The rock year 1985

By: Stefan Johansson        From: OKEJ - No. 26, 1985        Translated by: Louise

Those who wait for something good...

Hang on, EUROPE fans, the new album will be released in the beginning of January. The reason for the delay: Joey Tempest has had some problems with his voice. At first, "The Final Countdown" was supposed to be released in the end of December. But then the one thing that should not happen, happened: Joey Tempest got problems with his voice.

"I'm doing everything I can to get rid of this cold," Joey Tempest said when OKEJ called him during the recording. "I've been on penicillin, and now I'm living on garlic."

The lead vocals weren't even finished by the end of November, and that's why EUROPE's management and their record company CBS thought that they should delay the release of the album. When "The Final Countdown" now will be released, it has been two years since their last album, "Wings of Tomorrow", came out. So it's about time for a vinyl sign of life from EUROPE.

Otherwise, 1985 was the year when EUROPE went on their biggest tour this far. In the spring they went on a big tour in North and Middle Sweden. EUROPE put a lot of money into a big production, maybe one of the biggest which Sweden has had. The tour was a big step forward. During the tour, EUROPE played many of the songs that will be on "The Final Countdown", including the ballad "Carrie", which could be EUROPE's next hit!

In 1985, EUROPE also released the single "Rock the Night", which went gold. "Give a Helpin' Hand" has reached gold status too. Joey Tempest wrote that as a tribute to "Swedish Metal Aid", the Swedish hard rockers' song to the starving people in Africa. Once again, Joey showed that he is a brilliant songwriter and reached out to a much broader public than usual.

After the release of "The Final Countdown" - if everything goes as planned - EUROPE will go to Japan for a concert tour. EUROPE are very big in Japan. During the spring there will also be time for a Swedish tour, and during the summer EUROPE are going to attack the USA seriously for the first time. Big plans with a big album in the luggage.

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