Europe - Last Look At Eden

Published September 07 2009

*=Staff's pick	Prelude Last Look At Eden* Gonna Get Ready* Catch That Plane New Love In Town* The Beast Mojito Girl No Stone Unturned* Only Young Twice U Devil U Run With The Angels In My Time*

Genre	Rock/Heavy Metal	Joey Tempest	Vocals
Tracks	12	John Norum	Guitar
Runningtime	47 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	earMUSIC	John Levén	Bass
Release	14 September 2009	Ian Haugland	Drums
Country	Sweden	Mic Michaeli	Keyboard
Similar artists	Bon Jovi, Van Halen

Europe is rocking again. After two quite dull attempts to try to be mature and up to date, the old 80s hairband heroes have turned to the 70s for inspiration. When I heard Last Look At Eden and Gonna Get Ready live at Sweden Rock this summer I was expecting something spectacular with this release. Though not totally disappointing it was not as I expected either. A leap forward, but not a giant one.

The title track and first single is the most direct hitting and lasting composition, with its pop orientation and symphonic arrangements. Next track, Gonna Get Ready, is more of a classic rock song. The ballad (and second single) New Love In Town could have been a song from one of Joey Tempest three pop oriented solo records. The Beast raises the steam again. No Stone Unturned is most alike the title track, soft with symphonic arrangements. U Devil U and Run With The Angels have quite a lot of the 70s in them. Closing the gates to Eden is In My Time, which is a soft blues song wherein John Norum gets to show his most sensitive playing. He does it with the honour.

The softer pop/rock tracks and the ballads (including before mentioned blues monster In My Time) are all great. Sadly the harder rockers will not stick even after a few turns. They are not bad, not at all - great sound, nice riffs and Joey sings as distinct as ever - but the choruses are a bit too simple and everyday to make it anything near magic.

There is not much left from the Europe as we knew them from the hair band days. In interviews one get the impression that they almost, at least John Norum, are a bit ashamed of that era. A part of me can understand that, but another part think it's quite sad, because so many people still love the old sound. But this new style, or mix of styles, is definitely something better and of more lasting quality than the last two albums after the reunion. Europe is on the right track again and I expect even more on the next one.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	7	7	6

Summary
6,5 chalices of 10 - David