Europe - The Final Countdown (1986) WMA320

Does it get much more 80's sounding than this? The smooth keyboards mixed with the heavy chugs and riffs of the glam-era guitar. The fusion of the two sounds is, in this case, a very polished, fluid sound. And throw into the mix precise drumming and Joey Tempest's soaring, whirlwind vocals and you've got what this album is: an 80's glam metal GEM. A truly amazing piece of work from Europe in '86.
"The Final Countdown" is one of the four most-solid tracks on the disc. With an almost ethereal, rocket-me-to-the-moon feel to the rhythm, the tone, and the sound of the band's instruments playing in perfect harmony, this song reminds me of Dokken's "Unchain the Night" in that while it is a metal song, it has a more commercial sound to it that attracts the female audience very nicely while still appealing to the male taste for edginess in the music. A fantastic song.

And if the dudes out there that pick up this album and wonder who the heck calls this metal at ALL, just get to tracks like "Rock the Night" and "Danger On the Track". "Rock..." is one of my favorite four tracks on this album, and "Danger..." is a cut above many glam-era metal tunes. And "Ninja" rips and rolls right along without pause or lethargy, lemme tell ya-- another great song. All three of these songs have some pretty decent axe work, though at times they are drowned by the keyboards.

If the guys still aren't convinced that any metal --even glam-era metal-- should include keyboards (Judas Priest didn't fair too well with keyboards on their "Turbo" 1986 release), perhaps a last hope for their approval of this album is the power ballad "Carrie", a favorite of my girlfriend, my sister, and a few other women I know. Something about Tempest's powerful vox, the lyrics, and the precise use of the synths just get a lot of chicks all starry-eyed and soft-- and guys, you can use this to your advantage! But "Carrie" is, IMHO, a very good song. It's actually what hooked me on Europe.

Anyway, I want to add as well that the guitars in this album are very much a force. There are just as many chugs, riffs, chords, squeals, and pings as in Danger Danger's '89 debut or in Whitesnake's self-titled '87 release. So if you're looking for some really quite good guitar work, this album's got lots of it in addition to some very good melodies, some insanely catchy tunes, and vocals comparable to Don Dokken's, David Coverdale's, and Jon Bon Jovi's as far as range, power, and smoothness.

by M. Schafle "kingratt82"

TRACKLIST:

01 - The Final Countdown.wma
02 - Rock The Night.wma
03 - Carrie.wma
04 - Danger On The Track.wma
05 - Ninja.wma
06 - Cherokee.wma
07 - Time Has Come.wma
08 - Heart Of Stone.wma
09 - On The Loose.wma
10 - Love Chaser.wma

WMA 320Kbps 44100Hz STEREO