be there !

My note is 10/10

Chronic write by me (Valérie), traduct in english by

william.johanson@rockstage-netmag.net

 

EUROPE : Start From The Dark

 

After 12 years absence Swedish are coming back with this so peachy and dynamic new album. John Norum is back with guitar as Kee Marcelo busy with another project did not joinded them.

During such a long absence, boys have made a lot by themselves. Their experience of 1999.31.12 at Stockholm where they had played in front of thousands of spectators, made them think to play together again.

It was the time for Europe to "Start From The Dark"...

We are very far from "The final countdown" time and from such type of melody full of

synthesizer.

Very heavy beginning with "go to have faith" (trendy, peachy !). This song announced the album musical type : very strong, they have it done brilliantly ! and with a little melodic touch on refrain level.In that register there is "America" and "Song 12" well heavy with a special mention to "Spirit of the underdog" very heavy too, with a sublime piano introduction. It's one of the few songs here one can hear keyboard so clearly . So great !

The album is made as well with dark and heavy titles, as for "Start of the dark" and "Flames", both with big, heavy sound guitar-bass, rythm is haunting your head, most of all in "Flames" and going on with John Leven's bass so performing wonders ! What a performance !

"Hero" is the ballad of the album. And there is the typical Europe sound. That song could appear in "Prisoneer in Paradise" (released in 1991). Sometimes I feel like if this melody was starting on "Prisoneer in Paradise". Such melody is really splendid because of its words too. Joey Tempest tell us how he's filled with admiration for a group of which he's fan. And it's really the same we feel for Europe group. And it's so moving !

On the ballad register, we can add "Settle for love" that is an electro acoustic song of attracting attention. Good tempo, good rythm, pretty voice. Such song could take place in "Azalea place" or in "a place to call home" from Joey Tempest (solo).

Concerning song with "fun" rythm, there's "Wake up call" and "Sucker", both are very dynamic songs. There, no surprise, it sounds like the typical Europe. Mention of the past time is still present but with modern sound of years 2000. Such sound is enthusiastic and you can't feel emotionless.

Concerning "Reason" and "Roll with you" I would say that both songs make me think to the Joey Tempest last solo album, but more punchy ! These are magnificent, gloomy shaded melodies. And it's so beautiful !

To sum up, that album is a clever mix between a typical sound of years 2000, with the typical sound of Europe, that everybody knows, with the influence of Joey playing solo. In my opinion it's fully successful and, beeing honest, I'm with nostalgia from "the time of Europe". But I don't insist anymore ! I'm not at all deceived . I love that album ! John Norum return playing guitar is important I think in that heavy and agressive side but it's great ! To tone it down, synthesizer is missing very much. Mic Michaeli's services would be so nice if done ! As well, one can see that Joey is not rising high-pitched as before, his voice is not as so pushed as before but that takes nothing away to the beauty of his song. When he starts singing, everybody knows it's HIM ! And I think it's the most important . In my own opinion they are bounded to success !

Congratulations and keep it up !

9,75/10

 

Chronic written by me (Valérie), traduc by Helène Maudier

EUROPE frontman Joey Tempest recently hooked up with BW&BK to discuss their unexpectedly successful return with the Start From The Dark album. The following is a brief excerpt from the chat:

"We were a little surprised that we were able to do 100 shows for Start From The Dark," Tempest admits. "We were on the road for a year and a half and were able to go to all these places again. People were very interested in our new songs, and we’re a very lucky band in that we can go out and tour. We have a place out there and it feels really nice. What we wanted to do with the new album is start fresh, so it’s like a debut album. It was like a young band starting – that was the approach, anyway – so maybe we can take the next album somewhere else. Those two things have worked for us, and we’ve been able to put down roots again as far as hard rock goes. We didn’t do a Bryan Adams kind of album, we did a hard rock album for the hard rock fans. We took a bit of a risk with Start From The Dark, but we didn’t want to do an ‘80s album. We didn’t want to try and cash in on our past, which is why we built a new sound from the ground up."

Here the link of prestation of Europe the 4 december

link