In Los Angeles, John Norum was sitting and regretting an existence
with Dokken that was all but fun. "Last year, in March or April, I
got an offer to join UFO," tells Norum. "Michael Schenker had
left for like the hundredth time, ha ha! Michael owned 50% of the
name UFO, but now he had given the all rights to the singer Phil Mogg.
They called me and it was a special thing for an old fan like myself.
Phil rang to tell me that they wanted me to be the new guitar player
and I said 'wow, this is cool, damned cool', and said yes the very
next day. Two weeks later, Ian Haugland called me and told me that
they would reunite EUROPE. They had already met a couple of times
without me (punches in the air and laughs) and discussed if they would
do it with Kee or with Norum as guitarist and come to a decision that
they wanted to have 'the Final Countdown line-up. Besides Kee didn't
have the time. I was interested," tells Norum who got complications
due to the oral, though not written, answer he gave UFO. "But I wanted
to be in the band if I got the lead-guitar role. This is my sort of
thing quite simply. The solos are my voice. I don't want to share
it with anyone else. I didn't want to be a Rudolf Schenker," says
Norum, and so it was done as he wished.
"In August or September last year we met to rehearse," tells Tempest.
"The first songs that we did were 'Rock the Night' and 'Wings of Tomorrow'. It was only to switch on. It felt bloody brilliant."
The question of how the new material would sound occupied everyone's
mind. "But we came to the decision that we would not sound like anything
particular," answers Haugland. "We have been in different directions
for twelve years now and got so many influences and inspiration and
life experience. We just got to see what it would become of it."
2004 - Part 1
It is true that EUROPE reunited, but it didn't mean that the five
in the band would automatically take the places and positions that
they had before. The relationship between Norum and Tempest had changed
and it had changed for the better.
"Joey wrote most of the songs at the time. In the beginning of my
career I was learning to handle mostly the instrument and the technique.
I started writing more songs for my first solo album Total Control
and during the last 15 years I have been writing more and more. And it
was much heavier than EUROPE," says Norum. "I have learned so much
more and not only playing the solo guitar, but I also learned to
arrange and produce. I have quite simply been an all-round musician
and singer," says Norum who adds that he is singing everything on his
coming solo album Optimus. "I sent some ideas over to Joey in London.
He arranged and wrote new melodies and texts. In this way songs like
'Faith', 'Dark' and 'Settle' were born. It worked
so well that we decided to work on more ideas together. Moreover Joey
got a kick and started to write more songs for the album. We worked
together a lot and laid the grounds together with Ian in Stockholm
and then Joey continued with the ideas in his studio in London."
"The cool thing with John was that he was so enthusiastic," says Tempest.
"I noticed that he had a lots of riffs and ideas. This stuff with
a singer and a guitarist is something special, like the one between
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (in Aerosmith), for example. Or Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards (in Rolling Stones). There is absolutely something
between John and myself. It's a special fire."
The choice of the producer 'Kevin Elson' came quite naturally as well.
"It doesn't have so much to do with The Final Countdown, as that
he is very good at finding what is missing in the songs," explains
Michaeli. "He has good ideas. At the same time Kevin is a very easygoing
fellow and has made albums that we think sound very well, and in the
first place with Mr. Big. We didn't want to have some new 'hip' producer,
but someone that we know that he can bring a good sound."
"He is on the same wavelength," says Tempest. "He doesn't ask for
the hit that is three minutes long, he is an album man. When we were
rehearsing the songs he was with us in the process and 'extended'
the songs in some cases with a number of new parts. He tries to keep
the organic feeling."
2004 - Part 2
We know that EUROPE has made a new album that will be released some
time this autumn. We know as well that the band will tour this summer
and that the festival gigs will probably be followed by an indoors
tour. We also know that the friendship between the band members is
strong, that they for the first time ever have total control over
everything that concern the economy and that they do things in their
own pace. But what about later? How do they imagine the future will
be?
"I read an interview with Phil Mogg some time ago," begins Haugland.
"He said that if you have a functioning chemistry in the band, he
advised to hold on together to death. It happens once in a lifetime
that you find this sort of chemistry. And now we understand what he
means."
"I am extremely excited," says Levén. "We have an eye on everything
in a different way. It feels much, much better."
"It feels as if we take a stride, summarize the old, say 'thank you
and good-bye' to it and then carry on," says Michaeli. "This summer
we will have a good time and celebrate that we have started playing
together again. After that we will take a new stride with new material.
We are already on our way there. We have chosen a direction."
"I hope that we can do this for many more years - I have in any case
planned a lot of albums," explains Norum. "We are not so old yet and
we have along way to go. We develop all the time and get just better
and better."
"What you come to in the end is that a rock band must cast down a
steep slope and just do its thing," says Tempest. "You do this in
the beginning of the band's career. Afterwards probably comes the success
that makes it so that you have to take into consideration lots of
other things. But there are bands that have been going on all the
way like U2, R.E.M. and Metallica and in the long run it always pays
off.
But when you are so involved, you don't think about an end. If you
put so much time and heart into something that you burn for, there
is no end. I see it rather like a beginning of something and that
we take it as far as it goes this time. Now let's do it."
Kevin Elson compares then and now
Producer Kevin Elson was there and made The Final Countdown.
Almost 20 years later he is involved in this work that will lead to EUROPE's sixth studio album. "Basically it is a very straight rock'n'roll
album with a modern sound. It is probably not as keyboard oriented
as before, but the album will sound like EUROPE," says Kevin
about the album that will be released this autumn.
|
