Like most people, when I hear the name
Europe, I think of “The Final Countdown”. It's a song that has
become so ubiquitous that it's hard for any band to escape that kind
of legacy. Some will try, most will fail, and the public
consciousness will never be altered. “The Final Countdown” would
not be a bad legacy; having a hit rarely is. The problem comes that
if you are a certain age, which I am, the sitcom “Arrested
Development” has ruined that song forever. It became such an
integral part to the running joke that hearing the song now brings
back more memories of the show and the comedy than anything Europe
ever did.
Europe has always soldiered on,
however, and they return this time with “War Of Kings”, an album
that will completely overturn everything you think you know about the
band. The days of being a cheesy, synth-driven, unbelievably dated
80s band are long since gone. “War Of Kings”, if you didn't see
the name on the cover, would easily be confused for a Deep Purple
album. I say that with the highest of compliments.
Europe has abandoned any pretense of
their past here, digging deeper into the bands that inspired them to
play in the first place. There is more than a heavy dose of Deep
Purple in these songs, both in the way the riffs recall Ritchie
Blackmore's signature style, and in the lush sound of the Hammond
organ that dominates these songs. If you're going to have keyboards
in hard rock, this is how you do it. The Hammond is such a powerful
instrument that it instantly makes these songs sound both heavier and
more timeless than they could on their own.
Speaking of the songs, Europe delivers
in spades. The title track kicks things off with a slinky riff, a
wash of organs, and Joey Tempest's gravelly vocals delivering a hard
rock chorus straight out of the late 70s. You just don't hear this
kind of music being made anymore, and when bands try it, they can't
pull it off. Europe can, and that is what makes this album something
special.
There are a handful of songs here that
are extraordinary, including the title track, “Rainbow Bridge”,
and “California 405”, which does a striking job of mirroring the
feeling of a summer-time drive down the coastline with the top down.
They are songs that could get laughed off for being too simple, until
you realize an hour later that it's been buried in your head and
playing on repeat the whole time. True power lays in simplicity, and
Europe doesn't throw more into the mix than necessary.
Sure, there are a few songs here that
don't work quite as well, but even they still bristle with the power
of classic rock. The band says that they have finally made the
Europe album they have always wanted to, and if that is indeed true,
I want to know what took them so long?
Europe has had a nice career, that's
for sure, but they've never made an album that sounds like this. It
was hard in the 80s to escape the reverb-drenched tones that
guaranteed hits, but in the years since there must have been
opportunities to reinvent themselves like this. All I know is that
if Europe had been making records like this all along, people
wouldn't still be flocking to see Deep Purple play the same hits for
the umpteenth time (no disrespect intended), and people certainly
wouldn't treat Europe with a bit of comedic derision.
An album like “War Of Kings” is
classic rock through and through, and it's a damn good one. Forget
about whatever bands are on the radio now and listen to Europe.
Seriously. This is the future of hard rock.
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